In your opinion, should the Knox County School Superintendent be elected by the people or appointed by the school board?

By Focus Staff

This week’s Focus poll asked registered voters, “In your opinion, should the Knox County Superintendent of Schools be elected by the people or appointed by the school board?”

More than 70% of respondents favored an elected Superintendent of Schools; only 28.69% favored the current system where the Board of Education appoints the school chief.

The strongest support for appointing the Superintendent of Schools came from the Fourth and Fifth Commission districts, although almost 60% favored an elected Superintendent in the Fourth District, while approximately 55% of those polled in the Fifth District favored an elected Superintendent.

More than 80% of voters favored an elected Superintendent of Schools in the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Districts.  An astonishing 87.50 of voters in the Seventh District preferred an elected Superintendent to an appointed Superintendent.

Almost 80% of voters in the 30-49 age range favored an elected Superintendent; those in the 50 – 65 age range were slightly less in favor of an elected Superintendent, with just over 69% of those in favor of an elected Superintendent.  Voters 65 or older registered over 70% in favor of an elected Superintendent.

Almost an identical number of women and men favored electing the Superintendent of Schools.