Who wants these jobs? This year has proven that being a school board member is truly thankless. | Michael Smerconish
There have been reports of school board members resigning all across the country due to abuse. What worries CNN host Michael Smerconish is the void created — and who fills it.
Are you willing to serve on a local school board? Before you answer, look at some of the stories about recent events at school boards across the country.
The issue hits home with me because my public high school’s auditorium was recently the scene of such a contentious meeting. I read about it in the Bucks County Herald.
The meeting had to move to the auditorium at Central Bucks High School West, because so many people had shown up to discuss masks. The chief medical officer and the CEO for Doylestown Health were there to educate the community and board members about COVID-19 transmission. But when the medical officer spoke, some attendees screamed “lies” and hooted him down.
That night, board members voted on whether to require masks in this public school system (they voted yes), and afterward, school board member John Gamble resigned, saying, “I’m done with the bullying, effective tonight.” Gamble said that he’d received death threats and that he and his wife needed police protection.
Who could blame him for resigning? You take a thankless, after-hours job for little or no pay in an effort to be involved in your community and are rewarded with stalking and death threats? No thanks.
And Gamble’s not alone. There have been many reports of school board members resigning all across the country.
What worries me is the void created, and who will fill it?
Probably the kooks – the most extreme among us. The type who would go to a public meeting and make threatening comments. The crisis on our nation’s school boards is the latest example of our public discourse being led by the loudest voices.
» READ MORE: School board meetings turn tense with debates over critical race theory and masking
It’s no wonder then that Attorney General Merrick Garland is getting involved. Last week, he asked the FBI and U.S. attorneys to combat a spike in harassment, intimidation, and violent threats targeting local school boards.
His office released a statement saying:
“While spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution, that protection does not extend to threats of violence or efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views. ... Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation’s core values. ... Those who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring that our children receive a proper education in a safe environment deserve to be able to do their work without fear for their safety.”
Of course, this well-intentioned sentiment is being misinterpreted. For example, Sen. Josh Hawley asked this of a Department of Justice official who was defending the new policy:
“Let me ask you this: Is parents waiting sometimes for hours to speak at a local school board meeting to express concerns about critical race theory or the masking of their students, particularly young children, is that, in and of itself, is that harassment and intimidation?”
The answer is, of course not, but harassment and intimidation is happening and it is harming communities. It looks like emails like this, sent to the board chair in Sarasota, Fla.:
“You don’t get to take those decisions and if you try you won’t like the outcome, I can promise you that,” read one message that was punctuated with an expletive.
“Parents are going to kick down the door and drag you out by your hair.”
Instability on school boards means that the important decisions that impact our kids’ lives are being delayed or disrupted. We rely on these public servants to champion what our students need, especially in these heady days of in-person learning during a pandemic. When school board members feel forced to resign, the consequence is that students suffer.
Most of the unruliness that’s taking place in school board meetings across the country is by people who have been whipped into a frenzy over masks and vaccination by the same media outlets who now tell us Garland wants to criminalize the town square, despite his statement recognizing “spirited debate.”
School board members surely know before volunteering for the job that if you are going to serve in the public arena, your face will be marred by dust and sweat — but it shouldn’t be marred by blood.
The temperature is too hot on our nation’s school boards. The climate is too dangerous. It is time to take a deep breath and remember what the ultimate goal of every school board in America should be: educating our children so that their tomorrows will be better than our todays.
Michael Smerconish is the host of the weekly Saturday TV program on CNN fittingly called “Smerconish.” He is also the host of The Michael Smerconish Program on SiriusXM, an author, and a public speaker.