Under the leadership of the TSBA President, Renea Jones-Rogers, the Tennessee School Boards Association on Thursday launched a statewide campaign to increase awareness of the importance of local control of public schools.
The campaign,
Local Schools, Local Decisions, will place emphasis on the importance of keeping public education from becoming a tool of any single group or person. The campaign will also focus on maintaining the collective belief that public education exists to serve all people equally. Historically, communities have supported local, lay school boards to make certain that local schools serve the community effectively and equally.
“Creativity and innovation have stimulated a record of success, not burdensome government regulations, paperwork and mandates,” said NSBA Executive Director Thomas Gentzel. “Despite the vastly different environment in which the education system now operates, a lesson learned nearly two centuries ago still applies: Schools are community assets, and their leadership is best entrusted to elected school boards who are directly accountable to the people they serve.”
During the coming year, the
Local Schools, Local Decisions campaign will focus on providing local school boards with the tools and resources needed to begin a dialogue about keeping the control of public education within the community. The campaign seeks to enlist the support of community members from across this great state to ensure that the future of public education remains in the hands of the community which it serves.
Local school boards keep the public in charge of public schools. In any given county, city or special school district, the local board of education is the “voice of the people.” To keep that voice strong we must continue to advocate for
Local Schools, Local Decisions.
For additional information or to provide campaign sponsorship, contact Lindsay Campbell at lcampbell@tsba.net.