Principals Voice Concerns

Empowerment schools as an education reform have gotten much hype, but resistance to the concept is emerging from an unlikely place: the principal's office.

Sixty-one percent of Clark County School District principals recently surveyed by their union oppose the expansion of the program. Empowerment schools were started by Superintendent Walt Rulffes as a way to cede more control to selected schools in choosing how to spend money, budget time and implement programs to improve student achievement.

In theory, principals are supposed to be liberated by the empowerment school approach. They are given autonomy and additional resources -- an extra $600 per student -- to address the particular needs of their students. They are free to hire more teachers, reduce class sizes or extend the school day.

By adopting the empowerment school model, the district follows the lead of public school systems in New York and Canada.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has been a supporter of the concept. The Lincy Foundation stepped in this year with a $13.5 million grant for Clark County empowerment schools after funding for the program was eliminated by state budget cuts.

In interviews with the Review-Journal, principals cited the ongoing budget crisis as the main reason they want to put empowerment "on the back burner."

The autonomy and extra funding given to empowerment schools exacerbates inequities within the district, principals said.

Principals also said that increased autonomy means more administrative responsibilities in areas in which they may be inexperienced.

To follow the logic of the empowerment philosophy, principals could wind up overseeing construction contracts and supervising the blacktop resurfacing of school parking lots.

"I would become the superintendent of a mini-school district," said Cathy Conger, the president-elect of the Clark County Association of School Administrators, which conducted the survey over the summer. The association polled 192 principals on empowerment and other issues.

One outgrowth of the extra authority given to empowerment school principals is the ability to pass along bad teachers to other schools, noted Conger, who is principal of Ronzone Elementary School, 5701 Stacey Ave., near Lake Mead and Jones boulevards. Teachers who aren't meeting expectations can be given an early warning in the spring that their jobs won't be guaranteed for the next school year.

Those teachers can then apply for openings at other schools.

"There's a ripple effect," Conger said, with other schools getting stuck with underperforming teachers.

Jeremy Hauser, the district's academic manager responsible for empowerment schools, said there is a protocol for allowing teachers to transfer out of empowerment schools. Principals can encourage them to leave too, but the process is not intended to punish teachers for poor performance or to pass bad teachers onto another school, Hauser said.

Instead, the protocol is designed to give teachers the option to leave if they feel like they no longer fit in with an empowerment school's new direction, officials said.

Rulffes said he "doesn't accept the premise that teachers who choose not to stay in an empowerment school are bad."

The superintendent said he asked the union to include the question about empowerment schools in its annual survey. Put in context, he did not think the principals' reaction to one of his main initiatives for improving student performance was so negative.

Only 14 schools, or 3 percent of all district schools, are currently in the empowerment program.

If 39 percent of all principals want to expand the program, "I think it shows support is growing," Rulffes said.

The superintendent added that the annual application process has been "strong," with 20 percent of schools applying to become empowerment schools.

The program has just begun its third year. Rulffes acknowledged that empowerment does mean more administrative accountability.

"I wouldn't recommend (empowerment) to new principals," Rulffes said.

Beverly Mathis is the treasurer for the administrators' association and the principal of Booker Elementary School, an empowerment school at 2277 N. Martin Luther King Blvd., south of Carey Avenue.

She said she loves the program, which has allowed her to hire a computer specialist. But she said she understands her colleagues' reluctance.

"I think we're all scared to go out on a limb," Mathis said.

In fairness to both the principals and the empowerment program, Ron Montoya, the president of the administrators' association, said, "I'm not aware of anyone who has come out publicly against it."

He thinks funding concerns are why principals are resistant to the expansion of empowerment schools. The already cash-strapped district is preparing for budget cuts of 14 percent next year.

"It could get ugly," said Montoya, principal of Valley High School, 2839 Burnham Ave., north of Vegas Valley Drive. "We're talking about reductions in force."

Jeff Horn, principal of Henderson's Green Valley High School, said the additional $600 per student allocated to empowerment schools is a "lot of money and resources" while "other schools struggle to make ends meet."

As the principal of a non-empowerment school, Horn makes tough decisions about resources every day, such as whether to provide an advanced placement class for 12 students or use those same resources to reduce class sizes across the board. His school has many classes with more than 50 students.

"Try teaching a class with 50 students," Horn said.

Rulffes said empowerment schools are intended as models to show the community and state lawmakers what can be achieved once schools are well funded.

Because empowerment schools are being used to gain "leverage" in winning public support, they will ultimately benefit all schools, he said.

Horn offered an alternative for improving education. He would simply focus on reducing class sizes and retaining quality teachers.

"And there's your program," Horn said.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-799-2922.