By Reed Downey, Jr.

In 1647, the Massachusetts legislature passed a law requiring every community of 50 families or households to establish a free public grammar school to teach the fundamentals of reading, writing, ciphering, history, geography, and Bible study. In addition, every township containing 100 or more was required to establish a secondary school for advanced studies to prepare boys for Harvard. John Adams stated the whole program was designed to have “knowledge diffused generally throughout the whole body of the people.”

“The consequences of these establishments we see and feel every day [written in 1765]. A native of America who cannot read and write is as rare… as a comet or an earthquake. It has been observed that we are all lawyers, divines, politicians, and philosophers. And I have good authority to say that all candid foreigners who have passed through this country and conversed freely with all sorts of people here will allow that they have never seen so much knowledge and civility among the common people in any part of the world… Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.” – John Adams

John Adams, who spent many years in France, commented on the fact that of the 24 million inhabitants of France, only 500,000 could read and write (Koch, The American Enlightenment, pp. 213, 217).

The Importance of Good Local School Boards

The success of that educational effort was due largely to the careful selection of highly conscientious people to serve on the school committee in each community and supervise the public schools. Historian John Fisk says, “these school committees were bodies of great importance.” Then adds: “The terms of service of the members are three years, one-third being chosen annually. The number of members must therefore be a multiple of three. The gradual change in the board's membership ensures that a large proportion of members will always be familiar with the duties of the place. The school committee must visit all public schools at least once a month and make a report to the town every year. It is for them to decide what textbooks are to be used. They examine candidates for teaching positions and issue certificates to those whom they select.” (Fiske, Civil Government in the United States [Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1890], pp.22-23)

How do we account for the low academic performance of our public schools today? It is the failure to put highly conscientious people on our school boards. The numbers vary, but there are 500-plus school districts in Oklahoma and approximately 2500 school board members. Finding that many people who are willing to serve, let alone qualified to make decisions that may be unpopular, but beneficial to education outcomes, or holding the superintendent accountable for academic performance, is extremely unlikely. This is exemplified by our deplorable Standardized Test Scores and performance on the NAEP (National Assessment of Education Progress) Exams. As it is now – no one is being held accountable.

What is the solution? We should return to the county school superintendent system – as established in Oklahoma’s original 1907 state constitution – which was in place for 90 years. In 1994, under House Bill 1800, the office of county superintendents was eliminated, and the current system was established.

With the establishment of county school boards, it will be much easier to find 385 highly qualified board members from a larger population base. Moving decisions away from local school districts will relieve some of the peer pressure exerted by district patrons to make decisions that may be popular, but do not improve academic performance, or to pass bond issues that do not contribute to improving educational outcomes.

Unfortunately, many people are unaware of how poorly our schools are performing. Even though the performance data is posted on most school district websites, how many parents and citizens in a district know or even care to look? They may not care, but they need to know because they are paying with their income tax dollars.

In Oklahoma, 53% of the state budget goes to common education. In the school district where I live, 58% of my property tax goes to the school district. Not only is the district failing academically, but there are 463 pornographic books spread through multiple schools in the district. My tax dollars are supporting this system!

Returning to county school boards is not about school consolidation; it is about moving administration to a level that is more focused on educational outcomes, especially creating strong county school boards. Any monetary savings resulting from consolidating the administration should be retained by the district as additional compensation for its teachers.

I addition to reducing the inordinate influence of the OEA, OSSBA, and CCOSA on Oklahoma Legislators, it would be much easier for the State Superintendent of Public Education to work with 77 County Superintendents, rather than over 500!

Getting qualified candidates is and has been very difficult, not to mention getting qualified candidates elected. Therefore, all county school boards should be appointed by the elected county commissioners. At the end of each school year, when standardized test results are available, the County Commissions should call a public meeting and have the county school board report the academic performance of each school in the county.

Another recommendation – the academic performance of each school district in a county should be included with the annual Ad Valorem tax bill. Plus, each district should be required to issue a press release to local media outlets about its academic performance for the current year.

We have an obligation to our kids, our posterity, and our predecessors to pass on the gift of freedom. Without an educated citizenry, our Republic will not last. As President Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is a fragile thing, and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again!”

P.S. Now I ask: are we a moral society?