School Administrators’ Approach to Cooperation and Its Impact on Development of Cooperative Programs

School Administrators’ Approach to Cooperation and Its Impact on Development of Cooperative Programs M.H. Hasani Shalmaani, Ph.D. Teachers as the main element in the educational system require more attention. However, the added attention needs not to be in the form of additional pay or welfare programs. What needs to be done is delegating power and allowing them to decide on their professional future. A sample of 432 elementary school administrators from all 19 school districts in Tehran was asked on how the cooperation between public and private sectors in education can lead to teacher empowerment and more school efficiency. The following actions constituted 42% of the responses: Giving teachers the right to run government-owned schools, giving parents the right to choose, encouraging educational competition, ranking schools, self-regulation in schools, giving access to low income families, and paying competence-based wages to teachers. Key words: public participation in education, teacher participation, participatory duties, public-private sector