New Panel Launches Study on School Board Practices

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – A new task force, called the Commission for School Board Excellence, today started looking into how to improve the quality of school boards across Georgia.

The group says Georgia's board of education wanted a study of school board best practices long before Clayton County schools landed in trouble. That district may lose accreditation in September, largely because of ethical violations by its school board members.

Mark Elgart, President of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and member of the commission, says statewide, the type of people on school boards has changed:

ELGART: Today, many board members are there as a stepping stone to political careers. Others are there and they will tell you they classify it as a job, not a service.

Elgart says about a third of Georgia's school districts experienced some degree of difficulty with governance in the last 10 years.

The panel is made up of Georgia business leaders, educators, and school board experts. At the end of its 90-day study, the task force will make recommendations for legislation.