Learning to See School Systems

Author’s Note

Preface

How to Read This Book

For Discussion and Reflection

Letter to the Reader

Part I—The Nature of the Educational Realm

I. Of Types of Districts and How They Are Governed
He who would understand districts must first accept that every one believes itself exceptional.

II. On Acquiring New Programs and Keeping Them
Initiatives are easily born of grants and lost to audits.

III. Of Boards, Legislators, and Community Patrons (The External Lords)
Those who do not teach still command the schools through purse and praise.

IV. Whether It Is Better to Be Feared or Loved by Teachers (and How to Avoid Being Despised)
Fear ensures compliance; affection ensures effort; respect endures both.

V. Of Managing Campuses as Vassal States
Principals cannot be ruled, only evaluated.

Part II—The Instruments of Power and Policy

VI. On the Use of Committees and Task Forces
When many deliberate, none decide, and peace is preserved.

VII. On Reputation and Accountability (The Power of Appearances)
Ratings, once achieved, excuse mediocrity for years.

VIII. On Teachers, Staff, and the Army You Actually Have
The district marches on invisible feet.

IX. On Allies and Enemies (Coalition-Building Among Boards, Parents, and Unions)
Allies confer advantage; enemies confer focus.

X. On Innovation Without Insurrection
The secret of change is to call it alignment.

XI. On Handling Crises
He who controls the narrative survives the headline.

XII. On Data, Dashboards, and the Illusion of Control
Numbers persuade most when they reveal the least.

Part III—Of Fortune, Legacy, and Liberation

XIII. On Succession and Legacy
Policies outlive their authors; reputations outlive their titles.

XIV. On Fortune, Timing, and Political Weather
Leadership is not mastery of fortune, but grace under its storms.

XV. Exhortation to Liberate the Schools
To govern the mind is impossible, yet to serve it is divine.

Postscript: A Final Letter to the Reader

Afterword—Written from the Authors’ Conference Room, 2025
In which the author, having survived both boards and budgets, offers affection disguised as irony.

Publisher Notes

About the Authors

The Superintendent Reflects

Index

NOTE: Table of Contents subject to change up until publication date.

Michael Odell

Michael R.L. Odell, PhD, has spent more than three decades inside the strange republic of higher education — as professor, program founder, administrator, and occasional heretic. He has written strategic plans, accreditation reports, and improvement initiatives that all promised transformation — and sometimes delivered it. He believes in the improbable resilience of the university and the quiet decency of those who still make it work. He currently serves as Professor of STEM Education at The University of Texas at Tyler, where he teaches, writes, and continues to mentor those brave enough to lead from within. He dedicates this work to the faculty, staff, and administrators who, despite bureaucracy and budget spreadsheets, keep learning alive through persistence, humor, and hope.

David Simmons

David Simmons, EdD, is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at The University of Texas at Tyler. He served as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in several high-performing Texas districts before joining UT Tyler to guide the next generation of educational leaders. He brings to this book the perspective of one who has governed schools through both calm and crisis, and who believes that public education remains one of the finest expressions of American democracy.