EDITORIAL: Valpo needs elected school board

When the headline screamed, "Official: 'We screwed up'" on a story about a stormy Valparaiso School Board meeting, what Valparaiso has been missing was readily apparent. The School Board lacks accountability.

The School Board accepted the blame for not doing enough to cut spending after the state cut the district's 2011 general fund support by nearly $2 million last February.

Gradual spending cuts begun in 2010 were not aggressive enough, board member Jim Jorgensen acknowledged at the board's Jan. 10 meeting.

"We screwed up," Jorgensen told the crowd at the School Board meeting.

It is obvious, with draconian cuts in the offing, that the board failed in its responsibility to be a good steward of the public's money and the public's trust.

The lesson for the public, and one that must spur action, is that an appointed school board, such as the one in Valparaiso, is not directly accountable to the public.

For years, East Chicago and Valparaiso stood out as the only two school districts in Northwest Indiana with appointed school boards. But now East Chicago is switching to an elected board. That leaves Valparaiso alone in the region and among a handful of appointed boards in the state. It's time for reform.

Center Township Democrats have begun a petition drive to attempt to switch to an elected school board. That effort deserves the support of the public and the state lawmakers representing Valparaiso.

The acknowledgment that the board "screwed up," in Jorgensen's words, is spurring this push for reform, but even if everything were going well in the school district, the principle that an elected board is better than an appointed board holds true.

A school board not only controls millions of dollars in public money but also is shaping the future of the community by making decisions that affect the education of our youths. That cries out for direct accountability to the voters. The taxpayers should have a say in who represents them.

There are many well-respected people on the Valparaiso School Board, but regardless of how talented they are, they were not elected.

The current board is appointed by the Valparaiso City Council and the Center Township Board. Give that power to the voters. Let the voters decide who is best suited to represent their interests on the School Board, and let the voters express their pleasure or displeasure with board members in subsequent elections.

That's democracy in action. What Valparaiso has now — democracy inaction — needs to end.