COLUMN: School memo: Less meetings = good move

Some difficult choices remain ahead. More spending cuts are likely. And because public schools have long been insular institutions that have not been directly affected by the economy, the current financial problems are a real culture shock to most in the education business.

Much of the financial problem is out of the hands of school officials. They can’t control state funding, or the hodge-podge of inane rules created by state and federal bureaucrats.

But it’s still difficult to feel sorry for school administrators who squander time and money on questionable activities that seem to have little to do with student learning.

I hear from a lot of teachers and one of their most common complaints is that some local schools hold far too many meetings and “training” sessions.

I’m all for increased knowledge, but pulling teachers out of a classroom so they can attend “training” is almost criminal. It’s tantamount to cheating children.

And it happens a lot, according to teachers I hear from. Sometimes it’s internal training. Sometimes it’s traveling to conferences or other schools.

If these were worthwhile, it might be OK. But very seldom do teachers tell me these meetings are good. Most of the time, teachers complain that they had to sit around listening to some overpaid consultant espouse crazy theories that have little to do with what really goes on in the classroom.

Of course, teachers won’t say that out loud. Gotta go with the flow and play the game. Go through the motions, then rush back to class to try and catch up.

I was reminded of this situation last week in a story in The Herald about a two-day meeting with consultants attended by members of the Jackson County School System administrative staff.

I read the story, then read it again.

Then a third time.

To be honest, I still don’t have a clue what the meeting was all about or what was accomplished.

Maybe the words were too big for me. There was a lot of stuff from the meeting like the following:

“A balanced scorecard is a tool that translates the organizational mission and vision into a comprehensive set of performance measures, linked through a framework of balanced organizations strategic goal areas.”

Huh? I think he managed to get every damn education cliché into one single sentence.

And then there was the usual trite verbiage about “stakeholder engagement.”

I hate the word “stakeholder.” Every time I hear it, all I can think about are old vampire movies where someone is holding a stake to put into Dracula’s heart.

I’m not a “stakeholder.” I’m a taxpayer, or a parent, or a citizen. Don’t devalue my role in the education process by lumping me in as a “stakeholder.” It’s insulting.

Truth is, consultants have become too big a part of today’s schools. Most are retired educators who draw their taxpayer-paid retirement, then using their connections, go back for more as outside consultants, once again tapping into the public trough of taxpayer funds.

Good work if you can get it.

One former teacher who does some consulting recently told me the joke is, if you go back to a school where you were previously employed to help out, you’re a retired teacher. If you go to a different school, you’re a consulting “expert.”

I’m sure some of this is worthwhile. But much of it is just gobbly-gook. I’ve sat through hundreds of such meetings in the newspaper industry — we have overpaid consultants, too — and only a small percentage are really worth the time and expense. I seldom go anymore.

I can’t imagine being a teacher and being forced to sit through educator programs held by self-important “consultants” who speak as if they’ve just landed from another planet.

So my thought for the day to area school officials is this: Give your teachers a break and save some money — knock-off having so many consultants waste both time and taxpayer dollars.

Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.