“Interest groups are organizations or groups that seek to influence the development of and application of policy.” Harmon (2001)

Introduction

Welcome to the next blog in the series of the practices of a savvy school leader.

Let’s have a conversation on how a school leader manages interest groups.

If you are a high school principal, who has got themselves between the band boosters and the athletic coachers over the use of an athletic field, or an elementary school principal, who just told the president of the PTA they could not use the school for an activity due to insurance reasons, you understand the pressure brought by interest groups.   

Ubben, Hughes and Norris (2007), suggest that from time to time all school administrators will be confronted by requests from groups of people who represent a particular point of view about a school-related issue. Hoy and Miskel (2008). further say most of these outside-influence groups are trying to bring their own interests and external power to bear on the activities of the school.

Questions to Focus the Conversation

As you read through the text and reflect on the conversation, please keep the following questions in mind to maintain a focus how the school leader manages interest groups. 

•  What is considered an interest group?

•  What are the kinds of interest groups may exist in a community?

•   How can an interest group impact the teaching learning process?

•   What are the strategies a school leader can use to limit or mitigate the impact of an interest group and promote their support and involvement?

  All schools are impacted by interest groups, from parents, boy and girl scouts and booster groups for sports and club activities to little league and pop warner football, to name just a few. However, religious groups, public and private agencies and college and military recruiters may fall into this category. There are also, inside interest groups, such as teacher unions and student organizations.  Any group or organization, in or outside the school, with a specific instructional or non-instructional mission or goal that involves the participation of school age children can be considered an interest group.

  An activity included in my course on the organization and administration of schools, I had asked students to provide examples of how they would deal with interest groups at their school. The following table represents examples provided by the graduate students in this class, made up of teachers and administrators.

                                                      Managing Interest Groups

The impact of interest groups on school policy and decision making is directly related to the influence the organization or its members have in the community.  The most involved parents and citizens representing interest groups are usually also official or unofficial leaders in the school community. There are the people present in every community and can make things happen. They are usually the pillars of the community, very much connected to the local politics or business community.

Even though interest groups may be a potential distraction to classroom instruction or want to impact planning and decision making on behalf of their organization, they, for the most part, have well-meaning intentions and should not be dismissed.

I knew a first-year high school principal that had decided he did not have to listen or pay attention to requests from officers of the band booster organization. He didn’t make time to meet with them, or even return a call. He refused to listen to the band director, when warned that his attitude toward this group would not go well for him. The booster group wanted to reserve the stadium for a field band show as a fund raiser for musical instruments. The principal believed that he had the final say on the use of facilities on the high school campus and no one was going to influence his decisions.

Well, it isn’t difficult to realize how this situation ended. The next school board meeting the room was filled beyond capacity with band parents and students. The president of band boosters presented the board with a petition signed by over one thousand district residents asking for the board to approve their request to use the stadium.

The high school principal was told to report to the superintendent’s office at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. He was forced to immediately contact the band booster president to, first apology and then inform her that their application for the use of the stadium had been approved. As the superintendent glared at him, the principal asked the president if he could introduce the field band competition, which the president gladly accepted. The superintendent smiled and said, “Now you have the picture.”

  If this principal had been savvy enough to understood how to manage interest groups, the situation differently would have resulted in him being the hero instead of the villain.

Anther experience with a principal who weathered the storm and managed an interest group in an effort to protect student teacher engagement.  It had been a long-time tradition at this elementary school (grades 1-2), to have all the kids dress up in Halloween costumes and have a parade at 1:00 p. m. in the afternoon. When a new elementary principal was appointed, she viewed the dressing up as a major disruption of the school day, with parents arriving all morning to get their children ready for the parade. In addition, the costumes had become very competitive. She also, became aware that there were a number of students that could not participate due to their inability to pay for a costume. These children’s parents were also working at 1:00 p. m. and could not even attend the parade.

  After the initial uproar, including the showing up of the local TV station to do an interview with a parent that said, “I believe our new principal hates Halloween.”

        The savvy principal met with the PTA and offered a proposal for a fall festival in the evening. The festival would be planned and put on by the PTA. The PTA said they would try this activity for just this year. This festival has now become an annual event, to include games such as bobbing for apples and a hay bale maze. Parents and the community have really embraced this an alternative to dressing in expensive ghost and goblin costumes.      

  Due to the students being a captive audience at the school, interest groups see this and an opportunity to sign up students for community activities and pass out literature they believe is important for them to see.  Little League, Pop Warner, Boy and Girls Scouts, religious groups, etc. are continually asking school principals to have access to students during the school day. School leaders need to recognize the value these organizations have and at the same time protect instructional time.

When I served as a principal, I always welcomed these organizations to set up a station before and after school or during breakfast and lunch. One of my favorites, is the Santa’s Workshop, a PTA fund raiser. The idea is to release students from the classrooms to visit the display of low-cost Christmas gifts for their parents and siblings. After a meeting with the PTA, of which I became a participating member, we came up with a plan for students to visit the shop during non-instructional times.

     However, I did push my positive relationship with the athletic boosters by refusing a request to release high students from school for travel time to an out of state soccer competition. The high school principal had taken the right action, by refusing the request, which the president of the boosters moved to me as Superintendent. The school board supported my decision after hearing twenty-five speakers at a board meeting demanding the students be excused from a day of school for such an”.  I agree that it would have been an “outstanding opportunity”, but not at the expense of a loss of a school day.

  To avoid conflict between interest groups, it is important to have a school events scheduler. The interest groups need to be provided with a specific person to contact for scheduling events. Even though there are electronic scheduling programs available.  I think is best to still have a contact person.  This reminds me of the conflict I found myself in the middle of when the Pop Warner football and the town Lacrosse scheduled an event at the stadium on the same Saturday morning.

When I arrived, it was impossible to find a parking spot. Parents from both clubs had arrived in record numbers. The officers and presidents of both groups were about to face off in the middle of the on the athletic field. We ended up agreeing on a long-standing decision making, tool, flipping a coin.

This situation turned to be a financial benefit for both booster groups, as the concession stand earned a record amount of sales, when both groups stayed for the activities.

“Interest groups may or may not coincide with the best interest of the organization.” Hall (1991)

In addition to interest groups that want access to students, such as the example with the PTA Santa’s Secret Shop, have their own ideas on how to enhance the educational opportunities, like the request for an early release for student to attend an out of state soccer game.

The president of the boys’ soccer booster club requested that the team members be excused from two days of school to travel to and from an out of state invitational soccer game. The high school principal and I as superintendent rejected the request, in order to protect instructional time. As were the practice among interest groups, a large number of parents, soccer players and fans attended the next school board meeting demanding that our decision be reversed.

      As Hall further suggests, often a group will form because of a specific decision made by the school leadership which is perceived to have an impact on the certain group’s life space or belief system.

      Another school districts where I had served as Superintendent had to raise taxes one year to avoid a deficit. The school district had been experiencing a severe drop in enrollment, which is caused the school board to authorize a tax increase and eliminate several programs. This caused the forming of taxpayer’s association comprised of parents arguing for the return of these programs and taxpayers demanding that the tax increase be canceled.

It is important to create and maintain a collaborative relationship with interest groups, starting with their representatives being directly involved in the creation of the school mission.

The key to all of this is to encourage the activities and the support offered by interest groups and, at the same time, to continually model the school mission. If the representatives of the constituencies in the school and community were directly involved in the development of the school’s mission, even the most zealot of the interest groups, if shown the appreciation and respect they deserve, will eventually understand a decision, policy or practice that aligns with the mission.

Then when an issue or idea arises from an interest group that it is not aligned with the school mission, it will be easier to work with them on a compromise or solution.

Participating as a member of an interest group is another way to maintain a positive relationship even during times of disagreement. I had asked the school board to pay for the membership of our district principals in the Chamber of Commerce and civic organizations. Personally, I joined the Chamber, other community organizations, including a member of all the senior citizen groups in the school district. Our school and offices were continually used by community agencies and groups for their meetings and planning sessions. Public librarians were always invited to join our school librarians for any professional development opportunities.   

The school leader may want to involve key representatives of the interest groups to be involved in the decision-making process. This way the intent and purpose of the decision, policy or practice can be clearly communicated, and the individuals most affected by the action are involved in the development of the decision. I have found out that much conflict and disruption can be avoided through co-opting and modification before the policy is implemented, instead of mitigating the impact of the decision, policy or practice after the fact.

           Let’s end this chapter with a question for personal reflection, What was it like say no to an interest group? 

           It is my hope that following our conversation, you have reason to reflect on the school leader managing interest groups.

The Savvy School Leader Reflects on His or Her Practice

Questions to Ask Ourselves for Professional and Personal Reflection

1.  Have I ever experienced being a member of an interest group?
2. Do I see the influence, positive or negative, of interest groups for my school?
3. Have I come in contact with an interest group that requested something which could be a distraction or interruption to my schools’ mission?  
4. What did I do to limit the distraction or interruption from a member (s) of an interest group?
5. What are the interest groups have I encountered?
6. Am I familiar with a situation at my school that generated the creation of an interest group?

The Savvy School Leader Transforms Theory into Practice

Suggested Activities for Practical Application

1. Experience with an interest group. a. a. Identify an interest group where you had a negative experience and describe the conflict, distraction for interruption to the school’s program.

b. Describe how you would effectively deal with the interest group in a way to eliminate for reduce the conflict, without harming the relationship you have with the members of the interest group.

2. PTA Proposal for Parent Volunteer Program.

At a PTA meeting a discussion started on how overwhelmed the teachers were with an increase in testing and new mandates for additional instructional requirements. The parent members offered to organize a parent volunteer program to assist with non-instructional classroom routines. A month into the parent volunteer program, teachers gathered in the principal’s office complaining that the parents have started to get involved with direct instruction, with such behaviors as, showing students “easier” methods to arrive at the answers to math problems, giving academic advice to students and, in one case, even telling students to spend more time with their families and less time with homework.

a. If you were the principal of the school, describe and explain the steps you would take to address the concerns from the teachers and maintain a positive relationship with the PTA interest group.

b. Describe how would approach the parents. In what forum and indicate what you would say to address the concerns of the teachers.

c. Explain the steps you would take to build or re-build a positive relationship between parents and teachers.

3. Moving a negative interest group into a positive direction in a school where you serve as principal   

a. Reflect on an interest that started due to a negative issue or experience the group has had with the school. Example a parent group formed to fight against a change in the starting and ending time of the school day.

b. Explain the way you would approach and communicate with the group.

                       Let’s Apply What We Now Know How the Savvy School Leader Manages Interest Groups to a Real-Life Case Study

                                                        Case Study Analysis

 As the assistant superintendent for operations for a school district, you have received a phone call from the president of the PTA of one of the elementary schools.  She is very upset over a decision made by the school principal.

The PTA requested to use the classrooms in the school for a Halloween night trick-or-treat. Each classroom doorway was to be decorated into a scary cave with a PTA member dressed in a Halloween costume their handing out candy.  Special portable lights would be positioned in the hallways to present the condition of dark streets. The president said, this would be an alternative to young children trudging down dark sidewalks or leaf covered lawns to knock on doors.

      The principal had presented the proposal to the teachers at a faculty meeting, The teachers informed the principal they did not want their classroom used for a Halloween activity, The principal sided with the teachers and denied the request from the PTA. This led to the call to your from the PTA president.

Questions Based on the Case Study:

1. Should you side with the principal and teachers? If so, why?
2. Should you agree with the PTA an override the principal’s decision? If so, why?
3. Regardless of your decision. How will you communicate it to both parties?
4. Is there an alternative (s) to the use of the building for an inside Halloween activity? If so, please identify it and explain.
5. Identify the characteristics of a savvy school leader help you effectively deal with this situation.

                                               BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cordeiro, P. A. and Cunningham, W. G. (2006). Educational Leadership: A Problem-Based Approach. Pearson Publishing

Hall, R. H. (1991). Organizations: Structures, Processes and Outcomes. Prentice-Hall.

Harman, G. (2001). The Politics of Quality Assurance Program for Higher Education, 1993-1995. Australian Journal of Education, 45(2).

Hoy, W K. and Miskel, C. G. (2008). Educational Administration: Theory, Research and Practice. (8^th Ed.)  McGraw Hill.

Lindle, G. and Mawhiney, J. (2003), February). Introduction: School Leadership and the Politics of Education. Education Administration Quartely, 39(1), 3-9.

Ubbeen, G. C., Hughes, L. W. and Norris, C. J. (2007). The Principal: Creative Leadership for

Excellence in Schools. Pearson Publishing

                                   SUGGESTED READINGS

Harman, G. (2001). The Politics of Quality Assurance Program for Higher Education,

1993-1995. Australian Journal of Education, 45(2).

Lindle, G. and Mawhiney, J. (2003), February). Introduction: School Leadership and the Politics of Education. Education Administration Quarterly, 39(1), 3-9.