Purest Democracy: Leadership and Citizenship Lessons learned while serving on the Schoolboard

Two-plus decades with American School Board Journal have taught me two things: (1) School board members are an impressive but unsung bunch of public servants who make a vital contribution to public education; and (2) few of them are very good at writing about what they do. Gary Lister exemplifies the first point and is a striking exception to the second. Gary, who is chairman of the Bleckley County School Board in Cochran, Ga., and a change manager for the U.S. Air Force, first came to our attention when he posted a query on the 'School Board of Tomorrow' e-mail list, an online communications network hosted by the National School Boards Association. Gary was compiling a list of '99 reasons to never, ever again run for school board,' and he wanted suggestions. The ideas came rolling in, resulting in a book by the same name published by BookSurge in 2005. What caught our eye here at ASBJ was the sense that each of those 99 reasons represented hard-won real-life experience, couched in a wry humor that marked Gary as an accomplished writer with a readily identifiable 'voice.' Such people are rare, so we snapped Gary up and installed him as a contributing editor. His monthly 'Life on a School Board' columns continue to enliven the pages of ASBJ ... and, we hope, continue to offer an amusing but sincere measure of appreciation and sup-port for those who labor in the often thankless field of public school governance. Sally Banks Zakariya, Former Editor-in-Chief American School Board Journal One of the purest expressions of democracy to-day comes not from strident talk-show hosts or political protests and demonstrations or even Iraqi elections. It comes from publicly elected officials diligently work-ing to govern America's public schools. These well-intentioned amateurs shoulder Herculean tasks as their civic duty. They serve on behalf of their respective communities, most for little or no pay. Offer a word of gratitude next time you encounter one of these pseudo-politicians. Yours may be the only kind word he or she has heard that day. With roots in colonial town hall meetings, where citizens gathered to discuss and decide issues, school boards were created from school committees when school governance and oversight became to large and complex to accomplish effectively in general meet-ings. Members of schools boards are accountable to the public for providing their community's children with a quality education and for being good stewards of tax dollars. Board members encounter their stake-holders everyday - in banks and supermarkets and post offices and gas stations and churches. They spend their lives among the very grassroots that elected them in the first place. They are incredibly close to the elec-torate. And they have a supremely important job. There will be those who will dispute me - per-haps even harshly and vehemently so - but nothing matters more than educating our youngest citizens. Not national security. Not balancing the budget. Not Social Security or Medicare reform. Education alone occupies the top spot, and we've shortchanged it for far too long. An educated populace will elect capable repre-sentatives and provide them with the guidance neces-sary to help them achieve other important national goals such as security, prosperity, and peaceful coexis-tence with neighboring countries. Education is the foundation upon which all other democratic ideals and aspirations rest. We simply must do a better job of education. It's more urgent than freeing the Iraqi people. It's more urgent than sealing our borders with Mexico. It's more urgent that preventing terrorists from bombing our citizens and our national icons. It's more urgent than developing a cure for cancer or a vaccine for the avian flu virus. The long-term survival of all the things we hold most dear is imperiled by our pitiable performance of preparing future leaders to fill their challenging roles. But you can make a difference.