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Originally Posted by Point Blank
I want to premise this with the fact that you’re absolutely entitled to this opinion and may have more data or experiences to back this thinking up. I work in central office and report directly to system principals and while I agree there are many problems, I also want to say a lot of them are exaggerated by people who know little about what goes on in the Ed Centre. It’s easy to hate on central office when many don’t know what they actually do because much of our work is invisible but necessary.
There aren’t as many area principals as people think. They exist in massive departments that require a liaison to directors, but most departments report directly to directors instead. Having worked in schools and system roles, I can say my department, including the area principals, are easily the strongest educators I’ve ever worked with.
I think the legacy of the Ed Centre, which was signed before I became a teacher, really messed up CBE’s image… especially to teachers in the system. And rightly so! However, most of the senior management involved in that decision has since moved on and most people in central office acknowledge that was a terrible waste of resources. I go to work everyday in a giant physical reminder of the importance of being a responsible public educator.
I’ll say that the pendulum swung so far the other way, because of the Ed Centre debacle, the desire to repair perception have actually caused much of my work to require multiple levels of vetting before approval and this process can be super frustrating. But when I take a moment to breathe and step away from my work for a bit, I actually found that feedback from senior management to be prudent, albeit removed from classroom realities at times. Not saying it’s working and changing anyone’s perspective, but it’s how it is and with CBE being the largest school board in western Canada, it’s going to take a long time to clean this mess up.
Goes to show how public boards, especially one as massive as the CBE, are under the microscope when I comes to fiscal responsibility; and one bad decision could lead to years of mistrust that will require many more years of intentional work to repair. Which is how it should be. I just wish we applied the same standard to our provincial goverment.
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I am going to have to disagree. I worked and reported to an area principal there as well. It was ridiculous. I had a full hour for lunch worked only 9-5, never saw a student the whole time, and never had to take marking home or plan anything.
It was the easiest job Ihad in education and had the most perks. Private lock up for bikes, an onsite gym for lunch workouts, free coffee on every floor, many times free snaks left over from various meetings. It was not long ago either.
The legacy is perhaps from the days went it was insane, but there is little that comes out that office that benefits education in a significant fashion. The CCSD runs with significantly less budget wasted on their downtown.
The Toronto guy even saw how ridiculous it was a few years ago and at least moved a bunch of area principals out to the actual areas they represent. I would say the area office people who work directly in schools and with teacher have impact but most of the "ivory tower" could vanish tomorrow, and schools would be better off as millions upon millions of dollars would go back to schools.