The School Administrator

February 2006 Number 2, Vol. 63Smart MoneyThe case for public investment in K-12 schools

Features

Smart Money: Public Investment in Public Education
by William Schweke
An economic developer’s forecast: Money wisely spent generates a high societal return, measurable in real, quantifiable results for workers, businesses and communities.
Similar Reading: Additional Resources
read more | purchase issue
The Right Place, The Right Time
by William G. O'Callaghan and Charles M. Irish
Superintendents have a golden opportunity to stem the retreat of our best citizens from involvement in public life in their communities.
Similar Reading: Avon Lake’s Unconventional Conversation About Public Support
read more | purchase issue
Dear Public: Can We Talk?
by Jean Johnson and Will Friedman
The pace of change is causing confusion, tension, miscommunication and outright division among those who need to work together. Public Agenda shares its strategies for encouraging a broad, lasting base of support for the public schools.
Similar Reading: A School Leader’s Take on Engagement
read more | purchase issue
Why Can’t Schools Be Like Businesses?
by Larry Cuban
The emeritus professor at Stanford dissects the wrong-headed assumptions and ill-conceived logic of business-minded reform proposals for public education in an essay drawn from his book on the subject.
Similar Reading: Additional Resources
read more | purchase issue
The Public School Speaks
by Frosty Troy
The country’s greatest egalitarian institution answers its critics in its own voice. The author is an Oklahoma newspaper publisher and a lifetime crusader for the merits of public education.
read more | purchase issue
Watch Your Language!
by Don E. Lifto and J. Bradford Senden
Two experts on the conduct of school finance elections lend some words to win by when you next submit a proposed school district budget or spending referendum to a public vote.
read more | purchase issue
The Art of Writing Op-Eds
by Linda Chion Kenney
Superintendents find a personal and professional outlet for expressing their ideas by writing a periodic column for the local newspaper.
Similar Reading: Columnist Advice: Writing Tips for Superintendents
read more | purchase issue

Profile

His Restless Drive Has a District on the Move by Jay P. Goldman

Richard DiPatri’s restless drive has the Brevard County, Fla., Public Schools on an upward move.

Departments

Punchback: Answering Critics

Our Immigrant Past Offers No Models for Today by Richard Rothstein

More first-generation students find academic success today than did second- or third-generation students a half-century ago. Those who condemn the public schools for failing to get high achievement from immigrants and minorities are misguided.read more

Guest Columns

Snow Days and the Weather Channel by Randall A. Zitterkopf

In 26 years as a school administrator, the author has devised an oddball formula for determining whether schools should close for inclement weather. Some consider it his “waist rule.”read more

Dear Tom Cruise: Meet My Daughter by Morton Sherman

After coping with his daughter’s attempted suicide, a veteran superintendent calls on educators and legislators to deal with mental illness among adolescents.read more

Learning Leadership Under Fire by Greg Vandal

The more experienced this superintendent became as a volunteer firefighter, the better able he’s been able to channel the adrenaline rush to a positive result in his full-time post.read more

Only in Cambridge by Thomas Fowler-Finn

Abandoning the sideline neutrality of his earlier postings in school leadership, a veteran superintendent now revels in the chance to be an active part of history and progressive causes.read more

You Might Be a Leader If ... by Gerald L. Fowler

With apologies to comic Jeff Foxworthy, the author created a set of guidelines for leadership watching in his district.read more

Board-Savvy Superintendent

Board Members Need To See Who Teachers Are by Nick Caruso

The author decided school boards need an opportunity to meet teachers in a laid-back, non-threatening environment after once hearing a board member say at a budget review, “We’d have a lot more money to help kids if we didn’t have so many teachers on the payroll.”read more

President's Corner

Who’s Driving the District Bus? by David E. Gee

The movie made it look so simple: Get everyone to work together and head in the same direction. Unfortunately, real life does not always mirror the cinema.read more

Executive Perspective

Guess Who’s Left Behind? by Paul D. Houston

Much has been made about the issue of racism in the Gulf Coast relief effort, but the greater issue has been that of socio-economic class — just another indication our federal government doesn’t deal well with matters involving the poor.read more

Federal Dateline

Congress’ Classic Choice: ‘Guns or Butter’ by Bruce Hunter

The choice between domestic programs and military support played out in the final days of Congress. It’s a dilemma faced whenever the country goes to war or is threatened by external forces. In this case, the guns prevailed.read more

People

People

AASA members’ comings and goings. Plus, the Sidelight shines on Superintendent Rodney Lafon, a Dixie-style trumpeter in Louisiana.read more

The School Administrator

Features

Profile

Departments

Book Reviews