It could be argued — convincingly, some might say — that sitting on a school board of education is among the most thankless jobs of its type out there.

That’s not to say the work accomplished by such panels is neither rewarding nor important. Because we know for a fact that both of those are true.

It’s just when people’s children are involved, and tough union negotiations are always just around the corner with reduced funding at issue, having to sit up there week after week isn’t easy.

So when an opportunity comes around to offer our congratulations to the people that sit on local school boards of education, we jump at it.

That’s what the administration at Marquette Area Public Schools did recently, joining 540 local and 56 intermediate school districts in Michigan to thank school board members for their service during School Board Recognition Month, held annually in January.

“Serving on a school board has been described as the toughest volunteer job in America, yet Michigan’s public school board members dedicate countless personal hours to attending meetings, school functions and hours of preparation for the decisions they make,” MAPS Superintendent Bill Saunders said for a Mining Journal story on the issue.

We join Saunders and the many others across the state in recognizing the work school boards do on a recurring basis.