When It Comes to Public Education,

what you know is far less important than WHO you know. Better still if you have family members already in the district. School district jobs these days are like hereditary titles:

Nepotistic hiring practices are not just a problem in New York. Investigations into, as well as stories and complaints about, districts riddled with nepotism can also be found in many other states. In Oklahoma the state legislature has actually taken legislative action to deal with the nepotism problem in school employment practices by issuing House Bill 2479, which bans residents from holding board of education positions if their relative is employed by the school district and vice versa (Rousselot, 2006). Superintendent Dawson of Camden New Jersey was found to have had seven relatives on the district payroll when the state of New Jersey audited the district back in 1996 (Pristin, 1996). An article from February, 2003 in the Pittsburg Post-Gazette also revealed a significant nepotism problem in numerous school districts throughout the state of Pennsylvania (McKay). The presence of nepotism in school district hiring practices is a widespread problem and deserves the attention of the entire nation and, most certainly, the attention of the citizens that reside in districts with nepotistic hiring practices.

With nepotism being such a widespread problem people may wonder what they can possibly do to combat the issue. When it comes to the problem of nepotistic hiring practices in school districts the local public actually has much more power that it often recognizes. Education is controlled on a state level, which immediately eliminates the worry of having to combat federal bureaucracy to get the problem solved. Not only is education regulated by individual state governments, but education is often more closely regulated on a local level by school boards. The names of school employees are considered public information and are available to the community at any time. Concerned members of the public need only ask for the names of employees, compare similarities and ask informed questions. If it is found that nepotism is a problem in the district than pressure can be put on the board of education to address the unfair hiring practices. Many school districts have adopted new employment policies after prompts from the local community to eliminate nepotistic hiring practices. If a sufficient number of citizens complain to their elected state representatives it is possible to have statewide legislation enacted that addresses the nepotism problem as well, just as was seen in Oklahoma. Education is regulated on a state and local level and problems with district hiring practices can be dealt with by concerned member of the public seeking out their elected representatives and pressuring them to attend to the matter promptly.

There is something wrong with hiring practices where a mother and her two daughters are not just working for the same district but also in the same building--as teachers.

I'd say employ a civil service-style system on school districts. Prospective employees would take tests, and those scores plus experience would be on an eligibility list, just like the federal civil service system. It would apply to everybody--teachers, administrators, and classified staff. Teachers' and administrators' test scores on state licensing tests could be put on a centralized state pool, along with their years of experience. They, like federal civil service employees, could choose locations where they prefer to work.

The cronyism needs to stop. Again, this is real education reform that would actually do some good.