Be Patient – Real Change Takes Time

Helping Young Leaders Slay Dragons

I love young leaders.  They don’t know what they can’t do.  So, they just go for it. It’s fun to watch because there is a process to this.  I’ve seen it before.  I’ll see it again. Young leaders demanding respect of a vision they hold instead of earning respect for what they have accomplished.  I understand that the charter school world is fairly young and therefore accomplishments can’t be measured in time like the rest of education.  But, at the same time, there is something to be said for old age and wisdom, especially when it has to do with patience, understanding and making decisions that stay made.

I was young once and understand the need to rush in and slay dragons immediately.  Over the years, I slayed a lot of dragons and learned a few lessons about the need to slow down in order to go faster and reach your vision in a more comprehensive and meaningful way.   Don’t get me wrong, I still slay dragons everyday – bigger, meaner ones, I just do it in a way that doesn’t create any nasty after effects.  But, one of the things I still love is working with the passion of the younger leaders, help where I can and watch for the inevitable growth that comes learning that not all dragons are worth fighting.

Let me give you an example.  One time I had an assistant principal who wanted so badly to be a principal.  He decided that to prove his worth, he was going to go out at tackle our attendance problem. (It really wasn’t a problem, but in he had a vision so off he went.)  I didn’t try and discourage him. I didn’t encourage him either.  I just thought that if he was this excited about doing it, who was I to tell him otherwise.

The next day, he came in furious.  “Why didn’t you tell me??!!” he demanded.  “Tell you what?” I asked.  “How horrible it would be.”  I grinned and told him, “Because you wouldn’t have listened anyways.”

It seems that during his calling of parents asking why their children had been out of school and getting on them for attendance, he forgot to check on thing; how they were doing in school.   He found out that hard way that haranguing a parent of a straight ‘A’ student for missing three days of school was not going to be met the way he thought it would be.  Nor did her realize that his title, ‘Assistant Principal’, in and of itself was going to make people automatically accept his parenting advise.  But, again, I couldn’t have told him that.  It was something he needed to learn on his own.

And, I guess that’s what this entry is about.  Younger leaders need to slay dragons and charge castles.  Mature leaders need to understand youth and offer guidance and understanding at the right times.  We need to help the young mature and offer our support and understanding.  Shoving something down someone’s throat won’t quench an appetite.  It will only serve to slow down their growth as they work as hard to prove you wrong as they do to prove themselves right.

So for now, I’ll watch, offer my help when asked, and be there to counsel and encourage when things don’t go as planned.  I’ll let them know that nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems at the moment.  The sun will rise in the east and the next step is easier than the last.  And, over time I will see bright young people mature and become leaders who will do likewise to the young leaders they help someday.

Is Edu-business Going to Ruin the Charter Movement?

“Edu-business” - a group of people who see education as a business opportunity and not a service to the community.

Edu-business is going to kill the charter school movement.

I’m just leaving the California Charter Schools Association conference and I can’t keep from thinking about how vendors seem to be so involved with an organization that should be so much about grass-roots.

While charter schools are the future, a select group of business interest seeks to hijack the movement and make a fortune off of tax-payers without adding any value. There are several ways this is happening. However, today I am just going to take a look at the back-office service provider industry for charter schools. Believe it or not there are companies that just do charter school budgeting, financing, and perform other financial services for charter schools.

Despite the fact that charter schools are actually public schools, very few of these service providers have any experience working with the school finance prior to becoming involved with charter schools. They encourage charter schools to take on debt, try to solve budget gaps by simply telling schools to get more students, use depreciated assets in lieu of cash to create reserves. (Ever try and pay a bill using a used computer?) They present negative budgets to authorizing school districts and in general – just do a poor job of handling school finances and wasting tax-payer money.

Why did this happen? Well, that’s a story for another day. But, let’s just say that authorizing school districts, who are charged with oversight, need to share some of the blame.

Luckily there are groups like EdHive who are working to change things. Let’s hope they can change the course.

Working Together for the Good of the Kids

This morning, while sitting at the opening session of California Charter Schools Association‘s annual conference, I was reflecting on charter schools, edu-business and traditional public schools. The more and more I thought about it and became more and more frustrated, I kept coming back to the same question; “why can’t it just all work together?”

Well, it can. But for that to happen, there needs to be some mutual respect. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen until each side of the issue takes a look in the mirror and undergoes some self-reflection and admits that each has what the other needs. I’m not sure it is ever really going to happen, but if it does, it needs to happen soon for the good of our children.

In the traditional public system, we have done a great job of creating systems that are good for the masses. We are also good at doing well with very little discretionary revenue and dealing with a multitude of variable outside the classroom like transportation, buildings and food service. However, traditional public systems are required to educate everyone. Severally handicapped children, children with a multitude of emotional issues and children who come to school sporadically and are not ready to learn when they do attend. The additional money given to a district to educate these children is around 40% of the actual cost. The remainder comes from money allocated to educate everyone else.

Traditional public schools also need to deal with unions and rules that protect weak employees, pay older employees double for the same amount of work and make the process of dismissal costly and/or impractical. This includes teachers, as well as, custodians, cafeteria workers, instructional aides and to a lesser extent bus drivers.

Finally traditional schools are required to follow an arcane set of rules that often contradict one another. These rules are interpreted by a constantly shifting and thick set of bureaucratic decisions that are often based on preferences, whims or political pressure by individuals who were not successful working at traditional schools.

As for charter schools, there are two camps. In one camp you have a nice group of people who wanted to educate children free from many of the rules the govern schools. They make less money than teachers at traditional schools; they have no tenure and/or union. They also don’t have to worry about severely handicapped children or those that aren’t ready to learn, because they will be uninvited to attend (Remember, charter schools are a selective option.) They have heart and passion. However, they are, by and large, not good at setting up systems or thinking strategically about their business. They have good intentions, but often need to turn over business operations to people who know nothing about schools. These schools sputter and never seem to grow because, the advice they get isn’t good for them. It’s usually good for lawyers and accountants. (Looking at some of their books, it always amazes me how much they spend on these two items.)

The other camp is made up of smart business people who don’t really care about education. They are edu-businessmen. What they care about is getting students and creating revenue. They have no background in education. In some cases, the company they started was an MBA project at a top business school. But, what they do have that traditional school and smaller charter schools need is a head for business and an entrepreneurial spirit. They understand money, financial systems and know how to find investment.

In each case, one has what the other needs. Public schools need the flexibility and passion of the smaller charter schools, and the business acumen of the edu-business. Smaller charters need to understand systems better so that won’t have to spend money on things unrelated to their mission. Edu- business needs to get some of the heart of the smaller charters and the knowledge of the education industry that exists in the traditional system.

There has never been a more important time for each of these factions to come together. I just hope it happens soon because when we are not getting the best of each other, our students are not getting the best from us.

However, there is some hope. Click on EdHive and see how the dream of working together can be a reality.

Charter Schools Matter

Earlier today while waiting for an event at the California Charter School Association‘s annual conference, I was talking to a group of people who are starting a group called EdHive about charter schools and why they matter. What they said made a lot of sense.

Many parents are looking for alternatives to what their own public or chosen private schools have to offer. They sense that their schools have become test prep factories that only care about a score on a series of tests given each spring. They feel their child’s creativity and love of learning is being replaced with limited options and judgment of their potential via test score.

For these parents, charter schools matter, because at the end of the day, test scores don’t – or at least shouldn’t. That’s right; because charter schools are something parents opt into, they have to consciously make a decision to place their children into them. Before doing that, they also came to the conclusion that the neighborhood school either wasn’t meeting the needs of their child or that something was missing, that there was a better situation to be found elsewhere.

Therefore, parents are placing children in schools that are more philosophically in line with what they want for their children. Some parents feel their children need more discipline, some want to home-school and supplement with rigorous on-line curriculum, some just want to get their kids to graduate from high school and find programs for at-risk students where students can go to a drop-in center and visit with a mentor several times a week. Some want project –based curricular options, or work-experience tied in with basic curriculum. Doesn’t matter what the flavor, people are now looking for schools based on the type of situation that best fits their personality.

In fact, I am starting to hear other professionals refer to kids as far as the type of program the kids seem to fit. For example, ask your high school principal what a “Hi-Tech High kid” is and if they are being honest, they will tell you, “Bright, odd-duck, nice, kind of nerdy”. But, the important thing here is that if you have a bright, nice, nerdy type of student who feels a little out of the loop in a regular school, there is a perfect school for him or her to attend. If your child is happy and likes school and fits in with kids that are like them do you really care about test scores?

The answer is of course, “No”. Because at the end of the day, your child’s success isn’t based on a number assigned to your neighborhood school, it’s based on getting them into a school that excites their curiosity and creates a passion for something positive.

Not every student fits nicely into his or her neighborhood school. Not every student will find success at a ‘good school”. That is why charter schools matter. Because, at the end of the day, it’s the smile on a young face matters most of all.

We Both Have Issues – So Let’s Stop the Fighting.

Next week, I am going to be attending the California Charter School Association‘s (CCSA) annual conference.  I like to go because I do learn a little about the psyche of charter school leaders and to feel the passion that many of these people have for children.  Many of these people are truly committed, caring, selfless and want to do the right things for their students.  It’s really a wonderful event where you can really see and feel what originally gave the charter school movement such momentum.

I know that some of you are aghast that I would be happy about going to a conference like this, but I have to tell you that I’m an educator – first and foremost and believe that parents should have choices and that competition does make us all better.

I see positives and negatives in both approaches.  While I despise the fact that edu-business and for-profits seem to be shanghaiing the charter movement, I do see that those who only wish to provide quality choices as an inspiration.  They are, for the most part, young, eager and figuring it out.  I only hope they are able to regain their footing and fight back against what those who are paying CCSA’s bills would like to see happen – for-profit privatization of the public school system.

It’s true the public school system does have its issues.  But, to be honest, we only need to look in the mirror to find our own worst enemy.  Tenure is given not earned. (This is not the fault of the teachers union.  An administrator somewhere gave the thumbs up to give these people tenure.)  State laws make it impossible to contain certain costs due to prevailing wage regulations, and the simple fact that we have forgotten that teachers not programs are the most important resources we have, caused many who once honored us, look at us with increased suspicion.

The saddest part is that the two sides can’t see the validity of each other.  Charter school operators dislike regular public school and regular public schools don’t care for charters.  However, what makes this worse is that this mutual dislike is more about money than educational quality.  In today’s economy, money has become the key motivator for this dislike because regular public schools are getting less of it and the for-profit people…. well, they just want more profit.

But I’m excited. I’ll be there this week.  I’ll feel the inspiration of those who really want to do good and what’s right.  I pray that they see just how profoundly their passion is being used so that others, who really don’t care about students, can garner greater profits.   I’ll feel inspired and tear-up at some of the stories of courage and commitment I will hear and then get teary-eyed again as I listen to Dr. Howard Fuller speak eloquently in favor of charter schools and parent choice.

Once again I will marvel at how regular public school districts keep moving closer to being more like charters and how many charters are beginning to take many of the characteristics of a regular school district.  It’s really too bad that there has to be two camps – Charters and Public – But, it needs to end.  We have to co-exist or it’s our students who will pay the price.

I would also like to invite you to check out the EdHive and see how a group of people who think like I do, are trying to reinvent and reshape how charter and regular public schools can work together for the good of students.

Can A Leader Push too Much?

The other day, something happened in our District. An employee made a great decision and did something that really helped get the word out about something going on in the District.  So, I called and praised him and then I threw in something that would have put the message even better.  Then I started thinking, Do I do the “Praise, but…” all the time? And, if I do, is it bad?

The first step of this realization was that I do it more than I thought.  I asked one of my principals and he admitted it can be a little frustrating, but he’s now gotten used to the fact that I seem appreciative of the effort, but usually ask for a little more.   He told me, “It’ always a tweak or adjustment kind of thing, so I’m Ok with it.”  I then asked my assistant – she’s biased – But she just thinks it means I care.

Not that I want to be self-conscious about it, but it does make me wonder if a leader can push too much.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to hold off and not do the “but….” And see if people still take the initiative to go to the next step on their own.  I hope they do.  Because that will mean the culture is such that going to the next level is just part of the fabric of what we do.  If not… well, maybe it’s good I’m such a nag.

PS.  If you want to check out more cools stuff – check out the EdHive.  It’s a group of people I know who are doing some pretty exciting stuff.  Not to mention they like featuring my blog – check them out.