For too long, parents, educators, and members of the public have watched how the revolving door between school boards and the schools themselves work to benefit former board members. A bill introduced by Rep. Beverly Pingerelli hopes to end the process both board members and school administrators have exploited, often to the detriment of the taxpayers and students.
Pingerelli’s bill, HB 2459, “stipulates a school district may not employ a person who served on the school district’s governing board (governing board) during the preceding two years.”
Pingerelli, who is a former member of the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board, had given the bill quite a bit of consideration before introducing it, believing it to be a matter of ethics.
“When a governing board member resigns or leaves his or her public office, this bill requires a two-year “cooling-off” before they can directly work for the district in which they served as an elected official,” Pingerelli told the Arizona Daily Independent.
“Since governing board members vote on significant financial decisions such as compensation, benefits and contracts — it is not a “best practice” for a governing board member to resign or leave office and then immediately seek the benefits based on their vote – particularly if there is a divided vote,” explained Pingerelli.
“I believe there have been examples where this has occurred — and it raises concerns with the community and as a result diminishes trust. I’ve always said, once trust is lost it is significantly harder to regain,” concluded Pingerelli. “I believe this establishes a good ethics practice.”
Although Pingerelli did not cite an example, stakeholders of West-MEC (Western Maricopa Education Center) were outraged in August 2021 when former board member Charlie Ellis voted against leaving the Arizona School Board Association (ASBA) before promptly announcing both his resignation from the Board and his new position with the school.
The school’s administration was adamantly opposed to leaving the ASBA despite the fact that its parent organization, the National School Board Association had labeled parents “domestic terrorists” and sicced the FBI on them.
Critics say that school board members too often either represent the administrators or teacher union members, and parents, taxpayers, and other stakeholders are left out in the cold. They say the revolving door rewards board members who do the bidding of the school administrators instead of school or surrounding communities.
“I commend Rep. Pingerelli,” said former Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas. “HB2459 is a piece of legislation which is long overdue. It is bad enough should a board member take a position with the district as soon as, or shortly after, his or her term ends. But for a board member to walk out on his commitment to his constituents’ mid-term to immediately take a position with the district he was elected to oversee on their behalf is unconscionable in my opinion.”