Obedience to the Unenforceable

The laws governing the school system are vast and rather tedious. Working your way through the School Act can be mind-boggling, with each section subject to the conditions of one or more other sections, which are themselves subject to other sections! Not something to be undertaken lightly. Those laws, however, are imperative for those working in the system to understand, particularly if one is in a position of leadership. The rights and responsibilities of the school, parents, students, employees, and the Board of Education are outlined in detail. Want to know about budget parameters, setting up a PAC, or how to create the school calendar? It's all there, ready for your enthusiastic perusal!

The School Act is only one of the many "acts" governing all that happens within the school system. One of the other key acts that governs much of what we do is the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA). I honestly had no idea just how much of our educational world is touched by this, from the conversations we're legally allowed to have with colleagues, parents, or kids; the servers we use to house student information (Outlook 365 is housed in Canada so is okay to use; Google is housed in the US, so is verboten); and the ways we share student pictures through social media.

All of these legal acts fall under the category of what Rushmore Kidder would call "obedience to the enforceable" - the laws that govern our behaviour, and for which there are penalties if we fail to obey. But what about the areas in life that are not bound by legalities? What about the decisions we make that are values laden and infinitely more tricky to navigate? This becomes the area of ethics, and forces us to closely examine what we truly believe and hold dear.

What do we do when no one is watching? If there is no direct penalty for our actions, do we have some moral compass that steers us toward the helpful, unselfish, or honest way? In contrast to what we do because we have to, this is the area that Kidder calls our "obedience to the unenforceable." In his book entitled How Good People Make Tough Choices, Kidder discusses that while right versus wrong decisions can give us moral temptations, it is the right versus right decisions that are the most difficult to reconcile. These are the times - and they happen with great regularity! - when we have to juggle two of our values to see which should prevail. In his book, Kidder explains that there are four main areas where this happens: truth versus loyalty; justice versus mercy; short-term versus long-term; and individual versus community. When pitting these values against one another, we can often see that both are right!

From an education perspective, we see these scenarios all the time. It is right for a student with a history of trauma and abuse to be in a classroom with her peers, even though that history has affected her ability to regulate her emotions. But it is also right for the other children in the class to be able to come to school and feel safe, emotionally and physically. Both are right, but as Kidder explains repeatedly, we can't do both...so which do we choose? It is right for a teacher to want to explain to her classroom parents why a student in her class behaves the way he does, so that they may understand and respond with empathy instead of anger. But it is also right that she is bound by the restrictions of FOIPPA, and should not reveal any personal information about a child to other parents. Both are right, but she can't choose both.

The answer is not simple, but just as we must regularly exercise to keep our bodies fit, so too we must regularly practice making ethical decisions that we can defend to ourselves. That's the nature of obedience to the unenforceable - oftentimes the only one who knows, who can judge and convict the rightness of my actions and decisions, is myself. As long as that matters to me, as long as I keep wrestling with scenarios every day to find the most right course of action, then I know that my ethics are in good shape. 

Managing the Message

Throughout our School Finance and Operations course, we have had the opportunity to work with the budgeting software used by administrators. It was eye-opening to see how many decisions are out of the administrator's control, and how varied are the voices asking for the money that remains.

In Abbotsford this year, many decisions regarding staffing were centralized as a result of last year's Supreme Court ruling regarding class size and composition. The number of education assistants, learning support teachers, English Language Learner teachers, and other non-enrolling positions were all decided at the district level. In some ways this centralization is limiting, as administrators who know their buildings well might feel they know best when it comes to meeting their students' needs. In other cases, administrators who feel conflicted about spending money on a new soccer field or putting that money toward a learning support teacher and education assistant can feel a measure of peace that that particular dilemma is out of their hands.

Ultimately, though, there are many decisions administrators must make, and stakeholders to whom they have to defend those decisions. What kind of buy-in they will get from those stakeholders - specifically the school staff, the school parents, and the district's budget office - depends entirely on how well the administrator is able to manage the message to each party.

Transparency is the key to managing the message, no matter the audience. The administrator has the power  - and the responsibility, I would argue - to create a culture of collegiality and support within the school. If all the staff and parents understand that every decision is made for the benefit of student success, then they can understand that while the science department is getting extra funds this year to outfit an improved lab, there is a big picture which encompasses the learning experience for all children. I feel it is the administrator's job to educate the staff and parents to realize that providing equal levels of funding for every department in the school - regardless of needs - is not an effective way to achieve Student Success through Optimized Resources (see my September 30th post on the Strategic Plan). This requires the administrator to intimately understand both the budget itself and the particular needs of the students in the school. Armed with this knowledge, the administrator can easily justify the spending to staff, by specifically explaining how students will be supported in the classroom through EA support; how programs will be enriched by increased tech support; and how hands-on learning and innovation will expand through teachers' professional development. Armed with this knowledge, the administrator can easily justify spending to the parents, by outlining how every child will benefit from the increased resources targeting vulnerable students; and how building a culture of acceptance and tolerance through increased training for staff will improve the mental health of everyone in the school. Finally, armed with this knowledge the administrator can easily justify spending to the district's budget office, by explaining in detail how decisions align with the district's Strategic Plan.

Budgeting, by its nature, is a guessing game. Administrators use the best information they have to make an educated guess as to how much resources will cost, which programs will be the most effective, and which initiatives will yield the best long term results. Careful research and an exploration of past decisions can alleviate some of the risk, but it happens that despite best intentions, the funds that are spent do not produce the wanted results. In that case, I feel that transparency is even more imperative! Admitting a mistake and working together to plan for the future is showing both humility and the desire for excellence. Administrators who are able to do this, to discuss budgeting needs openly with staff, parents, and the district office - showing flexible and creative thinking - are those who will have the support and trust of their school community.