Schools should be run by education professionals
Toolbox
By Kenneth Saxe - Published: March 30, 2007
I am concerned that the governance of our public schools is modeled in such a way that professionals must answer to nonprofessionals. What would people think about having medical professionals answer to elected community members? Would elected nonprofessionals have the skills and expertise to coordinate and set policy for our local hospitals if they had no medical background whatsoever? It wouldn't work for hospitals as it often does not work for public schools. Amateurs on education boards having the final word on policies other than financial issues negates the worth of professionals' education, training and certifications.
Currently boards are composed of well meaning but often under-qualified community members, sometimes with personal agendas, whose only prerequisite to getting elected to a school board is, well, getting elected. There they assume positions of almost unrestricted power, without oversight and often with little or no comprehension of what makes schools, pedagogy, students and teachers tick. In a small community, 150 votes can hand you one of seven votes on a school board in control of over $12 million annually. You don't even have to know how to read or write!
In my perfect world schools would be designed, run and administered by education professionals. School boards would be neither on-the-job training sites nor politically driven arenas. School boards would in themselves become the oversight entities in an advisory capacity, with appointed members, (as with other nonprofit organizations). Board members would demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the art, science and business of education before their appointments and would be expected to hit the ground running. School budgets would become bi-annual. Too much time is spent on annual budget preparation that could be better spent on policy issues or with students. Administrative and teaching contracts would be for a minimum of two years, unless disciplinary issues necessitated early removal (through board oversight).
Our current public-education model allows for far too much board micromanaging, often resulting in too little time for professionals to implement and assess the effectiveness of policies and pedagogies. Currently, every department in my school must prepare a presentation that addresses a series of questions posed by our board.
Most of the answers will be of a highly technical nature, which require a significant professional background to answer, never mind comprehend. The time and energy required to prepare such information is not insignificant and for what purpose? We are hired to teach students, not to bring board members up to speed. Personally I've always felt that anyone who really wants to understand education and teaching should be welcome to come spend a few days in our shoes, either as subs or shadowing teachers.
I have no doubt that many who read my piece will be seeing red (ink and ire). It's not that I'm unsympathetic, but the fact is that few people vote and even fewer become involved in any way with their local schools (no matter how much the "local control" mantra is repeated), which with our present model, often leaves school boards and schools at the mercy of the few, (with their agendas), who do decide to run (often unopposed). Apathy is a dangerous thing.
Kenneth A. Saxe, M.Ed., is a special education learning specialist at U-32 High School in East Montpelier.
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