Network Schools – Wayne Gerseny to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/03/magazine/thomas-piketty-interview u w B l.html?h I’ll smid=url-share the Is for

Our local newspaper, the Valley News, just reprinted a December 5 Washington Post article by Susan Svrluga extolling the Broad Foundation for providing a free education to aspiring urban Superintendents through their business school. The article leads with a quote from a Florida Superintendent describing her experience as a newly appointed county Superintendent:

Barbara Jenkins studied education, and she worked in schools for years. But when she was named a superintendent, she was still surprised by the abrupt change in responsibilities. “You think a superintendent is like the lead principal or lead teacher for a school district,” she said. “But you have to think more like a CEO of a major corporation.”

The choice of Barbara Jenkins to represent the typical Broad alumni is disingenuous at best and dishonest at worse given that the typical “Broadie” is someone who might have worked for a couple of years as a teacher and then accepted an assignment as a “CEO” in a district where a school board (usually one appointed by a mayor) outsourced leadership services or where a mayor who was given the authority to oversee schools decided to “reform” them by applying business principles.

I am surprised the Washington Post, who features Valerie Strauss as a reliably anti-“reform” blogger and writer published an article that overlooked the Broad program’s flaws.