Two for the School Board

Possibly because Orange County’s partisan politics are so controversial and free-swinging, the nonpartisan county Board of Education often seems like a Bermuda Triangle of public service. That is a shame because the work of its members is important to both parents and students.

An outstanding example of a hard-working, if nearly anonymous, member is Frances B. Murphy, who has been a board member for eight years and now serves as president.

Murphy is one of six candidates seeking election to two of the board’s five seats on the June 3 ballot. She is the best candidate on the ballot and deserves election as the representative from Trustee Area 2. The other candidate who deserves support is Judy Ackley, who is seeking election in Trustee Area 1, to finish the unexpired term of former board member Sheila Meyers, who moved out of the state.

Murphy, of Garden Grove, is a former teacher, dean and naval officer who now operates a nonprofit foundation that brings European teachers to the United States in a summer cultural exchange program. She has been an active board member, is always well prepared and informed about the issues and is held in high regard by her colleagues. Her experience, ability and leadership should be retained.

Ackley is a professional librarian and teacher’s union director from Santa Ana who has been active in education and in developing and creating new programs and services. That background fits in well with the role of the Board of Education, which provides support services to all of the county’s local school districts in addition to operating six schools for children under county care and confinement.

The work of the county Board of Education may for the most part go unnoticed. But the board needs dedicated members who have ability, energy and interest in getting the job done, rather than in getting credit for it. Frances B. Murphy and Judy Ackley have those qualifications. We urge their election to the county school board.