Time To Stop Micromanaging

A few months ago, the St. Louis Public Schools seemed poised to turn an important corner. Superintendent Creg Williams had unveiled an ambitious and well-received plan to improve academic performance in all grade levels. A new board majority had been elected to the Board, promising to calm worried employee constituencies, while supporting the superintendent’s vision for a district that educates all of its children.

As the local newspaper reported this morning, Dr. Williams — and even some of the district’s own employees — have been frustrated so far. The new school board majority — rather than helping the superintendent carry out his plan — has done everything it can to drive Dr. Williams out of St. Louis. Its members have hired their own “consulting superintendent” to help them micromanage the district under the guise of doing an audit.

Given the mixed directions, the results were inevitable: administrative chaos, no budget agreement, dramatically lowered enrollment projections, and — now — questions about whether schools can even open on time in the Fall.

This is not better.