Re: Education and the Presidential Candidates

[Myron Tribus <mtribus@home.com>]

At 2:33 PM -0400 10/6/00, smbyers@aol.presented a discussion of the 
system of education in use by the Leander Independent School 
District, (LISD) which is located just outside Austin, Texas.

It so happens that I have been visiting and working with LISD for 
about six years.  I visit them every February and participate in 
their annual review of progress.

They were NOT guided initially by the Improvement Guide but, I 
suggest it was the other way around.  I have posted in the DEN site:

http://deming.ces.clemson.edu/pub/den/deming_tribus.htm

the story of how Dr. Deming influence education and, in particular, 
have told the story of how Monta Akin heard David Langford on 
television one night and from that chance encounter, brought David to 
LISD and the transformation began.  I interviewed Monta and asked for 
her review of the article before publishing it, so I am confident it 
is accurate.

During my last visit, the Superintendent, Tom Glenn, discussed with 
me the difficulties that attend success.  There is now a waiting list 
of about 300 teachers who want to teach at LISD (even in the face  fo 
a teacher shortage, nationwide).  So many parents and companies have 
decided to move into Leander that Tom now faces the need for a 
construction program to create more schools.  To my knowledge, his 
district is the only one that has an Assistant Superintendent whose 
sole job is to manage the problems of growth, not only in buildings 
but in staff.  Tom's worry is that rapid growth may cause a decline 
in quality.

Each year, in February, LISD holds a conference at which they display 
their progress.  It is an exciting time.  Those who want to learn 
more should drop a line to Monta Akin, 
<monta_akin@leander.isd.tenet.edu> and ask how to subscribe to her 
news letter, "Quality in Action".

Myron Tribus,  350 Britto Terrace,  Fremont, CA 94539
Ph:510 651 3641  Fax: 510 656 9875   e-mail: mtribus@home.com
Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in men (Sarnoff).