“Synergists” need not apply for APS Superintendent

For the purpose of this essay, a “synergist” is a person who is capable of, and willing to, create and maintain synergy among APS employees. Synergy defined as; the creation of a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Synergy and the model of the leadership of the APS are irreconcilable.

The power structure is pyramidal. At the top, a handful of “experts” who have control over power and resources entrusted to the leadership of the APS. As decision making power and resources trickle down toward the base they are absorbed.

At the base of the pyramid and holding the whole thing up, thousands of school based personnel; including teachers and teaching assistants having among them nearly 100,000 years of teaching experience, most of it in Albuquerque public schools, and with no real decision making power and no resources to underwrite the decisions they are allowed to make.

There can be no such thing as synergy without first there being the delegation of power and resources toward the “parts”.

The APS has at least once before, tried to empower school based personnel and community members. School communities formed committees called School Restructuring Councils. They failed when participates realized they were decision “advisors” not “makers”. Whatever effort is made to delegate power always comes with a proviso; if the council and the principal disagree, it is the administrator whose fist pounds the table last.

APS policy with respect to shared decision making has always included what many teachers refer to as a “weasel” clause. Currently it can be found in the APS Student Handbook and reads;

Nothing in the following is intended to prevent a staff member, teacher, principal or other administrator from using his/her best judgment with respect to a particular situation.

What it means in practice;

Nothing … is intended to prevent … an administrator from using his/her best judgement in a particular situation.

That becomes a problematic when for example; a staff member or teacher feels that a student’s misconduct is criminal and should be referred to a legitimate law enforcement agency. The administrator’s “best judgement” will be that it is better for all concerned if no record is made or kept of criminal misconduct.

Administrators have neither to explain nor defend their “best judgement”; it is what it is.

It should come as a surprise to no one; powerful people in control vast resources are not inclined to share either. In particular, they are disinclined if there is potential that the sharing cannot be rescinded at will.

More than anything else,

• the APS needs a superintendent who can create synergy and

• the current leadership of the APS needs to make sure that never happens.