Family Connections

Nepotism Trumps Merit at Some School Disticts

By Dave Arnold 

As the new school year kicks off, families are brought together in a unique way at the Brownstown Community School District in Southern Illinois.

• Our senior bus driver’s youngest daughter is our school bookkeeper. His oldest daughter is our head cook. His niece is our health and physical education teacher.
  
• Our head secretary is the aunt of another secretary.
  
• Our transportation director’s sister is our substitute-cook. Their brother use to be our custodian They have one sister-in-law who is a second grade teacher and another one who is a cook. Yet another sister-in-law use to be our cook.
  
• Our school board president’s daughter is our Title One teacher and assistant athletic director. The board president’s sister-in-law was our sixth grade teacher, while his mother-in-law is a substitute-secretary.
  
• Our maintenance man and one of our custodians are husband and wife.

Small-District Phenom

The proliferation of family ties at our school district goes on and on. I’m sure that your first thought is to believe that nepotism runs rampant within our school system. You’re thinking that the old-boy network is alive and well in Brownstown.

Yes, there is a father-son, mother-daughter, brother-sister tradition in Brownstown. But, we are not engaged in an automatic form of nepotism, which is defined as “favoritism based on kinship.” On the contrary, there is merit and logic involved in our hiring practices.

We have learned in this neck of the woods that a good employee will likely come from a good family. Since we are a small community, good employees are a joy to find. When a job opening occurs, consideration might be given to family members of productive employees.

It has been my experience that family heirs often display a similar work ethic as that of other family members. Even more, some protégés seem to go out of their way to prove that they deserve a job working next to papa or mama. They seem inclined to show their co-workers and family members that they are worthy of the opportunity that has been given them.

Qualified Nepotees

While some people may consider nepotism as being selfish, unfair or discriminatory, we have found that nepotees who are qualified for the position have also inherited positive values from their parents, in-laws or other kin. The proven performance of a current worker may predict the conduct of a prospective worker who belongs to the same family.

State and federal laws prohibit school boards from hiring employees based on bloodline relationships alone. Blind patronage is against the law, as it should be. Pulling strings on behalf of a relative is wrong when the relative is not qualified.

An applicant must be the best candidate for the position. Period. And, it does take the vote of the entire board to hire an employee. While I have never seen a contract that had language pertaining to nepotism, an Association should consider including such language as long as it is consistent with the law.

After all, it most likely will not be the consensus of all board members that cousin Billy Bob is the best applicant simply because he is related to a board member.

Family Legacies

Board members and hiring officials are like everyone else. They want to hire, elect, and watch the performances of the best people available. For example, President George W. Bush did not become president simply because of his father. He was a two-term Texas governor who campaigned for votes just like Al Gore, who also benefitted from a political family name. Ultimately, I think voters decided on Bush or Gore based on a variety of criteria, not just family legacy.

In North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole became the second U.S. Senator in her family, along with husband Bob Dole. While the Dole name didn't hurt her, she ran on a long and distinguished record of public service.

There’s talk that Sen. Hillary Clinton may someday follow in the footsteps of her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Again, I think voters will look at the whole package before handing Sen. Clinton the keys to the White House.

Homerun hitter Barry Bonds has not succeeded in professional baseball simply because he is the son of former coach and former outfielder Bobby Bonds. And I understand that Franklin Graham is a chip off the old block when it comes to managing his father’s (Reverend Billy Graham) religious organization. Succeeding in the batter's box and at the pulpit cannot be faked. Whatever your last name, you are there on merit.

Whenever you hear actor Kirk Douglas talk on TV about his son’s (Michael) movies, the parental and professional pride is obvious. Same with Goldie Hawn when she speaks of her daughter, actress Kate Hudson. A familiar family name may provide some advantage in the entertainment industry, but ultimately it is skill and talent that sells movie tickets.

Having entire families working for our school district has not presented any real problems. Most members I’ve spoken with say that it makes for a very close-knit working relationship. One problem that we have encountered, however, is when an employee has a death in the family.

We then see a multitude of absenteeism. This causes our school system to procure a high quantity of substitutes. When we say that our school’s staff is a close-knit family, we mean it in more ways than one.

We do fear that someday one family of employees will have a disagreement with another family of employees. We are not prepared for a reenactment of the Hatfields and McCoys. By the way, did I mention that Custer was responsible for the deaths of several of his relatives at Little Big Horn?

(Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois.)

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NEA or its affiliates.