As if the job of improving student performance at New London's failing schools wasn't big enough already, now there is the added problem of the dysfunctional relationship between its superintendent and school board.

What an embarrassment to the city.

New London students, teachers and taxpayers deserve better. They deserve a transparent and cooperative superintendent and a professional board focused on improving teaching and learning - not the combative, disruptive meetings that have been occurring of late.

The job of school boards is to work in concert with school superintendents. Together, they comprise a district's leadership team. If a board doesn't work effectively with a superintendent, or a superintendent tries to circumvent a school board, the district loses, and that is exactly what is happening in New London.

Parents and students should be attending Board of Education meetings en masse, and they should be boning up on the credentials and positions of candidates running for the office to make sure the board elected in November is committed to working as a team to boost student achievement.

That's currently not the case. The recent acrimony between some board members and the superintendent has become so distracting that the state Department of Education has warned the city that it may intervene and take over its school board.

Republican Jason Catala is one of the loudest rabble-rousers, arguing that Democrats on the board have given Superintendent Nicholas Fischer carte blanche to do whatever he pleases. Some other board members disagree and say if Catala has better ideas, he should offer them rather than always being so rude and combative.

That, says Catala, is exactly what he's trying to do. If he's behaving badly, it's because he is thoroughly frustrated by his inability to get the information he needs and publicly state his point of view. And he says there is plenty of sniping by other board members, too.

The superintendent should be more forthcoming with information, Catala says, and he should share it equally, not just with board members who he sees as allies.

Because the state has labeled New London schools as failing the Department of Education sends a representative to monitor its board meetings to ensure it is addressing its problems. But the board's dysfunction so distressed the monitor that he called for a back-up to try to remedy the in-fighting, which led to the state's threat to possibly take over the school board.

It's that bad in New London, and the blame goes all around. The superintendent and the school board must learn to work together. Three incumbent Democrats are not seeking re-election, and perhaps, voters would do the city a favor if they elected an entirely new Board of Education.

Catala, who works as a school teacher, repeatedly says his effort is all about the students, but in his zeal to have things his way he's become an obstructionist. And the other three incumbents, well, sometimes when something is so broken it is simply better to start over.

The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education offers a primer titled, "So, You Want to Be a School Board Member?", that lists essential attributes for anyone seeking to sit on a public school board. Some of the criteria it recommends: put children first, maintain high standards of conduct, strive to reach consensus on difficult issues, treat all individuals with respect, and focus on important issues. By those standards, New London's board is miserably failing.

That's not to say the superintendent is always right. He's not. The superintendent is the education professional but he works for the school board. That board is the legislative body that develops and evaluates education policies that the superintendent implements. It's a system of give and take.

It is critical for New London to improve its schools, but what a shame it is that it will have to fix its school board/superintendent problem first.

Ann Baldelli is associate editorial page editor.