Rodent Regatta

Modern management can’t work in public education
By Craig J. Cantoni

(published in the Arizona Republic on October 1, 2003)

Can such modern management techniques as TQM (total quality management), SPC (statistical process control) and employee empowerment help to transform public schools into high-performance organizations? Based on my 30 years of experience in transforming low-performing organizations into high-performing ones, the answer is no.

It is no because public schools do not have the following prerequisites for high performance.

First, they do not have a unifying mission or purpose that is embraced by all employees and that gives the organization focus.

Because of politics, the mission of public education is fuzzy and constantly changing. Some say the mission is to teach the three R’s. Others say it is to teach students how to think. George Bush says it is to leave no child behind. The Arizona Department of Education says it is to pass standardized tests. The teacher union says it is to increase teacher pay. Sports enthusiasts say it is to have a winning football team. The Left and the Right say it is to indoctrinate students in their respective ideologies. This newspaper and other media say it is to spend more money. And do-gooders say it is to be a social welfare agency.

Second, public schools do not have competition. Without the fear of losing customers, there is little impetus for overturning the status quo.

Third, public school employees are not held accountable for bad performance. Teachers can thwart management’s attempts to hold them accountable by running around management to their union, which in turn will run to legislators for protection.

Fourth, without being held accountable for measurable results, teachers and other employees cannot be given increased freedom to make decisions on their own or as members of a self-directed team. Public schools are the opposite of high-performing factories, where the workers on the line are held accountable for decisions that used to be management’s responsibility, including such decisions as hiring and evaluating coworkers.

Last, teachers are squashed under the weight of a multiplicity of overseers and second-guessers, including local administrators, district administrators, county administrators, state administrators, federal administrators, school boards, state legislators, Congress, unions, parent groups, consultants, textbook publishers, colleges of education, and the media—all of whom have conflicting goals and agendas.

In summary, modern management techniques cannot work in a Rube Goldberg contraption that is designed for inefficiency, ineffectiveness, bureaucracy and political meddling.

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Mr. Cantoni is an author, public speaker and consultant. He can be reached at ccan2@aol.com.