CEO's support remarkable

1/20/11 6:00pm

The Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program and the Knowledge Is Power Program recently wooed Reed Hastings to speak at the university (see story, page 4). This high-profile speaker is the current CEO of Netflix and ex-president of the California Board of Education. The Thresher would like to commend the program on successfully acquiring a speaker of such high caliber.Hastings spoke from his background on education with fervent support for the charter school system. Rice, of course is vested in the charter school system because of its proximity to the first KIPP schools - one of the main models for the efficiency and success in the charter school system. Furthermore, Rice's selection of Work Hard, Be Nice as the university O-Week novel further ties Rice to this issue of charter education. Thus the selection of Hastings to speak on campus was particularly impressive; the topic of his speech was particularly relevant to students, and it was a privilege for those interested to hear from an expert in the field.

Hasting believes that the leadership of charter schools makes them particularly effective. School boards that are headed by elected officials have no continuity in leadership philosophy and can have the progress of a predecessor erased by the superintendent that follows. On the other hand, charter schools follow "self-perpetuating" leadership in which the old leadership selects the new leadership, allowing for continued fulfillment of institutional goals. The Rice presidency can also be placed into this category; the Rice Board of Trustees is responsible for picking Rice presidents, and thus certain basic goals can continue to be accomplished from administration to administration, while new objectives, such as Leebron's "Vision for the 21st century," can be added by each new president. Hastings' words echo a recent study by researchers at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, who found that companies hiring internal CEOs are more successful in the long term.

Judging by the lack of efficiency and bureaucratic absurdities associated with political entities, the Thresher finds Hastings' thoughts particularly refreshing. This sort of overhaul seems particularly necessary for an embattled establishment such as the state educational system, which seems to underperform and underwhelm with each year's standardized testing scores. Furthermore, the success of the KIPP school and other charter schools are difficult to dispute. New Orleans, home to formerly one of the worst school districts in the country, has been absolutely rejuvenated by its new emphasis on charter schools.

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Granted, there is great risk in placing all of one's eggs in a single basket; it is also true that that which fails to change, dies. Thus, it is time to address the mediocrity of the current school system with something fresh. Rice was truly privileged to hear these intriguing ideas from a leader in the field.

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