One of the privileges I have serving as an Executive Director of an intermediate unit is my interactions with superintendents. I can not overstate my respect for all of the wonderful people who decide to lead a school district. The job is maddeningly beautiful, difficult, complex, rewarding, and emotionally draining. Despite all of this, we have outstanding people raising their hands and saying, “Yes, I want to lead a school district.”
The decision to become a school superintendent is more fraught today than at any time in my career. We know there have always been times when being a school leader has been challenging, and I am not making light of other times in history when there were challenging times. But today we seem to be in a time of societal change that places a focus on school systems and those that run those systems.
In the past four months, I have fielded more phone calls from superintendents who are facing challenges from their Boards and communities that may lead to their ouster than I did in the previous twelve years. The superintendents calling me are not the typical “at-risk” superintendents who may lack the skill and/or knowledge to perform well. No, these are leaders who are really good at what they do, and they are being overwhelmed by circumstances beyond their control. As one superintendent told me, “The more decisions I make that are good for kids, the more trouble I get in.”
As you might expect, this has got me thinking. Specifically, I am trying to understand how good school leaders are finding themselves in trouble. Here is my crack at understanding.
Suspicion
There is a shift occurring in our society that we must pay attention to. I discussed the shifts in community expectations for schools in the last two newsletters, but there is more that needs to be considered.
If there is one word that serves as a foundation for the change in society that superintendents find themselves it is suspicion.
Suspicion of institutions is reflected in the lack of confidence people have in all institutions, and public education is one of those institutions.
The data on the public’s confidence in public schools is worth noting. Since 2021, the percentage of Americans who have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in public education has declined from 32% to 26%. I believe this reflects a simple fact: people in our communities begin all interactions with public schools with a suspicious mindset. This does not mean that they will not have a more positive view of public education after an interaction. Rather, it means that school leaders have to understand that suspicion is the foundation of community members’ mindsets toward public education.
In other words, gone are the days when school leaders could assume that their beliefs about what constitutes “what’s good for kids” align with their community.
Elite Replacement
This leads me to something that is driving the new conservative movement in the United States, and that is something called elite replacement. The “New Right” in America (as seen in the new administration) believes public institutions and those running the public institutions have consciously worked against the will of the people for generations. Therefore, the institutions need to be torn apart, and those who are running the institutions need to be replaced.
We can watch the actions aligned to this philosophy being played out at the Federal government right now. The current administration (either legally or illegally, depending on who you ask) is in the process of tearing down public institutions and getting rid of the “elites” that are running them.
The goal is to replace the existing elites with ones that (theoretically) will be more responsive to what the New Right believes are important policy decisions.
There is something in all of this that school leaders, at the local level, must pay attention to. There are two lessons to be learned from watching what is happening to public institutions and those that work for them at the Federal level for those of us involved in public education.
Lesson #1: As noted above, trust in public institutions is at an all-time low…this includes public education. A lack of trust leads to a default mindset of suspicion with our community members. Our public stakeholders no longer give the institution the benefit of the doubt. We have to “prove” our worthiness every day.
Lesson #2: If you are reading this, then you are an elite. I am considered an elite, and you are considered to be elite. You are the reason (many people believe) that public education cannot be trusted. In our current political climate, where crassness and confrontation are glorified, you (as a school leader) are seen as an enemy and will be treated accordingly. I know that is a harsh truth, but it is simply the truth. Whether you are a school board member, superintendent, or building principal, the theory of elite replacement signifies that you are the problem that must be replaced.
Commonwealth, Common Good, Common Ground
I am not going to write this section with a header that says, “Do these three things, and your community will give you grace, and they will trust institutions.” Doing that is not respectful to you. The view of elite replacement is too entrenched currently to be changed by something simple.
What I can offer you is a framework to start working with those who adhere to the new right.
Let’s begin with the fact that we live in a Commonwealth in Pennsylvania. Generally speaking, Pennsylvania was formed for the common good and common will of the people, thus a Commonwealth.
First, I am curious about the term “common good.” Without getting too fancy, school leaders can start to work to understand what “the common good” means for people in their community. Don’t worry about what is happening elsewhere; what does “common good” look like in your community? Undergoing a process to figure out this definition will go a long way to understanding the “public” in public education.
Second, what is the common ground between the community’s definition of common good and the purpose of public education? Working to figure this out will help you determine a common ground between your untrusted institution and the community the institution serves.
We are faced with an unprecedented level of chaos and district directed toward public education right now. All of us will feel the effects of the larger political winds that are changing right before our eyes. Some of us will be impacted more than others, but make no mistake…all of us will feel the change. The best action we can take is to double down on understanding our local circumstances. Once we do that, at least we can react (and maybe be proactive) in ways that start to build the trust in our institutions and ourselves.