SAN DIEGO COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Bold and Welcome Experiment

Who says one person can’t make a difference? Rod Tompkins did. The San Diego business executive persuaded the San Diego Unified School District to open an experimental elementary school that should prove to be an excellent test of the educational reform concept called “school-based management.”

Supt. Tom Payzant has been gradually introducing school-based management reforms. But the experiment at the Rolando area’s Darnall Elementary, when it reopens this fall, will be revolutionary.

The principal, teachers and other workers will be free of job-description, work-hour and curriculum rules that can guide but also can hinder. Each union and the administrators association has given a representative the right to waive any part of its collective bargaining agreement or operating rules. The school initially will be run by a team of educators, parents, a secretary, a custodian and a community leader.

If they are successful, the 800 mostly minority students will reach higher achievement levels than similar students at other schools. But whatever the outcome, educators and policy-makers are sure to gain insight into how to better run schools.

It’s a bold step. The unions, the superintendent and the school board don’t know where this experiment will end up. But they should be congratulated for listening to Rod Tompkins’ radical--but logical--idea and having the courage to give it a try.