Arguing FOR Principal Accountability and AGAINST Teacher Autonomy

ACPSD Board Mtg 26Oct21.mp4

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Speaking before the Aiken County, South Carolina Public School Board on October 26, 2021, Mr. Paullin addresses two District policies that have languished in the list of official policies for 20 years - without edit or modification.

In his remarks, Mr. Paullin points out the chain of accountability that must be adhered to by principals and teachers. His careful and measured comments leave no doubt as to the Board's duties, and to whom they are ultimately accountable.

In the spirit of accountability, he asks for the Board to provide evidence of their governance, which is to say, he is asking for the Board to prove how much accountability they are actually accomplishing. Do we as citizens not expect for our elected representatives to demonstrate the proof of their responsibilities? Of course we do. And is it not reasonable to ask exactly what is that proof? Yes, of course it is reasonable.

Are you wondering about your child's teacher in any way? Do you consider how well or not well they are administering the lessons they are obligated to teach? Do you have any idea what their evaluation results indicate? Have you wondered about the lesson content they teach? Do you know if they are using any resources that are not approved by the principal, or not approved by the District curriculum managers? Do you know how often they are evaluated? Do you know the results of negative evaluation? Are you able to retrieve any record regarding their evaluations in past years, or different grades, or different subjects? Is this information important to you? Have you ever asked for it, or even seen it? Do you understand how this information is stored, or what methods are used to collect it, e.g. personal observation, 1:1 interview, peer reports, etc.? These are a few questions Mr. Paullin is asking the District Board Trustees to acknowledge and prove adherence to.

And beyond that, he is declaring that the Board is not allowed to grant autonomy to teachers for the unlimited amount of discretion to teach whatever they choose. Or to guide discussion in any direction they desire. Teachers are specifically accountable to teach only authorized curriculum, and are accountable to only use authorized methods. So, how is this accountability ensured? How is it measured? How is it recorded? How is it shared to the parents and the public?

The accountability of teachers is specifically put upon the school principals. It is their responsibility as the senior individual responsible for all instruction. And in this measure, principals must, in some manner, perform evaluations of teachers. And these evaluations must demonstrate each and every teacher is using authorized curriculum, and using authorized methods. There is no need to accept vague excuses of any sort, such as pandemic restraints and timeliness issues, or budget constraints, or personnel issues, etc. No. These are not in any way acceptable. The principal has specific duties, as clearly articulated in Board policies. Therefore, it is not a matter of if these duties can be performed. Rather, it is a matter of demonstrating how, and when, these duties have been performed. Plain and simple.

So if your local school does not provide you answers when you ask these accountability questions, you must know that they are failing in their duties. You must know that they are not allowing you to hold them accountable.

And if they display the arrogance of telling you that you need to just vote them out if you don't like to job they are doing, just know that they are probably indicating their own guilt of actually not being accountable.

Until next time. De Opresso Liber.