Comments on: It is Time for Leadership

By: Carol Allred

Carol Allred — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:10:34 +0000

I agree with Kurt Kaufmann that it is professional *administrators* we need. Professional educators do not necessarily know how to run a school any more than the other school board members, who may be professionals in their areas of expertise but may be amateurs in the area of administering a school.

I think the flaw in your comparing our small schools to other non-profit organizations is that the school board members not only govern the school, but they also do a lot of the work they are governing, rather than just “overseeing” it. A typical non-profit organization has experienced people (often paid) to do their marketing, recruitment, advertising, fundraising, bookkeeping, etc., while our school board members typically do all of this themselves. And they often do not have the time or the skills needed to get the job done.

By: TC

TC — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:33:47 +0000

I was a teacher in our system for 15 years before taking a job in the public sector (I am completing my state licensing and am able to do that quicker in the public sector because or our state regulations). I see my current public school principals frantically juggling to relearn their job in the wake of NCLB and conversely, watch my former Adventist principal work to keep the excitement and energy in a good school that seems to shudder every time an economic, church, or community issue arises. I do not envy our leaders! Here on the West Coast, the state certification boards tell us that we are teaching ILLEGALLY if we only have our denominational licenses, even though we are allowed to still teach under Adventist certification. Beyond the long-time issues of school board/teacher teamwork, maintaining strong academic rigor, and dealing with teacher/administrator burnout in a system where 1 misstep can end your career, we should make sure even the smallest school has an administrator who will seek out this kind of information. An article in today’s newspaper said that California has further tightened these teaching restrictions; Oregon’s rules are difficult on those who have taught here for years in our system. Small school administration is an art in itself; unfortunately, I found that even the courses provided in the administrator’s program at my nearest SDA college weren’t up-to-date enough to prepare many of my colleagues for running a small school.

By: Mel

Mel — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 04:11:09 +0000

Those PowerPoint presentations are still available:

http://www.larryblackmer.com/articles/44

By: Glynis Bradfield

Glynis Bradfield — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:40:05 +0000

We’re building a section in CIRCLE to help fill this real need. This includes all the articles in two special Journal of Adventist Education editions on boardmanship, designed to educate the non-educator board members or trustees. The summer 2008 JAE will be the third special edition in this series. Find these and more in CIRCLE’s Administration - Boards of Education category at circle.adventist.org/browse/?browse_node=47

By: Pam Cross

Pam Cross — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:53:11 +0000

Since there are exceptions, I’d like to let you know I went to a small one-teacher school that didn’t even have a board! I graduated from 8th gr. in a larger school as valdictorian of the class. I’ve been teaching in 1 and 2 teachers schools for 27 years and don’t feel my students received an inferior education! God bless our little one-room schools that stand as a light on the hill and a safe haven for the children.
Pam Cross

By: John

John — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:00:12 +0000

Its really not that bad. There are some great success stories out there!

http://adventistsnotcult.blogspot.com/2008/01/priming-pump.html

By: thesdaprincipal

thesdaprincipal — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:52:08 +0000

I agree as well with the original poster. I doubt few would disagree. Per the comment by Kurt, I think much of what is needed is exactly this: training of head teachers & principals on how to educate their school boards, and ready-to-use materials (videos, presentations, etc) that could be used to effectively do the educating.

Some of what Larry Blackmer developed is still available on his website (www.larryblackmer.com). It would be fantastic if the NAD could filter down through the conferences or unions some “official” school board training materials.

By: Kurt Kaufman

Kurt Kaufman — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:17:34 +0000

I have to agree with the author here. I know that when I was in MI, Larry Blackmere had ppt presentations that were available for Board training. This went along way in helping Head teacher/principal/board relationships. Not sure if other conferences had same as I never saw it in any of the 6 other conferences I worked in.

As for the training of head teachers and their leadership role, I feel that the conferences need to step up pre-service training before a person without an administrative degree is allowed to take control of a school. In today’s world it is just to risky to have someone in that role who could make decisions that could jepordized the WHOLE denominational educational system. It is hard enough when you have been through many classes, but to be thrown in cold turkey??