Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Orr has proposed a sensible and needed reform in the way North Carolina approaches education, but it probably won't get anywhere. Orr's basic plan is to have the governor appoint the superintendent of public instruction, a position that is now elected. The appointed superintendent would then assume much of the authority and responsibility of the State Board of Education. There's a longer explanation of Orr's proposal on his Web site.
The problem is that responsibility for education in North Carolina is widely dispersed, and when everyone's in charge, nobody's in charge. Orr's plan is to put the onus on the governor, making him responsible for what happens with education. As it is now, it's hard to know whether the superintendent, the governor or the state board is responsible for what goes on in North Carolina's public schools.
Orr's plan also shortens North Carolina's ridiculously long ballot. Why do we elect a state agriculture commissioner, a state school superintendent, a state insurance commissioner, a state commissioner of labor and a state treasurer? These offices are appointed in most states and at the federal level. Most voters have little knowledge of who the candidates are or what the office is responsible for.
Nevertheless, the notion that people will be denied the right to vote for these positions is one of the obstacles to Orr's proposal. Another obstacle is the fact that Orr is a Republican in a state where state government is controlled by Democrats.
But Orr's proposal makes sense, and it's a refreshing, substantive change from the vagaries and non-issues that tend to dominate state races.