Other than crushing funds deficits, the most important drawback dealing with Seattle Public Colleges is, arguably, the deep and abiding mistrust many mother and father maintain towards this district.
That manifests in dwindling enrollments, an absence of perception in managerial competency and ongoing accusations of cronyism.
The normal tonic is transparency, a willingness to drag again the curtain and present how choices are made — chief amongst them now, the hiring of a brand new superintendent. That individual shall be Seattle’s fourth chief (together with interims) in 10 years.
But, regardless of the widespread expectation that college board members — understanding this second of disaster — would make their finalists obtainable for public vetting, it’s clear there shall be no such discussion board.
Many mother and father are understandably outraged. However there are some legitimate arguments for the board’s method. Not least, the insistence of its search agency that offering confidentiality for candidates would produce a greater pool of candidates.
As properly, there’s the uncomfortable fact {that a} public course of is prone to spark intense lobbying from curiosity teams, such because the academics’ and principals’ unions. Retaining deliberations personal cuts a few of that noise.
It’s also value noting that the college board has made herculean efforts to have interaction neighborhood members on the entrance finish. It collected opinions from greater than 3,000 mother and father, college students and workers on important standards — in addition to deal-breakers — for the district’s new chief and used that info to winnow the unique pool of 41 candidates down to 2 finalists.
Among the many high neighborhood calls for: No present district workers. That instantly eradicated a number of prospects. Standards No. 2: Seattle’s new college chief should be at present working elsewhere as a superintendent. No bright-eyed novices who want time to rise up to hurry.
Board members say they took these tips to coronary heart and are thrilled with their finalists. They plan to call their first selection earlier than the college board election subsequent month.
Nobody might be blamed for cynicism. SPS has a miserable monitor document of hiring interim leaders in a pinch, then signing these individuals to multiyear contracts, regardless of their failure to construct the form of momentum, and even imaginative and prescient, this district sorely wants.
That isn’t what’s occurring right here. The Seattle College Board is making an attempt to string a needle, looking broadly and incorporating its neighborhood into a choice inside uncomfortable confines. In addition they know that with an election simply two weeks away, some administrators may lose their seats over anger at this opacity.
At this level, Seattle households have little selection however to hope the fitting individual has arrived, and to imagine the college board acknowledges them on this second of best want.
