The expected backlash against the CMS Task Force report is in full-swing. The sweeping reforms proposed are a little too sweeping for some who have invested in the current CMS system, particularly in the magnet schools which offer an escape hatch for some students. Even so today’s critique offered by two CMS parents has some merit.
Changing how the school board is elected is indeed dicey and should be the last reform undertaken. The change is by no means an essential part of making CMS function. Having a smaller, more corporate-type board might be nice to have once CMS was up and functioning, but making the change first would actually lesson pressure for the vital reforms. So we’re on the same wavelength there.
Ditto the fact that this plan was produced by a relatively small, insular group. We called them the Usual Suspects back when the Task Force was first put together and doubted they would produce “truly innovative solutions to chronic CMS management problems.” Wrong.
The Task Force actually produced a decidedly Unusual series of recommendations that, against all expectations, does offer some hope of making CMS better. Here’s where we start to part company with the claim that “many of [the Task Force’s] proposals falter under careful scrutiny.”
In fact, by opposing outsourcing of non-educational operations suggested by the Task Force, this critique morphs into an apology for the status quo. For CMS to actually go about the business of educating tens of thousands of kids, it must focus on its core educational mission and not on brake pads, broom handles, or cans of green beans. There also must be some link between pay and performance, some market discipline, introduced into the system certainly in non-educational areas and, with hope, in the educational realm as well.
Here’s the bottom line: Should outside vendors or contractors fail to perform you can fire them. Works wonders for getting things done.
CMS is just simply way behind the curve in this fundamental structural reform. Some 32 percent of the nation’s school districts outsource transportation and about 17 percent outsource food service. And contrary to assertion that outsourcing does not save money, studies have found a cost savings of between 20 and 40 percent from such outsourcing efforts.
Given CMS’ size and heavily bureaucratized system, there is no telling how much money might be saved. Certainly millions is not out-of-the-question, as the Reason Foundation’s Lisa Snell notes:
For example, in 2002, the Philadelphia school district faced a $28 million deficit. By turning to privatized transportation, custodial, food service, and other support services, the district saved $29 million over two years and erased its deficit–while running a robust teacher recruitment program and without firing any teachers.
Philly went to outsourcing because it had too. CMS is not quite yet in that situation, which is all the more reason to work toward meaningful, effective reforms now before it is too late. Once again, the Task Force suggestions are far from perfect, but that should not be the enemy of the good. Or worse, enshrine the current dysfunction any longer.
