I
originally sought election to the school board of the community where I
live for many reasons. I grew up there, I spent my entire public
school career in the district, and I care a great deal about its future.
I also have four young children in the school and want to make sure
they get the best education possible. Three years in, I like to think I've been able to do some real good in these respects.
But the experience has also afforded me the opportunity to help play out many of our national debates on a local level. The board routinely decides on issues related to public education, and since education touches so many other matters, we also act on a host of broader topics: debt, taxes and spending, church and state, health care, etc.
I live in Western Pennsylvania, which is a boom area for Marcellus shale and a hotbed for the "fracking" debate. And now, because of the geological quirks that have situated many Pennsylvania school districts upon vast reserves of natural gas, school boards have become "dramatis personæ" in the national debate over energy. Our board recently voted to approve a gas drilling lease that will give us a bonus amounting to about 1.3 percent of our total budget and 18 percent royalties on gross revenues for many years...this while barring all surface activity on our property. To a large majority of board members, this seemed like a reasonable course, all things considered.
But the experience has also afforded me the opportunity to help play out many of our national debates on a local level. The board routinely decides on issues related to public education, and since education touches so many other matters, we also act on a host of broader topics: debt, taxes and spending, church and state, health care, etc.
I live in Western Pennsylvania, which is a boom area for Marcellus shale and a hotbed for the "fracking" debate. And now, because of the geological quirks that have situated many Pennsylvania school districts upon vast reserves of natural gas, school boards have become "dramatis personæ" in the national debate over energy. Our board recently voted to approve a gas drilling lease that will give us a bonus amounting to about 1.3 percent of our total budget and 18 percent royalties on gross revenues for many years...this while barring all surface activity on our property. To a large majority of board members, this seemed like a reasonable course, all things considered.
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