Principals now control more of their internal budgets than before the reform. They can make rule changes without school committee and state approval, and can even tinker with curricula.
"It's a double-edged sword" for the principals, says Geneva Malenfant, former president of the Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) and a longtime school activist. "You get to make the decisions, but on the other hand, you're accountable."
Malenfant favors the 1993 educational reform, saying it gives school committees incentive to concern itself with broader issues.
Critics say Cambridge's committee members have resisted the push away from micromanagement. Meetings have focused on textbook distribution at schools, school bus complaints and other day-to-day details of educational life.
Larger issues like test scores deserve more discussion, Malenfant says.
"I think the role the school committee should play now is to support and encourage the superintendent to do those things that would improve the scores," she says.
"The school committee needs to gets out of...the more micro-management of small details," she says.
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