Who's in Charge?

 Who’s In Charge?

 

Last week the Governor of Maryland held a press conference in which he strongly encouraged local school districts to open at least partially for the upcoming fall semester. He offered some metrics guidance with regard to positivity rates and percentage of cases within the local population   He dangled a few million extra dollars as incentive (although there were those who called it a bribe). 

  There were several issues with the admonition.

First of all, the way the system is set up in Maryland, the Governor has no authority over public school systems.  That authority rests with the Maryland State Board of Education.  While it is true that the present Governor has now appointed a majority of the members of the Board, once appointed they seem to have developed minds of their own.

Secondly, some school systems opened on August 31, so telling folks to make a major change four days before they were scheduled to open seemed a bit pushy to say the least.  The rest of the districts will open in about eight days.  Not exactly a lot of time.

Then there were the superintendents of the local districts.  These people had put a lot of time, energy and consultation with their staffs to determine the best way forward considering safety of kids and staff and their recognition that distance learning is often not learning.  They know they are trying to strike a balance between safety and learning. This is not exactly a path that anyone has travelled before so there are no historical markers to guide the way.

Thirdly, there are these entities called teachers’ unions.   They are very powerful and for the most part are resistant to returning to in-the-building learning.  Although the officers do acknowledge that some teachers do want to be in school and teaching.

And finally there are the parents and their children. Remember them?   The children are supposed to be the point of the whole system.  What do they want?  I am comfortable thinking that a big part of the Governor’s push is that parents need child care if they are going to get back to work.   And employers need workers if the state economy is going to start moving again.  Some parents very much want schools to open or at the very minimum some other public funded child care program.  But there are parents who do not think it is safe for their children to be in a public school and don’t want them there, education be damned.

So who does that leave in charge?   Truth is that in Maryland the local school districts are pretty much the place where the rubber meets the road.  After months of little to no state leadership through this crisis, now is probably not the best time to change the rules of who is in charge.