Home Rule

Senator Vasconcellos - Thank you placing the issue of  "home rule" in the dialogue.  The issue deals directly with the involvement and power of a community in the process of education.  One of the objectives of the Governance Working Group was to consider not only the role of the state and intermediate levels but also the role of a community in delivering the product of education- teaching kids. This idea assumes that there is a domain of power for carrying out this responsibility. Otherwise we might just as well have a state school district. So the working group attempted to figure out how to get a discussion started about how to give school districts not just an assignment of responsibility but also the power to carry it out. 

The notion of a local domain of power stems from an important premise: FIRST the state must establish areas of statewide interest. The clearest example of statewide interest is that all children have equal assess to education. The statewide interest must be stated clearly so that the domain of the state is known and understood by state, local officials, PTAs, teachers and parents. The statewide interest can be expressed in the state constitution as well as statute. 

The "home rule" domain can be identified as "what's left" after the state has expressed its interest. The difficulty in all this is that the state is interested in everything and when all is said and done they're maybe little left in the "home rule" domain. This domain should be inhabited by the community in which the school district exists so that teachers, parents civic minded citizens can be involved in the education process The objective of this recommendation is to begin a dialogue about "what's left." The concept of having some amount of community power assumes a state interest in involving the community served by the school district. Having the voters participate in aspects of education for which they are responsible might better connect citizens with the education side of their local government. Some would argue that school districts are not simply agents of the state. They are also local governments that have been established by local communities. 

Two examples might help. 

First, let's assume that the state expresses its interest by requiring that every student have a clean and safe classroom. To accomplish the state assigns to local communities the responsibility to carry out the task. The community, the place where children and families live is given the responsibility to carry out the state interest. This may mean that school district officials are forced to collaborate with parents, neighborhood activists, citizen groups, city officials and others to provide school facilities as part of the fabric that makes up the community. There is no reason why the state must play as large a role in school construction that it does. The construction physics that goes into the construction of a school is the same as an office building or a home. So why not consider giving a "domain" of power to local communities after the state establishes its expectation that every child deserves a clean safe classroom. Then, give the responsibility to the community plan, finance, build and operate the school building. This will require some form of state assistance recognizing that some communities have more "capacity" to finance their school classroom needs than others. 

A second example is the financial contribution that a community contributes to its education system. This example is more difficult since there is limited authority for school districts to levy taxes. Basically school districts are limited to a parcel tax and it requires a two-thirds vote of the voters of the district. The issue is not whether the voters should participate in matters of taxation; they answered that question some time ago. The issue is the type of tax that should be available to school districts, the manner in which it is levied. The local share of school finance might be a place to begin a discussion of "home rule."

A note of caution on the issue of "assigning" a power and duty to school districts. It may be time to get passed the "state mandated local program" issue that was brought to this debate in the early 1970s in a statute and put into the constitution in 1979. It provides that state mandated local programs must carry with them funding by the state. If we are interested in a new system of identifying state as well as community responsibility and if there is a domain of local power then communities would share in the financing of these responsibilities.