Of course administrators should be empowered to do what is right for their school or district.  That being said, there should be checks and balances.  Let's face it empowerment may lead to POWER for some as serfdoms and fiefdoms become defined.  The final analysis should be if what is being will help or hurt students.  When directives are given they should be clear, concise, and with LITTLE subject to "self-interpretation."  In my area there seems to be a great deal of wiggle room on how directives are interpreted and administered.  There should be equity in how things are administered.

I have been down this road on several occasions within the corporate envrionment.  I have seen ISO 9000 and TQM as "The example" of management and productivity.  I just want to make sure that we are not riding the next wave of "whatever" that only fattens the wallets of consutlants and leaves the students of America the poorer.

Whatever decisions are made should be standardized enough to be widely used and understood, but a certain amount of leeway for special circumstances needs to be included, so that we do not loose valuable professionals who find themselves in difficult circumstances that make them look bad on paper, but which are truly not indicative of lack of teaching ability, but a serious set of difficulties that make a certain year impossible.  Imagine that a Social Studies teacher has 25 new students who are Somali refugees with limited English and Schooling.  His standardized assessments that year will be abismal, even if he has given stellar instruction, including appropriate differentiation.