The Courier-Journal just announced it is appealing to the Kentucky Attorney General’s office concerning the recent closed-door process used to replace a Jefferson County Board of Education member.
The newspaper argues this was a public process subject to open meeting rules.
The newspaper’s action is on the side of public transparency. We are pleased to see this latest example that newspapers are becoming more and more disgusted with the growing secrecy surrounding school board activities.
This latest action follows a recent appeal by the Corbin Times-Tribune on June 9, 2010 following apparently closed-door discussions that preceded a very controversial announcement to merge two schools in the Knox County Public School System.
As the Courier’s lawyer in the new appeal points out about school board operations, "There is simply no interest, in personal privacy or anything else, that overrides the high public interest in such a position of public trust. In a democracy, school board members are accountable to the citizens they represent. Here, the citizen constituency was kept in complete darkness...."
And, how can voters make intelligent choices if those who manage our education system increasingly snub the law and conduct the public’s business – in private?
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Courier gets it right about secret school board selection
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2 comments:
Right on! Turn the lights on these folks. They have flourished in darkness too long. Jefferson County needs all of its business transparent given their sorry performance in so many schools.
RE: Anonymous Jul 6 at 7:19 PM
Thank you for your comment.
I agree that Jefferson County needs much improvement, and the local school board has tried to play 'secret agent' before.
However, this particular act of secrecy may be more the fault of Frankfort.
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