Send Tucson School Admin Staff to Disney Training?

by David Safier

My tentative thumbs up for the new Tuscon Schools Supe, Elizabeth Celania-Fagen, just went to a thumb to the side.

She’s sending her “executive team” to management training with Walt Disney.

No Mickey Mouse jokes here. I’m sure Disney is a well managed business, and their training sessions probably help other corporate leaders learn about bonding and customer relations and such. But for schools? I don’t think so.

Schools are in a different kind of business. Sure, you’ve got to treat your “customers” — students and their parents — with courtesy and respect. But a school’s business is education, not something corporations call “customer satisfaction” that brings consumers back for more. A pleasant demeanor and head-nodding while a parent is complaining won’t cut it.

And, please, Elizabeth, don’t waste everyone’s time trying to teach the corporate model to teachers. You’ll either be laughed out of the faculty meeting, or the teachers will be polite, then ignore everything you said. Most teachers are not team players in the corporate sense. Those who are usually get out of teaching, either by leaving the profession to join the corporate world, or by becoming school administrators.

Celania-Fagen may prove me wrong on this one. But I’ll be surprised if Disney training does much more than increase the bonding between administrators. If it accomplishes that.