Week5, Part 1
Accepting money in
return for awarding a vendor a contract is an example of TAC (Texas Administrative
Code) of ethics, standard 1.2. This standard states that an educator shall not
knowingly misappropriate, divert, or use monies, personnel, property, or
equipment committed to his or her charge for personal gain or advantage. This type of action can result in the
district not being able to hire the most cost efficient, high quality
contractor to provide a needed service.
This could result in the termination of all school official involved as well
as open up the district for lawsuit from vendors who competed for the job. Additionally, all parties involved could face
criminal prosecution. To prevent this
sort of behavior, have all vendors present in an open forum and establish
vendor selection procedure that force all decisions to be publically
noted.
The TAC Code of Ethics
Standard 1.4. states that the educator shall not use institutional or
professional privileges for personal or partisan advantage. High ranking school officials are very aware
that their job security could change should the composition of their school
board change. Using school district
professionals and resources (i.e. phones, manpower, office space, etc.) to
elect contact community members compelling them to vote for certain members of
a school board. This action would result
in an un-fair election. If this was
discovered, it could result in removal of a board member and/or district
employees. The most damaging, long-term
result would be that this type of conduct results in community mis-trust of
school officials. In order to prevent
this sort of action, publish the existence of a reporting hotline and allow the
anonymous posting of any concerns. Additionally,
establish procedures to investigate any and all concerns.
TAC Code of Ethics Standard
1.7. states that the educator shall comply with state regulations, written
local school board policies, and other state and federal laws. An example of this would be if campus principal
was caught allowing teachers to combine classrooms in order to give certain
teachers an “earned” day off without having to officially record an absence. Board policy states that teachers should have
a substitute teacher provided in their absence and that all absences are
recorded through our AESOP system. This
allows all teachers to take the days allotted by either the state or the
district. The action that this principal
could have taken would have compromised the education of all the students who
were in those combined class rooms because there were less instructors per
student. This could have resulted in
grievances filed by others teachers or parents who were upset about the
instructional arrangement of their child.
The existence of an anonymous hotline would be of benefit in this
instance as well.
Two additional
example of unethical behavior can come from the following misapplication of the
TAC Code of Ethics that dictates ethical conduct towards professional colleagues. A
violation of standard 2.3 is when a high ranking school official hired his son
to serve as a campus athletic director even though candidate did not have any
teaching or coaching experience. This
resulted in an unqualified candidate filling a position. School district official must always follow
written local school board policies and state and federal laws regarding the
hiring, evaluation, and dismissal of personnel.
A second example comes from TAC Code of Ethics, standard 2.6. A high
ranking school district official hired a single vendor to provide a multitude
of services. After the school district official
retired, it was discovered that there were many more cost-efficient ways to
provide the same required services.
Additionally, the retired school district official and his spouse promptly
went to work for the vendor after retiring.
School district officials shall not use coercive means or promise of
special treatment in order to influence professional decisions or colleagues. Had this been discovered during this school
district officials career, he could have been terminated.
According to the state competencies for the
superintendent he/she should be able to : “exhibit understanding and
implement policies and procedures that promote district personnel compliance
with The Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators” as
well as deal with all of these situations in a fair and ethical manner. Additionally, “the superintendent should be
able to monitor and address ethical issues impacting education as well as apply
laws, policies, and procedures in a fair and reasonable manner”. Any administrator who violates a TAC Code of
Ethics standard risks termination. A superintendent
should be fully aware of each of these standards and increase employee
knowledge of these standards to ensure compliance. To make an error is part of human nature but,
we can make the best decisions if we are fully aware of the established
standards and how they relate to day-to-day professional conduct.
Week 5, Part 2
I
marked all of the Administrative competencies above as a “C’, indicating that I
feel competent enough to oversee each of these standards as they occur In my district
but, I did not mark any as a strength. I
do not feel I could lead my district without extensive, day-to-day practice in
each of the areas. Much of the superintendent’s role requires
this leader to have an understanding of each of the School Administrative Competencies
to survive in the position; however, in most medium and large districts, there
are school district officials who will serve as experts to carry out the
detailed functions of each position. I
still will continue to work towards gaining a deeper understanding of each of
the School Administrative Competencies to ensure I am prepared to take and pass
the Texas Superintendent’s certification exam as well as utilize my growing
understanding for the benefit of my current organization.
Week 5, Part 3
This course
could not come at a better point in my career.
I have had at least one other school finance course; however, the focus
of this course forced the student to understand the budgeting process, examine
sources of revenue for the district, develop an awareness of the various
accountability measures in existence that are used to measure the financial
health of a school district, and, lastly, an application of the Texas
Administrative Code of Ethics regarding school finance. This course involved members of an assigned
group working together to formulate answers.
Much of the responses required were very detailed; however, working as a
group we were able to divide many of the assigned tasks, work together to
answer many of the complex questions, and check our understanding.
Superintendents
in medium and large sized districts will likely have a person who handles all
of the financial operations of the district.
The superintendent must still have a deep understanding of the functions
of this school district official to ensure that all legal and local school
finance policies are followed. I now
feel that I have a much deeper understanding of how to fulfill this role. Additionally, the knowledge I have learned
will help me in my current position. I
now understand the impact of accurate PEIMS records and can now quantify the
cost of inaccurate PEIMS accounting for students who would give additional
weight to the ADA (Average Daily Attendance).
Presently, we have the lowest ranking/paid person on each campus serve
as the PEIMS clerk. Additionally, there is
very little district level training for these individuals and thus, many PEIMS
errors are a result of lack of training and inconsistent application of PEIMS
recording regulations. This course has certainly
helped me form a rationale as to why additional support is needed throughout
our district and it has helped me sell the need for change to my
superintendent.
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