Local control of schools has become a myth

The publicity over the rejection of State School Board candidates demonstrates how our schools have been hijacked by the special-interest groups and a Legislature that allowed it to happen. Citizens no longer have a voice, and "local control" is simply a myth perpetuated by some politicians.

It seems our state education system is fast becoming like the old Soviet economy that did central planning for a nail factory. It received its production quota from Moscow: 10 metric tons of nails. The factory had strong incentives to meet its quota, which it did, by making 10 nails — each weighing one metric ton.

Our education system has become more centralized by politicians who tell us one thing when running for election or re-election, and then do another thing once they are in office. They know how strongly Utahns believe in local control; so, when on the campaign trail, they use the hot button that gets Utahns ready to vote — local control. They lash out against federal control and tell us they want to cut government waste and reduce government — but all we get is more government.

The Legislature has so over-regulated and micromanaged the state education system that it has made "local control" the big myth and sold it to taxpayers. Local school boards no longer have a say in one of the most important things local schools do — determining curriculum. They are relegated to deciding safety patrol rules, bus routes, construction, and who gets to go on field trips. They have the power to tax, giving the illusion of local control, while allowing legislators to use it as a scapegoat when pressed for money. Local school boards have become another black hole in the system, where citizen input is courteously acknowledged and then forgotten.

All too often, legislators fail to do oversight on the system to make sure it is carrying out its legislative mandate, until problems become public. Then they try to "fix" the problem with a barrage of new laws and regulations that only inflate the bureaucracy even more and further erode local control.

Legislators seldom monitor to see how effectively the State Office of Education is carrying out its constitutional and statutory responsibilities. Citizens can help by insisting their state representatives and state school board members are accountable to them as to how effectively the state education system is working.

For example, citizens might start by asking, specifically, what action, if any, was taken to correct the deficiencies identified in a report completed two years ago, which the State Board had commissioned to audit the Utah State Office of Education.