FORCED TRAINING FOR SCHOOL BOARDS ISN'T NEEDED

State and federal politicians are pressured daily by special-interest groups and contributors. Local politicians -- city council members, school board members and county commissioners -- have long been removed from the onslaught of lobbyists and others seeking favors in return for favors. But in recent years, these local officeholders have become targets for new pressure groups: namely, the state organizations to which they belong and which hold powerful lobbying clout.

The Missouri Association of Counties, the Missouri Municipal League and the Missouri School Board Association are major players, particularly in the Legislature. These organizations influence the legislative process in the name of what's best for their members.

But, like any group of elected officials, not all city council members think alike. Nor do school board members or county commissioners.

There is little doubt that these statewide groups provide useful information for local officeholders. Any school board member will tell you how hard it is to comprehend the labyrinth of state funding for local schools. The MSBA provides training workshops that attempt to enlighten new board members on school finances -- and a host of other school-related topics.

Since the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993, training has been mandatory for school board members. That law requires newly elected board members to take 16 hours of orientation within a year of being elected. School districts are required to pay the cost.

For all the useful information a new board member receives from the MSBA, he or she also gets a good dose of indoctrination. Some school board members have balked at being told to toe the company line, preferring to use their own resources to make their own evaluations and decisions regarding key issues. Now a couple of legislators are trying to force training for school board members. Their bill would prevent individuals who don't take the training, as required, from seeking re-election.

Of 700 board members elected last year across Missouri, some 200 have yet to take the MSBA course. The number of longtime board members who have never taken the course isn't known. But the mere fact that 200 of the board members elected last year didn't take it -- for whatever reasons -- is an indication that some don't find the training as valuable as the MSBA or authors of the Outstanding Schools Act think it is.

It isn't right to force local elected officials to take training they don't want. For those who find the indoctrination useful, it's available to them. But the effort to penalize those who don't get trained makes you wonder: How many of the 500 new school board members who took the training last year would have done so if it hadn't been required?