Reply to Rushern Baker's Proposal to take over PGCPS

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Reply to "Rushern Baker's Proposal to take over PGCPS"

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[quote=Anonymous]Interesting comments here from Senator Pinsky, who supports Baker's attempted takeover:

http://www.senatorpinsky.org/emailTemplate/board_reform.html

Our school system is very uneven: some schools work well and some, sadly, struggle with school leadership, student achievement and parental engagement and are dismal. We have many strong educators who work hard but face difficult circumstances including adequate resources, management obstacles, new and multiple instructional reforms, etc. Some of these problems are national in scope and some are purely local. We also have a high number of students coming from poverty; we have ground to make up and challenges to meet.
 
The shortage of people entering the education profession in our country has been well documented. The U.S. is not Finland, Singapore or South Korea, countries frequently lauded for their success and where the profession is respected and teacher salaries are much greater. The shortage issue is even greater in our county, given many contributing factors, including superintendent instability. When your applicant pool for school system jobs is small, you, out of necessity, become less selective; this is felt throughout the system, from principals to teachers to upper-level management.
 
We have seen our last two superintendents leave our schools, to a significant degree, because of their relationship with the Board of Education.
 
When the County Executive brought together a group of experts in education to provide advice to him, over a year and a half ago, some members of the Board of Education (BoE) expressed the view that he was 'undercutting -- and actually attacking -- the board.' The county executive's effort to be more informed was seen as threatening and, sadly, not embraced.
 
What followed seemed to be a 'circle the wagons' mentality with anyone who even offered advice, including the county executive, seen as attacking the board's domain.
 
Our elected Board of Education is made up of dedicated civic activists. They are not, and will generally acknowledge, experts in education policy; that is not a requirement. They work to represent the public in setting school policy. That being said, one assumes they would seek input from people with expertise. Unfortunately, that hasn't seemed to be the case. Assistance that has been offered has frequently been received reluctantly. It appears that when input is offered from someone outside the board, the board perceives it as simply another 'pushy outsider,' rather than an invested stakeholder; this includes the county executive, who actually funds the school board budget.
 
Hiring a leader to run a $1.5 billion organization, in this case, the school system, is an overwhelming responsibility and no easy task. Only two of the current board members have hired a superintendent and that was when they simply elevated the deputy superintendent, the 'number two,' into the top spot. Seven other school board members have never been through this process. The dearth of management experience in making this type of decision is indeed a concern.
 
As the search to find a new superintendent proceeded, it seemed this 'circle the wagons' mentality grew stronger. It was at this point, my personal frustration grew. The superintendent position is critically important to the organization and to our county at large.
 
One thing that most drives teachers crazy -- and frequently, to leave our schools -- is ineffective school principals. Principals set the schools' tone. They decide whether to set high expectations -- for students and staff. They are the ones who must have a courageous conversation with staff members who do not meet those expectations. They are the ones who are accountable to students, staff and parents. Being a principal is not an easy job. Additionally, and sadly, poor principals generally make poor staff hires; they also document underperformance poorly. All of this hurts children and impacts student achievement. That's why the hiring of a strong superintendent is so important. This leader is the one who sets expectations for principals -- and enforces those expectations. The wrong choice destines our schools to mediocrity, or worse.
 
At this point, I have more confidence in the county executive's willingness to gather input and make a selection than I do of the board's ability. Is there any one structure that has proven to be more effective when it comes to running a school system? An elected BoE vs. an appointed BoE? A superintendent who reports to the county executive or mayor rather than the school board? To my knowledge, no one governance approach has proven to make the difference.
 
Is there ever a 'right time' to take action? Of course not. Events frequently dictate that time. Would an extended conversation have been better? Of course. But we are faced with a situation where choices were limited. The county executive chose to step in. While I didn't agree with his original proposal, I believe he is listening to feedback and working to better shape his proposal, as I am.  For example,  I believe employee relations, including collective bargaining should be retained by the Board of Education and am optimistic that will prove to be the case.
 
For these reasons, I support the county executive's intervention and his response to the drop in confidence of our current Board of Education.[/quote]

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