Symbolic of the rise of neoliberal principles in Irish education policy, there is now a move towards advancing school autonomy and decentralizing decision-making to individual schools, possibly emulating the academy model that has become widespread in England. Increasing the freedom and independence of schools may involve using private actors to provide what has traditionally been the service of the state, but it will most definitely involve schools behaving more like private sector organizations. While some of the new powers that would be devolved to schools might seem attractive, especially in how they are presented at an official level, this paper highlights how features of autonomous schools that may initially seem appealing are, in practice, likely to be unsuited to the Irish context. In this regard, this paper advises that school autonomy should not be advanced in Ireland.
This research set out to explore the financial management by SGBs in public primary schools. The challenges as they were experienced by SGBs were identified. This study revealed that some public schools SGBs are dysfunctional with regard to the management of finances. The understanding of roles and responsibilities pertaining to the management of finances is insufficient. SGBs are still battling to understand the roles especially of the chairperson, treasurer and the secretary. There is a lack of monitoring and understanding of roles. Understanding of the financial legislative framework is still a challenge to rural public schools. Knowledge and interpretation of the other policies and regulations, Acts and prescripts is a major concern. There are transgressions of, and non-compliance with the financial legislative framework. The study further found that the SGBsâ perceptions, experience, feelings and thoughts with regard to management of finances are such that their lack of knowledge and skills in finance due to inadequate training makes them feel uncertain and unsure of their competence to manage finances. The quality of the training that they have received does not adequately empower them to manage finance successfully as it is offered by incompetent people. The contents of the prescripts, circulars, manuals and Acts are not clear at all to them. The English language used in the documents makes it especially difficult for SGB members, especially the parent component, to grasp what is needed. In some of the schools investigated, budgeting processes are done unilaterally by the principals who dominate every sphere of governance and relevant stakeholders are not involved. The PED should bear in mind that an investment in SGB training is an investment in their empowerment and decentralization of finances to public schools. If well trained SGBs could render a better service in managing public finances. A procurement management system should be developed, monitored and evaluated from the circuit level. Schools must be encouraged to create procurement clusters or budget clubs. Lengthening the time in office for the SGB from three to four or even five years will add value for money in the form of human investment. The issue of continuity must be ensured after each and every election or four years of re-election, especially in the portfolio of treasurers. This will enable governors to develop their experience over a longer period. During this time there should be continuous training as stipulated in section 19 of SASA. The PED should consider incentive programmes or honoraria for SGB members as a sign of acknowledgement, based on performance, to improve the quality of their effectiveness and efficiency in the management of school finances. The department must develop a financial assessment programme and remediation initiatives to decisively respond to schools that are dysfunctional in terms of financial management. Copyright
I n 1988, a group of reformersâblacks and whites, Democrats and Republicans, business and laborâforged a well-financed and apparently powerful political coalition to take control of the Detroit Board of Education. Running as the HOPE coalition (the anagram made up of the first letter of the last name of the three candidates: Hayden, Olmstead, and Patrick for Education), these reformers promised to change the Detroit schools in ways that were quite similar to those the ânew Progressivesâ had implemented in other cities. Upon their election to the board, the HOPE candidates worked diligently to place the school system on a firm financial footing, to run it in a more efficient manner, to establish closer ties with the cityâs business community, to decentralize the district by empowering principals and local schools, and to create schools of choice that would enable parents to have alternatives to neighborhood schools. Despite some notable successes in these areas, in 1992, the HOPE initiatives abruptly ended as voters turned most of the reformers out of office following a series of bitter confrontations and crises. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Average citizens, working-class and low-income individuals in particular, have little, if any, impact on the formulation of educational policies that affect the schools in which their children are enrolled.Yet there are instances in which these typically disenfranchised citizens become politically active and are able to effect change in the educational policy arena.This study will focus on the process of transformation of marginalized and politically disempowered parents into citizens active in the formulation of educational policy. BACKGROUNDSchools tend to be the governmental institution with which the average citizen has the most contact.Ironically, most community members have little voice in the day-to-day operations of schools and tend to have insignificant influence on educational policy at the district, state, or federal level.In Tinkering Toward Utopia, Tyack and Cuban (1995) explain that a variety of groups have entered school politics, but that this apparent pluralism is misleading.They feel the politics of education has not been conducted on a level playing field.Members of the policy elite-people who manage the economy, who have privileged access to the media and to political officials, who control foundations, and who lead our city and state education agencies and universities-have disproportionate authority over educational reform.The authors go on to say: Policy elites often claimed to be "taking the schools out of politics."They sought to do this by centralizing control of schools and delegating decisions about education, wherever possible, to "experts."In the process they did not, of course, eliminate politics, but they acquired formidable powers: to set the agenda of reform, to diagnose problems, to prescribe solutions, and often to influence what should not [italics in original] be on the agenda of reform.(p.8) Stone, Henig, Jones and Pierannunzi (2001) explain that in addition to being controled by elites, educational policy occurs in subsystems and is decentralized, taking place "out of the limelight of public opinion" (p.100).This type of decentralization (toward the elites) occurs despite vocal support for parental involvement (decentralization toward the community) from the U.S. Department of Education and many state departments of education (Epstein, 2001).In Stone et al.'s (2001) words: "urban parents are scarcely visible as active [italics in original] stakeholders in the current school improvement movement" (p.83).Not only do the elites control the policymaking environment, but they also perceive problems differently.For example, the author's research determined that, in some cities, elites are likely to say that no educational problems exist while in others they may identify poor teaching and governance as concerns while other groups cite financing and social issues as key school problems.Issues of race, class, gender, education, and political knowledge further exacerbate this lack of power (Conway, 2000;Gee, 2001).In addition, the democratic environment in which these citizens live also affects their ability to act.As Greider (1992) points out, American democracy is in much deeper trouble than most people wish to acknowledge.Behind the reassuring faade, the regular election contests and so forth, the substantive meaning of self-government has been hollowed out.What exists behind the formal shell is a systemic breakdown of the shared civic values we call democracy.(p.11)
The claim that autonomy in the classroom and freedom from bureaucracy will stimulate innovation in teaching and learning and result in improved student achievement is based on an assumption that all bureaucracy is bad. The that Ms. Fox studied suggest, however, that this assumption is facile at best. IN FALL 1997, Ohio adopted a plan for the implementation of in its eight largest urban school districts in fall 1998. Subsequent legislation allowed the establishment of in any of Ohio's 21 large urban districts or in any school district declared by the state board of education to be in a situation of academic emergency. Because all private and public in Ohio receive charters from the state, these new kinds of are referred to as community-charter schools or As I've done in the title, I'll use these terms throughout the rest of this article to distinguish Ohio's from those in other states and from the general concept of schools. Charter school advocates claim that will be successful primarily because they are free from rules, regulations, and the weight of bureaucracy -- normal aspects of public school systems. They believe that will provide better student performance in exchange for this autonomy.1 According to Bruno Manno and his colleagues, the charter concept is simple but powerful: sound school choices can be provided to families under the umbrella of public education without micromanagement by government bureaucracies.2 This anti-bureaucratic ideology contends that the top-down bureaucratic system, with all its rules and regulations from state and local education agencies, inhibits efforts to innovate in public schools.3 The idea that freedom from rules and regulations will guarantee innovative practices in governance as well as in teaching and learning provides a basis for the argument favoring autonomy within a school structure.4 Many school advocates the notion that educational innovations develop best from decentralized, bottom-up sources.5 Charter present an opportunity to the power from bureaucracies to the themselves and ultimately to the individuals responsible for them -- educators, parents, and students.6 The from bureaucratic to autonomous governance brings potential for expanded, inclusive, and localized democratic decision making.7 This shift allows individual to make most of their own decisions regarding budget, personnel, curriculum, and instructional program. Some argue that, in each school, only those closest to the students -- teachers, support staff members, administrators, and parents -- should make the necessary decisions regarding restructuring.8 Waivers from bureaucratic rules and regulations create the potential for innovations that could result in increased academic achievement for students.9 However, the assumption that autonomy will result in governance structures that support grassroots involvement in decision making and so lead to more innovative educational environments has been examined in only a few studies.10 In a qualitative case study of four of Ohio's community-supported schools, I sought to describe the organizational structures of the to determine who was involved in making formal and informal decisions affecting life in the and whether those structures supported empowerment of the staff in grassroots governance.11 My descriptive study addressed the question of whether participants perceived their schools' cultures to be conducive to enhanced learning environments for students. Eighteen teachers, four administrators, and one governing board member took part in individual interviews and focus groups, all conducted at their school sites. The initial group of three used for this qualitative case study were selected from the 15 opened in large urban districts in Ohio during the 1998-99 school year. âŚ
In their study of Chicago school reform, the authors discovered that the principals of productive elementary schools skillfully use a number of strategies to promote the efforts of both parents and teachers who work directly with children. EIGHT YEARS of research on Chicago school reform show that local control has facilitated significant improvements in student achievement in a large proportion of elementary schools. It is also clear that, under Chicago's decentralization plan, the quality of the principal's leadership is a critical factor in determining whether a school moves forward to improve learning opportunities for students. Evidence comes from investigations carried out by the Consortium on Chicago School Research, including surveys of teachers, principals, local leaders, and students, as well as in-depth case studies of dozens of schools.1 Previous longitudinal analyses of standardized test scores had produced an estimate of the value added to student learning by each elementary school and whether this measure had been improving.2 We have linked our data to these analyses and are now in a position to share what we have learned about successful principal leadership aimed at improving academic achievement. During the 1990s, Chicago witnessed gradual but consistent improvement in student test scores. In 1990, about a quarter of the students in grades 3 through 8 reached national norms in reading and mathematics. By 1999, this proportion had grown to 35% in reading and 43% in math. One-third of the elementary schools (most include eighth grade) raised the percentage of students reaching national norms in reading by at least 15%. Almost half of the schools showed an increase of between 5% and 14%.3 While far too many students still fail to reach national norms, this steady upward trend is encouraging. This same period saw the establishment of local control under the framework of the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act. The law created parent-dominated Local School Councils (LSCs) for each school and gave them the power to hire and fire their principals. Principals gained greater autonomy in selecting their staff, and they received new resources relative to the number of low-income students their school served. Eventually, elementary schools received an average of $500,000 a year, which could be used to finance improvements.4 In 1995, the state legislature handed control of the school system to the mayor, giving him the right to name a five-member school board and the chief executive officer of the system. With the extensive news coverage of the mayor's new team, most outsiders failed to realize that the 1995 reform left local control intact: LSCs were not affected, and neither were their formal authority or their resources.5 Key Elements of Principal Leadership in Productive Schools The underlying assumption behind the Chicago reform is that local actors, if given adequate authority and resources, will be able to solve local problems effectively. Along with granting this autonomy, the 1988 reform law dramatically reshaped the sanctions and incentives for principals. Instead of reporting to their central administration superiors, principals became locally accountable. They now work under four-year performance contracts subject to LSC review. Most important, when they successfully introduce improvements, local leaders recognize and appreciate their efforts. We found three common elements among principals of productive schools: their leadership style, their strategies, and the issues on which they focus. A central theme emerging from our research is that principals of improving Chicago elementary schools skillfully use a combination of support and pressure to promote the efforts of adults who work directly with children. Leadership Style Several features characterize the leadership style of principals of productive schools: an inclusive, facilitative orientation; an institutional focus on student learning; efficient management; and a reliance on a combination of pressure and support to motivate others. âŚ
In the last two decades the Israeli educational system has undergone major changes which have transformed it from a state-controlled, overly bureaucratic and almost fully state-financed system into a decentralized, partly locally controlled and increasingly privately financed system. Advocates of this transformation of the educational system appeal to the ideal of parental choice. They argue that the implementation of parental choice programs in education shows more respect to the children and their unique talents, take their self-realization seriously and promotes equal opportunities in education. The ideal of parental choice is also upheld in relation to value of cultural pluralism. Supporters of educational autonomy advocate the restructuring of schools in a way allow ing them to develop a unique climate and curriculum consistent with respective communities and parents' preferences. The aim of this paper is to assess critically the changes that Israeli educational system has undergone against the background of the principle of equal educational opportunities. The main claim of the paper is that these changes undermine this principle. It will be argued that these changes actually cater mainly to the educational interests of middle and upper middle classes in Israeli society.
A study of extra-curricular financing in the larger secondary schools of South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota was undertaken with six objectives in view: (1) to find how funds are raised to finance the extra-curricular program, ( 2) to find how these funds are apportioned and who has charge of this apportionment, (3) to find whether a decentralized or centralized method of handling these funds is used, (4) to find, if finances are handled by a centralized plan, who the finance officer is, and what his duties are as finance officer, (5) to present a plan, for purpose of example, with which the writer has experience as finance officer of Brookings High School, (6) to conclude, with the general objective in view, that presenting this information and data which would be of value to anyone initiating a centralized finance plan for extracurricular activities and student organizations.