Message from Executive Director
Dr. Theodore Comstock
June 24, 2010
Micro Managing- A Old Phrase With New and Broad Application
State Legislatures and the United States Congress are dramatically inserting themselves into school governance issues that have traditionally been the domain of locally elected school boards. By entering the "fray" in this manner, the state and federal governments have significantly changed the role of school boards. By way of example, and not so long ago, it was the exclusive purview of a locally elected school board to determine whether a given policy was necessary and appropriate. However, in recent years, a clear trend has developed where certain policies are mandated by state and federal law (in fact, over 50 specific school board policies are required by either state or federal law). Most recently, state and federal law not only dictates that particular policies be enacted, but those laws now specify exactly what must be in the mandated policies. This is not just happening in New Hampshire.
Here is a link to a great article written by Thomas Gentzel, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, in which he accurately suggests that what is happening is micro-management. Not at the local level, but at the state and federal levels. I hope you find it to be provocative reading!
Theodore E. Comstock
Executive Director and General Counsel
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