Dec. 19, 2007 — Teachers and parents Wednesday suggested making a stronger board of education part of a V.I. constitution at a hearing of the Fifth Constitutional Convention's standing committee on education, youth and culture in Frederiksted.
No votes were taken at what was the first committee hearing of the Constitutional Convention. The discussion ranged over wide aspects of education, from the role of cultural education to fundamental changes in the structure of the education system.
"I would hope to find some way of holding the Department of Education accountable for the upkeep and repair of the classrooms," said Linnea Hector, president of the John H. Woodson Junior High Parent and Teacher Association." I think you should somehow see how we can improve the Board of Education … to have them have more of an input."
Tyrone Molyneux, president of the St. Croix Federation of Teachers, agreed.
"As we speak today, there is pretty much confusion when it comes to where the power is," he said. "Is it with the Board of Education or with the Department of Education? … I would like to see a school board with more powers to hold the system accountable."
Committee chairwoman Mary Moorhead asked what specific changes the two would recommend.
"Politics in education is the problem," Molyneux said. Though the governor may appoint the Education commissioner, the commissioner's subordinates are also appointed by the governor, so they don't necessarily answer to the commissioner, he said.
"To fix that, maybe an independent group such as the Board of Education could appoint the commissioner, and the board would hold that person responsible," he said.
Hector agreed.
"Yes, the board should be more responsible," she said. "The board should have more autonomy in the sense of responsibility for lobbying for money from the Legislature, being responsible for where the money is spent, making policies, seeing that each school is implementing those guidelines. The schools would be accountable to the board, and if the board is not meeting its goals, it would be accountable to the people in an election."
Filling such a role would require a more professional, full-time board, Molyneux said.
On higher education, Molyneux said he believed some level of free, post-secondary education would have great social benefits.
"I don't think young people who are educated, with degrees, are going to be running around trying to rob you and break into your home," he said. "And businesses looking at locating in the territory will be looking at what kind of education there is here."
He went on to suggest offering free education at the University of the Virgin Islands, conditional on working in the territory after graduation.
"What would be the selection criteria for who we say can have access to this?" asked delegate Michael Thurland. "Are we talking about Virgin Islander rights?"
Molyneux suggested using public-school attendance as the criteria might be a way to address the question.
"Attending public school from 9th to 12th grade — that could be your starting point as to who could be eligible," he said, adding, "When people say residency or native rights, this might be a back route to the same thing."
Robert Merwin of the St. Croix Landmarks Society testified about the cultural resources that group has, suggesting public-private partnerships between the Landmarks Society, UVI and public and private schools.
"The Landmarks Society museum and library are very valuable resources for education," he said. "Since Whim and the rest of the site are government property, we recommend a 50-50 partnership, with the government funding up to $300,000 annually to help staffing and maintenance of the historic building."
Whim Greathouse, the museum and library should all be incorporated into the educational system and free for all students, he said.
Asked what he recommended regarding education more generally, Merwin said he would support a voucher program.
"If a student hast the ability to advance and needs a better education than public education can afford, they should be able to go to private school under the voucher system," he said. "I don’t think all of our schools are providing a good education, and the dropout rate of our youth, particularly our males, is disgraceful."
Molyneux disagreed.
"The union will have a problem if you are going to take money away from the public schools and give it to private ventures, and we make no apologies for that," he said.
Moorhead's education committee is meeting on St. Thomas Thursday. It will consider whether to keep or modify the educational provisions from the unratified constitution written by the Fourth Constitutional Convention in l980. Those provisions require a system of public elementary, secondary and higher education "which embodies the principle of essential human equality and includes programs that respond to the needs, interests and abilities of its people." To see the full text of that document, click here.
Additionally, the website itsourfuture.vi has excerpts and links to the full text of the relevant laws and much more information.
There have been four previous constitutional conventions. For a detailed history of previous conventions and extensive background information on the subject, see "V.I. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS: BACKGROUND."
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