August 27, 2003
William Ouchi, distinguished professor at my alma mater, UCLA, has figured out how to improve K-12 education. He concludes: ". . . the schools that consistently performed best also had the most decentralized management systems, in which autonomous principals -- not administrators in a central office -- controlled school budgets and personnel hiring policies. They were fully responsible and fully accountable for the performance of their schools. With greater freedom and flexibility to shape their educational programs, hire specialists as needed, and generally determine the direction of their school, the best principals will act as entrepreneurs . . ."
What a surprise.