RESTRUCTURING K12 SCHOOLS SYSTEMICALLY

TOWARD A PROPOSAL FOR THE CALIFORNIA SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Authors

  • Susan Farr Gabriele GEMS •Gabriele Educational Materials and Systems

Keywords:

social systems, education, management, systemic solutions, systems theory

Abstract

The Education Committee in the California Senate is inviting ideas for legislation.  This is an opportunity because public education in California is troubled.  Bureaucracy has increased to hyperbureaucracy. Diverse stakeholder and policy-maker views overload schools and teachers with conflicting and ill-designed demands.  California schools trail national averages in every objective measure of school quality due to “piecemeal” decision-making with unintended negative outcomes. The system as a whole has problems. “Systemic solutions” are needed, but their complexity, scope and cost hinder feasibility. This proposal offers a systemic solution that is neither costly or unmanageable. The cost and complexity of serving the entire system is managed by identifying and treating key leverage points. Namely, to improve California schools through legislation, we propose the following: [1] Enforce California Education Code #41400-41409 by removing loopholes and requiring compliance to return to and sustain the administer/teacher ratio; [2] Redefine the role of administrators to be supportive of teachers, rather than supervisory; [3] Reframe mandates, reforms, and programs in positive rather than negative terms. Such legislation is anticipated to create effective and systemic decision-making with many anticipated benefits.  Cost of certificated non-teaching employee salaries could go down as much as 17%.  The savings will allow an increase in teacher salaries. There will be more effective decisions made, as they will be made by those most expert and experienced in the specific people they serve and the subject matter and processes they manage. Well-designed policies and consequences make it easy for people do the right thing, which will be satisfying to all and improve morale system-wide. Shifting terms in problem-based mandates, reforms, and programs to ideal-based will result in more positive attitudes, more community spirit, and higher morale, as well as less unhappiness, less isolation, and less violence. Threats to the legislation’s success may be that systemic solutions are not yet mainstream and that administrators might feel diminished by the reduction in numbers and shifting their roles from supervising to supporting teachers.

Author Biography

Susan Farr Gabriele, GEMS •Gabriele Educational Materials and Systems

Educational Designer, Consultant, Author. GEMS • Gabriele Educational Materials and Systems Chapman University, Research Methods Graduate Education

Published

2022-02-24 — Updated on 2022-02-24

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