Spring Cleaning: Strategies for School Districts to reduce deficits

Spring Cleaning: Strategies for School Districts to reduce deficits

All across the nation, school districts are indicating that there are millions in deficits that must be addressed for the school system to remain viable. The strategy that many school boards are utilizing is to layoff teachers and support personnel, not administrators. Teachers are the “front line” workers that facilitate the learning environment for the students. An alternative strategy can be to evaluate the need for administrators. In many cases, schools have multiple administrators performing the same tasks and duties within a school or even district. These administrators are making high five to six figure salaries, which in many cases could keep 2-3 teachers employed. In some schools, there may be as many as five principals in the same school, the Main Principal and Principals for each grade level. In addition, there may be many different “Area” offices that provide the same services only to different schools within the district. When indicating strategies for reducing deficits, there has been no indication that administrators will be terminated or laid off as a method of reducing the deficits. In Los Angeles, 5,400 teachers and support personnel may be laid off. In Detroit, over 600 teachers and support personnel will be laid off. It is time to review the School Boards and their logic for the layoff teachers when classrooms are already overcrowded with teachers instructing so many students that is it hard to maintain order within the classroom, let alone provide the necessary instruction for students to strive and excel in the educational environment. While it is understood that a strategy must be developed to reduce the deficits, it would seem that financial managers and school boards are opted for the same old strategy, reducing the teaching workforce. While a Turnaround Strategy may be applied that focuses on Capital Expenditures and Workforce Reduction, it should not be relegated to the layoff of teachers, but rather to analysis and reduction of Administrators, as well.
School Districts need to conduct a “Spring Cleaning”, which entails working from the “attic to the basement” and depending on how many floors the cleaning may be extensive. When cleaning the attic, an analysis of the Administrators and their roles needs to be conducted. While longevity and dedication can be applauded, many of the Administrators have been in positions for decades utilizing archaic educational practices and sometimes just drawing a paycheck for sitting behind a desk. If “Spring Cleaning” is conducted effectively, much of the deficit will be reduced in the termination of high paid Administrators and redundant positions and the replacement of some with new Administrators at a lower salary. President Obama signaled a new era with the concept of “Change” and how organizations cannot continue to operate under the same status quo that they have for decades and even centuries. This is true of school districts as well. School districts cannot expect to become fiscally sound if you keep the same leadership in place that has made “poor and inappropriate” decisions in the past. Reorganization and restructuring should start at the top with Administrators and Leadership, rather than teachers. If School Districts find it necessary to reduce the number of teachers, then it would be more appropriate to retire older teachers and reduce Administrators to maintain an equilibrium within classrooms that does not alienate the students which results in higher drop out rates.

LA School Board to layoff 5,400 employees:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090415/ap_on_re_us/la_schools;_ylt=AkAHM3ZtTnIVUzgV.gGbRDRH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTJkdG9rMnF1BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNDE1L2xhX3NjaG9vbHMEY3BvcwM2BHBvcwM2BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDbGFzY2hvb2xib2Fy

Detroit to close 23 schools, layoff 600 teachers:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/04/09/20090409detroit-schools0409-ON.html