Change The Rules
Blueprint Magazine
April 2003
Paul Hill
This article looks at why we should devolve decisionmaking in schools. Hill recommends three changes in state laws (locate decisionmaking as near the child as possible; limit the powers of school boards; and make everything--including the existence of individual schools and the continuation of the school board itself--contingent on performance) to create a public education system in which families and teachers have options, schools have a good balance of accountability and freedom of action, and school boards have fewer temptations but enough powers to provide good schools.
