A Purpose Too Noble

So now that we are serving on the school board, the purpose of adequately running the schools under our charge takes on an eerie sense of higher duty.  Seeing things from the inside, our purpose is elevated to something we believe to be above common man understanding.  It is never stated as such, but comments amongst ourselves send signals.

We try to do the right things, the necessary things, but the public seems to just get in the way.

A very dangerous arrogance grows around the fact that we understand the divine purpose of education and the public is to give us money to fund that activity at a level we determine adequate.  We are educated in the art and science of managing an education institution either by the classes we take at the conventions, being privy to inside information, or by the mere fact that we were elected.

This belief or attitude invades our approach to money.  Since our purpose is noble and our specialized knowledge unique, we understand the need for an unspecified amount of money that grows with every new regulation, every new teaching method, every new text book revision, new art class, specialized grass seed, food trend, bus safety feature, city ordinance, every new sport, band uniform, AV equipment, student trip, architectural technology, football jersey, and board retreat.

Sometimes the government greed for that money comes very near to crossing the line of what is allowed by law and we know it.  Abusing the tort immunity fund and adding kids to the free and reduced food program are just a couple of ways of getting more money from the public without their consent.  Placing the kids up as pawns and hostages to get referendums passed is another.  The threat of eliminating sports is always effective.  The threat of eliminating academic classes never works.

We are not consciously involved in any deception or fraud, it is all justifiable.  We were elected so we are deemed by the community to be something much greater than what we actually are. We now consider ourselves the elite political class at the lowest level of aspiration.

We become the mastermind.  We are driven by our boundless conceit and these delusional aspirations.  We alone are uniquely qualified to carry out the divine nobility of education.  If only the public would understand.  Our own visions of what is best is bestowed upon us to disseminate to the public.

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Certainly a human nature trap.  Not everybody that serves on a local government board falls into this trap, but I would imagine that the ones who do, seek and achieve higher office.