Surprise! DeKalb Schools Have a Communication Problem
Decatur Metro | January 19, 2010I’ve learned many things about myself in the 2+ years of writing this blog.
And one of them is that while I may admittedly feel that left-leaning guilt on many social issues, I’m not married to any political party. Instead, my most fundamental beliefs seem to congregate around the importance of local communities and a need for civil discourse between parties.
So imagine my total lack of surprise this morning when I “opened” AJC.com to see a lack of “communication” cited as the given reason for one of DeKalb’s most recent blow-ups.
In a great piece about DeKalb County Schools recent meltdown over the Superintendent Crawford Lewis’ $15,000 salary increase – you heard about teachers’ black outfits and shouting at school board meetings haven’t you? – Kristen Torres reports…
“I can see it from the teachers’ perspective, and it’s perfectly reasonable to feel frustration or anger,” said board Chairman Tom Bowen, who called change “the new constant” in DeKalb as the system tries to improve. “As a board, we’ve done a good job telling the superintendent that we need to improve. But if there’s a downside to what we haven’t done as a board or as a system, it is to remind everyone why we’re making these changes and why everything has been done. Communication would have tempered a lot of this.”
Lewis, too, acknowledged an ongoing need to work on communication. He said he sometimes feels a need to be careful about what he says because many of these issues, including the budget, require a final say-so from the board. And while the eSIS got off to a rocky start, its operation has steadied, giving teachers, administrators and parents unprecedented access to students’ academic data.
Now, is communication the only problem here? Perhaps not. But without decent avenues of communication, you’re not even in a position to understand issues, let alone solve them.
BTW…there’s another reason to check out the article. Our good blog buddy Kim Gokce (of Community Radar) is also quoted and – no surprise! provides excellent insight into the issue.
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“Now, is communication the only problem here? Perhaps not. ”
Almost certainly not. The right thing to do would have been for the Super to take no raise in this issue of furloughs, budget cuts, staff reductions, 10% unemployment, etc. Lead by example. Taking a rather generous raise and then carping about being a “bargain” at a quarter million is anything but leadership. It’s what you would do if you actually wanted to antagonize others.
Agreed. The best leaders are truly humble, and the second-best know that they should at least appear to be humble. Making a statement like the one you mentioned above falls into neither category.
And I recognize that many orgs for a long-time have used the “lack of communication” excuse as a scape-goat to avoid tackling larger problems. But in a world where communication is suddenly very cheap, regular citizens and these cash-strapped organizations now have no excuse but to improve communication. Tax-payers should hold them to that admission and demand improvements in communication, because in course of that process it becomes evident whether the problem is just communication or something larger.
But maybe it is something larger and I’m just over-thinking it.
While it’s not as bad in City Schools of Decatur, I think CSD also has a communication problem. The system tends to treat intelligent, hard-working parents as a nuisance.
Crawford Lewis is very good at communication. The board gave him that raise because he’s getting better offers to leave and go to another school system. But a good administrator would have realized what a blow that was to the rank and file.
Dr. Edwards has passed up some of her bonuses recently, I believe.
“The system tends to treat intelligent, hard-working parents as a nuisance.”
This may be true, or seem true at times, but it’s equally fair to say that sometimes intelligent, hard-working parents treat CSD and its board like an unfortunate impediment to their own personal agendas.
Sometimes parents have great ideas and great insights, and they deserve a voice. No argument there. Juice up the SLTs and foster channels where vetted ideas can rise up and earn a place at the table.
But I also realize parents speak for their own situation, not mine. The board was elected. At least I know they’ll be accountable for their agenda come election time. That’s gotta count for something.
I have no delusions of perfection but I really think CSD takes more than their share of cheap shots. Sorry for the threadjack. Please resume putting the smackdown on Dekalb Schools, where it belongs!
what Scott said.
I know nothing about the school system, but I think “what Scott said” is dead on in almost all circumstances.
That’s unnerving, Daren. From the reports here of all your good work, I assumed you were smarter than that… ;^)