Escaping the Malaise.

First-Hand Guidance for Ethical Behavior

I was heartstruck recently to discover that a colleague of mine, an admired superintendent, was fired over her involvement in a pyramid scheme.

She and several other prominent education leaders, including one of her board members, several school district employees, and the president of the local community college, were indicted by a grand jury on charges of operating an illegal pyramid scheme in which $1 million changed hands. The Los Angeles Times reported that school district time, stationery, copy and fax machines, and telephones were used in this illegal activity, known as a "Ponzi scheme" or a "gift exchange program." More than 1,000 people, some of them educators, invested up to $2,000 each with the assurance they would make $16,000 in profit.

Today these school administrators face felony charges with the possibility of heavy fines, jail time, and credential revocation. The district attorney described the scheme as particularly offensive because its leaders used their positions of influence to entice or coerce others to join.

Matters such as this are particularly painful because they involve educators, school leaders, members of my profession who did not abide by careful ethical standards. Sometimes, ethics violations can happen ever so subtly and seemingly innocently, but the toll they exact is harsh and extreme. We live in a society experiencing an ethical malaise.

Witness the following headlines of the past few years: "House Whip Quits Rather than Endure an Investigation into Wrongdoing," "Ohio Congressman Convicted of Having Sex with a Minor," "Savings and Loan Bailout: Industry Looted by Members of Unscrupulous Operators--$150 Billion Calamity," and "Five U.S. Senators Tried by Their Own Tribunal for Ethical Violations."

Unfortunately educators have not been immune from this blunt and biting coverage: "Ex-Superintendent Gets Year in Jail for Lying and Stealing," "Board Member Resigns Following Conflict of Interest Charges," "Top Educators' Relationship with Software Company Questioned," and "Principal Temporarily Reassigned During Sexual Harassment Probe."

Public officials in all areas of service are particularly vulnerable to an unmerciful constituency and press. The Justice Department in 1990 boasted that it prosecuted and convicted 1,150 public officials, a total that represented the highest in the nation's history.

Guiding Questions

Ethical problems abound, and they are especially fragile and shameful when they involve school administrators because we occupy a high-profile position of public trust. As long as we stand in place of parents and provide direct services to students, our behavior will be under close scrutiny and we will be held to a higher ethical standard.

Moreover, we are not only expected to conduct ourselves ethically but to somehow impart ethics to the staff we manage and the students we serve. Plato said, "Why do we educate a person? So that he will become a good person. Why? Because good people behave nobly." In Plato's line of thinking, we send children to school to make them more ethical, so it is essential educators maintain the highest degree of ethical conduct.

In their book, The Power of Ethical Management, Kenneth Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale provide three simple yet powerful questions designed to help executives maintain ethical purity. These questions, when answered truthfully, will provide the necessary mental checks and balances to help one avoid ethical failure.

First, ask yourself before making a decision or taking action: "Is it legal?" In other words, will I be violating civil law or company policy? If the action you are about to take is clearly against school district policy or law, do not proceed. No room exists for rationalizing or exceptions.

For example, among superintendents there is a common temptation to allow bid splitting or the leaking of confidential bid information--a practice to expedite work or engage the services of a certain contractor. Yet these practices are illegal and can imperil the staff and expose the school district to litigation.

Additionally, receiving gifts of any value from contractors or prospective vendors should be avoided at all costs. This ethical violation, at the very minimum, brings harm to the credibility of public schools. If you discover inadvertently that a law or policy was not followed, immediately correct the action. If we learned anything from Watergate it was that covering up the crime often is worse than the crime itself.

Second, you should ask: "Is it balanced?" In other words, is my behavior fair to all concerned in the short term as well as the long term? Does it promote a win-win situation among staff and members of the public?

Early in my career as a superintendent, I was asked to lead a school district that was on the brink of bankruptcy. To balance our books and prevent financial collapse, we had cut more than 20 percent of our budget, the equivalent of 186 stall positions in our district. In this painful downsizing process we didn't want one group pitted against another, so we conducted an open and comprehensive process of receiving and disseminating information. Our actions were brought to the board of education in public settings, which encouraged trust and minimized the perception that we were working secretly. In our work we examined the element of fairness and tried to be balanced in our final action. This win-win spirit enabled us to keep the district intact and morale as high as possible during such a difficult time.

Finally, one needs to ask: "How will it make me feel about myself?" Will my behavior, actions, or decisions make me proud? Will I feel good if my decision was to be published in the newspaper or if my family knew about it? This question is especially sobering because frequently we will act one way in private but an entirely different way in public. Hypocrisy is always 100 percent unethical.

A school board member once asked me point blank to hire one of his relatives. The skills and abilities of this relative were irrelevant to the board member. He simply believed his position of authority entitled him to hire whomever he wanted. He had promised his relative a job and asked me to deliver on his promise. I immediately thought of the hundreds of people who apply for jobs and do not get them because they don't meet basic skill or experience requirements, and how unfair my action would be to employ the relative of a board member simply because a board member asked me to do it.

I also thought of my own children whom I am attempting to raise as upstanding citizens who abide by ethical standards. Flow poorly would they feel about me if they knew I was bending rules simply to please a board member. Visualizing these matters led me to categorically deny the board member's request and told him that we would follow an objective process and, if his relative wished a job at the district, he or she would have to file an application and submit to the selection process. The board member was irate. Nevertheless my behavior allowed me to maintain my ethical standards and sleep with a clear conscience.

Dealing Openly

These three obvious points are pregnant with meaning. If school administrators and other educators abide by these principles they will stay on the straight and narrow.

I have found a few other closely aligned elements to guide me through the rough waters of school ethics.

* Be transparent and vulnerable.

In other words, be open with all business transactions and with your professional decisions and actions. Except for business related to personnel, litigation, or contract negotiation, our work as public school leaders is open to public scrutiny. Yet even in these sensitive areas, the outcome is subject to public disclosure. Basically you have nothing to hide.

As a superintendent, I have learned that to veil a controversial item on the board agenda with the hopes of having it slide through without question is risky. We always are far better off to meet a controversial matter head on. Publicly bring it before the board, disclose all controversial aspects, and let the board make the final decision. To circumvent this process can put the school administrator in an uncomfortable spot, subject to the fickleness of politics, which may haunt you later. That is why I have a simple sign posted above my telephone that says "What is your motive?" These four words help me to be open and honest in all of my transactions. No matter how painful is the truth, people will handle it better than falsehood or the shading of information.

* Follow board policies and bylaws carefully.

Some people naively assume that board policies are permissive and discretionary. They do not equate them with the power and authority of law. This is a false notion because board policies carry the same weight as public law. In fact, they are the law. They never can contradict the law nor be less than the law, but they can and often are more stringent than the law.

Bylaws or administrative regulations are not as stringent a standard as school board policies. However, they should not be followed arbitrarily. Once in the naming of a new school, I was asked by the board president to place an item on the board agenda to name the school after a controversial public figure. Our bylaws stipulated that an item had to be received by the superintendent six days prior to the publication of the agenda for it to be considered.

Under pressure from the board president, I placed the item on the agenda even though it was not received by the six-day period required by our board bylaws. The short time frame did not give other board members an opportunity to know about the naming proposal until nearly the last minute. As a result, a major brouhaha erupted at a board meeting as several board members expressed anger about the lack of sufficient advance notice. A major fight ensued when community members felt the board members who opposed the controversial figure did so on the basis of political ideology. In reality some of them objected to the process of bringing the matter before the board in an untimely fashion.

My failure to abide by the board bylaws created a lose-lose situation and in the long run allowed some board members to use the disagreement to shroud their political motives and protect themselves from public attention.

A Sounding Board

* Establish broad-based decision-making skills and an appreciation for research.

Inclusiveness is becoming more and more the practice in public education and for good reason. The more people understand the issues and are involved in the decision-making process, the more likely they will endorse the final decision. Consensus is an important part of buy-in. I have found that the committee structure or group process is a smart way of arriving at a decision. It enables you to focus more comprehensively on all sides of the issue.

This process will help to flush out those thoughts or behaviors that later can be construed as unethical. A divergent and broad-based group can serve as a sounding board for the school administrator to determine what is ethically proper. If the group acts negatively toward the possible outcome of a decision, the school administrator can interpret the reaction as a barometric reading of the larger society.

Further, the more the issues are discussed openly before a group the less likely the administrator will be tempted to behave unethically. The norms of the group or committee will force the administrator to abide by fair and prudent ethical standards. Many times I have changed my decision because the group felt it was unfair. The group's strong reaction forced me to rethink my position and consider a new course of action.

On one occasion, in preparing for an all-day management retreat, a local vendor offered to pick up the lunch expense for all participating managers. The vendor made it clear he was not trying to sell anything or pressure people into hearing a presentation of his product. He simply wanted to show appreciation for the school district. On the surface his offer seemed like a fairly benign gesture. However, group members pointed out the potential conflict of interest or at least the perception of a conflict. They believed other Vendors would cry foul for allowing our district to be ingratiated by a particular vendor.

Since his financial underwriting would have tempted us to offer him preferential treatment in the future, we unequivocally denied his gesture. We were concerned that the public would misunderstand this activity and view it as a quid pro quo that unfairly would profit the vendor.

Broad-based decision making will help the educator to do the right thing. In addition, research can help you arrive at a position of truth. Strong, rigorous research can bring all sides of an issue into focus and clearly delineate the most appropriate direction to follow. It enables you to speak more authoritatively on an issue and defend your stance.

* Affiliate only with groups that make a direct contribution to the instructional program.

I was confronted recently by a group whose members called themselves the Coalition for Better Education. This group of homemakers, businessmen and women, and community activists enticed me to join their efforts by indicating their sole purpose was to help the school district. In reality, they were interested in manipulating the process of selecting employees, especially school administrators. Their self-serving interests quickly surfaced and I questioned their motives.

Such groups are politically driven, and school administrators should not indiscriminately affiliate with them. They will attempt to persuade, cajole, and pressure individuals to support their cause. Many operate under the ends-justify-the-means principle and aren't particularly concerned with ethical decision making.

Equal Respect

* Treat all board members and community residents equally.

Human nature makes us gravitate toward people of like interests who share ideologies and philosophies of life. However, school administrators must be wary of providing preferential treatment to certain board members or community residents because they share their world views or because of their status on the board. The board president, vice president, and clerk are not entitled to special privileges because of their role on the board. The same applies for civic leaders and community organizers. Their titles simply delineate an act of service but do not give them the right to special considerations outside the bounds of law or policy.

School administrators often are tempted to treat these people differently. Setting up preferential standards will backfire and bring harm to the credibility of public schools.

* Be highly visible and accountable.

Visiting schools each day and supporting the instructional program are important functions for the superintendent. High visibility prevents isolation, often a precursor to unethical behavior. While visibility is not foolproof, it does make it harder to act unethically when you constantly are in the public eye.

Further, the more you interact with staff and community members, the more aware you will be of their perceptions concerning proper conduct. This reality check will provide valuable feedback concerning the expectations of your community. Also, the more abreast one is to district operations and needs, the less likely one can be deceived and misled. Visibility also helps you to lead with awareness, purpose, and passion, providing some protection against impulsive, inappropriate behavior.

Being accountable is a crucial concept. The superintendent is not accountable just to the board but to everyone in the community. As an instructional leader, I have surrounded myself with people who I hope will question my behavior and hold me accountable, people who will ask the "why" question. It is not easy listening to critics and few of us enjoy being questioned, yet the discomfort that comes from such challenges is far less severe than the consequences of stumbling ethically. Ethical violations have ruined careers and lives.

I also surround myself with personal friends whose judgment I trust implicitly and who care enough about me to confront me when I am doing wrong. A proverb says, "As iron sharpens iron, so will one person sharpen another." I believe this is true, and my accountability partners keep me above board.

The strength of our country depends on the success of our public schools and the success of our public schools depends on the noble behavior of public educators, especially its leaders. At times it is gut-wrenching, but school leaders must have the resolve of character to stand by a strong code of ethics and shun political expediency. Their quest should be to do the right thing at all times.