How Do We Make Our Schools More Accountable?
Accountability is an important concept in our lives. People need to bear the consequences of their actions, for good or ill. Accountability in education is especially important, as education is meant to prepare our children for the rest of their lives. The usual discussion of accountability in education is very narrow, focusing almost solely on testing. If tests are the only way we measure our schools' accountability, though, it is highly unlikely we will solve many of the problems inherent in our education system.
Both the federal government and the state of Ohio mandate schools be held accountable for how students perform. Tests can certainly tell us something about how well teachers are educating students, but are there other things for which schools should be accountable? What about parental satisfaction, student happiness, community involvement, and a variety of other things that indicate how well a school does its job?
Many times you will hear parents, students, and people in a community saying they do not like certain aspects of their local schools. There are usually few ways to address their complaints. In large part this is due to how school contracts are written. They involve two parties: school employees and school boards. The needs of students, parents, and local residents are left out.
To improve the current system -- a system that often hinders real accountability -- teacher contracts need to be changed. An overall reform in the collective bargaining process would be ideal. Teachers should not be forced to go through unions to negotiate their contracts. A more individualized approach would allow innovation and help end the "one-size-fits-all" teacher contracts which plague our system today.
Reform of this magnitude would need to take place within the General Assembly, not local school boards. In fact, many provisions of state law should be rewritten to enhance schools' accountability. Reform of laws governing teacher tenure, for instance, would give administrators more ability to get rid of teachers who are not performing well.
These types of reform would entail a huge shift in thinking at the state level, which unfortunately is unlikely to happen any time soon. Other steps can be taken to help increase accountability through changes in teacher contracts when they are up for re-negotiation.
For instance, allowing more community input in these contracts would be a good first step. Allowing teachers to be compensated, at least in part, based on their performance (instead of seniority, as is the case now) would be another. Changing the way teachers are evaluated in order to better gauge their skills would be a further step school boards and unions could make during contract negotiations.
Reforms like these are relatively modest. Changes of this sort are routinely made to private sector contracts. The fact that any of the above changes would likely meet strong resistance by teachers' unions indicates how far we must travel to see true accountability in education.
In the end, making schools and teachers more accountable is in the interest of everyone -- teachers, administrators, students, parents, and the wider community. Obtaining this accountability will disrupt many current practices which are enshrined in teacher contracts. Failing to undertake reforms, though, is not an option if we wish to improve public education.
Marc Kilmer is a policy analyst with the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a research and educational institute located in Columbus, Ohio.
