Under current law, a 12-member committee appointed by the governor pares to three the list of candidates who have filed for the state school board in each of the state's 15 districts that have an open seat. Then the governor further narrows the field in each district to two, who are placed on the general-election ballot.

Huntsman is rightly urging lawmakers to rethink this cumbersome process and return it to the people, allowing them to elect board members from among all candidates who file for open seats in their districts.

The governor didn't say it in his education recommendations to the 2009 Legislature in which he supports the change, but the current process is too vulnerable to manipulation by special interests. The committee has the power to select candidates based on their views on controversial issues, such as private-school vouchers, rather than on their expertise in education. And it's expected that the governor will merely rubber-stamp the committee's recommendations.

The committee's choices this year, for example, leave some doubt about members' motives.

Three incumbent board members, including the board chairman, didn't make the cut. One incumbent received a low score from the committee, and Huntsman did not choose her for the list of final candidates, although she has served on the board for eight years and received 64 percent of the vote in her district in 2004.

It's impossible to know whether the three incumbents would have been re-elected had their names been on the ballot, but voters should have had the chance to decide. The panel has made similar questionable choices in previous elections.

Returning to direct election would eliminate even the appearance of impropriety. Besides, the voters in each district are best qualified to choose their representatives. They are familiar with local issues and local candidates. Election winners are more accountable to their constituents, precisely because voters put them in office.

No committee and no state leader sitting in the governor's mansion can or should replace the democratic process. Let the people decide.