District Administration - August 2006 - (Page 53)

I n s ide the building, on the left, When I tell people that we're a base- Not many superintendents have Q: is the spacious office of Michael fou ndat ion district that is, we are the choice of staying around for Shibler, who is starting his 18th at the lowest level of state funding so long? What has it taken to stay year as Rockford Public School's $6,875 per-pupil they're surprised on the right side of the school board? superintendent of schools. Shibler because of our success. They think SHIBL ER : They like the idea of the has superintendency in his blood. that we should be receiving $12,000 strategic planning, and I think they His father led two suburban school a child, like the Birmingham, Mich.'s value my leadership style. I look at districts in the Midwest before of the world. myself as a facilitator. My job is to heading the Indianapolis Public help the people I work with be suc- What's kept you here for 17 years in Q: Schools. The younger Shibler has cessf u l. If they're successful, they're an era when the tenures of superin- opted for longevity and recently going to help the people they work tendents seem to be shrinking? received a five-year contract exten- with be successful. I think people SHIBL ER : Most of the research s ion to stay in Rockford. DISTRICT enjoy being part of a successful ADMINISTRATION spoke with him points out that if you want to make organization that values them. That's systemic change, you've got to be about the challenges of keeping why they stay here. around at least 10 years. I was Rockford's school achievement I also feel that we have to be in- superintendent of the Livonia Clar- high and keeping his job secure volved on a political level, in a col- encev i lle district outside of Detroit over the long term and in an era of laborat ive way if we can. If not, we'll for five years before coming here, increasing demands. just be bystanders and allow things and most of the innovations that we to happen to us. One might think the job of super- Q: accomplished there are gone. Since 2001, I've chaired a politi- intendent in a school system with I made a conscious decision to c a l action grassroots group county- Rockford's demographics and be here long enough in my job so w ide that's made up of parents, achievement levels would be easier than I can look back and ask, What board trustees, superintendents, most. Is it? has been accomplished that we teachers and support staff. We all put together that is lasting and SHIBL ER : It's not a piece of cake. This meet regularly and then we go systemic? And I believe that the is a middle-class and upper-middle- down to the state capital Lansing changes we've made and innova- cla ss community of professional peo- and we work with our legislators in t ions we've implemented have now ple and they set high expectations a proactive way in order to make become part of the organization. for us. And we also set challenges sure that the K-12 community has Bac k in 1991 we became the for ourselves based upon strategic a voice. only district in the state to estab- planning. Our student population We get almost all of our fund- l i sh a competency test in math and has grown from 4,000 to almost i ng from the state, and we are very reading that students had to pass 8,000 since I've been here. That in active in helping our legislators as one of the requirements for their itself is a challenge. to understand that they need to high school diploma. The class of At the same time, we have always deal with closing the funding gap 2006 was the 12th class to have to had to deal with fi nancial chal- between districts and providing go through that requirement. And lenges. We don't have a lot of the adequate annual increases in fund- our strategic planning model the dollars that other districts have. i ng per child. A year ago, we had Rockford Action Model for Success, 12,000 people in Lansing parents, which we implemented 17 years educators, students from Rockford ago will be here long after I'm and other communities demonstrat- gone. Every three years, the plan i ng for adequate funding. We got an gets redone. increase for this year. When I was interviewed, I said, `There aren't eight superintendents. There's one superintendent and seven board members. And if you can't agree with that, don't hire me.' www.DistrictAdministration.com August 2006 53 QandA.w.indd 53 7/17/06 10:39:14 AM http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - August 2006

Contents
Progress with Purpose
Future Vision
Integrity, Accountability, Continuity
A New Kind of Testing
Update
Inside The Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
The Online Edge Odvard Egil Dyrli
Speaking Out Gary Stager
Principal Opinion Eamonn O'Donovan
Editor's Letter
Snapshots
Problem/Solution
Research Corner
New Products
By the Numbers
The Grass is Greener On This Side

District Administration - August 2006