We’ll get to the above question in a bit. But first, this week The National School Boards Association sent a letter to Joe Biden. Here’s an excerpt:

Dear Mr. President:

America’s public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat. The National School Boards Association (NSBA) respectfully asks for federal law enforcement and other assistance to deal with the growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation occurring across the nation. Local school board members want to hear from their communities on important issues and  that must be at the forefront of good school board governance and promotion of free speech. However, there also must be safeguards in place to protect public schools and dedicated education leaders as they do their jobs.

As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.

What an absurd suggestion. Yes there have been some ugly instances at school board meetings lately. But to label angry, passionate taxpaying parents as domestic terrorists is ludicrous, especially coming from so-called ‘educated’ individuals.

Out of all the local units of government (city, town, village, county) the one with elected members the least willing to do or accomplish anything is a school board. Primarily they’re along for the ride, to play footsy with the superintendent and rubber stamp anything he/she wants.

In Wisconsin next week, October 3-9 is Wisconsin School Board Week. The Wisconsin Association of School Boards says, “This special week is a time to build awareness and understanding of the vital function an elected board of education plays in our communities. We encourage public school districts across the state to celebrate Wisconsin School Board Week and honor local school boards for their commitment to their communities and students.”

I make no apologies. No way in Hell will I be celebrating.

Honor local school boards? Why give these mutual admiration societies the slightest tap on the back? They do plenty of that on their own.

I’ve lived in Franklin for more than 29 years. I have yet to find a school board here or any board in our area that’s worth a damn. This year’s board in Franklin is the worst I’ve seen, tone deaf and tyrannical. This board has consistently ignored the cries of concerned parents and has gone so far as to implement censoring rules for speakers at board meetings.

My blogging practice since I started has been to never solicit public comments. If people want to weigh in they know what to do. But now we’ll make a rare exception.

So, since I flat out refuse to heap any praise on a weak, ineffective school board I ask you what is the single biggest problem with the current edition?

Unfortunately there are many responses that could accurately answer the question. I do have one specific opinion in mind. Please let me know yours and sometime next week I’ll do a follow-up.

Thanks for participating.