District Administration - September 2011 - (Page 37)

line is you are required to have that just adapt and who will be prepared for the to come to the table. And superintendents competition that they will experience are often taking over the largest food from India, Brazil and China. service operation in the community, the largest transportation system in the com- DA: According to a recent American munity, the largest cleaning facility in the Association of Superintendent’s survey, only half of the respondents stated that community, and all of the teaching and they planned to remain a superintennurturing of students in the community. dent by 2015. As an organization, how It’s a major job. is the ASE handling what could be considered a crisis? In industry, a supervisor might suWM: A large part of our work is recruitpervise probably four to six individuing. We are preparing or encouraging als. In education, we put principals in principals to consider the superintensituations where they supervise 25 to 35 dency or the assistant superintendency. individuals. Superintendents who are The rewards are just phenomenal; they’re in large districts often have to supervise and evaluate 10 administrators from the intrinsic. They might not be dollar and cabinet level. All of that is tremendously cents rewards necessarily, but someday time-consuming, far more involved, and you will be able to look back and say, “God, it was a great run, and yes, I have far more difficult than in the private made a difference.” business sector. For my first superintendency, I think DA: In addition to regular personnel isthere were 35 applicants for the position. sues and instructional issues, there are Right now, if we have 15 solid applicants, also the unions, which add additional we are happy. I’ve had some fairly good challenges to the job. districts struggling to come up with 12 WM: They make it difficult and very interesting. DA: As executive leaders, you must also be proponents for technological change in schools. WM: We spend a lot of time looking at or 13 applicants for a decent superintendency. That’s a sign of our times. It’s a difficult job. It’s a 24/7 job. It is a very intense position. In Michigan, you answer to seven board members. You are all alone. And sometimes being all alone is a very difficult thing. But the rewards truly are there because you make a difference for children. To me, I encourage people to consider it. DA: I read on LinkedIn that you are a motivational speaker, which makes sense given the inspirational influence you can have on superintendents across the nation. WM: I just believe that we have to look at realities. I guess I’d like to consider myself a prophet. And I’m not just crying in the wilderness. I’m a prophet who says, ‘Look down the road, and if you look down the road there’s just great opportunity. But it’s no longer our road, it’s our children’s road, and it’s a different road from what we were on.’ —Judy Faust Hartnett a the technology that’s available and how we can harness that technology so we can meet the new students who are technology natives versus technology immigrants, as the administrators tend to be. Again, I’m going to go back to things that are shared in industry. When you meet with the people of Ford Motor Company and you talk about what it is that they want their incoming employees to have, right now they want them to have more than a high school education. At minimum, they want an associate’s degree, but often it’s a full bachelor’s degree. But they also want an individual who can work cooperatively and collaboratively on a team to solve problems. You do that using technology. You do that today being connected. Our world is a technologically changed world. It will never be the same as it was. And it will be continually evolving. We have to have students who can www.DistrictAdministration.com proven path to a central office position. Seton Hall University’s Executive Ed.D. • This nationally recognized doctoral program for practicing K-12 administrators has prepared over 450 education leaders representing 28 states and 6 foreign countries. • Complete your studies in just two years, with 10 weekends and two summer sessions. • Now accepting applications for the April 2012 cohort. • Loans available to cover the entire cost of the program, regardless of financial need. • Start work on dissertation from day one. For more information, call 1-800-313-9833, email execedd@shu.edu, or go to www.shu.edu/go/excedd. September 2011 37 http://www.shu.edu/go/excedd http://www.shu.edu/go/excedd http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - September 2011

District Administration - September 2011
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Tech Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Conversations
They Work Hard for the Money
The Road to Rigor
District-Charter Collaborations on the Rise
Designing Safe Facilities
Tony Smith Tackles Oakland
Product Focus
New Products
Research Center
Crisis Response
Going Mobile
Professional Opinion
Student Counsel

District Administration - September 2011