Why are you in the office?

Do you remember being in school and hearing the threat "if you don't sit still I'm sending you to the office!!"  The fear my friends and I had of the office and of the principal was hard to describe, but terror comes close.  The only time someone saw the principal was if you did something really wrong. Being sent to the office meant either a paddling at school by the principal or at home by my father. I remember seeing the paddle in the vice-principal's office.  It was wooden and had holes in it... the theory being that this would allow the air flow through and make the paddle hit even harder.  Bend over and take it like a man... and you dare not cry.  All I wanted to do was to keep under the radar, both the principal's and my father's.

35 years after I graduated high school I was both a father and a high school principal.  What a mind trip that was.  My family accuses me of being a serial 9th grader.  And my friends accuse me of being a recovering teacher.  Either way, my life has been defined by school - over 25 years as a student and 35 years an educator.  And believe it or not I still believe that all kids, especially urban, diverse, poor kids can achieve at amazing levels.

When I was a principal, I certainly saw myself as the person that set the tone for discipline in my school.  But it would have been a terrible shame if that is what defined my responsibilities or my perception among the staff and students.  I strove to be the Chief Education Officer, responsible for the education, culture and achievement of all the members of our school community.  And I worked to be the Chief Operations Officer, responsible for the well running of the program, physical plant, human resources and finances.  But most importantly, I was the father figure that made sure that we were safe, supported and productive.  

So why are you in the office?  Are you a parent with a complaint or concern?  Are you a teacher who is fed up with your 7th period class?  Are you a student who is being bullied by a gang from another neighborhood?  Are you a board member who doesn't understand why our test scores are not going up fast enough?  Are you a vendor trying to sell me a product that will solve all of our achievement problems?  Are you a custodian who keeps coming to work late? Are you a first year teacher who is thinking you chose the wrong profession?  Are you a prospective teacher who will say anything to get a job?

Or is it deeper than that?  Are you a public that is so confused at the state of our education system that you want help because nothing is working right.  All you want is for students to succeed and have the best opportunity to make a life and there is something terribly wrong here.  Costs are up, achievement is down.  The statistics are terrible and you don't know who to believe.  Only 54% of American students who attend 4 year colleges graduate with a bachelor's degree in 6 years.  In many urban schools, black males have only a 1 in 4 chance of graduating high school.  Boys are doing worse in school now than they ever have.  And why is our country's achievement so low compared to other countries around the world.

Well I would suggest that paddling you will not solve the problem.  But my 35 years of experience suggests that the problem is complex.  And the tone of our nation's discourse on education is simple, shallow, adversarial and divisive.  You are looking for answers... and you love your children.  I'm thrilled you're in my office.  It means you want help, you want to be educated and you want to succeed.  Even if you were caught smoking in the girls bathroom, you want to succeed in life.  You are just testing us to see if we are up to the task.

So now that you are in my office I'm going to try and provide you with some questions, some answers. some challenges and a new way to think about schools in this country.  By the way... those are hulk hands you see on my bookshelf.