Baltimore last adopted a school-based budgeting structure in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, a consultant recommended that the city create a network of "enterprise schools" where principals would have greater autonomy. The recommendations were never fully implemented, despite state threats to withhold funding.
In 1997, the General Assembly created a city-state partnership to govern Baltimore schools under a new school board, which immediately centralized management.
"It was pretty chaotic when we came in," said former board member Edward J. Brody. "To get it under control, it was the best approach at the time. But I think decentralization happens to be the way to operate."
Brody and others said the problem was the way decentralization was implemented. Patricia Welch, who was on the board then and went on to become its chairwoman, said principals didn't know where to turn when they had a problem.
In a vivid example of that, Northern High School's principal suspended 1,200 disobedient students in November 1997. Welch said the principal had been asking the central office for help with a variety of problems contributing to poor student discipline, including insufficiently trained teachers and inadequate transportation after school.
"When the situation became unbearable and she made the decision to suspend all of them, suddenly she got the help she needed," said Welch, now dean of education at Morgan State University.
Centralized management has its advantages. In places where families move often, a standardized curriculum lets children pick up where they left off when they change schools. And in systems with many inexperienced teachers and principals, centralization leaves less room for error.
It also leaves less room for creativity, stifling talented educators.
The system's new direction was evident Feb. 26, when the school board approved textbooks for several subject areas.
In contrast to prior textbook adoptions, officials did not designate how much to spend on any given book. For most subjects, the board approved multiple titles. Principals can choose what they want and use money from their budgets for purchases. A principal who doesn't like any of the choices may submit a recommendation for another book, along with a justification.
Alonso said the idea isn't to give the principals carte blanche in instruction but to provide options so that they can choose what they consider best for their students.
James R. Sasiadek, principal of Thomas Johnson Elementary, said he hopes the guided choices will make the autonomy experiment more successful this time.
"I think we're going to have some bumps and bruises along the way," said Sasiadek, who has seen the pendulum swing from decentralization to centralization and back again. "But I'd much rather dive off the diving board now because I see water in the pool. Before I only saw concrete."
sara.neufeld@baltsun.com
