State-wide cooperation among educational service agencies to improve learning should be a no-brainer…shouldn’t it? Why is there so much competition, jealously, politics, etc., that keeps preventing cooperation to improve learning? Let’s cut the crap and focus on what’s best for learning! State departments of education don’t trust service centers, service centers compete for fear of ‘going out of business’, professional organizations fear a loss of membership or identity, and, of course, there’s the ego issue.
In Kansas, the state department of education (KSDE), is perceived as a ‘regulatory’ agency that controls everything, yet they have been so decimated by budget and personnel cuts that their capacity is very limited. Our professional organizations, which include teacher, principal, superintendent, and board of education organizations, all seem to have very valid, worthwhile missions, yet are perceived as ‘silo’ organizations.
Service Centers, like ESSDACK, are 100% entrepreneurial, that is to say, they get NO state funding, thus, they must survive on ‘sale of services’. This leads to unprecedented levels of competition. Yet, when asked, every director of the service centers will respond that there is ‘far more work to do than any one agency can handle’. We need everyone to STAY in business! Not to drive the others out-of-business!
Regardless, we all continually overlap and fail to communicate to avoid conflicts and duplication of services across the state. It is my belief, that if we are truly to be good stewards of the tax-payer dollars, we must begin to cooperate and work together to re-design the delivery system for learning. I think it would be amazing to see what could be accomplished if no one cared who gets the credit or the money. I realize that money is necessary, but it’s not sufficient. We must do something more….
What’s it like in your state?