A Sunday Editorial: Appointed vs Elected State BOE

     Alabama's Governor and Republican legislative leaders want to stop voters from electing members of the State Board of Education. 
    They think the members should be appointed. She says that would somehow make the board more accountable. The State Senate voted unanimously for the bill*, which now heads to the House.

     The new appointed board "would be required to have the geographical, gender and racial diversity reflective of the public school system in Alabama", according to a statement from President Pro Tempore Del Marsh’s office.

     That would, in effect, guarantee a majority female, white, conservative board. The current nine member board has seven women and two men on it, two African-American and seven white members. 
    But if it's a good thing to have an appointed school board, perhaps we should have an appointed legislature and governor too. That would make those office holders more accountable, no?

   The change would take power away from the people and put it in the hands of Montgomery power brokers.

*I emailed Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton on Friday, asking for comment, but did not get a reply. Speaking of Singleton, I noticed that the Republican dominated Senate does not list him on the Senate Leadership page on the state legislative webpage.