Who spends hundreds of hours a year – as a volunteer – attending meetings and training, studying documents to prepare for meetings, crafting policies and budgets, hiring superintendents, listening to community concerns, recognizing outstanding programs, while constantly keeping their eye on the overarching goal of raising student achievement in their districts? If you are reading this, you probably already know that the answer is: School board members. School board members play a vital role in providing quality public education for the children in New Jersey, and in this issue, School Leader salutes these dedicated public servants. Any community’s greatest asset is its school system, and the state’s approximately 5,000 school board members and charter school trustees, lend their talents, expertise and time to enhancing and improving the education of every student. On behalf of the New Jersey School Board Association, its officers, board of directors, and staff, a heartfelt “thank you” for all you do. [sidebar]

Who Are New Jersey’s Board Members?

Who are the men and women who volunteer to govern New Jersey’s public schools and help guide the education of children in their communities? In an effort to learn more about who makes up the group of people who are on NJSBA’s member school boards, the Association sent a survey in December to the state’s 5800 school board members and charter school trustees that asked questions about age, gender, age of children, length of service on a board, educational background, and occupation. The survey had a response rate of about 20 percent. Of the respondents, 94 percent serve on a board of education, while 6 percent are charter school trustees. View the results which are reported in chart form.[/sidebar]