I've spent 22 years in public education. Eight years teaching. Fourteen years in administration.
Who actually decides what happens in your child's classroom?
We know who's responsible when something goes wrong: the teacher. But did the teacher actually make the decisions?
Who selected the curriculum? Who chose the assessments? Who decided what teachers needed to learn on institute days, or how PLC time must be spent?
I've asked Zion District 6 about district authority and teacher accountability. I asked Woodland District 50 about its institute day. Superintendent Robert Machak responded and explained staff surveys, committees, and administrators' role in planning. I appreciated his response. I followed up about teacher choice, cost, and evidence of benefit.
Now I'm expanding the reporting to ten Lake County districts: Zion 6, Woodland 50, Waukegan 60, Warren 121, Grayslake 127, Gurnee 56, Libertyville 70, Mundelein 120, Lake Forest 115, and North Chicago 187. The first two were previously contacted; eight new requests were sent October 10.
Five questions: Who controls instructional methods and assessments? Who decides institute-day activities? Who sets PLC agendas and requirements? What can teachers change when they disagree with district decisions? Who can change a decision when parents disagree?
I also contacted State Superintendent Tony Sanders about the state role in testing, evaluation, and classroom decision-making and renewed my invitation for a public conversation. I will accurately report his response or the absence of a new response by the stated reporting deadline.
I'll publish substantive answers, partial answers, and outstanding questions, and review the underlying documents. Districts will have opportunities to explain their positions.
This isn't about assuming administrators are wrong or teachers are always right. Authority and accountability should belong together. If teachers are responsible for student learning, we ought to know what they can actually control.
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Because we're going to stop asking only who's responsible for the result. We're going to start asking who made the decision.
