INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Three Indiana universities are planning programs that will bring new business-style training to principals in public schools.
The MBA-type programs at the University of Notre Dame, Marian University and Indiana University would include courses in systemic thinking, change management and statistical analysis that supporters say school administrators need today.
Indiana Superintendent of Schools Tony Bennett said the programs will combine the best practices of business with the ideals of education at a crucial time in the state. Bennett could take charge of nearly two dozen failing public schools next year and install new leaders to turn them around.
"Turnaround leaders are different kinds of leaders. We're now looking at how we attract, how we train those types of leaders," Bennett said.
Some principals are skeptical of the initiative, saying training is needed in other areas.
"Principals don't need more business; if anything, we need more training with our at-risk students that are more mobile, (or how to) deal with families that don't value education. Those types of things, MBAs aren't going to help me with," said Steve Baker, principal at Bluffton High School and incoming president of the Indiana Association of School Principals.
"People outside of education just kind of look at it and say, 'Well, if they had more of a business mind, things would go better.' And that's just not true."
Indiana University education dean Gerardo Gonzalez said schools need to work to make business training relevant to public schools.
"I don't think you can just take a program or a set of skills that have developed in the business setting and transfer it to the education setting, because they are different," he said. "The setting is different, the clientele is different."
But Chris Clemons, director of Notre Dame's Educational Leadership Program, said the criticism reflects a lack of knowledge of the purpose of MBA training.
"You don't go to business school to become a banker. You go to become an effective organizational leader," he said. "We would argue that business school is relevant to any organization."
Education dean Lindan Hill at Marian hopes to have national-level writers, thinkers and managers teach weekend seminars at the Marian Leader Academy, then supplement them with instruction by Marian business, education, science, math and liberal arts faculty. The academy hopes to enroll as many as 100 students this fall.
Notre Dame's Educational Leadership Program has 15 slots open for this fall. Both Notre Dame and Marian are counting on private grants to fund the programs and already have some commitments.
Funding for IU's program is uncertain. The university applied to the state to fund a Turnaround Leadership Academy for as many as 25 students a year. Bennett wanted to fund the academy using federal money from the Race to the Top competition, but the state's first application didn't make the cut and a feud with the teachers' union prompted him not to apply for the second round of funding.
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