Editorial: Boards squelch dissent, distort record when they pressure for unanimity
There is order. And then there's order.
The good people who have been elected to the school board in Palatine Township Elementary District 15 believe in order. They permit themselves their disagreements, certainly, but at the end of the day the board must speak with one voice. And so, after the discussion on a topic is over and a vote is to be taken, the losers are expected to swallow hard and vote with everybody else. One voice.
District 15 isn't alone in the idea that no one member is bigger than the system. Boards with histories of fractious member relations, self-serving grandstanding or even backstabbing understandably fear the wasted time and injured feelings a divided board can harbor.
Still, we'd like to try to persuade them — and the others — that a lack of individual accountability is too steep a price to pay for public harmony.
Votes matter. Having an honest record matters. A board member who votes “no” isn't saying he or she refuses to cooperate, but instead says, “I disagree. I'm on the record as disagreeing, but the majority has ruled. Let's move on.”
A vote is an individual member's last word on the subject and a historical record. It represents the study and the debate he or she has put into an issue.
A corporate board may want unanimity in order to display a solid front to its shareholders and employees, but democratic institutions aren't on the stock exchange.
Most school board members are not professional educators. They are civilians tasked with representing a diverse public. A well-run board is to everyone's benefit, but one that prizes unity over a free exchange of ideas is doomed to lose touch with the parents and taxpayers they are honor-bound to represent.
When Manjula Sriram quit the District 15 board on Nov. 24, she complained there isn't enough room for dissension. Her departure is disappointing as it will be much harder for her to influence change from the outside, should change be necessary.
To some degree, it comes down to trust.
Trust that members can have impassioned debates about important issues without being ostracized. Trust that at the end of the day a member whose opinion did not carry the day will support the decision anyway and to the best of his or her ability help make it successful.
Votes on policy are part of how the public judges the performance of its elected representatives. Ninety-eight out of 100 votes may be routine, but being willing to stand alone against the majority on one or two issues will encourage more independent thinking — and whether you are right or wrong is secondary.
We think the voting public knows the difference.