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Taichung County scolded for violating the education law

Taichung County Commissioner Liao Yung-lai (廖永來) was singled out yesterday by the National Teachers' Association for flagrant violations of the Citizen Education Law in regard to appointing school presidents.

According to the association, Liao personally selected his own school presidents instead of complying with the education law, which states that school presidents must be selected through the school's recommendation committee and approved by the county's recommendation committee.

In the release of its 2001 Local Education Performance Evaluation Report yesterday, the National Teachers' Association lambasted several cities and counties for having no respect for the nation's education law, and instead forming their own "local-education kingdoms."

A school's recommendation committee -- which is supposed to be tasked with drawing up a list of candidates for the post -- is usually composed of that school's teachers and parents of students.

The school committee, according to the law, should then submit its list of candidates to the county committee for a final decision.

The association said that when Taichung County educational officials were notified of the need to appoint a new school president, the matter was deliberately kept from the public. This, the association claimed, allowed Liao and his county administration to unilaterally appoint school presidents of their own choosing.

The association said that Liao's disregard for the education law had embarrassed those in educational circles, particularly because Liao himself hails from an educational background and had over the years worked for educational reform.

Liao's Taichung County administration rejected the association's accusations yesterday, saying that Liao and his administration had complied in every way with the law.

The local government said that Liao, as county commissioner, acted in his capacity as head of the county recommendation committee, and that all candidate lists for school presidents would have been previewed by members of the individual school recommendation committees.
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