Editor’s note: This op-ed by Rama Schneider was originally posted in ConnectedVermont, a blog for discussion of education, with an emphasis on school board-related issues hosted by the author. Schneider is a member of the Williamstown School Board.
It appears to me that Vermont’s primary and secondary public education system is currently guided more by what can’t be done as defined by disagreements among the numerous and varied stakeholders as opposed to what needs to be done by the large area of agreement.
Merger or consolidation illustrates this problem in a big way. The arguments from any point of the “none at all” to “14 school districts statewide” continuum are heartfelt and well intentioned. The interpretation of any given claim tends to be filtered by the listener with a great deal of distrust and cynicism regarding true intent.
In the end, however, it seems we’re all leading to a final conclusion: what will work best for children and young adults in our elementary, middle and high schools. If we’re to reach this goal it is an imperative that each and every one of us, regardless of authority in the policy making regime, come together to create a unified front.
There is a need for all-in involvement on the policy front, and there is a need for everybody: the Vermont Legislature and the Agency of Education, the Vermont State Board of Education, the district school directors and all the good folks in the communities whether or not they currently have children in the system. No, I’m not forgetting all the professionals from the aides and paraprofessionals and teachers and principals who interact on a daily basis with our students to the superintendents who sometimes use magic to tie an unimaginable number of interacting threads into a cohesive whole — and of course everybody else. For the sake of this discussion I’m focusing simply on those who make the policies our professionals implement.
It may be easy to complain or wonder about the advisability of 260 or so local boards, but that overlooks the tremendous number of hours these boards provide exploring possibilities and outcomes as relating to the policy decisions we in the system have made.
If I’m correct and we all find our agreements and lack thereof are focused around providing the best possible educational experience to Vermont’s youth, then I see the first step as a changing of the visual paradigm. As it stands now we have a pyramid of policy making that begins at the top (I’ll let the Legislature and administration argue over who’s the tip-top) and flows down to the bottom level made up of students and the how, where, when, why and who regarding the students’ learning.
Because pyramids tend to be really big, heavy monolithic structures I’m not going to argue we flip it over. Instead, I’m going to ask that we all stand on our heads and begin to see the pyramid structure in a fundamentally different way: having the largest part — the base, the students — at the top and supported by the point that has been mistaken for the pinnacle. No matter where we as policy makers exist within that pyramid we should be viewing the students and their education as the reason for any and all policies we make.
Starting at the bottom and working up
Our education laws can be found in Vermont statutes Title 16, and these laws are the most authoritative set of educational policies we have. Title 16 has been developed and twisted and changed and morphed over the centuries by a combination of state legislative and administration action and agreement. The Vermont State Board of Education (VSBE) has (arguably) been given authority to make statewide policy, but they enjoy this position only as long as the General Assembly and governor permit.
Vermont seems satisfied with the governor having direct control over a state Agency of Education as opposed to the VSBE-controlled department, and that simple reality means the governor deserves to have his input treated with an appropriate level of priority.
The next step up is directly to our local school districts — the locally elected school board which provides students, parents and other community members direct and immediate access to the policy making and implementation process as well as seeing to the day-to-day oversight of specific schools.
Oh, and there is the largest body of policy makers — those folks who help to shape and fund the educational system — the good people of Vermont!
(Once again let us recognize, but not get into at this time, that parallel system of professionals from the school districts to supervisory unions to agencies and anywhere else who are charged with taking our words and turning them into action.)
I want to emphasize the importance of the last two layers I mentioned: the local district boards and the people of Vermont. It may be easy to complain or wonder about the advisability of 260 or so local boards, but that overlooks the tremendous number of hours these boards provide exploring possibilities and outcomes as relating to the policy decisions we in the system have made. And every year tens and tens of thousands of Vermonters turn out to say “yea” or “nay” on our progress by voting to approve (or not) our local budgets.
This could all work really well if we all put a great amount of effort into climbing out of our silos and committed as a whole to providing the best possible educational experience to our students. The only requirements I can find are humility and a sense of responsibility to a greater good.
The General Assembly and governor (via the Agency of Education) are perfectly situated to supply the legal framework that assures desired policies can be implemented and the needs and rights of the students are addressed and protected. The VSBE is particularly ill-suited to running individual school buildings and districts; there are just too many. Even if we were to consolidate district governance into fewer districts that won’t reduce the number of buildings and communities that need to be served.
Statewide policy, which the VSBE is perfectly suited for, of necessity needs to be very general and leave an opening for principals and teachers to apply such policies on a varied case-by-case implementation. The local boards are well situated to take the legal requirements of the government combined with the policies of the VSBE and merge it all into an end that meets the needs of individual students and the desires of their parents — all at a price the community is willing to support.
So let’s climb out of our silos of disagreement and work together on a unified future.
