Ethical Dilemmas for School Administrators

Schools are ethical organizations. The daily schedule of educational administrators is filled with ethical dilemmas and moral decisions. As reflective practitioners, school leaders know that the decisions that are made and the values that underlie those decisions are filled with moral implications for the entire school community. In this paper, two complementary approaches to moral decision making are considered--the justice approach and the care approach. The authors compare these approaches as they seek solutions to several moral dilemmas in school administration: unfounded sexual harassment, untrue letters of recommendation, and compromised administration of high-stakes testing.