A new JCPS inspector cannot fix our broken system until we change state law

Jefferson County Public Schools is in trouble.

Registration, attendance, student results and teacher retention remain low after the pandemic. Staff shortages and a culture of fear are damaging morale, while operational snafus have made JCPS a laughing stock. Now the chief inspector leaves and three-quarters of eligible school board members chose not to seek re-election. A state commission is considering dramatic state-mandated changes.

The deeper problem is decades of stagnation regardless of who has been in charge, with no progress in closing learning gaps and leaving most Black and poor students behind.

JCPS clearly needs a great one new chief inspectorbut Kentucky law has long made this impossible by denying the Louisville superintendent the authority that any CEO of a large organization needs. If Louisville wants JCPS to do tomorrow what it cannot do today – educate all of our children – we must demand changes in state law to empower a leader to fix our broken system.

Kentucky must grant real authority to the following JCPS schools

Large organizations hire leaders to achieve results, not just to manage day-to-day operations. Generals should win wars, not just try. CEOs must deliver products even when the path is unclear. University presidents must work with, through, and around sometimes hostile constituencies to get things done. None of these are micro-managed by boards based on outdated governance charters.

JCPS needs the same approach. Hoping that the school board chooses a leader with good skills is not enough. Kentucky must give the principal real authority to restructure, reallocate resources and make tough decisions to ensure success for nearly one-sixth of the state’s students.

Without the power to change JCPS, Louisville will see more decades like the past decades. Kentucky has long limited the authority of the JCPS superintendent, hampering progress through bureaucracy and interference. Imagine a CEO unable to choose his management team or pivot strategy: no company operates this way, and neither should JCPS.

JCPS board bill that gives the superintendent more power

Fortunately, the Kentucky Legislature passed in 2022 Senate Bill 1 to give the next superintendent more power to lead. However, the JCPS school board is challenging the law in the Kentucky Supreme Court over legal technicalities unrelated to education.

Advice | Gert: Marty Pollio came in as the local guy who could fix JCPS. He couldn’t.

If the court upholds the law, it will allow the superintendent to make quick, strategic decisions within the school board’s goals and budget. If the court blocks it, Louisville should insist that the Legislature reinstate the law’s contents to strengthen JCPS leadership.

Setting ambitious but realistic goals for JCPS, finding the courage to fund change and holding a competent superintendent accountable will be an important task for the school board. It’s a role worthy of the people who oversee a budget significantly larger than Metro Council’s and one that would give them a real chance to accomplish what previous administrations could not.

The stakes are high: Our schools shape the future of our city and impact the economy, workforce and community well-being. To effect change, we must create a work dynamic for the superintendent with the same rigor and expectations we would have for a corporate CEO or a university president. With the right leadership and tools, transformation is possible.

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David A. Jones, Jr. served on the JCPS school board and the Humana Inc. board, serving as chairman of both during his tenure.

This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: Opinion: Without change to JCPS, we will see decades like the past few decades