“And Then God Made School Boards”

Abstract

In 2013, only 39% of teachers reported feeling “very satisfied” with their job. This is significantly down from 2008 when 62% of teachers said they were “very satisfied” with their job. Why the big drop? This chapter connects this common teacher dissatisfaction to what the author calls the “Administration,” a vast and twisted chain of managers, supervisors, and their support staff from the federal down to the district level. The chapter shows how the American school system is perhaps the most top-heavy, over-managed, bureaucratically bloated system on the planet. Further, the people who comprise the Administration do not teach for a living but tell those who teach almost everything they must do, for example, which books to use, which format their lessons need to be in, and so on. In addition to being top-heavy, the chapter argues that the Administration is prone to latch on to educational fads that promise great results at a low cost. Most of these fads go out of style in five or ten years, leaving teachers exhausted and dispirited. The chapter concludes by exploring the type of management structure and oversight that teachers say would work better for them and their students.