Typically, school boards are necessary for setting policies, approving budgets and recommendations, serving as communicators to the community, evaluating district officials of the township (such as the superintendent) and more. 

But do we really need a board of people to do this? 

As the education system has evolved, the effectiveness of the school board is questionable. While some people may think that school boards are still necessary, there is a compelling argument that they no longer serve the needs of modern day school districts.

Administration and members of the district office may have great budget ideas or a new policy that they would like to implement to help students’ education, but they have to get school board approval first. After they go through this long process, the school board could just simply not like the idea and shut it down. That is just not the way that it should be. 

Also, to run for the school board, someone does not need any type of experience in education.  

Unlike administrators and district officials who often need a background in education, any person, as long as they are 21 years old, does not currently work for the school district and isn’t a felon, can get onto the school board. 

If people are on the school board without any experience in education, then the board might push for policies that are ineffective. This could include shutting down a new cell phone policy or even not approving the budget that the superintendent or other district officials have spent a very long time working on. 

So what alternatives are there to school boards? School districts could come up with a different governance structure that works better for modern day education and is beneficial to both the students’ and teachers’ needs. 

One idea is to just leave big ideas up to the superintendent and district officials. These people usually have a good amount of experience in the education system, and they understand what is good for the district as a whole. 

Another idea is to propose all of the big ideas to the state. Superintendents could meet with members of the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and propose their ideas and get them approved that way. 

Or maybe some kind of council can be put into place that has educators, parents, students and members of the community sit down and listen to ideas. These people could then provide their look on the district’s ideas, and then the district goes on from that point. 

School boards just aren’t needed in today’s education system. Historically, the school board model has been very important, but now they are not the most effective way to govern modern day education.