The Waiting Game…
It’s been a wild couple weeks meeting with legislators to ensure the necessary education provisions are included in the budget. As we wait for conference to come to an end, we are hopeful that increases in teacher pay, classroom school supply funding for teachers, computer science programming, school lunch co-pay vouchers, and many other provisions will be included in the budget. It will get crazy intense once we see what Governor Cooper chooses to do, considering there is no talk of Medicaid expansion in the budget currently. Right now, it’s just a waiting game…
In the meantime, I have been attending House and Senate Rules, Education, and Appropriations committees that have any of our bills that we are tracking. We’ve heard, met about, and spoke on bills pertaining to career and technical education (CTE), rehiring high-need teachers that have retired, expanding youth internship opportunities, approval of charter school facility bonds, modification of the school quality/student success indicator, modifying teacher licensing requirements, advanced math course enrollment, and many others that we have our hands in.
It has been interesting to see the dynamic of an elected Public Administrator of education. Most states have an appointed Superintendent or Commissioner of education, rather than an elected one. The impact of elections and public scrutiny definitely take a toll on positions like the Superintendents, and seem to restrict him and his office from trying new ideas, piloting programs, and making riskier choices that could be beneficial to schools, teachers, and students. While many people demand change, they do not respond positively when changes are made—to put myself in his shoes, it has to be SO challenging to be a young official with new ideas to offer that is consistently shut down when introducing new ideas. Talking with a state board member brought up this difference in appointed and elected superintendents. If this position was appointed, he or she would not be so dependent on the sway of elections; rather, he or she could make choices that experts and researchers may suggest but that the average joe may not understand. That gets back to the question, though, of whether or not these administrators are there to serve the “will of the people” or to do what’s best for the people (those two may not always align).
The most fun part of my job thus far is working with my bosses (@Kevin @Wade) on the Legislative Team who always keep me laughing. They have introduced me to literally HUNDREDS of people at DPI and in the legislature. While it’s been a whirlwind, I am finally catching on to the norms, culture, and power structures of the varying groups and agencies that come together (or push apart) during this budget season. Looking back over my courses of the past year, I have seen an accumulation of institutions and values of public administration and politics, law of course, communication (communication, communication, communication!!!), research and evaluation, intergovernmental relations, organizational theory, human resources, and BUDGETing—Turns out, I’ve learned a few things over the year! And I have loved seeing it in action these past few weeks.
