Management by Fiction
By Steve Schuck
In September 2005, James Duncan Davidson introduced the idea of “management by fiction.” His premise – businesses, corporations, and organizations many times plan their strategies on lies even when truth is available.
For example: “Who would have thought that the levees would break?” For decades, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers presented scenario after scenario that a catastrophe of Biblical proportions could occur. However, the fiction seemed to be that disasters on that scale only happened in Third World countries.
We in the school choice movement seem to have applied the principles of management by fiction to our strategies in hopes of moving the needle. We love to gather and speak of choice, graduation rates, test scores, low-income students, and the like. We expend millions of dollars on scholarships, school board elections, and all types of lobbying efforts. Yet all of our strategies are based on the lie: Teachers’ unions don’t matter.
Is it just me, or isn’t there an elephant in the room? The single most formidable obstacle to improving education in America is the teachers’ union. When will we have the stomach to take them on? Unless we address the strongest protectors of the status quo in education, our efforts to help kids, particularly those who are poor, will be for naught.
Criticism was plentiful when NASA would not listen to its engineers concerning the shuttle’s O-rings. Will there be any less criticism for those of us who advocate educational choice but fail to deal with the teachers’ union?
In September 2005, James Duncan Davidson introduced the idea of “management by fiction.” His premise – businesses, corporations, and organizations many times plan their strategies on lies even when truth is available.
For example: “Who would have thought that the levees would break?” For decades, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers presented scenario after scenario that a catastrophe of Biblical proportions could occur. However, the fiction seemed to be that disasters on that scale only happened in Third World countries.
We in the school choice movement seem to have applied the principles of management by fiction to our strategies in hopes of moving the needle. We love to gather and speak of choice, graduation rates, test scores, low-income students, and the like. We expend millions of dollars on scholarships, school board elections, and all types of lobbying efforts. Yet all of our strategies are based on the lie: Teachers’ unions don’t matter.
Is it just me, or isn’t there an elephant in the room? The single most formidable obstacle to improving education in America is the teachers’ union. When will we have the stomach to take them on? Unless we address the strongest protectors of the status quo in education, our efforts to help kids, particularly those who are poor, will be for naught.
Criticism was plentiful when NASA would not listen to its engineers concerning the shuttle’s O-rings. Will there be any less criticism for those of us who advocate educational choice but fail to deal with the teachers’ union?
Take it easy Steve. The unions aren't all powerful as the existence of charters, vouchers and NCLB prove. I'm not saying the teacher's unions are cream puffs but they aren't the bogeyman a lot of people think.
The unions are creatures of the public education system and the key word is "public". As the district-based public education system has lost the faith of the public the various alternatives have become more politically viable and the clout of the unions has dropped.
As the alternatives prove themselves worthwhile they erode the assumption that there's one, and only one, way to do public education - the school district - which undercuts the power of the unions. Organizing individual charters on a large scale is prohibitively costly so if the unions can't get the legislature to require all public school teachers to join the union then they have to kiss the charters good-bye.
Posted by
allen |
February 20, 2007 10:53 AM
Have you spoken to Sean Hannity lately? He'd love to hear from you. Did you know that the United Federation of Teachers is actually a terrorist group comparable to Al Qaida? We, not the corrupt managers of education from Bush on down including Mayor of NYC Mike Bloomberg, are to blame for ruining the public education system. Do not blame the bloated educational publishers of test and textbooks, either. Oh I'm so rich from all the kickbacks I've received from Pearson Prentice Hall. We all want to ruin public education. Don't worry, Steve. You, the so called news media, and all the ignorant non teachers are doing a good job of ruining public education. The union is busy enough selling out teachers who, by the way, are civil service workers, not criminals or terrorists. "School Choice" is just code for sabotaging public education for religious/ideological agendas and for profit by all kinds of companies ready to cash in on anything in the "reformed" educational system that they can.
Posted by
UFT Member |
February 20, 2007 6:38 PM
UFT Member said:
"School Choice" is just code for sabotaging public education for religious/ideological agendas and for profit by all kinds of companies ready to cash in on anything in the "reformed" educational system that they can.
Considering that I'm a California teacher who doesn't attend church or even donate money to religious organizations, and who doesn't get any kickbacks of any kind--how do you explain my complete and total support for school choice? Do you question my intelligence, or is it possible--just possible--that I have sincere beliefs on the topic?
Posted by
Darren |
February 20, 2007 10:02 PM
"UTF Member" makes it clear why teachers unions are such an obstacle to public education. If their members can't put together a more relevant, coherent arguement than that one, they probably shouldn't be teaching our children.
Posted by
Jim Stegall |
February 25, 2007 6:27 PM
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