Are you qualified to sit on your local school board or local town council?

[hedgehog]

I live in a semi-rural area. I have never considered running for office because I don't know if I have the time or the knowledge to serve properly. Then I look at the people who do sit on local boards, and I start to wonder.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. My mother was a trustee and later the president of our town's board of educcation.

She had experience with the PTA and had a masters degree in education as well as being a teacher for a few years.

She learned about administration, teachers' negotiations for contracts, funding educational programs, trying to get the annual school budget passed, etc. "on the job" via meetings and dialogue with BOE administrators.

I recommend going to meetings and getting a feel on how productive (or not) they are. If you feel as though your contributions can make a difference, then file the papers to run for the next BOE election.