My son is a huge NBA fan. Naturally, he is pretty bummed out about the current lockout between the owners and players.
I’m just sad for Dirk and the Mavs and hope they have a chance to win the title again this year. Beyond that, I confess to know very little about basketball.
But something my son said the other day about the lockout piqued my interest because it paralleled something in the education world that many schools don’t get: the owning of an NBA team is not the same as owning a regular business.
Of course, I am not NBA savvy enough to repeat all of my son’s arguments here.
But I would argue that the same is true about being either a headmaster or a board member of a school.
What interests me is the idea that some institutions, while they do need to work within their budget, do not exist solely for the purpose of turning a profit.
This idea has important ramifications for both public and private schools.
Where Do Schools Go Wrong? Going After the Wrong Goal
Over the decades, public schools have struggled for many various reasons. An underlying issue rarely addressed at all is that they have begun approaching education as though it were identical to big business.
Certainly there are reasons people make this mistake.
For one, there is a lot of money involved. I mean, a lot. (Maybe too much for some districts and states, which regularly struggle with corruption and mismanagement of funds that should be going to the teachers and students. But that is another matter).
Where schools go wrong, and this is true of public as well as private, is putting money first.
Yes, schools must understand the business side of things in order to stay open. But the end is not to stay open for its own sake, in the way a business seeks to turn a profit or else close its doors.
The goal of a school is much different. The business side is not the summa bonum – the greatest good. Educating children is the goal.
If a school truly believes in its mission and has a vision that parents, students, and teachers resonate with, then getting the business side organized is important in order that schools can thereby continue their real mission of educating children.
Power Games with the Powerless
As far as I can tell, the same is true for the NBA. Yes, owners want to turn a profit. Players want to be compensated for their unique talents.
But the final goal is to provide an entertaining game for fans to watch.
As often happens in the school world, the fans (or the students) become lost in the shuffle. Even though they are the most important element, somehow they have very little power.
Unless they stop paying for games. Or stop going to a particular school.
But what fan doesn’t want to watch the game they love? And what nine-year-old is able to play a power game with the school?
At least children have parents looking out for them. Most of the time. Certainly more than agents look after the “best interests” (cough *money* cough) of their clients.
Knowing Who to Avoid
In the school world, just as in the NBA, there are many parties interested in a piece of the financial pie.
Those are the people to steer clear of. They are not interested in making the school as strong as possible. They are interested in making and saving money, regardless of the impact on the school overall.
Obviously, even I have to admit that some budget items have to be scrapped if the funds aren’t there.
The difference is that if I scrap something, it is because I want to be a trustworthy steward for the children and the parents. And if the budget item in question is something I really believe in, I will try any avenue I can to find a generous donor so we can pay for that extra expense.
Anything to make the school better. Not to generate more revenue, but to generate equipped learners, enriched environments, empowered teachers, and encouraged parents who are committed to partner with you.
That’s the deal. That’s the difference between running a school and running a business.
Learning On the Job
When I started my first school, I definitely did not have a great grasp of the business side of running a successful school. I had to learn that with on the job training.
Yet my school, and subsequent schools, remained open.
Not because I am a big business guru, but because I do everything I can to make the school the kind of place I would want to work at, raise my child in, and, personally, present to the Lord as a testimony that I used my talents and the opportunities He gave me to make something that impacts eternity.
Why This Difference Matters
I am currently working on a School Whisperer book. The main purpose is to write about how to start and sustain successful schools.
However, it is also important to talk about why many schools fail. A major reason is that some people directly involved in the process and have far too much power are motivated primarily by dollar signs.
When a school listens only to those individuals, it will begin to change. And while it might keep its doors open, it transforms into something else — and often something inferior.
As my friend and colleague Rodney Haire, Headmaster of Liberty Christian School in Argyle, wrote in his powerful truth-telling book Called to the Principal’s Office, these same people often run successful companies and so they believe they have the experience and expertise to run a school. Often they believe they can do it better than the Headmaster.
The problem is that these individuals, whether parents or board members, forget one thing: a school is not the same as a business.
Yes, important similarities exist that cannot be ignored or else the school will fall flat on its face. In fact, many schools that fail do have heart but have little or no business sense. That is equally dangerous to the life of a school.
For me, personally, I would rather go down for a vision I believe in than for losing heart and compromising my principles.
And if the culture of the school is modeled after big business, that is exactly what it will feel like: a place that exists to make money for a few while “serving the needs” of its patrons.
Its faceless, nameless patrons, who can – and will – be replaced by others without a thought…so long as they can pay.
Ken Robinson writes in his book Out of Our Minds that the solutions attempted in education reform appear almost identical to those of the automotive industry. The problem is, he writes, that cars don’t care how we treat them. But people do.
Mark Cuban and Me
I don’t open schools because I love business.
I start schools because there is a need for education that cares more about the hearts, minds, and souls of the students than the bottom line.
I am proud to be involved with exactly that kind of school at Grace Academy of North Texas, by the way. Originally, I thought it would be a short-term commitment as part of my School Whisperer consulting. I would get it launched as an interim head of school and then move on.
But I have fallen in love with everything and everyone about the school. A place where the bottom line is about heart, not dollar signs. There the budget is balanced — not only on the books, but also with the mission and vision of the school.
A school that can do both is a unique place. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12: 34).
As my son would say, NBA owners like Mark Cuban get that. They are not afraid to spend a little more in order to create a better experience for the players and fans.
When that happens, everyone wins.
I just wish it happened more often. Especially in the school world.
God calls us to be good stewards with what He has given us, and then He will entrust us with more.
And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Mattthew 25: 20-21).
