In Board Of Ed’s Math, 7=8

(Opinion) New Haven education has officially become a banana republic. According to New Haven Board of Education math, 7 equals 8. The ​“new” math has been raised by the powers-that-be in office, and now the conspiracy is almost complete.

Garth Harries, the superintendent for New Haven schools, and Mayor Toni Harp have officially proposed that the city government and the Board of Education (BOE) ignore the City Charter and the will of the voters of New Haven, and seat eight members to the BOE, instead of the seven as dictated by the Charter. They have suggested that we ​“liberally” interpret the charter to read the larger number, since unfortunately they happen to have one extra member. They want for us to ignore the charter since it inconvenient. (Click here and here to read news coverage of that story.)

Two years ago, the citizens of New Haven voted to reform the BOE by changing our City Charter, which is essentially our local constitution. The question for the voters was clear and unambiguous: ​“Shall the Charter be revised to establish a seven member Board of Education comprised of the Mayor, four members appointed by the Mayor and two members elected by two districts, supplemented by two non voting student representatives?” This change was to be effective on January 1, 2016, and received an overwhelming vote of confidence by 82 percent of the voters, receiving 12,556 votes. During that same election, Mayor Toni Harp won election with 11,262 votes. Clearly the voters have an appetite for change.

How did we get here?

Well, the mayor’s administration claims that the Board of Alders (BOA) apparently did not draft language for charter reform removing enough board members. The charter transition language removed two instead of three members on December 31, 2015. But members of the BOA dispute that assertion, calling attention to the fact that the mayor deliberately made an appointment this past September while her staff were well aware that the appointment would oversize the BOE three months later.

So now the BOE leaders, Harp and Harries, want the BOE to vote on a resolution to temporarily change their rules to add another member.

What’s wrong with this proposal? First, it is bad governance to make that sort of change based on bad planning, especially since it will not make a difference since the charter supersedes their bylaws. Worse, though, is the idea that these two leaders would ask the BOE to vote on a proposal to save their political hides, instead of making the tough and correct decision themselves. This sort of self-dealing is repulsive and does not belong in the system whose first focus should be educating our populous.

What are we trying to teach them: How to break the rules?

Having an extra member on the BOE contrary to the charter could put every decision we make in jeopardy. If my pay raise were not approved or if I were a losing contractor, I would immediately go to court to invalidate the decision. The same for decisions that that end up with a tie vote. And next year when two members’ terms expire and the mayor decides she cannot make a decision as to who to keep, well, why not keep both, since we have ignored the charter the past year anyhow? The worse decision possible would be to break the law to avoid making a tough decision.

So what is the solution? It seems fairly simple to me: rescind one of the mayoral appointments.

Who that is and how she decides whom to choose is her decision to make. The mayor asked for and received the top leadership positions in the city (mayor) and on the BOE (president); it is time for her to show some leadership.

Suggesting that we just ignore our charter is not good governance. Contrary to what some of her staff has implied, she does have the power to remove commission members before their terms expire. Article II, Section 15.b and Title II, Article II Section 20 (5) of the charter both state that the mayor may remove any appointee if ​“the requirements of the public service demand said appointees’ removal.” Clearly, having one more member than the charter allows fits this removal qualification.

If we are going to ensure the citizens confidence in our leadership to make serious and substantial positive changes to the state of education in New Haven, we cannot and should not begin that process in 2016 by trying to pull the wool over their eyes over such an irrelevant issue. Let’s say no to banana republic governance.

Darnell Goldson is a member-elect of the Board of Education.