Winston Brooks' arrogance forebodes APS dark ages

The very first thing Winston Brooks did, even before he was
officially in charge, was to let us know that decision making
power was going to be re-consolidated in the Uptown Offices.

There has always been a tension in the APS. It's roots lie
in the fact that teachers have a wealth of experience,
expertise, education, enthusiasm, and the sole responsibility
for what happens or doesn't in their classrooms;

and no power to allocate resources or make decisions that
would change the outcome of their interaction with students.

When the teachers union feels like it, they advocate for
teachers and argue that they should be integral in the
decision making process.

They are opposed by administrators who want to maintain
control over power and resources.

So far in the APS; the model is this; a great deal of power
and resources that belong fundamentally to the people,
is entrusted to the APS in order to educate the children in
our community.

The power and resources go first to the school board.

They hold onto as much power and resources as they are
able, and pass what is left to a superintendent.

The superintendent holds onto as much power and resources
as s/he is able and passes what is left to the next layer of
administrators. Power and resources are passed from one
level of administration to another, each retaining control
over as much power and resources as they are able, until
whatever is left is finally turned over to teachers.

And, there is not much left. There is not enough left to make
a real difference.

Site base management is a model in diametric opposition.

Power and resources are allocated directly to the
educational interface, the place where students and the
system come face to face; classrooms.

Those at the educational interface decide how much
administration they need; and commit the necessary
resources and power. The bulk of power and resources
stay where they are needed.

Obviously, administrators who want to wield power and
resources fight site based management tooth and nail.

There has never been site based management in the APS.
At best there has been site based (administrative)
management; teachers, staff, students, and the community
have only an opportunity to change their principal's mind.

According to former Labor Secretary William Brock, who
leads the New Commission of the Skills of the American
Workforce (created to report on the state of U.S. education)

"We recruit new teachers largely from the bottom 30%
of entering college students, train them, and then
assign them to the toughest jobs in the most
challenging schools with very low pay.
When the results fall short, we tell them,
"You just have to work harder"
Most feel that they have no voice in their schools.
This is no way to treat professionals." (emphasis added)

It is demoralizing to be shown such disrespect for one's
expertise and experience. It burns out teachers. It creates
teachers who after a few years of treatment as second class
citizens, to join those who admit;

"I work the like I get paid; a little, every two weeks."

Teachers in the APS have among them over 70,000 years of
teaching experience, all have bachelors degrees, many have
masters degrees, and not a few have doctorates.

None of them has any voice in decision making;
not one of them has a seat at the table where decisions are made.

It was not teachers who came up with No Child Left Behind,
is was an administrative type who believes that students and
teachers can be threatened and intimidated into success.

The threats and intimidation stifle innovation and risk
taking. Administrators will just run the same play over
and over; because it is safe.

Because there are administrators like Winston Brooks,
who reject the conventional wisdom;

"There is no one of us, smarter than all of us."

The leadership of the APS looks always for the magic bullet.

They cling to the belief that there are individuals with the
intellect and the skill set to reform entire school districts
single handedly.

The simple truth is that they do not exist. If they did,
we could point to even one school district that is
experiencing unqualified success.

We can't because there isn't.

Charter schools are enjoying successes that public schools
do not; in no small part because the staffs work as teams
with a common purpose and goal.

The least successful charter schools are run by arrogant
administrators who think they know it all, and who treat
their staffs with disrespect.

Winston Brooks' heavy handed, club fisted return to the
old ways is not going to play well with teachers who already
feel powerless in directing their own professions.

A dark ages in the APS; is the inevitable outcome.