Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Jenny D is carnival host
The weekly compilation of the week’s best education blogging known as the Carnival of Education is being hosted this week by one of my favorite ed bloggers, education graduate student Jenny D. Check it out.
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Politics and dividing lines
Wow. I suppose the Dayton school board’s first meeting of 2006 could have been more rocky. But not much more.
Just minutes after taking the oath of office, new school board member Joe Lacey demanded an explanation from board president Gail Littlejohn before the board proceed with a vote to decide if she would return for a fifth term as school board president.
After an awkward exchange, Littlejohn was unanimously picked for president and the moment passed. But the undercurrent was plain to anyone watching — the extraordinarily smooth four-year ride for the school board will be headed into choppier water.
And that may take some getting used to for Littlejohn.
The tone was set right from the start when Littlejohn’s husband, Judge Bill Littlejohn, swore her in along with two allies. Noticeably missing was Lacey, who was sworn in by Treasurer Stan Lucas in a separate ceremony first. The four never even posed for a joint picture. It was Lacey and Lucas in one photo, Littlejohn’s crew with the judge in the other.
Four years ago, Gail and three allies won a majority of the seven school board seats. They quickly reached out to the remaining three board members, some of whom had hard feelings after a rough campaign. It worked. The board mostly acted as a unanimous body, pushing Littlejohn’s reform agenda. It’s rare to see any school board work as cohesively as Dayton’s did since 2002. ANY no votes were rare.
But with Lacey defeating one of Littlejohn’s close allies the politics have really changed.
Littlejohn no longer holds an iron clad four-vote majority. While board members Clayton Luckie and Mario Gallin have generally gone along with her program, they are not slam dunks when it comes to voting time. Lee Massoud, who replaced Tony Hill in August, also seems on board with Littlejohn’s views, but has been very low key and is still something of an unknown quantity.
Lacey is strongly politically aligned, while Littlejohn has preached that the school board should remain non-partisan. He has the support of the teachers’ union, which has sparred with Littlejohn and drawn her ire. And he challenged Littlejohn’s agenda during the campaign. Now he’s made it clear from the opening bell that he is not afraid to mix it up with her.
It will be interesting to see whether things improve or deteriorate from here.
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