By Alabama Public Radio
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wual/local-wual-876920.mp3
Selma AL – There's a new Selma City School Board in town and it's got some tough issues to tackle. The recent runoff election was a sign of that. Local educators hope to find a way to live with an old history that is tied to a new reality. Alabama Public Radio's Brett Tannehill reports ...
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Last Tuesday, Selma made history as the city council certified ballots of its first elected school board.
NS-slice open ballot box, ride sound
One by one, white boxes containing provisional ballots were unsealed and read into the record ...
NS-read the results "School board chairman, Henry Hicks Sr. ..."
The results were verified by a quorum of 5 council members ...
NS-council votes to certify "Aye, councilman vote, aye ..."
... making the election results official. As so ends a century old practice of appointing school board members. Council president Cecil Williamson says none of the races were very close and people have accepted the results, but not without discussion.
WILL-It was kind of a typical election ... there were some charges and counter charges, and controversy and accusations made during the election. I think that's pretty general for the American electoral system.
The politics may have been typical, but in Selma, history always adds its own twist, especially when race is an issue. There were problems in schools during desegregation and during the early 1990's when some community leaders staged a protest against a student evaluation practice they said was discriminatory against African-Americans. That protest fractured the school system along racial lines. Many white students left. Fast forward to a recent discussion on the Selma Times Journal's online message board ... one of the most popular topics was whether "a White Woman should Be in Charge of A Black School System." Selma Times Editor Leesha Faulkner says the thread is symbolic of a continuing and necessary dialogue.
FAULKNER-I think anytime there's lively debate and issues and candidates, people ask questions, and that's a good thing. I don't think we should just sit back accept what is handed to us, but we need to think and ask questions and probe and I think that's what this kind of message board or discussion promotes.
The online splatter hit both candidates for board chairman - the aformentioned white woman, Anne Fitts ... and also the winner Henry Hicks, who faced accusations regarding the legitimacy of non-profit groups he helps operate. Hicks, a black man, says the issues of politics and race carry old meanings in Selma ... the elephant in the room' as he puts it. But Hicks says everyone, himself included, must now understand the new meanings. Diversity has new faces.
HICKS-We have Hispanics, we have Asians, we have Koreans, we have Puerto Ricans so it's not only about black and white anymore. This is broader than that, it's bigger than that. So I think once we start moving on and realize our community is not just white and black anymore, that we can move over a lot of these obstacles we present to ourselves.
There are already enough obstacles ahead, including the threat of more state budget cuts, declining tax revenues, a high dropout rate and low graduation exam scores. There's also a 27-million dollar high school to be built ... a project that carries with it much hope.
But Superintendent Austin Obasahan says the system has good teachers and good students ... and the new board structure ... slimmed down from 11 to 5 members ... could be more cooperative and responsive. Obasahan says the ballot certification changes the course of Selma's education history.
OBASAHAN- because it's going to shape how we address issues in the future. The dynamics of our environment have changed and so must our attitude change. So I think this election demonstrate people are willing to live in the 21st century and beyond.
Selma's board, and other new school boards from around Alabama, will gather in Montgomery January 15th for a training session sponsored by the Alabama School Board Association. Selma's new elected board will be sworn in at its first official meeting on January 21st.
Brett Tannehill, APR News in Selma