Should education turn to outsiders to run schools?
Cathleen Black
I think my new plan to retire from journalism someday and run a small school system has been scuttled with the news that the New York state education commissioner believes journalist/publisher Cathleen P. Black lacks the education credentials to run New York City schools. He may only approve a waiver for her to take office if an educator is named second in command.
(For the record, I don’t think I am qualified to run a school bus, never mind a school system.)
The nomination of Black, who is well respected as a manager, stunned many people. Her ability to run the nation’s largest school system is sparking discussions about whether non-educators who lack an education degree and have never worked as a teacher or principal, can run a big school system. There are some examples of non-educators doing a decent job around the nation, but it seems that it’s a gamble that depends on a lot on the individual.
On one hand, many hospitals are well run by non-medical professionals. This is a question for Atlanta, DeKalb and Cobb — all of which are in the market for new leaders.
I think an argument can be made that these systems are in need of better management more than anything else. They each have plenty of educators on their leadership teams. Could a strong manager be the best choice for them, regardless of that person’s background?
According to the New York Times, Black — the choice of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to follow Joel Klein — is running into opposition over the issue of her inexperience:
The official, David M. Steiner, the state education commissioner, said he would consider granting Ms. Black, a publishing executive, the waiver she needed to take office only if Mr. Bloomberg appointed an educator to help her run the system.
But even then, Dr. Steiner did not rule out rejecting her request for a waiver, saying he was skeptical about her ability to master the intricacies of the nation’s largest school system. Ms. Black lacks the education credentials required by state law to be schools chief.
Her cause was further undermined on Tuesday when only two of the eight members of an advisory panel Dr. Steiner appointed to evaluate Ms. Black’s background unconditionally endorsed her bid for a waiver.
The erosion of support for Ms. Black, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, was a rebuke to Mr. Bloomberg, who had enlisted powerful business and political allies to lobby Dr. Steiner.
Mr. Bloomberg’s advisers huddled on Tuesday night to map out the mayor’s next step. A spokesman for the mayor, Stu Loeser, declined to comment.
Mr. Bloomberg has said that transforming the school system would be his legacy, and a rejection of his candidate would be an embarrassing and public defeat for a mayor accustomed to getting his way.
Since Mr. Bloomberg appointed Ms. Black two weeks ago, his political machine has been in high gear, enlisting powerful chief executives, academics and former mayors to urge Dr. Steiner to grant the waiver. Mr. Bloomberg personally wrote a six-page letter to Dr. Steiner last week that cited Ms. Black’s extensive management experience as a reason she deserved an exemption.
But despite the considerable pressure, Dr. Steiner, a former dean of the Hunter College School of Education, remained unconvinced. From the start, he was troubled by Mr. Bloomberg’s choice, and he worried that Ms. Black would be unable to get up to speed on fundamental issues like curriculum, student testing and the overhaul of failing schools.
Mr. Bloomberg argued that Ms. Black was a “superstar manager” whose expertise in cost-cutting would be a boon to a school system facing significant cutbacks. He said her experience dealing with customers would help mend relations with alienated teachers and parents.
At the meeting of the advisory panel on Tuesday, Dr. Steiner offered three options: vote yes on the waiver, vote no or vote “not at this time,” meaning the panel would reconsider the application if it were resubmitted with a change like the addition of a chief academic officer to oversee teaching, learning and accountability.
Four members voted “no” outright, two voted “yes” and two voted “not at this time.” Dr. Steiner had been criticized for his choice of panelists: four of them had personal or professional ties to the mayor.
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73 comments Add your comment
catlady
November 24th, 2010
10:03 am
It looks easy, but is it? No. Non-educators are not prepared to run a school system, in general. Yeah, they can be good with budgets and strategic planning and mission statements, but schools are different from virtually any other “business” in most every basic, intrinsic, fundamental way. I think anyone who thinks they are interchangeable has never taught a day. School systems need more than figureheads who photograph well.
catlady
November 24th, 2010
10:07 am
I might add that many of our problems right now are due to those who don’t know about schools who are in charge of making decisions for them–people like lawyers who pose as policy directors in the state and national legislators, as well as in state and national DOEs.
GA Teach
November 24th, 2010
10:10 am
This is why we have school boards…
teacher&mom
November 24th, 2010
10:36 am
The idea that “anyone” can run a school district falls right in line with the idea that “anyone” can teach. The decision to appoint Black would not have been so offensive if Bloomberg had actually made an honest attempt to find a qualified educator. He doesn’t value educators. You know the old saying “actions speak louder than words…”
There is a reason the traditional path to a superintendent or district leader usually works. The best education leaders are seasoned educational leaders with solid track records (not “tampered” data). They have spent several years (at least a decade) in the classroom as a SUCCESSFUL teacher. Then, they worked their way up through the ranks…AP, Principal, etc (once again, demonstrating success at each level). To by-pass the “boots-on-the-ground” training is a train wreck.
My own two cents
November 24th, 2010
10:40 am
I agree with teacher and mom. I would also add that I think every certified person (all the way up to State School Superintendent) should teach 1 class a day.
Tweets that mention Should education turn to outsiders to run schools? | Get Schooled -- Topsy.com
November 24th, 2010
10:45 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Derrick Love, Maureen Downey. Maureen Downey said: Should education turn to outsiders to run schools? http://bit.ly/fh6JX0 [...]
Tony
November 24th, 2010
10:47 am
catlady points out the single biggest problem with running schools today – interference by policy makers and legislatures that have absolutely no clue about how to run a school. Each year, Georgia (and every other state) legislators and policy makers attempt to enact laws and rules that affect schools. Many of these “ideas” impact our schools and tie our hands. Last year, for instance, the legislature acted to remove so-called zero tolerance policies for pocket knives. In this instance, they cited school incidents where administrators wrecked students’ lives because of their possession of a small pocket knife. They kept their fingers pointed at the schools for lacking common sense, yet the legislature and governor had enacted the law that put zero tolerance in place. Never once did I hear them talk about their misguided law. It was always about the schools’ zero tolerance policy.
Another prime example of legislative impact on schools was the passing of “duty free lunch” for elementary teachers in the 1990s. While this is an idea based on good principles, what they did not do was fund a mechanism for schools to provide adequate supervision during the lunch period. This is becoming especially problematic for schools now as staff cuts are deeply affecting our ability to provide all the mandated services and still have time for “duty free lunch” for the elementary teachers.
Special interest laws, also called meddling, are nothing new and there are many more examples of such. These are the kinds of things that interfere with our effective and efficient operations.
Now as to the question of the day. Yes. There are people who could effectively run school systems who do not have education degrees. Just as there are people who could run other industries without having a degree that is specialized to that field. The boards of directors (in our case the school boards) have to select the best candidates for the jobs.
Not just anybody could run a school system, though. It is a unique organization that provides a specialized function to the community. Simply being a good budgeter or manager is not sufficient. The leader must possess values that align with the community and have the knowledge that it takes to deliver the product: an education for the students. Personally, I believe that the school leader must have an understanding of the learning process.
Patrick Crabtree
November 24th, 2010
10:53 am
The inherent problem is that corporations think that schools can run like them. Employees only have one allegiance and that is to their company. School employees have a fuduciary responsibility to the State board, the legislature, and the public. We are here to protect our tax dollars and to expose deceit and corruption, not to support a CEO. Could you imagine if all the teachers and unions supported Hall and helped to cover up the ‘erasures scandal’? If the non-educator understands this and how students learn they could do it. So many think they know how people learn, and that why we have the problem of ‘one size fits all.’
teacher&mom
November 24th, 2010
10:59 am
One more thing….and then I’m going to stop thinking about school and start thinking about the holidays
Time and experience are invaluable. When you replace seasoned teachers/administrators with and uncertified teachers/leaders, you’ve removed the building “fire walls” to every educational fad or trend. For example, the system where I began my teaching career decided to adopt Saxon Phonics and Saxon Math. I was sold on the idea after the presentation. I was convinced those two programs were the answer. Veteran teachers (one was a GA State Teacher of the Year) weren’t quite sold. They argued that while both programs had merit, to completely do away with other approaches would be detrimental. Well, they were outvoted. Tremendous money and time was spent to implement the new programs. Our veteran teachers quietly closed their doors and used the programs to complement their existing teaching methods. They did not swallow the Saxon kool-aid.. they sipped it. Five or six years down the road, falling test scores in die-hard Saxon classes resulted in a change of heart at the district level. Common sense prevailed.
When you take away the experience, you take away those voices of caution. Unexperienced leaders and teachers are very easy to manipulate and control….but I’m guessing that is the point.
The Cathie Black Compromise – WNYC
November 24th, 2010
11:08 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Echo
November 24th, 2010
11:09 am
Teacher & Mom, you got it right…”When you take away the experience, you take away those voices of caution. Inexperienced leaders and teachers are very easy to manipulate and control….but I’m guessing that is the point.”
The statement explains why so many veteran teachers have been run out and many more will be run out soon. How else will they be able to cram merit pay, later pay dates, class keys and all the other crap down teacher’s throats. I started looking into changing careers last year (after over 12 years in education) and this year I have kicked it into high gear. I would like to have something else BEFORE the end of this contract. If I get an offer for a new job I have no problem walking out of the contract…after all they haven’t held up to their end.
Just saying
November 24th, 2010
11:11 am
For all those against this idea of hiring a non-teacher to head a school system, think again. This is exactly Mr. Barge did when he hired Joel Thornton to be the second in charge – forget some of Thornton’s strange ideas!
This is just plain strange to turn over the education of N.Y. to a reporter. Why not try a novel approach – get some k-12 teachers in leadership positions and get rid of the professional educators who have been out of the classroom for over a decade in N.Y. (or Ga. for that matter)?
James
November 24th, 2010
11:24 am
It is hard to imagine that she could do any worse.
I think school systems need people from outside education to help correct the problems.
Samau
November 24th, 2010
11:30 am
@ My own two cents, I am with a school system right now, where the Super. has already said she wants many of the central office coaches, staff members, etc. to teach at least one class a day. I think this makes a great deal of sense. Also, funds can be pulled from multiple areas to pay these positions, which helps with the dwindling budgets. I think this has been debated before… It’s the old idea about what type of principal you want. I work with a principal who I would LOVE to teach my class, so he could see what how far removed from the classroom he really is. I think principals should have to teach a class for sure!
PappyHappy
November 24th, 2010
11:57 am
First, the delivery methods and student/parental expectations are going to have to be changed. An inordinate amount of time are resources are devoted to physical plants, not to mention the costs of buses and their maintenance. We live in the 21st Century. India, China and Korea are beating us, and beating us bad.
We would do well in getting some serious outside policy developers to visit Korea; ascertain how and where they spend their money; what type of expectations they have of their teachers; what type of expectations they have of their students/parents; and then compare their policies with ours.
Public education in the US has become a jobs program with way too many local boards becoming a part of the problem. Further, our basic system is still based on an agrarian, with very little education delivered via distance learning. Candidly, our administrators do not have the experience or training to accomplished their job descriptions.
Unless we fundamentally change — with or without an outsider — we will continue to drop lower and lower until we are at the bottom of the industrialized world — and folks, we do not have far to go!
punishment for an administrator is...teaching a class?
November 24th, 2010
12:02 pm
Asinine ideas today: no way a non-educator can step in and manage a complex system like a school district without LOTS of preparation and help – similar to asking a superintendent to take over a publishing company. And forcing an administrator to teach once a week because it would somehow remind them of how dificult the day-to-day work of a teacher can be is the height of stupidity. C’mon folks, administrators have a job and teachers do, too; let’s not get into a contest to see which is tougher.
on the wall
November 24th, 2010
12:04 pm
Is the problem not the business people don’t understand education but that education people don’t understand business?
Two wrongs...
November 24th, 2010
12:14 pm
@just saying: I believe that the average person thinks it is easy to teach. The average person is exceptionally WRONG in his/her belief. I also believe that the average teacher thinks it is easy to be a leader of educators. The average teacher is also exceptionally WRONG in that belief.
Greg
November 24th, 2010
12:17 pm
Well said @On The Wall!
Education has been made into big business that involves a lot of different agendas having nothing to do with educating children. Of course competant business executives or even journalists can run a school system. The problem is the education establishment wants you to believe the opposite and they’re afraid that once we find out the truth, a lot stuffed shirts and blouses will be looking for another career.
Dr NO
November 24th, 2010
12:17 pm
I dont know Maureen. That Cathleen lady is pretty hot!! If your ensemble included a black cape and some pearls I think you would be the job!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dr NO
November 24th, 2010
12:18 pm
“you would get the job”
catlady
November 24th, 2010
12:25 pm
Until about 1988, our principal at our small, rural school INSISTED on teaching a class every day. He taught 7th grade math–to ALL the 7th graders at that school! He said it kept him in touch with the students (although he knew almost every kid in the school by name K-7) and with the teachers. He was an excellent teacher and our 7th graders came out of there well-prepared. (Of course, we didn’t “expose” kids to math–we taught it to mastery back then.)
I think every administrator, from the Central Office to the principal to the “graduation coach” should be required to either teach one class all year every year or to rotate back into the classroom every 5 years for 2 years of “re-education”. I also don’t think someone should be an administrator over something s/he has not taught and is not certified to teach. They have too many “meetings” you say? Well, if instruction of the students is our goal, they should not be called away to all these “meetings” until after school hours (like the rest of us)!
It might be good to get some “business” people in here, after all. Perhaps we would then get treated like professionals, and have the kind of perks professionals enjoy! “Sorry, Mrs. ABCD, little Johnny cannot have yet another try on the test; it wastes too much of our time, and time is money, you know.” Or, “Mr. Smith is an experienced profession teacher in charge of his class, and he says your child is deadwood and unresponsive to efforts to remediate, so you will need to find another school who will work with him.” Or, “No one is available to meet with you right now; everyone is on their company-paid lunch at a nearby restaurant. Come back in an hour or so.” Of course, it would be bad if the new executive seemed to think all children are interchangeable widgets, or who seemed to think that customer satisfaction is job 1 and every request from every parent or other “stakeholder” gets a “yes, Mr. Smith will do that.” Oh, wait, we pretty much have that NOW.
Lynn43
November 24th, 2010
12:30 pm
Pappyhappy, We don’t have to go to Korea to see the difference. I am now working in a classroom setting with Korean children of many ages in one room. The difference is that they don’t have illegitimate children and then hand them over to to Grandma to raise. The moms of my students come and sit in the class even though most do not speak English. The students all speak English. Education is valued and not looked upon as free babysitting.
Think about it...
November 24th, 2010
12:38 pm
@on the Wall and Greg: What’s not to understand about business. In the business model, profit (bottom line) drives productivity. At each step of the business process, business evaluates and eliminate factors that will impact the bottom line. That elimination may include the labor force or faulty materials. This elimination may also include lobbying for favorable legislation in our state and federal Capitols.
Schools are not designed to eliminate factors that impact the bottom line (graduation). If so, we could quickly eliminate inadequate parenting, poor boards of educations, poor teachers, poor administrators, and the hijacking of the educational system by disingenuous politicians ( local, state, and federal).
Walk a day in my shoes...waste of time.
November 24th, 2010
1:13 pm
@Catlady: In every profession there is a boss (administrator). Those people have a job to do and I have my job to do. If everyone involve “run their own lane” with understanding and compassion for others, I believe things will improve.
We do not require the administrator of a hospital to do what is required of an every day surgeon. We do not require the CEO of the company to do the job of the salesman.
A doctor can treat cancer without having the disease. If our adminstrators have the desire to be sensitive to the plight of teachers, they can do so without going back to the classroom.
Lee
November 24th, 2010
1:30 pm
As a general rule, I prefer to promote from within the organization. I think you get a stronger leader who is perceived to have a “vested interest” in the organization. Unless the organization is in disarray (APS, Clayton), I really see no need in going outside the system for the Superintendent.
I also think the “great” managers would be successful in a wide range of circumstances. Unfortunately, “great” managers are not as plentiful as many think.
In the NY article above, we have a politician nominating a business acquaintance to lead an organization that she has zero experience and they are being rebuffed by a career academic who also has never worked in a primary education setting.
Gee, I don’t know, what could possibly go wrong?
CharterStarter
November 24th, 2010
1:36 pm
My own thought is that a good manager should be able to run anything (people, mission and money being commonalities in every enterprise), and it is a common practice in the private sector to hire a manager for a complex business – or even a complex system of businesses – who has no actual experience in that business but is more broadly training in management principles. Why? Because someone who is not “too close” to an operation can see it without bias, ask penetrating and relevant questions, make necessary personnel moves, and direct meaningful reforms that push the enterprise toward fulfillment of its actual mission (ie, educating students who can succeed in college, careers and life) vs. its default mission (employing adults who may or may not be good at their jobs, perhaps?). I say let the billionaire have his way. It can’t possibly get any worse.
ChristieS.
November 24th, 2010
1:51 pm
That’s disingenuous, in my opinion. A doctor has been TRAINED to fight that disease. Practicing medicine is that person’s career. A doctor isn’t going to sit on his old training if he or she is worth the salt. They’ll take additional training to keep up to date. Also, I believe that many different professions require their practitioners to earn CEUs to retain their licenses. Having an administrator step back into the classroom again after a long absence makes sense to me. That’s the equivalent of the practicum requirements of many CEUs.
Professional administrators need to learn how best practices have changed over time and how these changes have impacted students since the time they were in front of a class. I don’t believe that they need to spend a couple of years back in the trenches, but taking over or even co-teaching a particular unit per grade makes sense to me.
ChristieS.
November 24th, 2010
1:52 pm
gah…html didn’t work. The first paragraph was a quote from Walk in my shoes…
Sorry about that.
Booger
November 24th, 2010
1:53 pm
Most teachers are dumber than a doorknob. Thats why they choose education. They can’t do anything else.
Tulsa< Oklahoma teacher
November 24th, 2010
2:45 pm
I worked with Dr. Williams here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was the Assistant Superintendent of Special Education and Student Support Services. Initially were please to have an African American male in the ranks. Upon his arrival, he immediately start to redistribute wealth to the north side of the city, which is mostly African American, he was rude in public to our superintendent and refused to suspend any African American Students. My sister was his Administrative assistant, he asked her to send a letter out to principals, she miss spelled a word and he went crazy, asked her where did she get her degree from, removed her from the position and made her cried for almost a month straight. He was so bad for teachers that we went to the union and agreed to donate money to purchase his contract out. He called us inbreeds, made accusations that we were incompetent as a city.
We were so afraid of him and many of us called him the thug of Special education, he is not a nice person to work for , so I am appalled that he is held in such high regards in Atlanta to be even considered for such an important role. You can keep him.
high school teacher
November 24th, 2010
2:45 pm
Oh, I don’t know, Bill and Melinda Gates don’t have any education experience either, but that doesn’t stop our politicians from foaming at the mouth over anything they say about schools.
Dekalbite
November 24th, 2010
3:11 pm
Regarding experience, DCSS just replaced our Instructional Superintendent Dr. Morcease Beasley. He has no Georgia teaching certificate (he does hold an admin certificate). He taught a totaling 3 1/2 years in the mid 90s. Can you imagine hiring someone with this background for your Instructional leader. Actually, the woman he replaced Gloria Talley did not have a teaching certificate either and had not taught since the 90s or maybe the 80’s. Being short on classroom experience may not be as important for a superintendent, but it’s disastrous for the head of Instruction.
lbeeper57
November 24th, 2010
3:40 pm
Name another profession requiring someone to have a college degree, pass a content area test, maintain a state certificate, and undergo a background and fingerprint check, only to see their job gone due to economic factors? Also, why the negatives to having an administrator or superintendent enter a classroom for a day? They would then get to see the actual implementation, impact and outcomes of all they have agreed for all superordinates to do,.
Ole Guy
November 24th, 2010
4:42 pm
Can hurt. Thus far, these educators with PHD tossed in, haven’t done very well. If a non-ed guy/gal thinks they can do the job, throw em in.
Angela
November 24th, 2010
4:42 pm
@Samau,
Boy, do I agree that principal’s and all administrators should be required to teach a class at least once a month. I also, think that they should make sure that they teach in some of the worst schools within the counties. I think that would add a true reality. But here is some food for thought: Do you realize that most if not all administrators came out of the classroom because they no longer wanted to deal with the behaviors and other bull we as classroom teachers have to.
S.
November 24th, 2010
4:47 pm
NO.
Really Amazed
November 24th, 2010
6:57 pm
I don’t understand??? Thought everyone was so happy with their child’s public education in GA!! Things need to be changed?? Any way Happy Thanksgiving to all!!
Robinson
November 24th, 2010
7:20 pm
The notion that any (non-educator) can run a school system is just absurd as thinking any educator can run a school system. Classroom experiences will not fully prepare teachers to run a school system, just as an educational reporter will not. However, either position can offer some insights (may not be common) that can indeed help the individual run a school system well.
The bottom line is that we should never approve a superintendent just because s/he has classroom experiences not just because s/he has been a successful education reporter or a CEO of a private company.
East Cobb Parent
November 24th, 2010
7:49 pm
@lbeeper57, well attorney comes to mind. I know several that have lost their jobs due to the economy and they are required to have a degree, pass a content test, take CLE’s, undergo a background check and fingerprints.
Why not give it a try?
November 24th, 2010
8:35 pm
A hospital has a CEO in charge of general operations, along with a medical director who is directly responsible for patient care. Why can’t a school system have a CEO business person with no classroom experience in charge of operations, alongside a Asst. super who has educational experience plus licensure? Why is it not possible to have the best of both worlds?
Private School Guy
November 24th, 2010
11:12 pm
You’re going to find smarter, savvy and creative people outside of the realm of education. I’m sorry but in my years in public education and business I’ve found that the corporate sector attracts far better leaders than the public sector.
Burroughston Broch
November 25th, 2010
2:32 am
@ Why not give it a try?
Two reasons come to mind:
(1) Because every educator is indoctrinated at university/college school of education that only educators must run every position in the public schools. This indoctrination is performed by a PhD who has never taught outside a university/college classroom, and who was indoctrinated exactly the same way.
(2) Education graduates are near the bottom of the academic achievement barrel in this country, while they are near the top in other countries.
long time educator
November 25th, 2010
5:39 am
Why not be more open to new ideas? Outsiders can’t do much worse. Maybe we need a fresh set of eyes to shake up a very stodgy and bureaucratic system. I have been on both sides, teacher and administrator, and I have always thought the central office needed some outside business help in budgeting, purchasing and operations. In my system, a former band teacher administered a several million dollar budget. I took the same leadership courses he did and they did not prepare us to do the type of accounting that job required. If you think outsiders are not prepared to run a school system, where is that same logic when educators are put in charge of these huge budgets? My county system is the largest employer in our county.
Williev2000
November 25th, 2010
6:54 am
Why not think outside the box? What’s wrong with a superintendent (without educational credentials) and a Chief Academic Officer or assistant superintendent responsible for instruction? I’m a retired school system administrator and I agree that it can’t be any worst than what we have now. Those that think a school level adminstrator should be mandated to spend time in the classroom teaching on a regular bases are very short sighted. (I don’t want someone coming in one a month or week interrupting my child”s instruction.) If you said they should spend time in local school buildings observing classrooms and talking with staff that’s different.
teacher&mom
November 25th, 2010
9:44 am
@Williev2000…I think the state Chancellor has offered Bloomberg a compromise that will allow Black to take the job IF Bloomberg will appoint an assistant of chief of staff with a strong education background.
Don’t forget that NYC schools have been under the leadership of Joe Klein (a former business man) for several years. This isn’t a new experiment for NYC schools and polls are showing that 60% of NYC public school parents do not want Black. They want someone with experience in education.
I’ve been following the NY Times and the comments posted on their web site. It appears that a growing majority of parents are tired of Mayoral control and the “business” model. When you read the comments on different news outlets concerning Michelle Rhee/Fenty, Bloomberg/Klein, Duncan/Renaissance 2010, there is a common thread of disenchantment. If you keep digging through the articles/comments, you’ll find groups of parents who actually like Klein, Rhee, and Duncan. However, when you break down the groups of parents who support or don’t support these leaders, there is evidence that the supporters tend to send their children to private or charter schools and the non-supporters send their children to public schools.
Based on what I’ve been reading, the public school parents in DC, Chicago, and NYC have been shut out. When you consolidate control and eliminate local boards and parent councils, you can push through reform efforts but at the expense of community support. I also find it interesting that the data these school reformers love to use to build their reform platform, is beginning to crumble. There is mounting evidence that the rise in test scores was manipulated and inaccurate.
There have been some really thoughtful points made on this blog thread. Good stuff folks. These are the types of conversations we need in Georgia. We need to define what we want from our public schools, what skills and knowledge do we want our typical GA high school graduate to possess, what tools and training do we need to provide to our teachers and leaders to make that happen…once we get a clearer picture of what we want GA public education to look like, then we can move forward.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Teach?Burdened by pre/post tests,paperwork & deadlines.Half of Dkalb teachers don't care, other half are stuck w/ the spineless,venting/whining,taking punishment..bending over, "please sir may I have another" quote Ole Guy
November 25th, 2010
10:55 am
exactly what the children need, touch and go practices….just as the business entities are able to manage (mis-manage) the housing/banking industry, auto industry, wall street ups and down….exactly what the school systems needs.
persons who mention u.s educational system in comparison with japan, korea etc, fails to understand that in the u.s. school systems….all students are accepted…and offered an opportunity. japan, korea, etc are homogeneous societies with various types of children health and support systems. furthermore, the u.s. system is doing exactly what it is created to do…perpetual a permanent underclass, to maintain the penal system employment and to maintain the lower echelon of a labor force.
Lawyer
November 25th, 2010
11:19 am
As a career educator and legal mind who now teaches legal studies, I am firmly against non educators as CEO of school systems. Politics is the key for failures in school system operation. For example in APS, Hall’s political influence on the board’s leadership started the downward spiral of APS.
By the way, Hall’s demise will end in a criminal prosecution, which will be earned. Unlike, what our mayor hopes, I am in favor of the continued criminal investigation by the governor. Good bye Hall.
Inman Park Boy
November 25th, 2010
11:58 am
Do you think American business people have set a high standard in ethics and integrity? Riiiiiiight!
What's best for kids?
November 25th, 2010
2:52 pm
@punishment for an administrator is…teaching a class?,
That is exactly the attitude that is NOT needed. Teaching a class is not punishment; it is a way for administrators and office stafff to get a pulse on their schools, their systems, and their students. Most, if not all private schools have their headmasters teach at least one class. Holy Innocents is one of them.