If you don’t read the comments under articles, you are often missing some good information.
Under yesterday’s story containing the application withdrawal letter for appointment to the elected office office of Regional Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jeffrey Schleff, there were three comments from former and current school board members about the office.
I’m going to share them with you.
Ned Neumann, former McHenry High School Board member wrote:
“The Regional Supt. of Schools is a needless, worthless form of government. I was an elected member of the McHenry High School Board of Education for eighteen years and I never understood why the superintendents at their monthly meeting couldn’t coordinate schedules for sports or whatever and why the State Board couldn’t verify certification of teachers.
“We can’t constantly complain about Illinois having 7,000 units of government, 2,200 more than the next highest state, while we still support township government and things like the Regional Supt. of Schools.
“We’ve been without a supt for almost a year.
“Can anybody notice the difference??”
Former Crystal Lake Grade and High School Board member Jim Bishop wrote:
“As a past member and President of the Board of Ed in Crystal Lake-Cary-Grove District 155 for 9 years and member of the Crystal Lake District 47 Board of Ed for 4 more years, I wholeheartedly agree that the Regional Superintendent position should be eliminated, the office closed and the expenditures be eliminated.
“While I’m at it, I believe the same is true of the US Department of Education and believe most local educators would agree.”
Current Cary Grade School Board member Chris Jenner adds,
“Another BoE veteran (me, Cary D-26) agrees with the above comments, particularly Mr. Bishop’s proposal to eliminate the US DoE (which was originally going to be called the Department of Public Education till some government genius realized what the acronym would be).”
One small step in reducing the size and scope of Government.
I’ve been trying to realize the value and need of this position for some time.
Things appear to be working well since the office was vacated last June.
I totally agree with the elimination of this office. Let’s save the money.
I’m surprised you didn’t post Larry Snow’s recent comments.
Re: Joe Hackett 2:04 p.m. comment
I’m not sure what your intentions were re Mr. Snow.
However, you should be aware that Mr. Snow died last year.
I am aware of many of his beliefs and my guess is that he would have agreed that this position should have been eliminated long long ago.
For myself, as I recall there was a painful decade where private companies wiped out their middle management. They condensed, cut costs, and tried to do more with less or they simply decided that changes in technology eliminated the need for many middle management staff members, their assistants, and clerks, etc.
Unfortunately, I don’t see where that happened in Education or Government. It seems to me that neither of them is willing to make necessary changes except to add more staff and more costs and benefits… with less results and accountability.
Yes, I, too, would eliminate the Regional Supt. position and see if there are other ways to condense, eliminate, or make that area more efficient.
Just because things have always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do things now.
Small school districts use the RoE more than large school districts. Not sure if it makes sense to get rid of all the RoE’s.
Maybe consolidate school districts and ROE’s all in the same swoop.
I think Sheila Simon is studying school district consolidation.
The Education Commission of the States (ECS) has a list of Regional Superintendents by State, from Alabama through Wyoming.
Eighteen states have no regional superintendents.
http://mb2.ecs.org/reports/Report.aspx?id=169