Laurel Bartlett and Jamie Smith

THE BUDGET-VISION RELATIONSHIP AND THE NATIONAL STANDARDS

SCHOOL LEADER CHALLENGES

Improving student academic achievement

Enrollment in public schools is at an all-time high of 53 million

Shortage of teachers (projection of 2.2 million new teachers needed over the next 10 years)

Critical shortage of citizens who are willing to serve on school boards

Fewer educators with leadership potential are willing to serve as principals

More than $112 billion is needed to repair, replace, or modernize public schools

Dropout rate is 13% for black students, 25% for Hispanic students, and 8% for white students.

TWO ISSUES SCHOOL LEADERS MUST

CONFRONT DAILY

School Budgeting

School Vision

You can’t have one without the other.

It is the integration of vision within the school budgeting process that transforms school budgeting from merely number crunching to purpose-driven expenditures that support academic success for all students.

THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP STANDARDS

The need for a single set of research-based standards led the states and professional organizations to collaborate in developing such standards

Formation of Educational Leadership Constituent Council- developed proposed guidelines to be considered by university professors and other groups interested in the formal training of school leaders.

Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium- construct a framework that would redefine school leadership by creating national educational leadership standards

THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL

LEADERSHIP STANDARDS REQUIRE

active, not passive in performing duties

They assume that we are collaborative and inclusive in conducting these duties

They do not ascribe to any particular theory of leadership.

SHIFTS IN KNOWLEDGEAND SKILLS

Scott Thomas (past executive secretary of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration), identifies 5 broad based shifts in knowledge and skills required of educational leaders today compared the traditional knowledge base.

3 of the 5 shifts identified by Thomas have an integration of budgeting and vision

SHIFT FROM TECHNICAL SKILLS TO

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS This shift is all about vision. Gaining a common vision

for a school involves interpersonal skills rather than technical skills.

Principals who were effective in advancing a school vision were competent in 3 skills:

1. articulating a vision for their schools and openly exchanging views with others about its accomplishment;

2. persuading teachers and others in the school community to internalize or incorporate the vision in their daily conduct;

3. encouraging teachers and others to make personal sacrifices toward its realization.

SHIFT FROM DIRECTOR TO CONSENSUS

BUILDER AND MOTIVATOR

Involving as many stakeholders in the decision-making process improved the quality of the decision as well as the motivation for ensuring the successful implementation of the decision.

Schools that make meaningful progress toward accomplishing the school vision have principals who:

1. are effective in exchanging ideas about the vision with others;

2. regularly encourage sacrifices on behalf of that vision;

Work with teachers who freely accept and share the campus vision

SHIFT FROM RESOURCE ALLOCATION TO

ACCOUNTABILITY

This shift demands that school budgeting, vision, and planning be an integrated process.

Principals can no longer allocate resources that are not tied to measurable objectives.

The increased emphasis on improving student achievement must focus on accountability. School budgeting process and the vision process must be integrated and synchronized in order for schools to be successful in improving student academic performance.

AN EXAMINATION OF THE ELCC AND ISLLC STANDARDS:

STANDARD 1

Standard 1: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a school or district vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.

Budget and vision are not isolated variables.

When we accept the coupling of the two and understand their combined effect on academic achievement, then budgeting expands from a fiscal responsibility to a fiscal-vision opportunity that in turn drives our planning for academic success of all students.

The leader must then be a steward of the vision and makes sure that the resources of the school are allocated in a manner that supports the vision. The budget does not belong to the leader; it belongs to the public who has sacrificed through payment of taxes to provide the revenues for the budget.

AN EXAMINATION OF THE ELCC AND ISLLC STANDARDS:

STANDARD 2

Standard 2: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.

It is the responsibility of the school leader to nurture and develop the school culture. It is within the culture that traditions, values, and belies of various stakeholders are manifested. It is important to get everyone on board.

If we value the importance of integrating school vision with the budget and planning process and we advocate and nurture the integrated budget-vision planning process, it will become part of the school’s culture.

AN EXAMINATION OF THE ELCC AND ISLLC STANDARDS:

STANDARD 3

Standard 3: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.

Safe learning environment requires that we properly budget for required safety materials and services.

An efficient learning environment is one that functions well to achieve a desired result without waste. It is imperative that the budget process be integrated with the goals and objectives of the campus to obtain optimum results.

AN EXAMINATION OF THE ELCC AND ISLLC STANDARDS:

STANDARD 4

Standard 4: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by collaborating with families and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.

All stakeholders must possess ownership of the school’s action plan and recognize the importance of allocating community resources.

SPECIAL NOTE

An example of added costs to the public when education is not successful is found in the prison system. A 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey revealed that 51% of prisoners in state and federal prisons had their high school diploma or equivalent, compared to 76% of the general population.

This same survey also reported that 11% of inmates reported that they had a learning disability. This is nearly three times the national learning disability rate of 3% (2001)

Keeping a person in prison costs more than three times the amount it takes to educate a child. The average per-pupil expenditure for students in U.S. public elementary and secondary schools in 2002-2003 was $8,041. (Utah $4,838, lowest and New Jersey $12,568, highest)

In 1998 the cost for new beds in prisons ranged from $29,311 to 70,909. Maintaining a prisoner in the bed costs $25,000 per year.

The cost to the public for schools not being successful is also reflected in the median earning of adults based on educational attainment. The more educated a person is, the greater the person’s is likely to be. Additionally, the earlier a person drops out of school, the lower the person’s income is likely to be.

When schools fail to achieve the national standards call for academic success for all students, then schools can expect other systems to compete with them for public resources.

AN EXAMINATION OF THE ELCC AND ISLLC STANDARDS:

STANDARD 5

Standard 5: The school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.

Standard 5 reminds us that character does in fact count.

Integrity, fairness, and ethical behavior are a trio of concepts that that school leaders struggle to define.

EXAMINING THE TRIO

Integrity: soundness of and adherence to moral principle and character

Integrity: Leaders who value integrity are not only interested in results but are also interested in relationships. If we lack integrity, our school is at risk; doubt and fear will replace integrity.

Fairness: free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice

Does not mean ensuring that everyone gets the same amount of something or the same treatment. Fairness is when everyone receives what is needed in order to successfully accomplish their goals.

Our schools perish when there is a lack of vision. (Sounds familiar)

Ethics: a system of moral principles.

School leaders must act in an ethical manner when handling discipline problems, implementing state mandated accountability testing, managing school budgets, consulting with parents, supervising faculty and staff, and in a host of other situations.

The Principal of Benefit Maximization: this requires us to make choices that provide the greatest good for the most people.

The Golden Rule: Treat others with equal value. We must value all people and respect their educational goals.

See Table 2.3 on page 43. Golden Rule in the World Religions.

An Examination of the ELCC and ISLLC Standards:

Standard 6

Standard 6: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, economic, legal, and cultural context.

Acknowledge that our schools do not operate in a vacuum.

Standard 6 is a call for us to understand our interconnectedness with each other and with the rest of the globe.

AN EXAMINATION OF THE ELCC AND ISLLC STANDARDS:

STANDARD 7

Standard 7: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by substantial, sustained, standards-based experiences in real settings that are planned and guided cooperatively by university and school district personnel for graduate credit.

This is the “odd duck.” This standard is meant to call attention to the fact that this standard is no different in nature than the previous six.

Unlike the first six standards that draw upon the needs of all of the stakeholders in the educational process this ELCC standard focuses primarily on practicing and future school leaders.

A long look at this standard reveals an image of servant leader.

This internship-based standard provides significant opportunities for the educator to synthesize and apply the knowledge and practice and develops the skills identified in the first six standards.

Standards 1-6: budget-vision relationship

Standard 7: school leader and all others in supporting roles.

FINAL THOUGHTS

School budgeting and vision must be considered simultaneously in the planning process in order for schools to increase their likelihood of achieving the Utopian goal of “all students meeting with success.”

The trick is for school leaders to incorporate the generalities of the national standards into practical steps to achieve the ideal of academic success for all students.