We are sympathetic to parents who make
claims that the school district in their
community is tone-deaf, and will not listen.
Some superintendents fail to understand their
lack of response is harmful to the image of a
district.
Parents are in a different position. Many
are young parents and do not know how
government works, or is supposed to work.
In many cases, this leads to a lack of parent
engagement. In public education, we must
solicit more, not less, community involvement.
We must all work to hold our superintendents
accountable in regard to educational, financial,
and administrative performance. There is
growing debate on whether districts should
return to electing these school management
leaders; we have generally opposed such
legislation, believing school boards can
make good choices and hold superintendents
accountable. We acknowledge that many
school districts do a better job of this
than others. Notably, urban districts have
consistently had much more turnover in their
leadership versus rural districts across the
state. Constant turnover also hurts the elected
versus appointed superintendent debate.
School boards must select good candidates
with community input.
School boards must embody the beliefs and
values of their community. School board
members should be as diverse as the citizens
they serve. We should thank the men and
women who are serving our communities
as school board members more often. They
are too often unappreciated, and it is often
a thankless but needed job. We need more
people with management and education
backgrounds to consider running for the
school board in their community. The pay isn’t
great, but the rewards are immeasurable. The
Tennessee School Boards Association has
some great information on their website for
those interested in this critical role.
School boards should
provide superintendents
latitude in regards to
leadership, vision, and
strategic thinking on how to
address the performance
in
those
areas.
We
must expect them to
communicate effectively
with all stakeholders.
There is no doubt we
have
some
excellent
leaders
across
our
state. These exceptional
leaders
share
many
characteristics. Perhaps
the most important duty
of a superintendent is to
make sure district students
are learning and achieving
at
the
highest
level
possible. A superintendent
must understand effective
academic practices and be
supportive of the teachers
and
administrators
in
the district. Leadership,
vision,
and
strategic
thinking are critical skills
for every superintendent. A
successful superintendent
will also be an effective and
excellent communicator,
which starts with returning
emails and phone calls.
I have been critical over the years of many
things in public education. From lack of focus
or poorly defined goals to disagreement with
curriculum or self-serving unions. However,
I have always tried to do what my mother
advised, “If you are going to criticize, offer a
solution.” Teddy Roosevelt blatantly made it
clear, “It is not the critic who counts; but rather
the man who is actually in the arena.”
Successful Education Lead