Appointing the School Chief

The poll ordered by the Orange County Department of Education asking residents whether they wanted the county superintendent of schools post to be appointive rather than elective indicated that most people want to retain the election procedure. That’s not surprising.

When a post is elective the historic tendency is to let it remain that way. So the survey’s result was predictable. And although we share the general attitude about the importance of the election of officials, there are certain posts in certain circumstances that would, if filled by appointment rather than election, better serve the public. The county superintendent of schools is one of them.

The fact that people responding to the poll were doing so on feelings rather than facts was borne out by the results, which showed that only 42% of those surveyed had ever even heard of the existence of a county superintendent of schools. And only one in 20 of those who had known his name. The survey also found that few people knew who was responsible for the quality of education and how educational policy was set. Some thought that city mayors had a hand in managing the schools. Others thought it was the county Board of Supervisors.

In fact, the county Department of Education, like local school districts, is governed by an elected board. Unlike local districts, however, where the elected board sets policy and hires a professional educator to carry it out, the county superintendent is elected, taking the decision out of the board’s hands.

Rather than providing double insurance that voters’ wishes will be carried out, the elected board-elected superintendent arrangement creates the potential for policy conflict. And by making the selection a political contest, the procedure prevents the recruitment and hiring of the best qualified professional educator-administrator available.

We believe that the elected school board gives residents the representation they need and that there is more to be gained than lost in making the superintendent’s post appointive. Last year’s Orange County Grand Jury held the same opinion when it recommended that a blue-ribbon commission analyze the merits of making the job appointive.

That’s the way it’s done in all the local school districts in Orange County and in most major counties throughout the state, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco and Santa Clara. That’s the way it ought to be done in Orange County, too.