Re: [Phys-l] Kozol fasts to protest NCLB

[Larry Smith <larry.smith@snow.edu>]

At 1:07 PM -0400 9/13/07, RLAMONT wrote:
> Your appeal to intelligent management is certainly valid. However,
> principals and superintendents do not control schools - union contracts
> do. Only in charter schools do principals have the autonomy to actually
> try to implement reform.
>
> However, one of the frustrations I had during my brief stint teaching at
> the high school level was that there was no reward for excellence (not
> that I personally deserved it). The teachers who were known for their
> skills and adaptability got exactly the same pay raises as those who
> should have been fired years ago. This is where I think NCLB is weak.
> The carrot and stick are applied to the schools, not the teachers. There
> is little a "manager" can do if the individual teachers are shielded
> from accountability by a strong union presence that prohibits merit pay.


It is true that generally all teachers get the same raise, regardless of
quality.  Maybe that needs to be examined with merit pay in mind, but while
philosophically in favor of merit pay, it seems hard to carry out in
practice, especially with the unions around.

However, I disagree that superintendents and principals do not control
schools.  Other than the point I have already ceded, the principals and
superintendent play a strong role in educational leadership and curricular
reform--at least in the district I sit on the board of.

Larry