Hawaii operates the country’s only statewide school district. Still has fewer students enrolled than Houston. And here we’re calling Houston “hyper-local?” One of the storylines backgrounding your question about democracy and school administration is the massive consolidation of school districts nationwide alongside the country’s profound trend to urbanization. I’m a lifelong city boy, and I’m betting on Dallas and Houston in the long-term. My Dad grew up attending a one-room school in Greene County, Iowa!I read this piece as a probe and one suggesting possible lines for further inquiry. Is it fair to compare Houston ISD with the vast majority of local districts that have educated the citizens of this democratic republic for centuries? Is it fair to compare the new breakaway districts with Houston ISD? It’s a form of democracy that put Miles in Houston. But I’m guessing there are lots of other things we don’t want the state to take over any time soon. Miles’ own approach actually seems hyper-local: principal by principal, school by school, teacher by teacher, test by test, student by student. Might be interesting to know more about his political theory of democracy and accountability. Thank you so much for highlighting these issues and raising these questions about basic structures for effective schools.
If I had a thoughtful suggestion that I thought couldn’t be corrupted by the teachers unions or lazy school board members, I’d make it. Unfortunately, I don’t. In theory there are more families who are parents of children than there are teachers, so maybe the parents should organize as well as the teachers have. But I suspect that process would also be corrupted.
I think the proprietor is only seeing the shadows on the cave cast by those who have trending towards a lot less democracy lately. At what population or participation does democracy become a problem? Would Ft. Bend or Frisco benefit?
I have thought from time to time that the governor of Texas should spend a night in jail for everyone who dies in an industrial accident or from a power outage. Perhaps if the school board spent a week in jail for every school evaluated as an F they would get motivated. They could leave jail on work release to attend school war meetings board meetings.
It may not be democracy that’s the problem. Fracturing the electorate may be the culprit. Zoned voting (I.e., limiting the electorate) tends to result in school boards of lesser quality compared to boards elected at large.
Exactly my direct lived racially oppressive experience! (And therefore a capital-T "Truth" not to be refuted.) Trying to revise "single seat" representative zones to any sort of "at large" scheme gets one called out in local media as a hate-filled racist nostalgic for the days of cross-burnings and the Klan. *sigh*.
I think if voters got the chance to express themselves more often than once-every-three years and in short term in trustee-elections (not just bond elections) the turnout, AND the results, could only improve.
Hawaii operates the country’s only statewide school district. Still has fewer students enrolled than Houston. And here we’re calling Houston “hyper-local?” One of the storylines backgrounding your question about democracy and school administration is the massive consolidation of school districts nationwide alongside the country’s profound trend to urbanization. I’m a lifelong city boy, and I’m betting on Dallas and Houston in the long-term. My Dad grew up attending a one-room school in Greene County, Iowa!I read this piece as a probe and one suggesting possible lines for further inquiry. Is it fair to compare Houston ISD with the vast majority of local districts that have educated the citizens of this democratic republic for centuries? Is it fair to compare the new breakaway districts with Houston ISD? It’s a form of democracy that put Miles in Houston. But I’m guessing there are lots of other things we don’t want the state to take over any time soon. Miles’ own approach actually seems hyper-local: principal by principal, school by school, teacher by teacher, test by test, student by student. Might be interesting to know more about his political theory of democracy and accountability. Thank you so much for highlighting these issues and raising these questions about basic structures for effective schools.
https://www.governing.com/archive/school-district-totals-average-enrollment-statistics-for-states-metro-areas.html
If I had a thoughtful suggestion that I thought couldn’t be corrupted by the teachers unions or lazy school board members, I’d make it. Unfortunately, I don’t. In theory there are more families who are parents of children than there are teachers, so maybe the parents should organize as well as the teachers have. But I suspect that process would also be corrupted.
I think the proprietor is only seeing the shadows on the cave cast by those who have trending towards a lot less democracy lately. At what population or participation does democracy become a problem? Would Ft. Bend or Frisco benefit?
I have thought from time to time that the governor of Texas should spend a night in jail for everyone who dies in an industrial accident or from a power outage. Perhaps if the school board spent a week in jail for every school evaluated as an F they would get motivated. They could leave jail on work release to attend school war meetings board meetings.
It may not be democracy that’s the problem. Fracturing the electorate may be the culprit. Zoned voting (I.e., limiting the electorate) tends to result in school boards of lesser quality compared to boards elected at large.
I don't want to agree with you.
I don’t seek validation.
Exactly my direct lived racially oppressive experience! (And therefore a capital-T "Truth" not to be refuted.) Trying to revise "single seat" representative zones to any sort of "at large" scheme gets one called out in local media as a hate-filled racist nostalgic for the days of cross-burnings and the Klan. *sigh*.
I think if voters got the chance to express themselves more often than once-every-three years and in short term in trustee-elections (not just bond elections) the turnout, AND the results, could only improve.