Comments on: Give Utah principals more authority over their schools http://sutherlandinstitute.org/news/2012/04/04/give-utah-principals-more-authority-over-their-schools/ News and views on Utah public policy Tue, 21 May 2013 20:04:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Eileen Lentz http://sutherlandinstitute.org/news/2012/04/04/give-utah-principals-more-authority-over-their-schools/#comment-1614 Eileen Lentz Mon, 09 Apr 2012 04:27:00 +0000 http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/news_old/?p=2932#comment-1614 As a special education teacher in another state for many years, when I came to Utah, I was completely shocked to see how little effective collaboration was going on between parents, teachers, and administration for the benefit of the students.  I was used to seeing the superintendent as well as the principal in my classroom and in meeting with parents about the education of our children.  Effective collaboration for the benefit of each student is compromised by the bloated and totally unnecessary bureaucratic system of the mega school districts in Utah.  The quality of the education in the smaller and student-centered school was much higher because decisions were made for the specific needs of our students and their long-term success with positive and active participation of the parents.  The great success we had was not because we had better teachers, but because the whole educational atmosphere was more nurturing.  The teachers I worked with in Utah had great fears that I had never expected to see because the system is set up to protect the jobs and comfort of the distant administration and not the nurture of the teachers and, most importantly, the students and their families.  I was surprised that in the last in-service training I attended, 75% of the time was dedicated to how to avoid providing needed services for students.  School boards are not voted in by informed parents and people in the community.  I have never seen any discussion before the election day about the qualifications and belief system of the candidates for school board on the ballot.  How can we claim they represent the people when we have no clue and no way to find out what they stand for?  Just as our federal government has become distant and oppressively ineffective, large school districts have become district and oppressively ineffective with top-heavy structures.  The administration needs to see themselves as servants and facilitators, not dictators of our school system, whether public or private.  The way I see to fix this problem is to break up the mega districts into smaller, parent-influenced entities that contract with independent service providers and resources that can be chosen because of their effectiveness in meeting the specific needs of the students in local neighborhoods.  Just like the free-market system can provide higher quality and cost-effective products and services than the government can; it can also provide better resources to meet the individualized educational needs of our children.  Most of the administrative machine in the mega school districts should be replaced with these more effective resources, and more personalized and locally-controlled school district systems.   

]]> By: Eileen Lentz http://sutherlandinstitute.org/news/2012/04/04/give-utah-principals-more-authority-over-their-schools/#comment-1772 Eileen Lentz Mon, 09 Apr 2012 04:27:00 +0000 http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/news_old/?p=2932#comment-1772 As a special education teacher in another state for many years, when I came to Utah, I was completely shocked to see how little effective collaboration was going on between parents, teachers, and administration for the benefit of the students.  I was used to seeing the superintendent as well as the principal in my classroom and in meeting with parents about the education of our children.  Effective collaboration for the benefit of each student is compromised by the bloated and totally unnecessary bureaucratic system of the mega school districts in Utah.  The quality of the education in the smaller and student-centered school was much higher because decisions were made for the specific needs of our students and their long-term success with positive and active participation of the parents.  The great success we had was not because we had better teachers, but because the whole educational atmosphere was more nurturing.  The teachers I worked with in Utah had great fears that I had never expected to see because the system is set up to protect the jobs and comfort of the distant administration and not the nurture of the teachers and, most importantly, the students and their families.  I was surprised that in the last in-service training I attended, 75% of the time was dedicated to how to avoid providing needed services for students.  School boards are not voted in by informed parents and people in the community.  I have never seen any discussion before the election day about the qualifications and belief system of the candidates for school board on the ballot.  How can we claim they represent the people when we have no clue and no way to find out what they stand for?  Just as our federal government has become distant and oppressively ineffective, large school districts have become district and oppressively ineffective with top-heavy structures.  The administration needs to see themselves as servants and facilitators, not dictators of our school system, whether public or private.  The way I see to fix this problem is to break up the mega districts into smaller, parent-influenced entities that contract with independent service providers and resources that can be chosen because of their effectiveness in meeting the specific needs of the students in local neighborhoods.  Just like the free-market system can provide higher quality and cost-effective products and services than the government can; it can also provide better resources to meet the individualized educational needs of our children.  Most of the administrative machine in the mega school districts should be replaced with these more effective resources, and more personalized and locally-controlled school district systems.   

]]> By: JBT http://sutherlandinstitute.org/news/2012/04/04/give-utah-principals-more-authority-over-their-schools/#comment-1613 JBT Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:37:00 +0000 http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/news_old/?p=2932#comment-1613 Principals ARE middle level bureaucrats.  Calendars, schedules, and curriculum MUST be coordinated to conform with other schools in a district and state.  Public schools, unlike private schools are not autonomous.  They are part of a greater whole.  In my experience in Utah public education over 30 years I have never seen an instance where the principal did not have the last say over who is hired to fill a vacancy in his/her school.  Generalizations such as those expounded by Mr. Finn do not necessarily apply to the situations that exist in Utah’s public schools.

Posting this essay as though it were fact is yet another example of those who have little or no real world experience in Utah’s public school system thinking they know more than the professionals who have devoted their lives to serving Utah’s students.

]]> By: JBT http://sutherlandinstitute.org/news/2012/04/04/give-utah-principals-more-authority-over-their-schools/#comment-1771 JBT Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:37:00 +0000 http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/news_old/?p=2932#comment-1771 Principals ARE middle level bureaucrats.  Calendars, schedules, and curriculum MUST be coordinated to conform with other schools in a district and state.  Public schools, unlike private schools are not autonomous.  They are part of a greater whole.  In my experience in Utah public education over 30 years I have never seen an instance where the principal did not have the last say over who is hired to fill a vacancy in his/her school.  Generalizations such as those expounded by Mr. Finn do not necessarily apply to the situations that exist in Utah’s public schools.

Posting this essay as though it were fact is yet another example of those who have little or no real world experience in Utah’s public school system thinking they know more than the professionals who have devoted their lives to serving Utah’s students.

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