Dr. Leverett's biography is honorable in its own right. Here is his bio, courtesy of NJ After 3, an organization where he also is a member of the Board:
Dr. Larry Leverett is the Executive Director of the Panasonic Foundation, a corporate foundation with a mission to help public school systems with high percentages of children in poverty to improve learning for all students so that they may use their minds well and become productive, responsible citizens. Leverett recently served as Superintendent of Schools in Greenwich, Connecticut.Wait a minute - doesn't this sound a little like our own Dr. Starr?
His career in education has included urban and suburban experiences as a classroom teacher, elementary principal, assistant superintendent, school board member, and Assistant State Commissioner of Education and 15 years as superintendent in 3 school districts, including Plainfield and Englewood in New Jersey. Leverett serves on advisory committees for the George Lucas Educational Foundation, Educators for Social Responsibility, and the Laura Bush Foundation for School Libraries. He is committed to social justice and ensuring that all children have access to a high quality educational experience in public schools.
Yes. Here is why.
Not only is Dr. Leverett on Josh's MoCo Transition team, the two go back to being superintendents in neighboring districts in Connecticut.
And Dr. Leverett, spent eight years as superintendent of the Plainfield Public Schools in New Jersey before moving to the Greenwich Public Schools. Before working in New York City, Dr. Starr was the Director of Accountability for the Plainfield, NJ Public Schools. Dr. Leverett was Dr. Starr's mentor when Dr. Starr was at the Harvard Urban Superintendent's Program.
The two have authored chapters in the same book Every Child, Every Classroom, Every Day. Dr. Leverett wrote chapter 1, Dr. Starr contributed to chapter 6.
And more good news? Dr. Leverett is already an MCPS consultant. He's participated in several retreats for the Board of Education. Best of all, Dr. Leverett facilitated an MCPS BOE retreat in December 2009, and his organization facilitated another September 2010 worksession for the Board of Education.
Do you see a pattern? Are these two inseparable or is it just a coincidence? Six degrees of Keven Bacon comes to mind.
Here are my two questions for the day:
Who is running the June 21 closed BOE retreat/training/team building session?
The bigger question whether the Panasonic Foundation and Dr. Leverett influenced the recent superintendent search. Was the selection open, or did the BOE really have a lead candidate from the start.
Maybe the "P" in MCPS will soon stand for the Montgomery County Panasonic School System.
This may sound like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, but honestly, this song just kept popping into my head all day today, so I thought it was time to sing along:
Interesting. If you look at Stamford, substitute "GE" for "Panansonic". Stamford residents often thought that our B.O.Education might have been more aptly named B.O.GE! (It's always more impressive to play Santa Clause than to actually pay taxes and fund things properly, dontcha think?)Ahhh, the tangled webs that are woven........
ReplyDeleteWould love to know the role Susan Marks played in helping Josh Starr to gain the top spot in MCPS. Interesting, isn't it that Dr. Marks has been cozying up to GE Stamford for funds, too, since her entry to Norwalk Public Schools. I'd like to know just how qualified this former HR administrator actually was to lead our school system. She is failing miserably. Would you like her back, MCPS?
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