re: If schools opened this fall, would you send your kids?

My Dad was the principal of a newly integrated 1,200 student elementary school in the the mid-60's. He had one secretary, his teaching faculty, two janitors, and 4 cafeteria workers...that's it. There was no room for parasites and hanger on's. If a teacher couldn't handle their job, he said he never had to fire them. If the student's hadn't already run them off, they always left after he had a conversation with them. 1/2 of new teachers leave the profession after 3 years and they should, the sooner the better in fact. Sure it was a brutal system but there was very little dead weight, no time for social drama. He looks back amazed at how smooth integration went. The principals ran the school, the buck stopped there and in the end the community and parents were the final judge and jury of the schools 'yearly' report card.

Superintendents were always chosen from the best of the local high school principals, so they knew the system inside and out and were in a place to support or replace principals if needed. That was the system and it worked very well.

Side-note...The "central office" at the time was the Superintendent's office, he had a secretary who only worked answering the phone until noon.