Ed Boards Could Use Some Wal-Mart Smarts

Here's a great moment in public education:

Michelle Boyers, who had worked as a private equity associate and attended Harvard Business School before joining the Boston Public Schools' human resources department, says she has been most surprised by the "resistance to change" at all levels of the school system. Boston schools, for example, do all hiring on paper — candidates must submit three copies of a 1-inch thick application. Teachers who apply in January often don't know if they're hired until August. Putting the system online would snare good candidates who are now drifting to other districts. This no-brainer fix would have taken about two months in the private sector, she estimates. She figures it will take the district from nine to 12 months.

What about the children?No Sarbanes-Oxley rules here.LA Times