I read the story "Bigger partisan ed board sought" with great interest. It was easy to see through the empty complaints and arguments of teachers union political specialist Vik Arnold, and State Board of Education Chairman Kim Burningham against changing the makeup and election process of the board. Once again, the power base of the education community is having what they deem to be their domain threatened, and they don't like it. Their arguments are shallow and self-serving at best. Here's why.

How many of you are even aware of the current election process for state school board members? Did you know that an appointed committee selects your field of candidates? Most of you, although you may not admit it, don't even know who your state school board representative is. The current election process is by nature repressive to citizen involvement.

To agree with Kim Burningham and Vik Arnold's argument that using the delegate/party process to elect state school board members is a bad idea is to concede that this same delegate process, which has been used for years to both elect and remove our representatives to Congress, our U.S. senators, governor, state Legislature, attorney general, etc., is flawed and doesn't work. Nonsense. It is a formula that puts the election process power into the hands of the people.

Arnold said that party delegates represent more extreme ends of the political spectrum and that they're more conservative than moderate. That is simply ridiculous. I have had first-hand experience. Not only am I a county party delegate (first time by the way), but I also ran for the Utah House of Representatives in 2006. I found the delegates in my district to be intelligent people interested in becoming involved in the process. The majority were keenly interested in educating themselves about the platform of the candidates and their stand on the issues.

That said, delegates are regular citizens who have stepped up to the plate and want to be a part of the political process. They are your neighbors and friends. But here's the catch that apparently Mr. Burningham and Mr. Arnold don't like: Unlike a nominating committee, delegates are chosen by you, the citizens of Utah. They are elected by you at caucus meetings if you are willing to actually play a part in the election process and attend those meetings. They aren't the "relatively few" controlling the process as Vik claims. I would argue that a nominating commission is the relatively few controlling the process. Delegates represent what makes this government great: government by the people, not government by an appointed nominating committee.

I personally support any process that gives citizens a stronger voice and more control over whom their elected representatives are. The education of our children is clearly at the forefront of concern in the state of Utah. The Utah State Board of Education plays a large, controlling role in deciding what happens regarding the education of Utah's children. I for one believe that we as citizens ought to have more involvement in choosing who they are. If this process were opened up to the same citizen-controlled format that we use to elect our other government representatives, perhaps when asked who your state school board representative is and what they stand for, you'd know the answer. That's a good thing!

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Robyn Bagley is a current Republican Party county delegate and 2006 candidate for the House of Representatives.