Joshua Starr: "It becomes difficult ... to avoid micromanagement when the ... boards force them to wallow in the details"

Eric J. Cooper: Give school superintendents the support they need

...In "Every Child, Every Classroom, Every Day: School Leaders Who Are Making Equity A Reality" (2011), edited by Harvard's Robert S. Peterkin and Deborah Jewell-Sherman, et al., former Stamford Superintendent Josh Starr writes of the tugs and pulls of board micromanagement: "It becomes difficult ... to avoid micromanagement when the ... boards force them to wallow in the details" because they have final say on the budget. 

Of course, a superintendent and board are forced to address a variety of challenges, and there's no denying that perceptions about the success of a superintendent -- or even a board, for that matter -- are formed by subjective as well as objective evaluations. But the reality is that these boards also can do more harm than good when they are buffeted by competing forces in the community that have little to do with the core work of classroom instruction, student achievement and the leveling of the playing field, which will lead to improved life trajectories, social equity, fairness, basic justice and the promise of America. All too often, and in too many circumstances, board governance can impede a record of student achievement...

Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/opinion/article/Eric-J-Cooper-Give-school-superintendents-the-2429232.php#ixzz1htHepBkk