Educational Background

Ph.D. Georgia State University 1975-77 Educational Administration
J.D. University of Texas 1970-73 Law
B.A. University of Texas 1966-70 Liberal Arts/Plan II

Research Interests

Legal and ethical issues in educational institutions
Effects of law on organizational & leadership processes in educational organizations and policy
Development of school leaders

Recent Research Articles

"The Legalization of Education and the Preparation of School Administrators." In West's Education Law Reporter, 84 (1993), pp. 1-11.

"No More Principals!" In Phi Delta Kappan, 75 (May, 1994), pp. 664-670.

"Public School Administrators and Free Speech Protection." In Journal of Law and Education, 23 (1994), pp. 167-189.

"Getting Beyond 'Doing It For the Kids'." In Baylor Educator, 20 (1995), pp. 32-36.

"Sad Stories of the Death of Kings: Demotions and Dismissals of Administrators," In Journal of Law and Education, 25 (1996), 419-439.

Commentary on Teaching

Beliefs Regarding Educational Leadership

Thoughts for This & Other Days:
Life is not just choice. It is also poetry. We live by the interpretations we make, becoming better or worse through the meanings we impute to events and institutions. Our lives change when our beliefs change.

-James March, 1980.

I think that the fundamental problem of leadership, as of life, is the sustaining of intelligent optimism in the face of intelligent scepticism. The serious hero is one who continues to act while understanding the limited relevance of action. After a series of seemingly romantic actions, Don Quixote says, "No doubt you set me down in your mind as a fool and as a madman, and it would be no wonder if you did, for my deeds do not argue anything else. But for all that, I would have you take notice that I am neither so mad nor so foolish as I must have seemed to you . . . . All Knights have their special part to play . . . . I, then, as it has fallen to my lot to be a member of the Knight-errantry, cannot avoid attempting all that to me seems to come within the sphere of my duties." In effect, Quixote says that, of course, the world is absurd -- filled with windmills, donkeys and actions of no consequence. But it is precisely the absurdity of life that makes affirmation and action a declaration of humanity rather than merely an instrumental act. For Quixote, great actions do not depend on great expectations, but rather on a conception of how a good person lives. It is a noble and romantic sentiment, and one which we might commend to [school leaders] . . . within reason.

-James March, 1980.