Appointed School District Superintendents vs. Elected School District Superintendents

Appointed School District Superintendents vs. Elected School District Superintendents

Introduction

Superintendent of schools is also referenced as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a school district. In particular, superintendent is the face of the district. Public school district superintendents have administrative oversight of public schools, students, and educational services within geographic area identified by state law District Superintendents are the most essential and responsible people of the districts, they are assuredly responsible for the failures of the district. The superintendent of the district school is also responsible for preparing board meeting agenda. He is not allowed to make recommendations by sitting in the board meeting but he can vote on any of the issue. If the mandate is approved by the board then it is superintendent's duty to effectively carry out that mandate.

He is the face of district in good times and in times of crisis. In short District Superintendents has huge roles and responsibilities to fulfill. Now the question is whether appointed School District Superintendents are better or Elected School District Superintendents. There has been a huge debate on this topic. In this paper we are also going to debate on whether appointed School District Superintendents are better or Elected School District Superintendents. The purpose of this paper is to let readers know about the correct way to hire a District Superintendents which eventually will be effective for the School District.

Thesis Statement

Appointed school district superintendents are better for schools when compared with elected ones.

Facts

There are only three states (Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama) in entire United States which continue to practice an outdated activity of electing school superintendents. In Mississippi there are almost 64 district schools where superintendents are elected and in all over United States there are over 14500 school district schools out of which only 146 districts elect their superintendents which is one percent Mississippi elects the most (Kieffer, 2013). The most significant problem that was created in this case is that most of the superintendents were uncontested. Some school districts did not have a single qualified person to run for superintendent.

Discussion

With the establishment of Education improvement act, boards of school education were given authority to hire superintendents (Hoxby, 2004). In many states of United States, current governance structure questions hiring practices of the board to make sure that elected superintendent are not obliged to political supports and looking for permanent and secure job for themselves or their relatives in the school system.

Cooperation If a school system wants to succeed, it is important that school superintendent and board of education should work together towards common vision and objectives. The superintendent's appointment ensured this cooperation rather than a superintendent who is elected. There is a serious question of allegiance where school board elects superintendents. Though Education board sets the policies and direction for the school system but in case of elected superintendents, there may be increased conflicts since he/she may have his/her own agenda aimed merely ...