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The Self-Fulfilling Prophets

... and the seats they fill

Note: The following is another in a series of columns on subjects of a philosophical, ethical or practical nature by a Schuyler County resident who prefers to go by the nom de plume of A. Moralis -- a reference to what the writer sees as the lack of a moral compass in the world during this rapidly changing Age of the Internet.

By A. Moralis

Lo, in this kingdom, lie governing bodies
That sometimes take actions that lead us to ask:
Do some moves they make
Mean our pockets to ache
Or was it all just an awful mistake?

WATKINS GLEN, May 12, 2013 -- The Watkins Glen School Board has two seats opening up, and there are five individuals interested in filling the vacancies, none of them incumbents. The Odessa-Montour School Board has two openings and four candidates. Only one incumbent -- a man known to question authority and speak on behalf of the taxpayers -- is running there.

So three out of four incumbents are stepping down. Why? Well, it’s easy to conclude that their experience has been a drain -- an unpaid drain. But why are there eight others seeking their seats if that’s the case?

In every case, I’m betting, it’s because they’re dissatisfied with the way things have been going of late. And I say good for them.

But even so, this is a cautionary time. In this case, the cautionary note is as follows: Beware the self-fulfilling prophets and their unintended consequences.

*****

Given a history in this country of occasional (and occasionally outrageous) malfeasance by elected officials, it is tempting to wonder whether anyone running for public office might see something in it for themselves beyond the glow of public service. But that very thought comes from a jaded view of the world -- is not based on anything locally. I assume -- I think rightly -- that the nine candidates running in the two school districts here have a pure interest in keeping the ship on the right path while helping to control costs.

This is not, after all, Bell, California, where city officials were accused of plundering the coffers to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. In fact, our area is probably a relative paragon of virtue. The suspicion here is that even if we had anyone so inclined, this county is so poor that it wouldn’t be worth plundering.

Nonetheless, historically there have been situations where perception has left a questionable taste, including locally. Even where no laws were broken, a feeling remained that perhaps conflicts of interest were at play on legislative bodies. It often comes down to simple nepotism, really, for legislative types past and present in this country have been known to arrange jobs for relatives.

There is a grand American tradition of blatant abuse of political power -- Tammany Hall and Chicago and “I am not a crook” Nixon come to mind -- but less obvious, and verging on the explicable (given our two-party system), are instances where our representatives are not criminal but forget they are speaking and acting for the populace that voted them into office. I’m referring to members of boards or Assemblies or Senates or the House of Representatives who blindly go along with their leadership.

On the local stage, where party affiliation does not play a major role, and sometimes none at all -- for instance on school boards -- such actions are, quite simply, perplexing.

I’m told by the editor of this website of a recent school-budget workshop where three members of a seven-person board peppered the superintendent with specific questions about specific items in the proposed budget brought to them by the superintendent and his financial officer. The four-person majority of the board -- almost always in the superintendent’s corner -- raised just one question during the session, and it was merely an echo of one raised by the minority. The majority, in essence, appeared to be perfectly willing to go along with the superintendent’s budget, which would have brought a 4% increase in the tax levy. At the minority’s insistence, the increase ended up being reduced by half.

*****

When you get right down to it, school boards are breeding grounds for unintended consequences. There may be nepotism. There is, alas, occasional blind loyalty. Add to that sets of blinders that fail to yield a wide enough vision -- one that would recognize the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Ah, that pesky prophecy.

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a statement which, though false, alters actions and therefore becomes true. One online site gives the example of an employer who suspects his employees are disloyal and will try to undercut his business by shirking their duties. They aren’t and don’t, but he treats them so poorly that -- lo and behold -- they react by becoming what he feared: disloyal shirkers.

Does that ring a bell? School boards and superintendents often show an innate distrust of teachers, and treat them accordingly. Even if those teachers are inclined toward helping the board and superintendent solve problems, being treated like the enemy will very likely turn them into the enemy.

Of course, you can reverse that, too. If the teachers have a distrust of the board and superintendent, the board and superintendent will respond in kind, even if initially they wanted to work in tandem with the teachers.

This whole concept goes back centuries, to the Greek myths involving Oedipus -- who, by striving to prove false an oracle’s prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, actually makes the prophecy come true. Another common example is the wife who thinks her husband might leave her for another woman, even though the thought never entered his head. But by thinking it, the woman treats her husband with suspicion and jealousy, driving him crazy to the point where he starts looking for another, more understanding partner.

How does this apply to school boards? Well, aside from an undercurrent of discord between administration and teachers, the argument could be made that in the Watkins Glen district, this year’s tax hike was created -- at least in part -- by the board’s effort to avoid it. By limiting previous tax hikes, it drained down the available fund balance to what the superintendent said was a dangerously low level. Now it has to be built up, leading to, yes, a tax-levy hike of more than 4.8%. That’s a lot, especially when you add in last year’s increase of 2.49% and the previous year's 3.1%.

Or there is the matter of the Watkins Glen High School Field House, lamented by many initially as an albatross that would stand as a monument to excess. Shortly after its construction, it was run with all sorts of energy and events, but the administration -- claiming excess -- went (illogically, from a monetary standpoint) from a part-time overseer to a more costly full-time one. Eventually, it reverted to part-time, but along the way -- gradually, across several years -- the Field House lost the fizz of engagement and community involvement. In arriving finally at a time where excess is no longer evident, the place is, alas, without the vigor and life with which it began, and is giving every evidence of being a lifeless, little-used ... yes, albatross.

*****

While a person’s attitude and actions -- his or her guarded efforts not to let certain things happen -- cannot influence a larger event such as a hurricane or an earthquake, they can influence smaller things, such as board procedures on the local level. And that, in turn -- at times through unintended consequences -- can influence our pocketbooks.

An addendum to that, of course, is the case of a superintendent presenting a budget with a tax hike when, in fact, he doesn’t live in the district. It is somehow reassuring, knowing that school board members must be residents and share in our pain. It is not reassuring, though, when they side blindly with an outsider.

Loyalty has its place -- but in the case of people voted into office, that place should always be with the taxpayers.

**********

Previous A. Moralis columns:

The first one is here.
The second one is here.
The third one is here.
The fourth one is here.
The fifth one is here.
The sixth one is here.
The seventh one is here.
The eighth one is here.
The ninth one is here.
The 10th one is here.
The 11th one is here.
The 12th one is here.
The 13th one is here.