Introduction
Among the priorities of modern schools, the aspect of getting the school policy and laws serve the purposes of the school and trigger considerable administrative responsibility. Although the satiation with the law-abidance and following the rules is not a reason for concerns yet, certain questions must be answered and the problem must be talked about. In an interview with Mr. Phillips, another viewpoint on the problem was considered and possible solutions were suggested.
School Boards and Their Responsibilities
According to what Mr. Phillips claimed, the entire power over the school belongs to the School Boards, who serve to provide the school, teachers, and students with the safest environment and with the most efficient learning process. Therefore, it can be considered that the School Boards are the key link between the law and the school. With help of the administrative help that they provide, the school can feel comparatively certain about its safety, Mr. Phillips marked. However, he noted that it would be a mistake to consider that School Boards have total control over the school administrations. Explaining the idea of School Boards’ existence, Mr. Phillips drew a parallel with the State Constitution, which is to be followed, yet it does not restrict the freedom of people and enterprises.
What Might Cause Concern
Such a metaphor raised certain questions. First, it seems that the School Boards play only a symbolic part in school affairs and tend to consider the issues belonging to the “higher” sphere of school performance. However, on second thought, it occurs that the School Boards exist to create a number of rules for the school, its administration, and the students, to follow. Therefore, the question is how far the powers of the School Boards can stretch. As Alexander (2005) claims, “State law vests the governmental, or policy-making, function exclusively in the School Board” (119).
However, it seems that the balance between the school and its administration is to be established, otherwise, the control that School Boards can take over the school administration will grow ever greater. This could lead to rather undesirable consequences since the School Boards are unlikely to understand the school’s state of affairs as fully as the teachers and its director do.
It was also peculiar and quite surprising to learn that the School Boards possess their power as long as their actions are coordinated with one another. Though this might seem surprising and even illogical, alone no member of the School Board can possess a single speck of the powers that the boards are granted.
On the one hand, such an idea seems rather illogical. Indeed, the School Boards are supposed to embody the powers that can change the school order completely, let alone these people can do practically nothing. However, such a state of affairs seems more reasonable when rethinking the idea that the truth is born in dispute. What one considers correct and logical can be disapproved by the others, which means that the School Boards must make decisions only by working together.
On Reforms
Another aspect that was touched upon in the interview concerned the way Mr. Phillips saw the state and federal attempts to provide certain reforms in the sphere of education. According to the director’s opinion, these were the noblest and the most reasonable ideas that guided the Educational Department, yet the director did not fully agree with certain points of the new laws concerning the educational sphere. Perhaps, it could be a good idea to help schools tackle their problems rather than intrude into their own business.
References
Alexander, K., & Alexander, D. V. (2005). American Public School Law. Thousand Oaks, CA: Cengage Learning.