ED Ranks 18th... on the Wrong Question
by Frederick M. Hess • Dec 17, 2012 at 6:40 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
Cross-posted from Education Week
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| U.S. Department of Education |
Last week, the Partnership for Public Service released its annual Best Places to Work in the federal government rankings. The survey polled nearly 700,000 civil servants in 10 workplace categories including leadership, teamwork, and work/life balance. The U.S. Department of Education ranked 18th out of 22 mid-side agencies. ED fared similarly last year, ranking 29th out of 33 (when it was classified as a "large" agency).
The results have occasioned some sniggering. After all, Ed Week's invaluable Michele McNeil reminds us that, when ED fared similarly poorly in 2009 (ranking 27th out of 30 large agencies), Secretary of Education Arne Duncan pledged that, if it didn't rise in the rankings, "You can hold me accountable." In fact, in a missive to his new staff once the 2009 numbers were released, Duncan wrote, "People don't feel they are being listened to, and I expect our leadership and our managers to take responsibility for changing that. We need to make sure management understands your concerns and works to address them."
A frustrated response to the results would be understandable. We all get tired of public officials asking to be held accountable and then failing to deliver. But the larger issue is that the ratings themselves are off-base. Call me an SOB, but I really don't care about the morale of all ED employees--I care about the morale of
