School board members are guardians of the public trust and, through the policies they make, are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of local public education. The board serves as the advocate for educational excellence for the community's youth and puts those interest first. The policies school boards make dictate the standards and philosophy by which schools are run and the criteria used to judge whether they are being run well.
This responsibility often entails difficult choices, self-sacrifice and exposure to public criticism. However, it also brings a great deal of personal satisfaction in sharing with parents, staff and students their academic successes. This crucial responsibility and the closeness of board members to the voters make the local board of education the purest example of democracy our society presents.
