"Six ideas for schools in Guilford" : The Chalkboard : Blogs : News-Record.com : Greensboro, North Carolina

Six ideas for schools in Guilford

We had a request to post today's thought-proviking guest editorial by Richard B. O'Neal. Mr. O'Neal, a retired educator, shares six ideas for improving the local schools. Here is what he had to say:

"The child is the center of our educational pursuits. The teacher is hired to serve as an assistant to the child in his or her education. The principal is hired to make sure the entire staff of the school serves the child to the best of its ability.

Guidance, health services, custodians and cafeteria staff provide their own unique services. The central office, including the superintendent, are minor functionaries.

A question: Why is there so much money allotted to the central office? I had the good fortune to be a teacher in the Greensboro public school system for 27 years before I retired. My firsthand experience informed that rarely did anyone in the central office (professional staff) provide my students or me with a valuable service.

My solutions to Superintendent Grier and the school board are:

1. Eliminate 50 percent of the central office professional staff (obviously, public relations, finance, school assignment, redistricting, discipline, community relations and others are failures).

2. Reduce the size of all high schools to a maximum of 1,200 students, middle schools to 900 students and elementary schools to 450 to 600 students. This will take time, effort and new school construction. Numerous studies have established these numbers as optimal goals.

3. Stop centralizing power! Over the past two decades, the role of our local principals has been reduced to mere spokesmen for the central office dictates. The clever methodology for this practice is to continuously move principals from year to year. Common sense and sound educational practice tells us that the students, staff, parents and school community are best served by continuity in a school. The most recent superintendent's actions inform us that centralizing of power is more important than the needs of our children.

4. Stabilization of school staff is extremely important for our schools if they are to improve in their delivery of service to the students. It is a given that not all staff members function well in a particular school environment. When this occurs, transfer and better assignments should be completed, but not in such wholesale numbers as we have witnessed in the past several years.

5. All parents should assume the responsibility of helping to educate their offspring. They should understand that no child is perfect. In turn, educators must admit they, too, make mistakes. Cooperation between parent and educator will solve most problems.

6. We as a community of 438,000-plus must accept the responsibility of providing the tools that will allow all educators to better serve our children. Only then will we realize the results of a sound education for our children.

Human nature is a constant. Change is constant. The youngest generation throughout history has challenged the existing order. But remember, children are children and they are not in charge of the schools. Mature, rational adults who do not always chase the latest whim, fad or concept should be the ones making decisions and carrying these to fruition.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Posted by Buce Buchanan on November 15, 2005 2:35 PM | Permalink

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Six ideas for schools in Guilford

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