In 2004 in New York City, where principals are paid for performance, the city tried giving 26 schools increased discretion over spending. Seeing positive results, officials increased the number of "empowerment schools" every year until this academic year, when autonomy was expanded citywide. In exchange, any principal whose school is deemed failing for two years is replaced.
"Having folks in the central office who don't know your students and aren't accountable make decisions simply lets the people in the schools off the hook," said Eric Nadelstern, chief executive officer of New York's empowerment schools program.
Prince George's County recently received a $17 million federal grant to give merit pay to principals and teachers in a dozen schools. Superintendent John E. Deasy is also creating an "autonomy zone" for high-performing schools and schools showing substantial growth in student achievement, where principals will have wide budgetary latitude.
"We want to be less regulatory, and we want to be more in the business of auditing results for those schools in the autonomy zone," Deasy said. "For schools that are not in the autonomy zone, our goal is to get them there as fast as possible."
The structure Alonso is planning for Baltimore, granting autonomy to all principals, is riskier. It is likely to help the system attract innovative school leaders but could set up for failure schools with weak leaders.
"It's bolder to do it for everyone and more challenging and not as safe, but I think that you have a chicken and egg, horse and cart thing going on," said Hampstead Hill Academy Principal Matthew Hornbeck, who has been helping Alonso develop the new structure. "It's hard to get the right people as school leaders and say, `Turn this school around, but we're not going to give you the freedom to do it until you do it.'"
Hampstead Hill is one of the city's 22 charter schools, which operate independently. Alonso says the charter principals will be instrumental in helping their colleagues manage new responsibilities. He plans to divide principals into clusters and provide each cluster with support, for instance a budget specialist who would work with all the schools in the group.
Appearing before a City Council committee last month, Alonso was questioned by Councilman William H. Cole IV, who said he was worried that some principals don't have the budgeting skills that will be required. Alonso replied, "If you can trust a principal with 400 kids but not with a spreadsheet, it doesn't compute."
