Howard's school board members are lay people, taking their first stab at politics at a time when accountability in public education is increasingly demanded. In addition, they are scrutinized by active, informed parents accustomed to speaking out or firing off e-mail at work. The board will always be subject to criticism. But board members say not only are their policies being questioned, but their motives and commitment to students are as well. A couple acknowledge that constant, blistering attacks might influence the way they react to others who criticize their policies but not their integrity.
Board members insist that they have always listened.
They spend hours considering districting appeals, case by case. They have put funds in the budget for new schools when parents complained about crowding. They welcome phone calls at home. Yet their contentions about not being defensive sometimes sound self-consciously defensive. During a candidates forum, Bounds said he is against building an elementary school near the New Cut landfill, a site also opposed by many parents.