From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Wed Jan 8 21:49:34 1997 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id VAA10228 for ; Wed, 8 Jan 1997 21:49:32 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) id SAA09567; Wed, 8 Jan 1997 18:11:35 -0800 (PST) Received: from nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us (server.nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us [206.181.247.202]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) with ESMTP id SAA09552; Wed, 8 Jan 1997 18:11:26 -0800 (PST) Received: from [169.132.20.16] by nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us with SMTP (Apple Internet Mail Server 1.1); Wed, 8 Jan 1997 21:14:41 -0500 X-Sender: jpotter@mail.nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: altsch@pscs.org From: jpotter@nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us (John Potter) Subject: Re: The response from The True North Re: Einstein Quote Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 21:14:41 -0500 Sender: owner-altsch@speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: altsch@pscs.org Status: RO >Hi John > >Can you tell me more about your school? I agree whole heartedly with >your comments. However I am committed to trying to make systematic >changes within the board I am in. I think our board administrators have >finally begun to realize that traditional approaches aren't appropriate >for a large group (if not all) students. The problem is that they want >the perception of alternatives while they still retain complete control. >I am not too sure that we have any real chance of success at this point. > >Maurice Maurice: I finally sorted things out and you are who I thought you were. I have been running my e-mail off two computers and could not find the message I am responding to now on the computer I was using this morning. Of course my wedding had occupied pretty much all of my energy until it happened last Saturday. I now feel much more settled. There is a good bit of info on The New School at our web site http://www.pvt.k12.va.us I also mailed Jerry some limited info in response to his survey question. You probably saw that. My experience has been that boards are about control and are not only reluctant to give it up but are often far removed from the students and the staff. Distance creates mistrust and fear which makes the board circle the wagons. Obviously your board wants it all. It's good that they understand enough of what is needed to want to give the right impression - are they brave enough to get their hands dirty and get with the students and staff to see that there is not (I assume) a lot to fear. Are they willing to engage in an ALTERNATIVE alternative structure such as simply retaining veto power in a situation where students and staff combined have formal meetings with them to share perspectives and ideas for change? A compromise structure can usually be found if the school needs the board and the board needs the school. Where does the real power lie? A friend of mine - a financial whiz - said that it was his experience that a board was not really worth it unless they raised $100,000 per year - it would take that amount to make their care and feeding worthwhile - and maybe not even then if they are going to mess with your basic philosophical posture. I know of a number of situations where a school has got off the ground, become successful, had kids really excited about their education, increased enrollment only to peremptorily dump the people with the wisdom and creative energy to get the place going in the first place. In such situations there is over the years board turnover in a conservative direction and they plain old don't get it. They got their kids in because it was so good, then became active, became contributors and got carried away. It's not an unusual story. I started The New School without a board for that very reason. I was not about to risk my life's work to the hands of a group of well meaning individuals who didn't have a clue about education or who had a very different visceral take about what works for kids. In a way it's very odd that people exist who take advantage of the style of a particular school for their children - a good thing to do, but when they get into a power position go about changing it- even to the extent of dumping those most responsible for breathing life into it. John From jpotter@nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us Sun Jan 12 20:58:22 1997 Received: from nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us (nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us [206.181.247.202]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id UAA04038 for ; Sun, 12 Jan 1997 20:58:19 -0500 (EST) Received: from [169.132.20.4] by nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us with SMTP (Apple Internet Mail Server 1.1); Sun, 12 Jan 1997 20:59:27 -0500 X-Sender: jpotter@mail.nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us (Unverified) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: Chris Kawecki From: jpotter@nsnva.pvt.k12.va.us (John Potter) Subject: Re: Questions... Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1997 20:59:27 -0500 Status: RO >Hi John, > I have been talking with Jerry as well as many others lately >about the different possibilities for the legal status of schools. >Jerry suggested that you would be a very good person to talk with >about this question -- I may also bring it up on the list. At this >point, what would be most helpful to me is to see the articles of >incorporation and bylaws for your non-profit as well as your >proprietary school. I don't know if this is easy for you to just pop >onto email or whether it is more painful than that. Would you be >willing to share these documents with me? I'm not in a terrible >hurry, and could send a check for postage and copies if have only hard >copies of these documents. I appreciate whatever you may be able to >help me with. > >Thanks, Chris K. > >-- >Chris Kawecki >ckawecki@hampshire.edu >http://hampshire.edu/~cpkF92 Chris: As a sole proprietor of a school there are no by-laws - essentially I can do what I bloody well like. When I publish a brochure about the school and make claims as to what we do - that is about as close as it gets. Because I want the school to thrive I stick closely to the published material in terms of what I do and how the school runs. For better or worse everyone in the school knows that I could as a matter of right do just as I pleased, but what has happened over the history of the school is that the staff and students know that I stick to the script so that the governance of the school remains predictable, participatory and consistent. People trust each other and me, and I trust them. It is an interesting dynamic. You might have read a bit about what goes on in the list correspondence. The New School Parent Association (NSPA) is the non-profit organization associated with the school and functions to support the programs of the school. It is entirely parent run and administered and we go to great lengths to make sure that there are no legal or even formal ties between the NSPA and the school. What the NSPA does is to consult with me and with teachers about the needs of the school - materials, support staff, new programs. scholarships and decides for itself how it will direct funds in its control. If the NSPA, for example, were to buy a computer or a microscope it would remain the property of the association and simply be used by the school in the education of the students - the NSPA would retain absolute control of the items. I like the system because it gives me the autonomy I need both emotionally and professionally. If for instance I want to introduce a new and different program I can do so without consulting a board, I can get draconian if need be (no need has yet emerged) and I talk through any innovations thoroughly with staff and students before leaping into action, and I might not always get unanimous support but typically people are willing to try something if the reasons make sense. I like the system also because all power plays are gone. I need to hold onto the staff and the students if I am going to succeed therefore I have to treat them with deference and respect. If in the very rare event I feel a teacher or a student should go I consult very carefully before acting but when I do it's clear it's my decision and I do not have to placate a fuming section of the board the teacher has cozied up to - which happened at the school I previously founded which had a board. Finally, and this may make no sense to you - it's mine, I can't be fired. It's my success or my failure. I could cite you several instances where long term creative and exciting educators who founded a non profit school found themselves without a job as the school became more successful and began to attract a more and more conservative clientele who began to serve on the board and untimately found their philosophy at variance with the founders and fired them. There's a start. I could send you the NSPA by-laws and a brochure of the school to give you a sense of what is going on if you would like. Let me know. John