The New York Times magazine this weekend had an education story that makes for some compelling reading. The spotlight was on Ramon Gonzales, the principal of a public middle school in the Bronx. He's taken a struggling school and made it successful, or at least relatively so, despite significant challenges.
Gonzales could be considered a shining example of the vision of Joel Klein, the previous chancellor of the New York City schools, who aimed to transform every principal "from an agent of bureaucracy to the CEO of his or her own school'. But Gonzales was not only following the 'chief executive' approach but was clearly displaying an 'entrepreneurial spirit', akin to a founder of a scrappy startup.
He finds creative ways to bring in money (boot-strapping). He personally invests time in building his faculty and guiding them (shaping team and culture) knowing that it is key to success. Gonzales realizes that perceptions matter and pays attention to seemingly small things like greeting students at the door (marketing) and he cares about the outcomes for individual students (customer focus). The most important quality of a startup founder/CEO is that he doesn't give up easily and so far, Gonzales appears to be digging his heels in and refusing to give up ground to charter schools.
It is easy to understand how our economy relies on entrepreneurship for growth but it takes a little imagination to see how that could extend to education too. Maybe our schools need entrepreneurial educators like Gonzales in order to thrive. You can read the whole story here. Makes one think - and dream!
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