Downsizing central administration seeks to eliminate unnecessary layers of bureaucracy, untangle chains of command, and link greater percentages of fiscal and human resources directly with children at the school-site level. In Cincinnati, the superintendent, with recommendations from the business community, has reduced the number of central administrators from 127 to 62 (Shanker, 1992). Teachers' union officials hope that some of the money saved will go to school programs designed to address discipline problems, such as in-school suspension centers. However, for a scaled-down central administration to become an accountable service center, it must redefine its roles and align its functions with the needs of local schools and communities. Too often, districts adopt the "service center" rhetoric without building the capacities and creating the structures needed to transform the central administration into a responsive team that provides timely, appropriate support to local schools and communities.
Posted on April 26, 1995
URL: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/go/93-1down.htm
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