That wasn’t the case with recent schools superintendent searches conducted in Boston and Palm Beach, Florida, where finalists were introduced to the public before local school boards made their decisions...
...Jeannette Dixon, a recently retired county educator who spent 12 years as the principal of Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, said openness is the best course when choosing a new superintendent.
“If you don't want people to know that you are applying for the job, something has to be wrong. People who do an outstanding job generally ask their employer to give them a reference and they will seek their support,” Dixon said.
The school board hopes to have a new superintendent on board by July 1, when acting superintendent Larry Bowers is planning to retire. School board President Patricia O’Neill has appointed a group of community representatives to help the board vet finalists, but participants are sworn to secrecy. Members of the group were drawn from a variety of organizations in the county, including the NAACP, the Universities at Shady Grove and the Montgomery County Recreation Department.
Sheldon Fishman, a former PTA president who is aligned with the local watchdog group Parents Coalition, said he understands both perspectives on keeping the selection process confidential, but ultimately believes the community and superintendent would benefit from public exposure to the finalists.
“The argument for confidentiality and secrecy is not unreasonable. It is a question of balance, pros and cons. Obviously, there are some candidates who currently have other jobs who will not apply for a job at MCPS if it is not confidential,” he said. “The benefits of transparency are that the new superintendent will start out, in particular if the three finalists have been revealed, without having to win the support of the community. The community will have participated, at least to some degree.”...
http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/Confidential-Search-for-New-Montgomery-County-Schools-Chief-Sparks-Debate/
I would prefer that they at least let the public know who the final 3 candidates are. I don't know why this is such a big deal for MCPS when other systems seem to manage it without a problem.
ReplyDeleteThis is a taxpayer funded position. This is a HIGHLY compensated position in which the public has no say in hiring or terminating the person nor in what kind of benefits package they receive. Yet a non-elected group of partisan citizens gets to decide for an entire county whom the person will be and the public can't even know who is being considered. What's wrong with transparency? To dismiss it without having ever tried it in the 21st century is preposterous.