Give “Hizzoner” the Schools
A story in Friday’s Indianapolis Star reveals the IPS taxpayers could face a 37 percent increase in their property tax bills. The money is going toward school construction and other costs. The District has had to do some cost cutting, which includes the layoffs of teachers. As we complain about underperforming students and out of control budgets, I honestly think it’s time to rethink not only the way we operate schools but who runs them. We need to put the Mayor in charge of the schools. Think about it for a second.
What is a school board? It’s a group of people who got elected in May who nobody knows. A school board can raise your taxes and there’s no real accountability. It can under-perform when it comes to educating your children, and there’s no real accountability. How do you get accountability? Put one person in charge, the Mayor.
Now I’m not talking about Bart Peterson, per se. But I do think having the Mayor’s office in charge of schools means there is one person to point to when assigning credit or blame. It’s been done in other places: New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago and Cleveland. Los Angeles, the nation’s second largest school district, the mayors there are looking at taking power from local school boards and shaking things up. The results have been mixed, but at the very least there is accountability.
I would rather have one person in charge and running an organization that educates my kids and spends my money than a bunch of nameless officials. We spend a lot of time talking about reforming schools. True change starts at the top. And it’s time to give the Mayor’s office control of the school district.
