George:

I guess that David RePass regards it as sufficient analysis to brand my recent letter to you on the fallacies in the arguments in favor of elected school boards as "sophistry" and "red herrings" and to leave it at that. Or to joke that Jefferson and Madison must have turned over in their graves because I said that the modern U.S. Congress is not responsive to the electorate. It is telling that he doesn't try to convince us that Congress IS responsive -- that would actually be a reasoned response to my argument. It is also telling that he doesn't pay any attention to Madison's frequent discussions in The Federalist Papers (No. 10, with its distinction between a republic and a democracy, comes to mind) suggesting that it is possible to have too much democracy, or to Madison's support for an executive branch of government not elected by the people (see No. 47, and many others whose authorship is not solidly fixed). Instead, he just says, "Jefferson and Madison must have turned over in their graves," which is a snide, but not a reasoned, response. His only real response is to say that the example of the U.S. Congress is a "spurious" example, and "does not invalidate the principle of representative democracy." Of course, I didn't claim that it did -- I only pointed out that the fact that one is elected to office does not assure that one is responsive to one's electorate.

Rather than trying to go through David's letter in detail, I would simply note that his letter confirms my basic point -- the problems with the school system lately come down to the fact that individual Board members have made some poor decisions. There is nothing in the nature of the decisions that have been made that tell us that they would be made BETTER by a School Board whose members have been elected than one whose members had been appointed. Would an elected School Board have come to a better (or even a different) decision on the Jefferson School? Who knows. If it would, it is hard to see how the method of selection would have made any difference. Would an elected School Board have chosen a better (or even a different) Superintendent? Who knows. If it would, it would not have been because the members were elected rather than appointed. And let's talk about the achievement gap, as David, somewhat inexplicably, does. David seems to imply that elected School Boards have some inherent advantage in how they bridge the achievement gap. Is there any support for his implication that jurisdictions that elect their School Boards have a lower achievement gap than those that appoint their School Boards? If so, I'd love to hear it. I know -- David didn't actually claim that jurisdictions with elected School Boards have a lower achievement gap, but if that's not what he means, then why does he throw the achievement gap into the argument? Is it, perhaps, "sophistry?" Might it be, perhaps, a "red herring?"

And to address the Voting Rights Act issue in any detail is to get into one of the thorniest thickets in American law right now, but the bottom line is a practical one -- if we have wards for the election of School Boards, we will have wards for the election of City Council as well. And David throws in another bit of "sophistry" -- or is it perhaps another "red herring?" -- when he notes that the City Council, which is dominated by the Democratic Party, will have to make the decision. I believe that the evidence is clear that the Charlottesville City government will be dominated by Democrats, regardless of whether we have wards or at-large voting. If one, or even two, Republicans were to be elected in a system with 6 wards and some additional number of at-large seats, that would not upset the balance of power in the City. The reality is that Charlottesville is fairly uniformly Democratic. The "ward vs. at-large" debate is not about partisan politics. It is about whether it is better to have Councilors who feel that they represent the whole City, or just a part of it.

If you are frustrated or disgusted by the decisions of School Boards of the recent past, you are not alone. I join in those feelings. If you want to have elected school board members, just admit it -- you like the idea. But admit that your opinion is based on personal preference rather than on some inherent superiority of elections over appointments. Let's not just assume that electing School Board members is the magic answer that the Charlottesville school system needs.

Lloyd Snook (electronic mail, September 22, 2005)