Become a School Leader. No Educational Experience Required

Mayor Bloomberg steamrolled Cathie Black into the system as our new chancellor seeming to give little credence to the concern educators and parents have regarding her lack of educational credentials. Black addresses this concern in her first outreach to her staff sharing that she’s visited more than 20 schools and says, “

“I’m seeing what makes an effective classroom, what makes a great school leader, and how a strong school culture can contribute to learning. But more than anything, these visits remind me why I’m here: to bring the opportunities made possible by an excellent education to every one of our students; to keep their dreams alive, or to ignite their dreams.”

The reaction of many educators and educational administrators is this.
Whoa! Two weeks of visiting schools certainly doesn’t enable you to see what makes an effective classroom. These schools put on a show for their special visitor. An hour or two in a school gives you no insight into what it was that made that school effective. Beyond that, there is resentment from educational administrators that while she was just handed the key card to her new digs, they were required to jump through all sorts of hoops, pay for the privilege to take tests to get certified, pay for teaching and administration licenses, put several years into the classroom before being able to be licensed as an administrator, and pay in cash and time for their masters degree and educational leadership certification...all of which we are told is necessary to be qualified.

They wonder...
Why isn’t she working to get her masters degree then specialized certification while also working full time like the rest of did or still must do. Why doesn’t she have to take the tests we had to pay to take and pay to apply for her ed licenses? Maybe she could be required to teach a class in the school at Tweed so she has a sense of what it is really all about. Educators wonder why on earth their boss, who is charged in part to enforce this process, is being given a pass on ALL OF THIS?

In short, in a system of accountability and standardization, why isn’t it necessary for the person in charge of all the schools to be held to the same standards as those running them?

The reason Ms. Black isn’t held to the same standards as her staff is simple.
We are tied to vague and unclear titles. If Mr. Bloomberg had simply changed the titles to accurately reflect the duties of the new Chancellor he’d likely receive less backlash. He also would have likely been perceived more favorably. One thing educators know is that often, a great educator is not always a great business manager. Anyone who has worked with me knows I’m a case in point. While their are exceptions to this, many school leaders know this is the case and now have business managers, director of operations, or a similar title for someone who runs that side of the affairs while the principal or superintendent serves as educational leader.

The reality is that according to Bloomberg, we needed a strong manager and it seems Cathie Black is indeed uniquely qualified to effectively run a large organization. Should her title be Chancellor, a title that most view as educational leader, even though she has no such background? The reality is that Bloomberg hired Black to be the Chief Operating Officer or Director of Business Management, titles that make sense given her background and duties. Since he didn’t give her an appropriate title, he was required to give Shael Polakow-Suransky the title of Chief Academic Officer serving as second in command. This begs the question, should the educational leader be the second in command to the person who is the business management expert? Why not have the Chancellor aka business expert as first in command when it comes to business decisions, and have the educational leader first in charge of education decisions. This would clear up a whole lot of unnecessary political mumbo jumbo and the reality is that the two positions are usually necessary to effectively run schools.

Most recently, New Jersey’s Governor Christie shared a sentiment that other political leaders are echoing around the nation.

“It’s important that New Jersey public schools recruit and hire the most experienced, talented managers possible,” Mr. Christie, a Republican, said in a statement. “In large, state-run districts, or in schools that have failed our children for generations, we especially need leaders who know how to manage thousands of employees in districts that spend hundreds of millions in tax dollars.”

Understandably educators, parents, and others do find it offensive when politicians declare we need talented managers with no educational experience to run our schools. Yes, we understand we need a uniquely qualified person to "manage" tax dollars, but that is not the same person that knows what is best for our students. What politicians like Christie and the rest need to realize is what Mayor Bloomberg was forced to acknowledge. There are two types of people necessary to run schools today. Let’s stop insulting the intelligence of Americans and start recognizing the importance of both roles necessary to effectively run a school system putting each in charge of their area of expertise.

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