| Accountabilty for All |
6/9/04 8:09 PM |
| Author:
Kirk Hartom
|
 |
We have a unique Charter system in New Mexico by which Charters are authorized by the local districts, but the State oversees the accountability pieces for the individual schools.
The State advocates for the schools and makes sure that the schools are progressing with their educational programs through annual technical visits and reviews, while the districts don't seem to want to get involved in the day-to-day operations of its Charters.
I think this process has been benificial in that the individual schools can maintain their site-based autonomy, and can also receive guidance from the state if the districts try to micro-manage charter operations.
The relationships that all folks in the process of school play an important role in the school's accountability. Students are accountable to the teachers, Teachers to the educational program and school improvement goals and interventions, Administration to the parents, Board, and the culture of the community.
The empowering part of our school is that we now have the chance to reach the students who maybe were not being served as well as they could have been elsewhere. The Charter School has created the potential for achievement that may have not existed before, and if the school can achieve, even incrementally, then the concept of accountability will work.
The phase of finger-pointing being a part of the Charter Movement is over and we need to get to work on those missions that we created not too long ago. It is hard work, full of folks who we are accountable to that are counting on us, but it is the best work any of us will ever do.
Posted as a reply to:
Accountability Roles & Processes (Authorizers & Other Stakeholders) by Bob Montgomery 
|
|
