The bigger problem at La Marque ISD

You can always make a case that new leadership would help turn around a troubled organization. But that’s not the argument being made in the La Marque Independent School District, where critics of Superintendent Ecomet Burley are holding him responsible for trends that are beyond the control of any one person.

Burley’s critics have largely fought measures he’s taken to try to drag the district back to a semblance of health. Anyone who can see clear patterns in numbers would come to that conclusion.

Enrollment was declining long before Burley arrived five years ago. Twenty years ago, the La Marque school district had about 5,000 students. Today, enrollment is closer to 3,000.

The students in the La Marque school district are more likely to be poorer today than they were 20 years ago. The average taxpayer is older and less affluent.

What does that mean?

It means new families are not choosing the La Marque school district. They are going to communities — such as League City, Friendswood and Dickinson — served by other school districts.

These trends have financial implications. Lower enrollment means less state funding — year after year.

If you attacked that basic problem vigorously, you might consolidate campuses to cut operating costs and funnel every dollar into the classroom to attract top teachers. You might trim staff — focusing especially on teachers who, year after year, have awful records on the state’s standardized tests. You might get rid of pointless jobs, even when they are held by people with connections to influential people.

Burley made moves in those directions. He met opposition every step of the way.

If you don’t attack the related problems of declining enrollment and declining funding vigorously — or if your efforts are blunted by community opposition — you will fail to cut expenses in proportion to falling revenues. You’ll tap into reserves one year and then the next.

That, in a nutshell, is what has happened in the La Marque school district.

Perhaps you can fault Burley for not overcoming his critics and carrying out the more ambitious parts of his program.

But you could argue, just as credibly, that he just hasn’t gotten the support from the larger community.

Voters have picked some good people for the school board. But they also have elected people who want to reverse the moves Burley has been able to make. They’ve elected a few people who are more interested in the employment opportunities of friends than on the health of the district as a whole.

The La Marque school district is facing problems that are bigger than any one person.

Within the district are people who run large businesses, employ a lot of people and have the expertise to help the community and its school district pull out of this spiral. If the district is going to turn around, it is going to have to get their help.