Monday Musings

By Penney Sanders

I cannot remember a time when both Fayette and Jefferson County School Districts had superintendent openings at the same time. It portends a unique opportunity for Kentucky.

Let’s start with Louisville/JCPS. Could the situation have become more ludicrous - and more importantly, is it salvageable????

A bit of history. When Dr. Berman was hired 4 years ago, he was the “last man” standing candidate. The other two finalists dropped out and rather than reopen the search, for whatever reason, the JCPS Board chose to hire Berman.

Furthermore, Berman came from a small district in New England. He had no experience with the immense infrastructure that constitutes JCPS and was a novice at Kentucky hardball school politics. He was behind before he began. (So, how/ why did the headhunters put him on the list for Louisville??)

In a part of organizational analysis called, succession theory, Berman was an outside-outsider. Furthermore, his predecessor (Daeschner) had been in the position for 14 years. Succession theory and common sense indicate that Berman was not destined to stay long in the position: too many accumulated problems and too many people in place who could not be removed or motivated to change.

Couple the bussing morass with the announcement that JCPS had 12 high schools on the state’s lowest performing list (6 per yr. for 2 years =12), it should come as no surprise that Berman’s contract was not renewed. Based on the performance of the schools and the lack of overall progress in the district, the Board took appropriate action to not renew.

Urban superintendents have a short life-span under the best of circumstances. In this case, the circumstances were full of conflict. Berman had been selected by default and his Board flipped on him. It was a bad fit that only got worse. The only logical outcome was don’t renew and move on - It is happening all over the country.

Therefore, I do not understand why there has been such weeping and wailing from the Courier Journal about Berman’s departure. A 5-2 vote to not renew is compelling. Even if the Board had changed its vote in public, in private, Berman would have lacked the support and confidence of the Board. That, as we all know, is a killer for a superintendent.

Now, the Board has an opportunity to get it right. They must conduct a search that will yield them a strong group of candidates. Additionally, they should not rush to hire someone. In fact, an interim superintendent may be a good idea for the district at this time.

An interim, no doubt someone from within, could, with the full support of the Board, do much of the necessary program and personnel adjustments - i.e. clean house and continue instituting the changes necessary to get the poor performing high schools back on track.

This is a strategy that is often employed in the private sector-the transitional person does the dirty work and the new person arrives with the opportunity to install his/her personnel and programs. The messy stuff is over and done with.

Regardless, the JCPS Board must be committed to improved schools for ALL students. This continued whining that because students are poor or from disengaged families simply cannot be allowed to continue as the excuses for poor school performance. There are too many urban districts in this country that are demonstrating positive student achievement to allow JCPS to continue this category of caterwauling.

Finally, the Board must realize that it is the assessment of student performance which is the basis for the way we judge schools in Kentucky and in the US. The presentations at the recent League of Women Voters Forum that sought to deemphasize assessment were at best disingenuous if not delusional.

Kentucky was first on board to adopt the Common Core Standards and will, I assume, quickly adopt the assessments that will accompany those standards. The result will be higher standards and much more rigorous measurements/assessments. Competition will be more intense and the stakes for Kentucky students will be higher. JCPS must be ready.

This is a critical juncture in the history of JCPS. With 12 high schools on the state’s low performing list and concerns about student performance overall, the Board must select and SUPPORT a strong, instructionally-focused candidate who has a history of turning schools around and who will be committed to the tough work of transforming low performing, low expectation schools into schools of excellence based on successful student outcomes. Think: Michelle Rhee or Arne Duncan.

The Board must share with the candidates the problems the district faces. NOTHING can be sugar-coated; all the uglies out in the open. A new superintendent must understand the issues related to the failure to intervene in low performing schools until they were hemorrhaging, the frustration with bussing and the need to adopt a “no more excuses” approach to instruction.
It will be a difficult position but there are men and women in schools and districts throughout the country who could lead a JCPS turnaround. The trick will be to identify them; these types of “in the trenches” leaders are not often in the stable of the hired headhunters. The Board may have to do some serious searching on their own. In fact, to do less and not hire the best, subjects the Louisville community to more failing schools. That is not an option.

Holliday Warns JCPS that Staffing Overhauls may Fall Short

This from Toni Konz at the Courier-Journal, Photo by Sam Upshaw:

Kentucky's education chief has warned Jefferson County Public Schools it could lose millions of dollars in federal funding — or lose control entirely of the overhaul process — if the district doesn't make a more determined effort to turn around its lowest performing schools.

Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said the district's staffing changes may not be meeting state and federal requirements at several of the 12 Jefferson County schools targeted for overhauls because their reading and math scores are some of the worst in Kentucky.

Less than one-third of the 70 teachers being replaced at three of those schools — Doss, Fairdale and Seneca high schools — teach reading and math, the two subjects that led the state to demand major overhauls at the schools because of their poor test scores, according to data obtained by The Courier-Journal in an open-records request.

“The reason why these schools are persistently low achieving is due to their graduation rate and reading and math scores,” Holliday said in an interview. “If we are not looking to replace reading and math teachers, how can we expect to improve reading and math scores?”

Holliday has put the school board on notice that he could take over decisions about how the district overhauls its most-troubled schools if the Kentucky Education Department determines the district isn't taking the reform effort seriously...

JCPS Superintendent Sheldon Berman says it's time to 'move on'

Board wisely avoids Ray & Associates

This from Toni Konz at the Courier-Journal:

Superintendent Sheldon Berman’s contract to head Jefferson County schools won’t be extended.

Shortly before the school board was scheduled to discuss a potential extension Monday night, Berman asked it to drop the discussion from its agenda. Board chairman Steve Imhoff complied, and the board voted 7-0 later in the meeting to hire a Nebraska executive search firm to help it find a successor to the embattled superintendent.

“At this point, I think it’s time for all of us to move on,” Berman told the board.

Afterward, he told reporters that “working with either a divided board or a board that has some concerns – it may be better to move on and let them select a new superintendent.” ...

After setting aside the Berman issue, board members voted to hire McPherson and Jacobson of Omaha, Neb., to help them find a new superintendent. The board has not yet approved a contract, but according to a proposal the firm submitted to the board last week the search is expected to cost the district $36,500 plus travel, office and advertising expenses.

Imhoff said he will negotiate an agreement and should have a contract ready for approval by the end of the month.

Two other search firms – Greenwood/Asher & Associates of Miramar Beach, Fla., and Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, Iowa – had interviewed before the board last week, along with the Omaha firm...

JCPS to Consider Three Firms for Superintendent Search

Ray & Associates on Short List !?

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

Despite pleas for the Jefferson County Board of Education to reverse its decision to fire Superintendent Sheldon Berman, the board is moving forward with plans to replace him and will interview three executive search firms next week to aid them in their quest for a new leader.

One of the three firms the board will interview during a special meeting Wednesday is Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which helped the Kentucky Board of Education choose Illinois educator Barbara Erwin as the state’s new education commissioner in 2007, only to have her resign three days before she was to start work following revelations about her background, including that parts of her resume were inaccurate...

Kentucky's experience with Ray & Associates was disappointing to say the least. The state board's decision to conduct a secret search prompted alarm from Mark Hebert and caught the interest of bloggers at KSN&C and the Bluegrass Institute. Vetting by the bloggers revealed a series of resume errors and exaggerations. By contrast, the search firm's confidential files, obtained by KSN&C, revealed a process that was more promotional than critical. Much of the firm's effort involved selling candidates to the board. It didn't turn out well. Following a contentious period of suit and counter suit, KDE settled with Ray & Associates for $25,500, about half of the amount the company was demanding. Kentucky was not the only place things with the search firm went wrong.

Once a firm is selected, Imhoff said it will immediately begin working to develop a process for selecting a superintendent, including recruiting candidates, checking their backgrounds and negotiating a contract.

The three firms being considered are well-known across the country, and two have prior connections to Kentucky.

Ray and Associates was hired by the Kentucky Board of Education in 2007, but after Erwin resigned, state board members criticized Ray and Associates for not vetting her more closely and not informing them of them of her troubled reputation in previous school districts, including allegations that she had run roughshod over teachers and administrators when she was a superintendent in Texas, Arizona and Illinois. Ray and Associates countered that the firm did its job, saying they checked everything they were asked to check.

Greenwood/Asher & Associates also has prior experience in Kentucky. The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education hired the firm in 2008 to help search for its new president, which resulted in the hiring of Robert King.

Greenwood showed weaknesses similar to those of Ray & Associates when it failed to discover to creationist writings of Commissioner finalist Dennis Cheek. The revelations made public by KSN&C about Dennis Cheek should never have been news to the board, or the Greenwood, but they were. Fortunately, by that time, the board of education was listening and Cheek was not selected.

The Kentucky Board of Education also hired the firm in 2009 to search for an education commissioner, which resulted in the hiring of Terry Holliday. And the University of Kentucky recently hired the firm to help find a replacement for president Lee Todd, who is leaving when his contract expires in June.

Imhoff said he’s not sure how much hiring a search firm will cost the district.

“We don’t have a budget on how much to spend,” he said. “Whether we hire a firm will depend on whether we feel they are a good fit and whether their cost is reasonable.”

Thomas Jacobson, the owner and chief executive officer of McPherson and Jacobson, said his firm has aided in more than 400 superintendent and executive searches in the past 20 years, for both small and large school districts.

“There are two things that distinguish us from other firms,” he said. “The first thing is that we believe in a very transparent search process with a high involvement of stakeholders. The other thing is that everyone who works for us has been or is involved with public education.”

Jacobson said his firm prides itself of properly vetting all candidates — both those who are recruited and those who apply for the job independently.

“We have an extensive process of vetting candidates,” he said. “It’s a very important part of the process.”

Calls made Friday to Gary Ray, president of Ray and Associates, and Jan Greenwood, president and chief executive officer of Greenwood/Asher, were not returned.

The lesson from all of this is that search firms can not be trusted to thoroughly vet candidates. Boards may need a firm to handle screening and making arrangements for interviews, etc., but in the end, the board must vet the candidates on their own. The Board can not outsource its responsibility to the public.

Better the Devil You Know?

As recently as 2009, a survey of JCTA members pointed toward trouble for recently non-renewed Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Sheldon Berman.

57.1% either disagreed or strongly disagreed that they were satisfied with Berman's administration of the schools. 60% disagreed or strongly disagree that Berman exhibited effective leadership that fully supports teachers. 76.2% agreed or strongly agreed that they felt safe in their school. 59.9% disagreed or strongly disagreed that Berman involved classroom teachers in a collaborative decision making process.

So it has been somewhat surprising to find the JCTA leadership apparently lining up behind the superintendent.

It also seems it won't matter.

This from C-J:

Sheldon Berman supporters say

they will seek new JCPS school board

vote to keep him

With the teachers union and NAACP lining up behind him, supporters of ousted Jefferson County Superintendent Sheldon Berman say they will push for a new school board vote next month to keep him.

Board of education member Linda Duncan said Tuesday she will formally ask the school board at its Feb. 14 meeting to reconsider its decision to replace Berman, whose contract expires on June 30.

Duncan, a Berman supporter who was on the losing end of the 5-2 vote last November that ended his tenure, said she wanted to give Berman's supporters
time to make their case to retain him — which would require at least two board members to change their mind.

“I wanted a little bit more time for input from the community, before we close this and say, ‘That's it,'” she said.

Members of the Jefferson County Teachers Association and the Louisville branch of the NAACP both said they plan to use that time to lobby board members to retain Berman, who they say has been a staunch advocate for integrated schools and has instituted education reforms.

But board members who voted against Berman, including Debbie Wesslund, Diane Porter, Joe Hardesty and Carol Ann Haddad, said Tuesday they remain committed to finding a new superintendent....

Jefferson County teachers union votes to ask that Sheldon Berman be retained

Board Members Express Doubt in a Revote

Wesslund Replaced as Chair

This from the Courier-Journal:

Jefferson County's influential teachers union has thrown its support behind ousted Superintendent Sheldon Berman, voting Thursday to ask the school board to extend Berman's contract, instead of letting it expire June 30.

The board of directors for the Jefferson County Teachers Association voted 18-9 Thursday afternoon to formally ask the school board to retain Berman, whose contract was not renewed last November.

Thursday's vote came after Linda Duncan, a school board member who represents District 5, and state Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, met with the teachers union and asked it to endorse Berman, JCTA President Brent McKim said...

“We've already discussed this — it's over,” said school board member Carol Haddad, who represents District 6. “We need to move forward — the community needs to know that we are moving forward.”

Joe Hardesty and Diane Porter, two other board members who voted against a contract extension for Berman, also said they did not favor revisiting their votes.

“A lot of thought went into my decision, so I would not be inclined to change my vote,” said Hardesty, who represents District 4...

[Steve] Imhoff, who represents District 2 and who was voted school board chairman by a 6-1 vote Monday night, said he has not talked to any board members about bringing the issue back up for consideration.