Vision in Legislature – an Oxymoron?
Individual legislators and the legislature as a whole have
the greatest influence in education policymaking (page 263), yet how much
knowledge do they have of the educational culture and needs that are to be
found across their state? Sometimes
it feels as if they have no clue what’s happening in schools, and the laws and
statutes they pass often reflect that.
As an educator, I would love to see legislators in the schools, or at
least at board meetings occasionally to show that they are in the know about
what’s happening in the schools, instead of blindly writing bills that will supposedly
improve education.
It’s interesting to note that public dissatisfaction leads
to the most changes in policy, because it is often the key factor in placing
issues on the government’s agenda.
“In order to do that, however, state legislators must first notice the
problem; it is often surprising that they do not notice a problem until a
crisis brings it to their (and everyone else’s) attention” (page 268). These legislators are in their own
‘assumptive world of policymakers’, as the book puts it, and don’t see what
they don’t want to see, until it comes to a crisis level. This reminds me of the ‘putting out
fires’ analogy a few chapters back – that managers are spending most of their
time putting out the fires (the daily crises that constantly arise) instead of
looking to the future and leading their respective schools or districts.
I know that one of my responsibilities as a principal will
be to implement the policies that are put in place by my state’s legislators,
which means I will need to stay in touch with what’s happening at the state
level of policymaking. As I learn
more about that realm, I will know better which legislators really do care
about education, and will be willing to hear from educators and see what’s
happening and what needs to happen.
I can then be an active supporter and join with others who feel the same
and hopefully help shape the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment