A profile of Pennsylvania school directors

Transcription

1 research Facts and Figures A profile of Pennsylvania school directors Every four years, PSBA conducts the board profile survey to compile statewide demographic information regarding the makeup of Pennsylvania s school boards. This information is used to prepare a snapshot of the typical school director and a statewide profile to inform the public about the diverse 4,500 school board members serving our schools. To provide additional insight regarding board service for this profile several Pulse Polls were conducted on our website, psba.org, to address: primary motivation to run for office, most beneficial abilities/ skills contributed, and the most important concern facings schools today. The typical school director is male, well-educated, 55 to 59 years of age, married with two children attending public schools, and devotes hours per month to school board business. His motivation to run for office was to perform public service/contribute to public education, his most beneficial abilities/skills contributed are fairness/objectivity, and he feels the most important concerns facing schools are adequate funding and pensions. Age 2010 New Board Under 0.8% 1% 0.4% 0.5% 25 years % 1% 0.4% 0.5% % 3% 0.6% 1% % 9% 1.6% 3% % 11% 6% 7% % 21% 15% 15% % 16% 16% 15% % 10% 16% 16% % 14% 16% 16% % 6% 13% 12% 70 years 13% 8% 15% 14% or older Gender 2010 New Board Male 62% 56% 59% 59% Female 38% 44% 41% 41% Political Party Registration 2010 New Board Republican 54% 50% 46% 55% Democrat 43% 47% 42% 43% Independent 2% 3% 1% 1.5% Other 1% 0% 1% 0.5% October PSBA Bulletin 27

2 Pulse Poll Questions conducted on the web at psba.org What was the primary motivating factor in your decision to run for school director? Public service, desire to give back or contribute to public education 43% Dissatisfaction with existing board 17% Desire to improve educational outcomes, student achievement 16% I feel that I had something special to offer 12% Child, grandchild currently in the district 7% Taxes, cutting district spending 5% Other 0% What are the most beneficial abilities/skills that you contribute to your board as a school director? Fairness/objectivity 33% Business background 22% Experience in education profession 22% Ability to communicate effectively with others13% Finance background 3% Other 7% What do you feel is the most important concern facing Pennsylvania public schools today? Budget/funding issues 37% PSERS/pensions 37% Charter/cyber charter schools 8% Unfunded mandates 6% Student achievement/student testing 4% Teacher contracts/negotiations 4% Technology use in schools 2% Other 2% Race 2010 New Board White 98% 96% 97.5% 96.7% African 0.9% 3% 1.3% 1.7% American Hispanic 0.2% 0% 0.3% 0.4% Asian 0% 1% 0.3% 0.6% Other 0.9% 0% 0.6% 0.6% Religious Preference 2010 New Board Protestant 50% 34% 47% 45% Catholic 31% 43% 35% 36% No preference 7% 11% 8% 9% Jewish 4% 3% 3% 3% Other 8% 9% 7% 7% Marital Status 2010 New Board Married 86% 87% 87% 88% Divorced 5% 4% 3% 3% /separated Single 6% 8% 5% 5% Widowed 3% 1% 5% 4% *Note: Tables with years of service, fields of employment and occupations are based on PSBA membership files not the survey. 28 PSBA Bulletin October

3 Facts and Figures Education 2010 New Board Less than 12 years 1% 0% 0% 0% High School 12% 8% 12% 11% 1 year of college 5% 2% 6% 5% 2 years of college 6% 5% 6% 6% 3 years of college 4% 3% 3% 3% College graduate 29% 38% 37% 36% Master s degree 28% 31% 23% 25% Advanced degree 15% 13% 13% 14% (PhD, EdD, etc.) Specific Occupations Retired...16% Self-employed or business owner...9% Homemaker...6% Office supervisor, manager, executive...5% Teacher & administrator...5% Salesperson/retail/wholesale...4% Attorney...3% Engineer...3% Accountant...2% State, local or federal employee...2% Farmer...2% Nurse...2% Secretarial...2% Fields Of Employment Other (homemaker, retired, misc.)...39% Office and business...19% Education...8% Medical and related...8% Financial...6% Engineering/technical...5% Tradesperson...3% Other professions...5% Legal...4% Manufacturing/production...3% Schools Attended By Children 2010 New Board Public 90% 87% 90% 90% Combination 8% 6% 8% 8% Parochial 1% 3% 1% 1% Private 1% 4% 1% 1% Children Attend Same District New Board Members Incumb. Total Yes 99% 96% 96% No 1% 4% 4% Directors Attended District Where They Serve New Board Members Incumb. Total Yes 35% 42% 40% No 65% 58% 60% October PSBA Bulletin 29

4 Family Income Level 2010 New Board Below $50,000 15% 7% 10% 9% $50,000-59,999 7% 5% 7% 6% $60,000-69,999 9% 4% 5% 6% $70,000-79,999 9% 7% 9% 9% $80,000-89,999 7% 5% 7% 7% $90,000-99,999 6% 4% 6% 7% $100, ,999 10% 15% 11% 11% $110, ,999 5% 7% 5% 5% $120, ,999 5% 4% 5% 4% $130, ,999 4% 3% 2% 3% $140, ,999 4% 4% 6% 5% $150, ,999 4% 5% 3% 3% $160,000 and above 15% 30% 24% 25% Children In Family 2010 New Board None 11% 9% 8% 9% One 11% 16% 12% 12% Two 38% 41% 38% 39% Three 26% 22% 32% 28% Four 8% 10% 6% 8% Five 3% 2% 3% 3% Six or more 3% 0% 1% 1% Years Of Service years or less 47% 44% 5-10 years 31% 33% years 18% 18% 21 years or more 4% 5% Talk to Us There are more ways then ever to tell us what s on your mind. Twitter Join the conversation. Follow us on Twitter at Facebook Join our Facebook community. Like PSBA s Facebook page at PaSchoolBoards. Linkedin Search for Pennsylvania School Boards Association at and request to join. Call Call us. We d love to hear your feedback. (800) PSBA Bulletin October

5 Facts and Figures Average Hours Per Month On School Board Business 2010 New Board 1-5 hours 3% 2% 1% 2% 6-10 hours 19% 24% 19% 20% hours 21% 21% 21% 21% hours 23% 17% 24% 21% hours 12% 9% 12% 12% hours 9% 14% 9% 9% hours 3% 0% 5% 4% hours 5% 5% 3% 4% hours 2% 1% 3% 3% 51 or more 3% 7% 3% 4% Most Difficult Area Of School Board Operation To Understand 2010 New Board State regulations 24% 13% 19% 19% /controls School finance/budget 21% 20% 21% 20% Personnel/negotiations 16% 9% 15% 13% Legislative/legal 8% 6% 7% 7% Construction 4% 3% 3% 3% School board policy 3% 4% 2% 2% Curriculum 2% 5% 3% 3% Personal time required 3% 2% 3% 3% Parliamentary procedure 2% 4% 2% 2% Maintenance 1% 2% 1% 2% Food service 1% 1% 1% 1% Community 6% 4% 3% 4% /public relations Transportation 2% 1% 1% 1% Interpersonal na* 13% 7% 8% /interactions Administration na* 7% 4% 4% /School Leadership Technology na* 1% 2% 2% Athletics na* 3% 4% 4% Other 7% 2% 2% 2% * not available b October PSBA Bulletin 31