Authentic Policy Problem Explanation

From GWU‘s Policy Making in Education class activities:

All too often we find ourselves part of a group in search of a “cure” without first being certain that they all know what “disease” they are addressing.

Let’s take a look at each part of this exercise. I didn’t put any “trick” information into this scenario, so you can safely assume that anything stated here as a fact is just how it is presented. But that doesn’t mean that you can, either here or in your own lives, make assumptions based on information that doesn’t exist. As we’ve demonstrated in this exercise, human beings have a bad habit of doing that.

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Members of the Westovershoe High School Committee for Policy Development were engaged in a heated discussion last week:

We can safely assume that this is a body functioning in compliance with directives of the school system, whatever the scope of that system might be. We can also safely assume that it is their job to determine if there’s a need for new policy (or a modification to an existing one) and to develop the needed change or proposal. They probably don’t have the final say in whether or not a policy proposal would be adopted (the School Board would more likely have that power), but they seem to be able to put a proposal onto that board’s agenda.

As such, they are functioning as an arm of the “government” in terms of being part of the governing body directly affecting students, faculty, and staff and indirectly affecting the parents of students and the community in general. That government can also be said to be democratic. In short, all of the “tests” for identifying a policy problem, as presented by Anderson and in my own responses, will apply here.

Band Director Sournote – “The problem is that we don’t have separate lockers available for kids to store their instruments while they are attending other classes.

A “lack of something” can not be a policy problem itself, but it often points toward the actual problem. In this case, we know that the problem may have something to do with musical instruments.

We only have the one storeroom adjacent to our rehearsal hall and the lock on that has been broken for years. I can usually keep an eye on that door when I’m in my classroom, but I can’t watch it while I’m at lunch, on bus duty, or out doing the many other things I have to do during the day.”

If nothing were ever stored in the storeroom, it wouldn’t matter if the lock was broken.

The apparent “policy” now in effect, whether official or not, is for Sournote to guard the unlocked door—and he can’t do that. This may tell us that there’s a failed/insufficient policy, or it may point toward a need for a new policy, it still doesn’t identify the core problem. In spite of that, it sent most of the students in our own course off in the wrong direction.

That’s just how people tend to react to certain info: “The lock is broken! Stuff must be being stolen from the unlocked room!! Fix the lock!!! That’s the problem … the lock needs to be fixed!!!!!!”

Wrong. We really don’t know if that broken lock has anything to do with the problem yet.

Vice Principal Rahrah – “Well, I don’t think that the problem is not having enough separate lockers available–we’ve got that whole empty section over in the East Hall that could be used for that purpose–but all but four of those aren’t large enough to hold anything bigger than a clarinet, flute, trumpet or similar small instrument. The problem is that we need some more big lockers.”

This discusses possible solutions, not the problem. You can call anything you want a “problem,” but that doesn’t make it so. It also assumes theft of instruments.

Math Teacher E. Quayshun – “I’m not so sure that I like that approach. My class is in the East Hall and I wouldn’t like having the band kids banging around in those lockers while I’m trying to conduct class. That would be a big problem for me and I’m sure everyone else on that hall would agree that it would be a problem for them, too.”

Confusion and waste of time inserted above: This sort of “what if” comment is probably not necessary. If the problem were properly identified first, this “what if” scenario might not be part of the resulting picture. Here’s where the wheels really start to come off the tracks.

We’re also seeing how self-interest can impact the potential formulation of a policy proposal … and we don’t even know if the proposal addresses the actual problem yet.

Those persons responsible for formulating policy responses should not have any personal agenda or involvement. They should make every effort to be neutral players in the process.

There are a huge number of people who try to formulate policy that suits their own needs and desires. They go by many names, but “lobbyist” is probably one of the more familiar.

As you go through this course you must try to maintain a neutral position. You are not, for example, to function as someone trying to lobby for policy that favors the needs and desires of teachers … no matter how “obvious” that solution may seem to you.

Guidance Counselor Ben Hereforever – “We also need to keep in mind that the problem with those lockers is that there are a couple of substantial time blocks each day when nobody is in the East Hall. That’s why we quit using those lockers in the first place. Years ago, someone kept going in there with bolt cutters and helping themselves to the kids’ stuff.”

A nice History lesson, perhaps, but it may not even apply to the current problem. We’re wasting time and energy here. Worse yet, we are not addressing any sort of identified problem that’s going on now. A situation that more than likely didn’t involve any of the kids now in the school was resolved by individual action … not a policy. This sidetracks the committee’s thinking.

Principal Wisdom – “Well, I can’t post a guard in the East Hall all day long, but I can certainly get the lock fixed on the band storeroom. I can have that done by the weekend. Problem solved!”

She’s still talking about solutions, isn’t she? Everyone here clearly assumes that they know what “the problem” is, but how many of them agree that it’s the same thing? And how can a group solve “a problem” when each of them defines it differently?

Mr. Titanic, meet Mr. Iceberg.

Band Director Sournote – “That’s very kind of you to offer, Principal Wisdom, but then the problem would be, ‘Who gets a copy of the key to that room?’ As you know, I’m not there during all of the times that students would need to deposit, or pick up, their instruments. Who would let them into that room if it was locked? I can’t be a full-time storeroom monitor. I didn’t go to school all those years to do that!”

It’s possible that this will be something that needs to be discussed as part of formulating a policy proposal, but we are not at that point yet … and we may never be. We’re again seeing a glimpse of how self-interest can affect the willingness of a person, or group of people, to buy into a policy proposal.

Vice Principal Rahrah – “Couldn’t we just make a copy of the key for every band student, then have them turn the key back in at the end of the school year? Wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

More solution proposal–before we are sure that we know what the problem is.

Band Director Sournote – “I’d like to think that it would, but we can never be sure. Although I don’t think any of my band students would take another student’s instrument, we can never be sure who has been doing that. I’d hate to accidentally give a key to the hen house to a fox!”

We’re finally getting another clue as to what the actual problem might be. We already knew that it has something to do with musical instruments. Now we also see that it’s assumed that someone has taken some number of them … but do we know that these assumptions are correct?

PTA/PTO President O. Fishius – “Well, I’ll tell you one thing that’s for certain. The parents of those students who lost instruments are calling me night and day. That’s becoming a nuisance to my family, and you all need to do something about it ASAP! We found one saxophone at a pawn shop in Distant City, and we were able to get that back to the owner, but the police say the person who pawned it used a false ID. The shop owner claims he can’t recall a single thing about the guy who left it there, either. We need better laws to prevent that from happening! We’re looking at other pawn shops in the region and watching the online auction sites but no luck, so far, with the other five instruments that have gone missing.”

Ok. There’s a call for action, from parents, to an arm of the governing body. That’s important.

We also know that more than one musical instrument is missing, and we can pretty safely assume that more than two instruments are involved. We further know that a “guy” pawned one instrument—but do we know if that guy was a thief, or do we tend to assume it?

Beyond that, there’s little of real use here.

Band Parents Chairman I. M. N. Dignant – “You know, the problem is that only one of those parents had their son’s instrument insured. That one kid’s parents had his Oboe listed on their homeowner’s insurance, so they aren’t all that upset. They’ll be able to get it replaced. I think that what we need to do is make parents certify, in writing, that they have insurance on their instruments before allowing them to bring them to school. I’ll check with my brother-in-law, the insurance agent. I’ll bet he could come up with a plan that wouldn’t cost too much and everyone could be told they either have to participate in that or leave personal instruments at home.”

Here’s another attempt at a solution—one that could be tainted by special interests. Mandated participation in an insurance plan set up by one agent would financially benefit that agent directly, but it would also indirectly benefit I. M. N. D. by putting him in the good graces of his brother-in-law.

He might be a genuinely nice guy, trying to help, but, if this becomes part of a future policy proposal, would a mandated expense like this be welcomed by all parents, or seen with suspicion by some? How might the fact that he’s proposing something that would profit a family member affect I.M.N.D.’s standing in the community? Even if we were at the point where we should be looking at proposals (and we are not) would this be the sort of thing we should consider (without modification to make it more neutral)?

Band Director Sournote – “Or … we could always do things like they did when I was a kid. We could get the school system to furnish all of the instruments that we need for the band, then we could unlock the storeroom only when we needed to get them out for practice or a performance, then lock them back up when we were through. I’ve got some figures here, as a matter of fact. Taking into account that about 20% of the school’s instruments are in pretty good condition, and another 35% could be repaired and used, we should be able to do this for under $30,000.00.”

This could also be a “solution” born of self-interest. Everyone wants a bigger budget, because that gives them power, but do we even know if that’s needed yet? Would everyone in the community view this as a neutral proposal, or might teachers in other departments resent the attempt? We always need to consider these things, even if we eventually conclude that it’s the best way to proceed.

Principal Wisdom – “That’s a nice dream, but I’m afraid that it’s just a dream. The School Board has made it very clear to me that there’s just not enough money to go around for our existing needs. In fact, I am having to make some budget cuts that will, I’m afraid, really stir up some folks. That’s the real problem, when you get right down to it. What needs to happen is a raise in county property taxes, so that we have the money that we need to do all of these things. The real problem is that there’s just not enough money to go around for all of the needs in our schools!”

We’ve probably all heard some version of this refrain in the last 24 hours, and it’s true that budget cuts are a reality, but has Wisdom strayed so far from identifying the real problem that none of this is relevant anymore? I think so!

And, assuming again that we were at the point where we should be considering proposals (and we are not), might there be any possible sources of funding other than the county’s budget? “Funding” should never be thrown up as a roadblock until all possible sources have been considered and exhausted.

At this point, everyone at the meeting nodded their heads and agreed to continue the discussion at their next meeting.

Nothing was accomplished because the problem was not first identified. Then people strayed so far into the complexities of “solutions” that they made any resolution to the problem seem impossible.

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Ok … what’s the authentic policy problem here? Do we know? Is there one stated, or is one implied? If there is one here, did any of these Policy Players identify it? How many times was the word “problem” used in this discussion without actually referring to an authentic policy problem? Is there enough information here to pose a policy that is likely to provide an efficient solution to the problem? Has such a solution been proposed here?

No policy problem is explicitly stated, but one may be implied.

But first — Whatever this issue actually is, the situation seems to meet at least most of the criteria necessary to consider the possibility that there is an authentic policy problem. Although we’re dealing with an issue that is on a fairly small scale, we do know that there’s a call for “governmental” action. We also can infer that this is probably directly affecting a significant part of the school community and others within and without the community indirectly.

We don’t yet know if this is something that could be handled with individual action, however.

Additional and accurate details, of course, must be filled in, but if there is an implied authentic policy problem here, based upon the facts that we know, it would probably be stated something like this:

“(X number of, percentage, whatever) current music students are not participating in the various school music programs.”

That’s the closest that we can get to an authentic policy problem, so far as we know the facts right now.

Nothing in the information that we have concretely tells us that these items were stolen. It’s clear that everyone in the policy group is making that assumption, and most of us willingly hopped aboard that bandwagon (pun intended … sorry!), but let’s look at just a few possible explanations that might as easily fit the facts that we have to work with.

– Sournote’s class is so disliked by students that they claimed their instruments were stolen as a way to boycott it. All but one of the instruments (the one that was pawned) are just hidden somewhere.

– Little Fred, tired of being forced by his parents to practice saxophone and wanting cash so he could hire a limo to take Betty Lou to the prom, hocked his horn and claimed that it had disappeared from school. When he bragged about this to some of his friends, they decided it was a good idea, but didn’t get as far as pawning their instruments before reconsidering the consequences.

– Sournote, badly wanting cash to support his impending departure to Jamaica with his long-time lover, the chorus teacher, removed his worst students’ instruments, pawned the most expensive one, and planned to later put the rest on an online auction site.

– A few irresponsible kids didn’t want to admit that they walked off and left them on the sidewalk, forgetting to load them onto the band bus during the previous weekend’s trip to the Distant City music festival, so they all claimed they were taken from the school’s band room.

If we knew for certain that the instruments were actually stolen, and we knew that they were stolen from the band room, we might be able to do something like fix the lock and formulate a policy for when, who, and how access to that room could be granted.

But, seeing that there are so many other possibilities that the same set of facts could support, and if any of those possibilities were the reason behind instruments going missing, fixing a lock, providing new lockers, or any of the other “common sense solutions” security that we’ve proposed would not accomplish anything at all.

We should remember never to attempt a solution to a problem until we know that we have correctly identified the problem.