opinion

Will Pinkston: Tennessean column lacks heart, critical thinking

Re: "Metro school board is broken," by Frank Daniels III, Oct. 17.

When I covered business and government for The Tennessean in the 1990s, the newspaper encouraged critical thinking among its writers. In that era, following the great John Seigenthaler, the Tennessean still had a heart — especially on the opinion pages.

Unfortunately, both critical thinking and heart seem to be in short supply these days. Frank Daniels III' column attacking the elected Nashville school board, including me, is a good example.

I won't attempt to rebut the litany of half-truths and inaccuracies that Daniels laid out in a 1,200-word treatise. His basic argument: Individual school board members should not express opinions, meet with constituents or attempt to educate ourselves about the issues of the day.

In Daniels' warped view of public service, I shouldn't have accepted an invitation to meet with Metro Nashville Public Schools bus drivers to hear their concerns about low wages and poor working conditions. He claims I violated the school board's corporate governance model by speaking directly with MNPS employees.

The facts are: Many of these hard-working bus drivers are working two and three jobs just to put food in the table. Some of them are my constituents. I've got a heart and I'm not going to ignore people who are hurting.

At issue: The never-ending balancing act of elected school board members. On the one hand, we represent our constituents. On the other hand, we’re supposed to adhere to corporate-style "policy governance" rules designed to keep us out of the weeds.

Policy governance wisely prohibits board members from interfering in areas such as personnel decisions, curriculum selection and contracts. Yet at the same time, it stifles our ability to effectively represent parents, students, citizens and taxpayers.

For example, a little-known provision actually forbids us from expressing "individual negative judgments" about the school system. This clause is contrary to good government, and its practical effect is to silence the voices of Nashville's voters.

Despite its flaws, policy governance outlines a compelling job description: "The job of the board is to represent the citizens and to lead the organization by determining and demanding appropriate and excellent organizational performance."

Personally, I believe speaking out on behalf of MNPS bus drivers — who, as one of my board colleagues pointed out, "carry our most precious cargo" — is part of my job description. Daniels disagrees. Maybe he should spend a month trying to support a family on $13.09 an hour, the starting wage for MNPS bus drivers.

Under strict adherence to policy governance, individual school board members technically shouldn’t do lots of things. But I'm glad we're thinking critically, when necessary.

More of us are demanding adequate state funding for schools. We're pressing to improve educational services for young new Americans and close achievement gaps for all kids.

We're talking about how to ensure that every student can read at grade level by the end of third grade, which is the most important thing we can do in public education. We're pushing for more wraparound services like health screenings for low-income students and families.

And yes, we're talking about helping bus drivers and other support personnel.

At the end of the day, good school board service really just boils down to common sense. Board members need to cast our votes as we see fit — and make our voices heard as our constituents demand.

Looking ahead: When students and parents ask for my help resolving school zoning snafus, I will help them. When teachers ask for my help improving working conditions, I will help them. And when bus drivers and other employees reach out with problems, I will help them.

I still believe in the critical thinking — and the heart — that The Tennessean taught me two decades ago. I was elected to the school board to serve voters, not a binder full of corporate policies.

And if Frank Daniels doesn't like it, that's just too damn bad.

Will Pinkston represents South Nashville on the Nashville school board.