With an April 1 deadline approaching, petitions are trickling in to local election commissions as candidates vie for spots on school boards across Southeast Tennessee.
And at a time when K-12 education is front and center on the national stage, some school leaders wonder about the future of school governance.
“With changes in federal legislation, there’s always the issue that there could be a loss of power from the local county end,” said Marion County Schools Superintendent Mark Griffith.
“There’s no one in Marion County that knows the school system like the local people, but there could be somebody making decisions in Washington and not in our own neighborhood,” said Mr. Griffith, whose district has three of five seats up for grabs this August. “There’s a concern there.”
President Obama’s education stimulus money, which included $4.35 billion in competitive Race to the Top funds, has come along with certain stipulations. States such as Tennessee already have changed laws, such as removing restrictions on using test score data to evaluate teachers, in order to qualify for the money.