Seth Rosenblatt
There are many critiques of the public sector by those in the private sector; some have validity, while others ring hollow. I have written about examples of both, but a great illustration of the latter is the oft used criticism that governments – including our public schools – are guilty of “waste, fraud, and abuse.” It harks back to a quote allegedly by Otto von Bismarck that “laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made.” It does indeed seem that the work of our public schools is like sausage-making: slow, sloppy, and ugly at times.
Why is that? One of the biggest reason lies in a fundamental tenet of government: openness. We see the sausage-making because we’re allowed to! As someone who has worked for many companies and led many teams over the last 25 years, I encountered countless painful decision-making processes; however none of them were visible to the