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Bored of the Board: Why the BOE Needs New Perspectives

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Olivia Crosby

Imagine what America would be like if not a single congressperson had ever set foot in this country, or what you’d learn in your statistics class if your French teacher wrote all the lesson plans. Think of the lunacy of the Oscars awarded by General Motors instead of Hollywood—or worse yet, the opposite: George Clooney designing Chevrolet pick-up trucks.

If those scenarios sound ridiculous to you, then why on Earth do you accept how our school system is controlled by seven elected politicians, with little input from the students and teachers and administrators who understand it best?

To be fair, the Board of Education does listen to what the public has to say. That’s why we still have April Break: a handful of passionate citizens attended a meeting last month to advocate other methods to make up school days missed due to Hurricane Sandy.

I was one of them, and from personal experience I can assert that the BoE did everything possible to stifle that debate.

According to that meeting’s planned agenda, I would be able to speak during the time for public comments towards the beginning. Apparently, many others had the same idea, because the room was filled with parents and students itching to share their ideas on the subject. At that point, the agenda was amended to honor resigning board member Jim Marpe for his service and to elect new officers. After nearly an hour and a half of nomination speeches, seconding speeches, acceptance speeches, victory speeches, congratulatory speeches, and commemoratory speeches, the audience had thinned considerably.

But apparently, not considerably enough for the Board of Ed’s comfort, because they amended the agenda again, this time to put off public comments until after a rousing presentation on the 2025 Initiative, which sent the vast majority of the remaining audience—myself included—scattering towards the exits.

By the time public comments were finally recognized at 10:45 p.m., only a few postapocalyptic stragglers remained, including Ryan Greenberg ’13 and Angus Armstrong ’13. Their infinite patience was rewarded last week. But why should it have to be this difficult for any dissent to be heard?

While the April Break decision was a notable example of the Board failing to silence the public, the strategy of thought suppression by attrition is all too common at Board of Ed meetings. And when it’s successful, the consequences can be enormous.

When music classes and the gifted program were dealt crippling budget cuts so that nearly every classroom could get a SmartBoard, no one spoke up. When the immensely popular Arena scheduling system was replaced with a glitchy computer program, no one spoke up. Given how hard the BoE tries to avoid dissent, it makes sense that there was no outcry until after the fact. Whenever the people dare to speak their minds on an issue, the politicians shuffle the schedule around to dodge that issue.

That’s why it’s time for a real, consistent mouthpiece for the community on the Board of Ed. It doesn’t matter if it’s a teacher or a student or a janitor or one of those stubborn mice that somehow manages to sneak into second-floor classrooms. We just need someone who actually spends enough time in school to know what’s going on here.

And if anyone disagrees, feel free to tell me so in person. Just don’t be surprised if I bump your speaking time until after the next Ice Age.

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About the Contributors
Jordan Shenhar, Web Managing Editor
Jordan Shenhar loves hanging out with his friends-as long as he’s arguing with them. No, he doesn’t have anger management issues; he’s just extremely political. Shenhar participates not only in Inklings, but also in the student-run club JSA. (Junior State of America) Shenhar participates the most in this club to gain time doing one of his favorite activities: arguing about politics with kids his age. Or, as Shenhar says, “[I] take part in one of my favorite activities, arguing with liberals.”  Shenhar is a libertarian, a more unusual party that advocates for small governmental interference. Always wanting to discuss politics even more, Shenhar runs the Young Libertarians Club at Staples. However, don’t assume that Shenhar is a driven, cold-hearted politician. He loves visiting his family in Israel, where he never feels stressed. He is in awe of the good weather there, and accounts many of his greatest moments to spending time there. And of course, he loves sports. Shenhar says “And for most of my life I've been enslaved by the Mets and the Redskins, my two favorite teams to which I devote excessive amounts of time in exchange for them crushing my hopes and dreams.”
Olivia Crosby, Creative Director
When Olivia Crosby ’15 was a freshman, she signed up to make graphics for Inklings, but was never asked to help out. She came in three separate times that year, but still was never asked to join the staff. But, later in the year her talents became noticed. “I took intro to journalism, and during the copyright unit we had to find a legal graphic for a story; I was way too lazy to find something that was legal, so I just made my own. After that Inklings asked me to join,” Crosby said. Crosby’s persistence and drive has allowed her to evolve from staff artist during her freshman and sophomore years, to creative director junior year, to her current position as graphics editor. While Crosby primarily draws for Inklings, she prefers making pottery, which she says helps relieve stress. When Crosby can’t be found in the art or Inklings rooms, she is often found doing flips and twists into the Staples pool. After years of gymnastics and multiple injuries, as a freshman, Crosby transferred her skills from the gym to the pool and joined the Staples diving team. “I love being on the team,” Crosby said. “It’s exciting and so thrilling knowing how hard you'll push yourself even if you don't think you can do it.”

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