History of the Merit System:
In the early 1930's, political corruption was rampant throughout the City of Los Angeles. Cronyism and patronage were prevalent at all levels of local government. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the situation resulted in the replacement of over 700 District employees by "friends" and supporters of local politicians. As a result, there was a reaction by con
cerned citizens who petitioned the State legislature for the establishment of an independent civil service commission for the District. The Personnel Commission came into existence on June 15, 1936, as the first legally sanctioned Personnel Commission in the country to administer a personnel program under a merit system for non-certificated employees of a school system. Its primary purposes were to ensure that employees are selected for employment and promotion solely on the basis of merit and removed for just cause. It also provided for an impartial body to adjudicate employee appeals of discipline, medical disqualification and examinations. Both employees and administrative representatives sponsored the merit system law when it was under consideration by the State Legislature and the Board of Education in a spirit of reform, formally adopted it. San Bernardino City School Personnel Commission:
The Personnel Commission of the San Bernardino City Unified School District, established in 1978, operates in cooperation with, but not under the jurisdiction of, the Board of Education. The office of the Personnel Commission administers the Merit System of equal opportunity employment as prescribed by statutes of the California Education Code. The core functions of the Personnel Commission are to establish policies, practices, and procedures serving and affecting classified employees in the areas of personnel both directly and indirectly related to recruitment, assessment, retention, training, evaluation, professional development, classification, and compensation. The San Bernardino City Unified School Personnel Commission is dedicated to the establishment and execution of fair and equitable employment practices in the effort to hire the most qualified classified support staff assisting in the education of the District’s students. The Commission consists of three members whose terms of office are three staggering years. One member is appointed by the Board of Education, one member is appointed by the Board of Education upon the recommendation of the classified employee organization which represents the largest number of the District’s classified employees (CSEA), and the third member is appointed by the other two members of the Commission. Reference: California School Personnel Commissioners Association
