Don't Let Them Out of Your Sight for a Second Kit-Bacon Gressitt The Clearinghouse of San Diego County San Diego, California This article describes the hows and whys of developing and maintaining an effective regional school board watchdog system Did you really think, even for a minute, everything would be okay with someone else in charge? Casting your vote is not the last thing on your list of civic chores; it's the first. Once folks are elected, they bear watching, or they'll wander out into political traffic. In San Diego County, California, the need to watchdog elected representatives became critical in 1990 when a slew of right-wing radical candidates washed into office like a rogue wave. In the aftermath, an eclectic coalition of grassroots organizations, The Clearinghouse, coalesced around the goal of developing a strategic response to these political newcomers. The intent : prevent a second migration. The article "There is No Rain Without Thunder" describes the creation of the coalition and its comprehensive voter guide. The second part of this group's efforts was the development of a county-wide school board watchdog system. The purpose of the system is two-fold: it complements the research necessary to compile an accurate voter guide; and it facilitates an immediate call to action when school board agenda items so demand. When successfully established, a watchdog system allows activists throughout a county, or in an individual school district, to be alerted to a critical discussion or decision planned by a school board. This, in turn, allows mainstream activists to be directly involved in the process and effect its outcome. Like it or not -- and despite the law -- guests are not always welcomed at public meetings with open arms . Love Your Volunteers Volunteers are the key ingredient to a watchdog system. The more organizations in your coalition, the more volunteers you'll have available.. Create a data base of watchdog volunteers, their school districts, and schedules and locations of their meetings. Always have more than one volunteer to cover each district, particularly those that meet weekly, so volunteers can trade off. You'll need a form for volunteers to report on meetings, a method for reporting, and a list of issues to watch (see the sample watchdog guidelines at the end of this article). Your coalition must decide which issues you want to track. Be sure to alert volunteers to the myriad of euphemisms used to bury a polemic in an agenda. It is not uncommon to find the most sizzling of issues disguised in brown paper language. Watchdog volunteers should also be alert to speakers appearing at school board meetings. They often reveal new volunteers, or potential right-wing candidates. Encourage watchdoggers to take down names in either category and send them on to your coalition's researchers. The watchdoggers are in a good position to be charged with clipping articles about the school board they watch. These, too, should go to your researchers. One Ringy-Dingy A well organized phone tree of activists is one of the most powerful tools of a grassroots organization. In a watchdog system, it's your life line. The phone tree should be activated when an agenda item demands public attendance at a school board meeting, when letters should be written to a board or newspapers, or whenever you need a mass intervention to a pending board action. Often you'll have to move swiftly to effect a decision. Having a phone tree of volunteers who you know will take immediate action will make your coalition the most effective advocacy force in town. Watchdoggers should know how and by whom decisions are made to activate the phone tree. Their first-hand knowledge of board members and their agendas will be the primary factors in the decisions, so it's important that they understand the criteria for using the tree. Try testing the phone tree once before you need it -- to iron out the glitches. Ideally, the coalition list will comprise the first few branches of the tree, and each member organization will then implement its own tree as it sees fit. A watchdog system needs lots of nurturing. Create occasional opportunities for volunteers to gather and stroke each other. It can be awfully lonely out there in sometimes hostile territory. If you need a nudge, feel free to call The Clearinghouse at (619) 728-4956. ClearingHouse School Board Watchdog Guidelines PURPOSE The purpose of watchdogging school boards is to allow a community's mainstream to be alerted to the influence of right wing radicals in our school systems, so that the majority's moderate, more inclusive values may be promoted and protected from extremism. Identifying problems as they originate -- and potential community leaders who can respond effectively to them -- will help guard against erosion of democratic principles at the local level. METHODS Volunteers will be identified in each school district. They will be oriented to the purpose and process of watchdogging, and will collectively perform the following tasks: add name(s) to agenda mailing list review agendas for hot issues (see list below) attend board meetings regularly track progress of agenda items through process alert the phone tree when necessary identify potential candidates, activists, and extremists clip letters to the editor and articles pertaining to the local district and copy to central file HOT ISSUES TO WATCH 1. any religious observance at any school district function 2. school-based clinics 3. confidential access to off-campus services, social services referral lists 4. gender equity: budget items that distinguish between genders consideration of gender in access to programs such as sports, honors programs, awards, etc. 5. sexual harassment 6. religious curriculum materials, dogma, indoctrination, or propoganda pay particular attention to science and humanities curricula 7. review of curriculum materials, literature, library books, etc., with an eye to censorship 8. sex education, family life curricula, values-based education, morals education 9. parental permission for anything 10 . policies for guest speakers, assemblies, etc. 11. school vouchers 12. non-education related issues on board agenda 13. board micromanagement of school affairs; particularly look at legal services 14. discrimination toward students or staff or public based on anything: gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, citizenship, marital status, religion, etc. 15. appointment to committees 16. self-esteem programs 17. any social services programs, particularly for low-income or otherwise disadvantaged children (breakfast-lunch programs, etc.) 18. use of district facilities for religious activities 19. bi-lingual education 20. home schooling 21. sectarian requirements for district employees REPORTING 1.Upon receipt of a board meeting agenda, volunteers will review scheduled items for "hot issues." If there are any hot issues on the agenda, for either information or action, contact one of the action coordinators listed below, to determine if we need to prepare a response to the agenda item prior to the meeting. 1. 2. 3. Continue calling the action coordinators until you make personal contact with one of them. This is critical, because, if we need to implement the phone tree to get people out to a meeting, we need adequate advance notice. 2.If there are no hot issues on the agenda, or if an action coordinator determines with you that we need not respond to any of them prior to the meeting, simply attend the meeting and indicate on the report form any pertinent board actions. 3.Complete a report form for each board meeting. Make note of any hot issues on the agenda, any action that is taken by the board on those issues, any hot issues that will appear on future agendas, and the names and affiliations of any noteworthy speakers from the public. If a speaker seems inclined in our direction, try to obtain his or her phone number. 4.If an issue arises at a board meeting that you believe may require some response from the coalition, call the action coordinators immediately so we can kick into gear if necessary. =================================================== How to Win: A Practical Guide for Defeating the Radical Right in Your Community Copyright 1994 by Radical Right Task Force Permission is granted to reproduce this publication in whole or in part. All other rights reserved. For more information contact: Pat Lewis National Jewish Democratic Council 711 Second Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 544-7636 =================================================== This document is from the Politics section of the WELL gopher server: gopher://gopher.well.com/11/Politics/ Questions and comments to: gopher@well.com .