The U.S. Congress seems to have set the bar for high-profile quibbling, quarreling and infighting. Raise your hand if you are the least bit surprised by members of the House or Senate taking their high-stakes partisan politics down the low road.
Disagreements can be expected in government but also anywhere else, too.
Ever tried to get a major project passed by a church committee? It can give new meaning to the phrase “praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.”
Any time two people in decision-making roles get together, there is the possibility of discord.
That said, it is disheartening to watch certain government venues — a school board meeting, for instance — become shouting matches.
At last Thursday’s regular monthly meeting of the East Tallahatchie School District Board of Trustees, the air was thick with tension. It was not surprising, because three members of the five-member body had attempted a coup at a special called board meeting on Jan. 24 that, had it proved successful, would have shaken up the leadership of not only the school board, but the school district.
As it turns out, apparently — though we have not learned of a definitive public pronouncement — the effort failed due to an unmet legal requirement governing the verbiage of a posted public notice announcing the special called meeting.
Coming on the heels of that effort, some people on both sides of the aisle probably arrived at last week’s Feb. 13 meeting fit to be tied. Soon, emotions boiled over. There was finger-pointing, name-calling, voice-raising and general chaos at times.
We are not assigning blame; we are voicing disappointment that the governing body and leadership of Charleston’s failing school district seem to be crossing swords and locking horns so vehemently at a very critical time in this district’s history.
Because the district has been rated F by the state for two straight years, the Mississippi Department of Education can swoop in at any time and wrest control of decision-making and day-to-day operations from our elected board members and appointed superintendent. We have heard some board members in both camps say about a state takeover, “If that’s what it takes, so be it.” Really?
The teachers and students of the district who are working hard in the classroom deserve better. They deserve school leaders who will find a way to work together honestly, sincerely, selflessly, decently, with no personal or hidden agenda — no agenda other than that of helping the school district succeed.
People are going to disagree, but they do not have to be so disagreeable about it.
