Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Superintendent Arrives with Baggage

The deed is done. Now Nancy McGinley must deal with the consequences of the CCSD School Board's stupidity.

At Monday night's meeting the Board voted along racial lines to offer McGinley the superintendent's position with a four-year contract, without public discussion, any statement from McGinley or Goodloe-Johnson, or even a salary figure. McGinley, not surprisingly, accepted immediately.

The position of the majority on the board was--trust us, we know McGinley, and she is the best superintendent we will be able to find. In other words, arrogance personified. Can anyone blame Jordan and Green for reluctance? THEY haven't worked with McGinley over the past three or four years. Douglas has, and he voted against McGinley. Unfortunately, the voting results play into the hands of Dot Scott, who deliberately made finding a new superintendent a racial issue.

Meyers, of course, said that speedy action was needed so that CCSD doesn't lose McGinley to another district, citing her making it to the finals for the position in two other cities.

Gregg, she didn't get offered either of those jobs, and you (or she) haven't told us that she is considering another at the moment. Let's get real.

The answer is that the current board has much of its own credibility invested in continuing the policies of Goodloe-Johnson. McGinley was hired by Goodloe-Johnson, and the board wants to continue down that road now that G-J is leaving. If it waited or allowed McGinley to open her mouth prior to the official vote, McGinley might say or do something that would put her selection in jeopardy. The powers that be (including the Metro Chamber of Commerce) were recruited for support.

However, in rushing to judgment, the board has put McGinley's success in jeopardy.

Perhaps you may be wondering how G-J found McGinley for the job as Academic Officer. Simple. That was not a search either. They met while attending the Broad (rhymes with road) Center's program to train urban superintendents (You can check it out at http://www.broadfoundation.org/investments/management.shtml. Goodloe-Johnson probably went there to get out of Corpus Christi, where she knew she would not advance; McGinley probably went there when she realized that she needed further credentials to rise in the hierarchy of the Philadelphia school system. McGinley did not get a job as a superintendent when she left; instead, she was hired by G-J.

Assuming the school board majority adamant in insisting that there be no superintendent search, it still could have compromised by offering McGinley a shorter contract of, say, eighteen months, during which time the community could evaluate her effectiveness. If another job offer came knocking during that time, the board could always meet to revisit her contract, as it did when recently when it lengthened Goodloe-Johnson's (and hers).

As it is, if McGinley has any smarts at all, she will begin by mending fences, especially with District 20. She should continue by asserting her own ideas and airing district policies, particularly in regard to Buist Academy, in order to show that she is not merely a puppet for insiders.

It's time for transparency.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I did not know CCSD has the authority to give anyone position without an interview.Why are we allowing this to happen? It must be nice to have powerful friends to push this through. Every is saying how sucessfull the PLAN for Excellence is... What about district 20? CCSD should educate all children not a select few.

Anonymous said...

What is it about Hampton Green that the Post and Courier likes so much? Is it her husband's close ties to to Riley?

Anonymous said...

Babbie, watch Monday's meeting when you get a chance. Speaking of transparency, Ruth Jordan must have used the word "transparency" in her praise of Dr. G-J a dozen times (okay, I may be exaggerating a bit). What does Ms. Jordan know about Dr. G-J's transparency that the rest of us obviously don't know? Transparent and Maria just don't fit in the same sentence.

Anonymous said...

To the 1:51 pm poster, I was thinking the same thing when I read today's editorial. To be perfectly blunt, the P&C is caught between a rock and hard place. And we're all so trapped in the 20th century in this town, we have to look at race. Let's not kid ourselves. The rock being the wacko NAACP leaders and the hard place being the crazy school board members. Maybe, Toya's the lesser of all the crazies. Anyone who's tried to have a rational conversation with Hillery Douglas knows this. I'm still waiting on forming an opinion on Ruth, but the poor grammar at the meeting 2 weeks ago didn't help you, Ruth.
Don't you think that's why the P&C endorsed Toya? The NAACP would have been all over them if they hadn't endorse her or Ruth Jordan. Yikes! That would have been rascism! If I remember correctly one of the reasons Toya was endorsed by the P&C was her openness to Charter schools. Where are you now, P&C? Did you make a typo? Or did she tell you what she thought you wanted to hear? Smooth...Toya may not be as "green" as we think she is. (Pardon the pun)

Anonymous said...

Now come on. Ruth Jordan isn't the only board member with terrible grammar. Is Nancy Cook also a product of Charleston County Schools? Jordan might be the queen of malapropisms but Cook's grammar is atrocious!

Anonymous said...

You're right, but I wrote off Nancy Cook a long time ago...

Anonymous said...

The question is "Will she define her own leadership style or will she simply bow to what she is told to do by the county board? Rumor had it that she was treated most unprofessionally by G-J and had little choice but to obey her employer. Now that she has a four year contract (with terms no one seems to know), will she rely on her own experience or will she conform to the expectations of those who brought in Goodloe? I'd like to know where she stands on Charter Schools given her experience in Philadelphia where Charter Schools appear to be supported and successful.

Anonymous said...

I'd also like to know if she's proactive in getting "cheaters" out of our public schools the way they do it in Philadelphia. It's so sad that the cheaters are taking a spot from a child who may not have any other option...
People don't understand our public school situation in downtown Charleston, but I'm optimistic Dr. McGinley does. Let's do it Philadelphia style...please, Dr. McGinley!