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5.4.4 School Boards
Now,
the next part of school administration is the school board. Now if I was
going to give you a presentation that was very logical, I would start
with the school board. Why? Because the school board has the legal responsibility
for the school. Ok? And I want to say that in loud letters and you're
very likely to see that on a quiz, Who has the legal responsibility for
the school? Not the principal, not the superintendent, not the federal
government, not the state department of education, but the local school
board has the fiscal responsibility for the school, the overall policy
responsibility. The school board is the legal responsible entity. Now,
they think they have more power than they do. And we think they have more
power than they do because their power is hemmed in by so much tradition
and other regulation from the state level that they don't have as much
as they think. But they are responsible for developing broad educational
policy. They are the ones who decide what should be taught, when and where.
They decide how much leeway individual school buildings are going to have.
Some school boards are very centralized in their authority, some give
a lot of leeway to individual schools. All of those things come about
as a result of the school board but the most important thing the school
board does in my judgment is to select the superintendent to execute their
policy. Because the superintendent, if the superintendent is good, does
more than just execute the board policy, the superintendent of schools
also helps the board shape policy. They whisper in the school boards ear...we
suggest that
you do this, we suggest that you do this. Good superintendents lead their
boards. Good boards are not rubber stamps but good boards listen to their
superintendents and have selected the kind of superintendent they want
to listen to. Now, the superintendent of schools, in my judgment, isn't
nearly as influential on the day to day education of the kids as the principal.
But, the superintendent of schools selects the principals and perhaps
that is one of his most important functions.
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Who has the legal responsibility for the school? | |
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Mr. Williams
just resigned his position as superintendent for the local school
system. The assistant superintendent, Mr. Adams, is elected by the
school board to take over this position, and one of his first tasks
is to appoint a principal for |
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