#19 - Term Limits
Mark Twain once said, “Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often and for the same reasons.”
You could argue both sides of the issue. People who are against term limits say that it is a waste of talent and experience. When someone builds experience and knowledge and then reaches the limit of a term, they have to leave office while they still posses experience and talent (which they cannot then use).
The argument FOR term limits is based on the idea that these positions are representative position and, as such, don’t really require any special expertise. The real skill should be finding out what the people want and then getting them that. Not inventing what is needed or inserting your own opinions about what to do or how to do it.
So, six of one, half dozen of the other. It seems the notion that it’s a representative position is the most important. While we may waste some talent, it seems better to rotate the position via term limits. Keep it fresh.
Talented or experienced people who “term out” don’t have to leave the room. They’re not banished - never to be heard from again. They can stay around and work as valued consultants and contribute as much as they want to the success of education in the area.
Another consideration is that changing the guard discourages the buildup of crony management and influence peddling. No matter how ethical or moral someone is, habits develop and relationships are built on compromised agreements. Over time, a modus operandi evolves that favors getting the job done over what may be best for the people. Short cuts pop up, favors accumulate, strange relationships form, influences settle into place.
There are certainly good and well-qualified people in education and this is not an effort to paint them all with one broad brush. But, if you take everything into account, wasting a little talent and experience is a small price to pay for getting open and honest representation that depicts what people really want and provide classic and traditional education that works.
Click on a category below to read more…
- Salary
- Thinking
- Infomation
- Middle Ages
- Romans
- Wisdom and Philosophy
- History
- Group Think
- Greeks
- Structure and Organization
- Technology
- Past
- action
- Budget
- Operations
- Economics
- Human Nature
- Religion
- Functions
- Industrial Revolution
- Tricks
- Humor
- Unions
- Facts
- Progressive
- Educational Theory
- Transparentcy
- Popular Movements
- Comments and Opinions
- Classical and Traditional Education
- Policy and Procedure
- Recommendation and Proposals
- Finances
- Strategy
- Politics
- Emergency
- Philosophy
this post contains the following tags:
