Baltimore Sun Editorializes Against Democracy

The power brokers who run Baltimore fear the introduction of elections for school board members in the city.  The editorial board of the Baltimore Sun agrees that democracy is dangerous where there are too many poor people, even though the editorial board admits that the rest of Maryland can count on democracy in their leafy hometowns:

. . . most school boards nationwide and in Maryland are elected.

But what seems good in theory has worked badly in practice. According to University of Memphis researcher Thomas E. Glass, elected urban school boards by and large "are not accountable to the public, seemingly possess modest skills, [and] are very conflict-prone [and] politicized." Elections are marred by low voter turnout, dominance by teachers unions and self-interest politics. The trend in urban districts nationally has been away from elected boards and toward more mayoral control.. . .

Thomas Glass's most recent book is The Superintendent as CEO.