Experienced board members from across the nation were asked to identify the most difficult lesson or fact they had to learn about board service. Here’s what they said most often.

• Learning to acknowledge publicly that you have no power and authority as an individual board member; that only the board as a whole can make policies and decisions for the school district.
• Determining what your function is on the board and how to accomplish it effectively.
• That no matter what you think you know about board service when you first come on board, you still have a lot to learn.
• Recognizing the difference between setting policy (the board’s job) and administering the schools (the superintendent’s job).
• That you must represent all the students. Your decisions must be made in the interest of the total school system and not made solely for special groups or interests.
• Learning how to respond to the complaints and concerns of citizens, school administrators, and other staff.
• That change comes slowly.
• That you can’t solve everyone’s problems by yourself.
• That you must think deeply and sometimes accept a reality that is contrary to your own beliefs.
• That elective board service means being able to hold the minority viewpoint when voting on a given issue, then openly supporting the majority vote of the board in your community.
• Discovering how the schools are funded.
• That the primary focus of all board decisions must be student achievement.