Abstract:
When teachers at a Madison, Wisconsin elementary school announce plans to mount a photo exhibit featuring families with gay or lesbian parents, school system superintendent Cheryl Wilhoyte faces a vexing decision. She knows well that the exhibit will be controversial and will likely offend members of the community, especially a group of conservative Christian parents. She knows, too, that liberal teachers will view the issue as one involving academic freedom, keyed to the school's system's "anti-bias" curriculum. In this leadership case, the superintendent must decide, in effect, whether and/or how to decide. Should this be a school-level decision? Or does it demand her own intervention? She must even decide on what grounds she should base her decide about whether to become involved.
Learning Objective:
The case is useful for discussions of leadership in a decentralized environment, as well as issues of how authorities must deal with cultural conflict in a public sector context.
