Superintendent’s Blog

I realized last night at the Public Hearing for the 2007-2008 budget, that there’s some confusion about budget matters within our community. Probably in most communities. Topics that people need to hear more than once to really understand. Things like the library increase that’s tied to our public vote being confused with coming from school taxes. And the idea that things happen at the Board level behind closed doors, when in fact they’re happening at the workshop meetings just prior to the Board meeting and that all sessions are open to the public. Or the outlandish idea that the increase in aid coming from the Governor which understandably increases the budget (even though there’s a less than zero increase to taxes for our taxpayers) might be a bad thing. Who would possibly consider NOT using the increase planned for us to make things more equitable and hopefully, more assuredly, increasing the quality of our education and therefore, our results? And the taxpayer who says that one $48,000 item like an SRO returning to the school could be considered a deal breaker for members of our community.

Seems to me we need a superintendent’s blog. One that can answer each of these questions in a separate, easy to understand post. This would be great PR and a way for the superintendent to get the facts out. I don’t know anyone better to do this than our own superintendent. He’s the guy who explains everything about school finance to me. It’s his thing. He’s good at it. He’s also a good teacher, especially when it comes to these topics.

So yeah, you’re reading it right. I’m calling him out. This community of readers needs that information. After all, that’s largely why we read, because we’re a community of learners who want to understand. Superintendent of G-Town, this is your opportunity, we need your voice here.

10 Comments
  1. This is a great story.

    Kimberly Moritz challenged her superintendant to start a blog

    How many of our decision makers leave it up to others to try and explain their decision? Wouldn’t it be great if they could blog it themselves. The community would have one version of a story and minimize confusion. It might even eliminate the gossip.

    How many of your/our regional directors have a blog?

    What about the principals out there?

    Do you see a need or necessity? Is blogging still in the confined to the domain of innovators and early adopters? (aka classroom teachers).

    It seems that so many of our communication channels are still firmly pre web, (what’s web2.0?). How is that to change?
    http://c21skills.blogspot.com/2007/05/do-school-directors-blog.html

  2. Pingback: G-Town Talks » G-Town Superintendent Responds to Blog Challenge

  3. Your challenge made me wonder: how would I react to a call-out like this if I were in your superintendent’s seat? You’ve made blogging a compelling part of your repertoire, Kim. And brava to that great work! But I wonder whether a blog is for every leader at all times and for all issues… and particularly when navigating in a space where confusion or misunderstanding are in abundance such as a school budget landscape. It’s a pretty tough entry point to the blogosphere.

  4. You know, sometimes I’m afraid that no matter how many times you try to explain something–at least in print–some people are just not going to get it. A while ago I received a call from a man who wished for me to be a little more thorough when explaining the library tax levy because people he was talking to about it didn’t seem to properly understand it. I knew it was something the school obviously wanted well defined too, so I made sure to try laying it out straight every time I mentioned it in future stories.

    I received an email from the guy a little later. He was pleased with my explanations and said they were spot on… but some people still didn’t get it.

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  7. Kimberly,

    I think your suggestion is a sensible one. I wrote about the value of blogging in education last week:

    http://matthewktabor.com/2007/05/01/why-we-should-blog-teachers-administrators-and-board-members/

    And followed it up yesterday with Part II:

    http://matthewktabor.com/2007/05/09/why-we-should-blog-in-education-part-ii/

    I’m interested in how your district will respond, especially since they already have an effective blogger in their ranks. Keep up the good work!

    Matthew K. Tabor
    mktabor@gmail.com
    http://www.matthewktabor.com

  8. Pingback: Why We Should Blog in Education, Part II at matthewktabor.com

  9. I saw an article and link about this blog at the Education Week web site and, as a former Chautauqua County resident, I clicked over to see what this blog was all about. I am completely impressed – this is what good blogging is supposed to be. Great job, Principal Moritz.

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