What is in short supply nowadays is finding those who can deal with ambiguity and change in such a way the associated fears become a leverage for innovation rather than a hindrance.
When I walked away from the public participation program that was called by the D300 board to address a $5M budget deficit, I felt totally helpless in not being able to steer the focus away from the deficit to focus on the root cause behind it.
The constraints exist everywhere. However, the constraint of the money has to be innovatively looked at from what can be done without affecting the core that comprises of teachers and students. That was not done as the major cutback amount was coming from teacher’s lay-offs.
Was anything done to see some of the assets can be sold or leased out to bridge the gap?
Even before thinking of bridging a gap in terms of money, why not think in terms of bridging a gap in terms of assessing the cushion that might be there in each every line item that affects directly or indirectly how the district performs?
I am sure that there might be programs that are un-necessary; there might be an imbalance in the way in which teachers are rewarded for their work; the priorities might have been skewed away towards something else that is not an education. Points to ponder: Do we have programs at school that are available privately without jeopardizing the learning process or the graduation requirements? Do we have in-experienced teachers performing better than the experienced teachers in a way in which they can connect to students in their learning process.
We have to look at the fact that we are teaching Gen M kids. The way they perceive education is different from the way it was perceived by baby-boomer generation. May be that the way in which we achieve a balance rather than a turmoil is to have a right mix of experienced and in-experienced teachers. But how can we achieve at right of mix of anything, for that matter?
As I have been pointing out in my earlier blogs, C-quadrant of COL is going to be predominant in the 21st century learning. There will be a disconnect from those who have lived their lives in the A-quadrant of COL, unless they are able to traverse to C-quadrant. The D-quadrant is where most of the skill-oriented learning takes place. Administrators are in B-quadrant benchmarking the learning process to improve it within the means available to them.
So, why not attempt to commute the circle of learning (COL) rather than getting pulled down by the tunnel vision created by commuting the line that has been drawn and controlled by external and extended entities that are outside the realms of D300 responsibilities to deliver education to distrcit?
Once we understand COL, I guarantee you that the Dilemma of D300 district can be made to disappear.