Thomas Ratliff

P.O. Box 232

Mt. Pleasant, TX 75456

State Board of Education

Vice-Chairman

tel: (903) 717-1190

www.thomasratliff.com

Parental Bill of Rights Part 2

Last week I released my own version of Governor Abbotts proposal to allow for checks and
balances between different levels of government. His proposal focused on State & Federal
relations while mine focused on Independent School Districts (ISDs) & State relations.
Heres why I believe ISDs are the most in tune with their constituents and should be empowered
with more authority at the expense of state or federal controls over our public schools.
Texas has 27 million people who are represented by 2 U.S. Senators, 36 U.S. Representatives, 31
State Senators, 150 Texas Representatives, 9 Texas Supreme Court Justices, 15 Members of the
State Board of Education and 7,700 School Board members. So, the ratio of representatives to
constituents is as follows:
1:13,500,000
1:750,000
1:871,000
1:180,000
1:3,000,000
1:1,500,000
1:3,500

U.S. Senate
U.S. Congress
Texas Senate
Texas House of Representatives
Texas Supreme Court
State Board of Education
School Board Trustees

These ratios reveal a clear outlier. School board members, on average, represent a far smaller
number of voters/constituents. This ratio increases the power of an individual voice with his/her
government. In small/mid-sized towns, a few hundred dollars and a few hundred votes are all
that are needed to win a seat on a school board. To win a seat in the Texas House or Senate, it
takes thousands of votes and hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars. The larger the
district, the larger the campaign budget and the harder it is for everyday citizens to get access.
Its just the law of large numbers.
While all of these representatives live in Texas, the publics access to them and their proceedings
vary greatly. U.S. Senators and Members of Congress reside in Washington D.C. the vast
majority of the time. The Texas Legislature, Texas Supreme Court and State Board of Education
conduct their business in Austin. School board meetings happen every month in every
community across the state so their constituents dont have to drive very far or fly to see them or
watch them govern. School board members are not compensated and often times have their own
children attending the school district they are serving.
Its clear to me that government closest to the people is the most accountable and its hard to get
closer to the people than their own community school.

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