Home > News > Education Secretary Arne Duncan Says School Principals Must Act Like CEOs

Education Secretary Arne Duncan Says School Principals Must Act Like CEOs

Reader Comments
Back to article

The new education secretary is taking a very narrow view of the problems associated with these low performing schools. Its a multifaceted problem involving; schools systems, Family structures, students, and the community (social economic environment). The problem is unfixable if the attempt is to try to fix only one of these areas. Its a systemic problem and needs to be fixed from that perspective.
To layoff school administrators and teachers in hopes of improving schools is a band aide approach with band aide effectiveness. This approach will fuel anger among districts and may prove to be political suicide for the current administration.
Rick cervantes, Teacher

Rick cervantes of CA 11:43AM March 12, 2010

The students today, especially in the inner cities, are different from those of 40 years ago. Our educational decline has been around for four decades and a lot has to do with substance abuse and the decline of the nuclear family. Our government seems to place the blame on educational achievement gaps, truancy, and poor graduation rates directly on the shoulders of teachers and on large anonymous high schools. While both bad teachers and large schools are two variables for educational decline, they are not the only ones. Single parent homes ( no supervision); Socio-economic levels ( little education, poverty);negative peer pressure; no role models in neighborhoods,anti-studious attitudes, and individual deviant behaviors are the other variables to blame in this decline. However, politicians find that discussing these variables makes them uncomfortable. They shun being tied to any utterance of racism, classism, or discrimination, but if they do not address these reasons why many kids fail, then we will remain a " Nation at Risk." Only by a multi-modal approach that attacks these variables can we ever hope. Small schools are not a panacea, but small classes are.In the 1970's the anti-poverty programs closed the achievement gaps between minorities and the dominant group.Clearly, all of what I propose is expensive, but the alternative is more expensive. Do we want a nation of a permanent underclass, exploding prison populations, and groups who cannot forgive us. I hope not. Thanks, Dr. John Marvul.

Dr. John Marvul of NY 11:36AM December 20, 2009

Attention Barbarians at the gate !!!!!!!!!
What do bankers, businessmen, teachers, doctors, etc... all have in common? The all have college degrees. To the other 70% of Americans who buy big screen tvs on credit, have children they don't bother to raise, live in houses they can't afford, or think government is supposed to create a job for them. The uneducated are always blaming the educated for their problems. The best teachers are the one's smart enough to steer clear of the ghetto where student performance means the U.S. Marines or teachers who raise other people's children for them.
Poor people are mass reproducing in our country and the world. Reform that!!!! for real change.

sellma of OH 3:39PM December 14, 2009

Should we assume that "CEO" means "chief EXECUTIVE officer" in this context? If so, that's too bad, because everyone in education knows (or should know) that superintendents, not principals, are the "executives".
Principals should be "chief ENCOURAGEMENT officers", encouraging teachers, students and parents---the people they actually touch---and IN THAT ORDER. A good principal is not a "boss" of teachers, or students or parents----except in moments of fire drills or other physical emergencies. A GOOD principal is the embodiment of the first six attributes in the boy scout law---- "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind------"
Principals rying to emulate Donald Trump as "CEO"? Pure B.S.!

Muser of NM 4:18PM December 11, 2009

He did not say that educators need to be CEOs. He said principals, i.e. leaders. If you look at the elite private schools that are charging a premium price for a premium education, the leaders there are ABSOLUTELY CEOs. Running a successful organization, motivating educators, corralling kids and parents, keeping the organization in sound fiscal shape, raising money, interacting successfully with the community, removing poor performers, keeping strong performers. These are all the administrative skills that are essential and lacking in our schools. So get off your high horse and listen to someone that has done this job and battled in the field.

Trace Urdan of CA 11:38AM December 08, 2009

M L of NY...
you say you are a teacher in training and you comment; "There is no comparison to be made between widgets, markets, and the NY Stock Exchange and coaching, encouraging, teaching, and supporting young people- children with hearts, minds, pasts, futures, families, frustrations, goals and dreams. Schools are not out to make money, or be profitable, there is no stockholder, there is no chairman of the board."
Obviously you've never met many excellent CEOs of many profit and non-profit corporations who display the kind of skills needed to lead our nation's schools. You also state there are no "stakeholders." Sorry, but our children are the major stakeholders. We as the public corporation board of directors are failing them. Please don't follow Mr. Skeel's rant that does not lead to honest discussion on what needs to be done to fix our schools. I have been a principal and a business man over the last 50 years, so I speak with some knowledge about issues from the inside.
Arnold... it's "principal", although we hope they have good "principles."
"T"'s comments are right on, let's have an honest and straight forward discussion on realistic solutions. We all know there are problems with our educational systems, but make positive proposals on how to fix them. Let's call a time out on rants.

K... of CA 1:58PM December 07, 2009

Thank you for your comments, Mr. Skeels! I could not agree with you more- you make excellent points, and make them well in clear-cut writing that speaks to the real issues. And for many of us who are training now to become the teachers of tomorrow (if there are jobs when we finish our educational training) - teaching children is not punching out cookie cutter workers for future industry. There is no comparison to be made between widgets, markets, and the NY Stock Exchange and coaching, encouraging, teaching, and supporting young people- children with hearts, minds, pasts, futures, families, frustrations, goals and dreams. Schools are not out to make money, or be profitable, there is no stockholder, there is no chairman of the board. Schools are the nesting ground for young human beings. And, 9 out of 10 high school students know this! They see the hypocrisy as well as you and I.
Mr. Skeels says it well when he looks to this CEO-culturing system that has let down our nation, our employees and our children, bottoming out the future for everyone involved. If the goal is to duplicate that system, then the bar has been dropped lower than ever.

M L of NY 10:22AM December 07, 2009

The teacher unions run the public schools. If the public is expecting school reform then it will have to come from the teacher union leadership. It is like expecting Wall Street to self regulate and we know how that is going. It is the same dilemma. When something is too big to fail then it should be broken up. And, it is always painful.

Mr. Yi of IL 9:09AM December 07, 2009

These people were right on target about Mr. Duncan's message, they're not missing the point. Can you really say "raise the bar on leadership skills," after an honest look at Mr. Duncan's scandal ridden tenure as the "CEO" of the disastrous Chicago Public School system's Renaissance 2010 project http://bit.ly/Fpde7 Given that Duncan and his band of corporate privatization allies know nothing about pedagogy, it's no wonder they're beholden to 1980's business buzzword bingo.
You want "innovation" in schools? Try taxing the rich, fully funding all public schools, and allowing communities to govern schools as opposed to right wing ideologues, charter-voucher charlatans, and their corporate backers. Duncan and his ilk, AIG bailout recipient Eli Broad, convicted insider trader Michael Milkin, convicted predatory monopolist William Gates III, and the criminally exploitative Walton children can keep their Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman dystopian future, where corporations own everything, to themselves. It's pretty easy to argue with this administration's goals. Want to turn around what you term the "sad state of urban schools?" Really? Then take the 3.6 billion a month Duncan's boss sinks into occupying Afghanistan and use that money in urban schools.
One last thing. Pedagogy is not a business, shouldn't be run like one, and like the previous posters have pointed out, is in grave danger given a modicum of understanding how business works. Unlike Duncan, Diane Ravitch is an expert in education. Here's her morning quote: "The current era of school reform is our great national fraud."

Robert D. Skeels of CA 12:55PM December 06, 2009

Re the previous comments: It's hard to imagine how someone could be so negative as to miss the real point of Arne's message, and instead go off on the issue of CEO integrity. (And, yes, there are some scumbags running companies, but do you really think every person who holds that title is one? Such rants are unhelpful to reasonable discussion.) Is it not possible for you to understand that the president and Secretary Duncan are trying to raise the bar on leadership skills throughout the system, a goal that is pretty hard to argue with given the sad state of our urban school systems. How about focusing on solutions instead of just criticizing others?

T. Cawley of IL 11:13AM December 05, 2009