Then, just as the council was about to announce those goals publicly, the spotlight was diverted to news that Lafayette Parish Superintendent Burnell Lemoine would retire Dec. 31 rather than accept a contract extension being considered by the School Board. The stakeholders council didn't miss a beat, and suggested ways the board might make the superintendent search more inclusive and transparent. The public presentations by the council and by the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, both of which

advocated a search process that would engage the public, generated some grumbling about special interests that try to influence School Board policy. It's right to be concerned about undue influence by groups with an interest that is in opposition to the public welfare. But in the case of the council, and the member organizations that include the chamber, their interest and the public interest are identical. When it comes to public education, we are all special interests.

The council is chaired by Margaret Trahan of the United Way of Acadiana, an umbrella fundraising organization that must often wrestle with the fact that there is too much poverty in our community. The Citizens Action Council, 100 Black Men and the State of Greater Black Lafayette see the public school achievement gap limit the future of the children in their neighborhoods. The Greater Lafayette and Southwest Louisiana Black chambers of commerce and The 705 know, as groups representing entrepreneurs and employers, the importance of a skilled, educated workforce.

The council managed to bring those groups together enough to agree on two goals: Raising the percentage of Lafayette public school graduation rate to 90 percent, and seeing to it that 90 percent of all students are performing at grade level.

The challenge presented by these goals is evident in Lafayette's current graduation rate, which is about 70 percent. Among African American boys, it's as low as 40 percent. It's not just the chamber or the council that has a "special interest" in improving those numbers. So do all parents. So do children. Taxpayers who want to see their money spent wisely. Prospective employers who want to make sure their workers can distinguish the switch that says "power" from the one that says "danger."

People who sell newspapers for a living certainly have an interest in good schools. So do clergymen, health-care providers, social workers, law enforcement officers, businesses that sell books and computers, private school students who ride public school buses, and just about everyone, come to think of it.

We needn't be afraid of the kind of "special interest" involvement that the Lafayette Public Education Stakeholders Council represents. In fact, we need more of it.