Honolulu Lite
Talking principles
with principals
I knew our public schools had a lot of problems, but didn't realize how bad things had gotten until I was asked to give school principals and vice-principals a little pep talk before classes begin shortly.Of course I am flattered the principals wanted me to come talk to them, considering that during my four years of public high school here, none of them ever wanted to talk to me. I wasn't a big hit with teachers, either. Especially the one who watched a bunch of bad boys tie me down to a desk during class one day. That teacher just walked out of the room. Not that I blamed him. If the rope had been tied 'round the other feet, I'd probably have left, too.
So as I prepare to address this group of principals in a few weeks, I've been thinking about what I want to tell them. I definitely want to tell them to tell their teachers that if a student is being tied up during class it's best a) Not to abandon said student or, b) If you do flee, at least call security or, at least, a (large) janitor. But I'm not sure what else to say.
I was told I should try to amuse and motivate them as they prepare to go into academic battle for another year. Me? If I were a principal, I wouldn't go onto a public school campus without a whip and a chair and busload of lawyers. I did my four-year sentence in public high school and got out. These poor folks are lifers.
I've got lots of ideas on how to improve the schools, but principals and vice-principals aren't really the ones to talk to. They're on the front lines. They get their marching orders from the cast of thousands that make up the Department of Education management bureaucracy and the equally overpopulated school board.
Principals will be under even more pressure this year as the federal "No Child Left Behind Act" is implemented. That allows some kids in poorly performing schools to ship out to better schools.
How'd you like to be the principal of a school out in the boondocks that doesn't get the political or financial support of urban schools and suddenly be told that the school's failings are YOUR fault. If I were a kid sitting in a sweltering classroom in Maili, unable to pay attention because of flies from a nearby pig farm, I'd want to move to a nice, air-conditioned new school in Kapolei, too. But how can an education system allow schools in such radically different circumstances to exist?
Against my better judgment, I recently attended my 30th high school class reunion. And yes, some people did look old and fat. Me, for instance. But it was amazing to see how well most of my classmates turned out. There were firefighters, police officers, bankers, lawyers, business people, teachers, health workers ... you name it. But I wondered, did they succeed because of their public education or in spite of it? That's a question all of us, principals included, should never have to ask. And hopefully, in the future, we won't.
Charles Memminger, winner of National Society of Newspaper Columnists awards, appears Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. E-mail cmemminger@starbulletin.com