What's Wrong With This Picture?

Several things have happened lately that have left me wondering exactly what is happening in education.

I heard of a Superintendent of Schools who, after a grant was awarded to build a new computer lab, did not pay the grant writer for his services. The Superintendent paid himself, saying that while the grant writer had tried, the award was made on a grant submitted by the Superintendent. The Superintendent, shortly thereafter, purchased a new private automobile.

I also heard of a Superintendent who, after the school system was awarded a very large grant for the Elementary School Reading Program, used a part of the funds for sports equipment and when the Elementary Principal tried to purchase books, she was told there was no money.

Another Superintendent of Schools visited a small, rural school and announced there were "too many books in the library" and "get rid of them" was his solution. When he heard that Dr. P. J. Nickels would be visiting the school to present copies of her books to the students, his response was, "Oh great! More books!" My question: "How can there be too many books for children to read and learn from?"

I have heard that another school district is hiding two million dollars they have skimmed off of funds from their state. "It's for a rainy day." Speaking of rainy days, each time it rained, the Elementary Principal, teachers and custodian had to place waste baskets around the school to catch the drips from the leaking roof. (They were applying for an emergency grant to repair the roof.) This same school district would not fire a Superintendent who had numerous sexual harrassment charges brought to the board because, "we would have to buy out his contract."

On the bright side, one Superintendent wanted a new computer and laptop. He pushed the district to allocate funds to upgrade computers for the schools and had his "wish list" included. He called it a "win/win" solution.

What can patrons of a School District do to stop the abuse by Superintendents who are all about themselves and their agendas and not about the children and learning.

The answer, nothing as long as School Boards are more worried about Sports Championships than reading, math and the other core subjects.

The small, rural districts seem to be the ones getting the low ratings the majority of the time. Could the fact that funds in these districts are not being used properly and small district administrators think no one will check up on them be because they are a long distance from the Office of the State Dept. of Education be the reason for this abuse of power? That seems to be the prevailing attitude in many rural district's.

Don't get me wrong, there are many small school districts performing very well and whose students have a high rate of attending institutuions of higher learning, but there are many more who hire Superintendents who are lacking in the abilities it takes to run a district and seem to let them work without any supervision or allow the superintendent to "take over" not only the running of the schools, but the School Board's duties as well.

Take a look at your schools ratings, not if they have a great football or basketball team, but if the students score well on the Standardized tests (don't get me started on that one) and if there are a majority of students going to college and trade schools.

That is, if you can even get the stats. If you can't find the information, attend the school board meetings and watch what happens. Many of the Boards are "rubber stamp boards," where one person makes all the decisions and the "board sitters" agree to whatever is presented.

It is time to become involved, but understand, you are in for a long, uphill battle and many hours, days, weeks and years of dissapointment and frustration.