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From Peyton Wolcott’s website:
KEEP THIS IN MIND
I can't take credit for the origin of this insight,
which comes from a wise friend
(who wisely chooses to remain anonymous)
who cautioned me years ago:
"You're going after people's jobs."
In some cases we are--with wasteful high-priced
administrative positions--and in some we aren't.
In either case, our public schools consider our
questions and searches personal attacks and
respond accordingly.
Be forewarned and stay positive.
Perhaps the defensive responses we frequently get when we ask questions of our schools can be explained by this. I have never thought of it in those terms. However, there may be a mindset within the educationist culture that views questions as challenges to their “public service” jobs.
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6 comments:
That would be true for bureaucratic positions that could be easily cut (consulting teachers, school psychologists, other support type people), but none of my criticism has ever been leveled at people that could possibly see their job in danger.
The director of curriculum, the superintendent, the principals of the schools, these people have no fear of losing their jobs.
They have learned that arrogance works. Intimidation works. Parents go away and quietly tutor their kids when they can't get any response.
I understand why that's important tactically, but a big part of me can't help but feel... "so what?"
Their jobs vs. your kids... Is that really a contest? If they're defensive about their jobs, how the heck should you feel about your kids' entire futures? If that's truly what is at stake here, should be sympathetic and sensitive, or foaming at the mouth with murderous rage?
This is something that's always bugged me about public bureaucracies - the sense that because someone gets their checks from the government, that automatically makes them some sort of noble, self-sacrificing martyr. That we shouldn't question them, because they're so-evidently working for the public good.
I think that's the major driving force behind opposition to school choice. It's just that it's a threat to their jobs - if every public school suddenly went private, someone would still have to teach & operate the schools. It's the feeling that if they were no longer getting paid by the government, they're suddenly no longer the noble creatures they've always seen themselves as. Their self-worth and prestige is derived not from what they do, but by who's signing their paychecks.
From http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2007/06/more_laws_more_1.html
It strikes me that the moral authority of many of the people who are being paid to do things (and who make a living at it) is directly related to whether they're being paid by the taxpayers. Does this mean that earning government money is worthier than earning private money? Can anyone tell me why? Couldn't it be argued that receiving money which is extracted from the citizenry under threat of legal force is actually less worthy? Why is it that so few people pose these questions?
[snip]
I can remember when living off government money without working was considered less than morally optimal, and being on the government payroll carried with it no special moral authority. Nor should it. Yet I have seen a growing tendency in some circles to see tax eaters (of all varieties) as morally better than the people whose taxes pay them. This makes no sense. It's not as if working for the government is like working for a religious order.
Of course, I work in tax, and it occurs to me that I might have a slightly skewed take on things.
Having watched Ridgewood from afar & Irvington close up, I now think there's a huge amount of "district personality" involved in these things.
Ridgewood has had a time of it, with superintendents & teachers taking things personally and saying so.
Irvington administrators and teachers have routinely maintained a professional tone throughout the past couple of years of parent unrest.
After watching the video of the Ridgewood super, I realize I had been taking this for granted.
I'm going to stop making that mistake.
Parents go away and quietly tutor their kids when they can't get any response.
We have extremely noisy tutoring in Irvington.
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