McGinley's Tale Tests CCSD's Gullibility

Throwing up a smoke screen in front of her every action has become such a habit for CCSD Superintendent Nancy McGinley that she can't manage a bit of candor when the truth would help her credibility.

That's what most readers should take away from the P & C's Saturday story, McGinley to Stay in Charleston. If Courrege wrote the lead, "McGinley flew to Houston on Friday to interview with the Houston school board that's looking for a new superintendent," that's what she thought also.

McGinley would have the public believe that she simply wanted to share the Charleston success story (!) with the search firm hired by the Houston School Board looking to replace its superintendent and had no intention of actually interviewing for a job that pays twice what she makes now. The Houston Chronicle was confused about this being a job interview. The moon is made of green cheese, also.

This much is true: her plane was rerouted to Austin, causing a delay that made her miss her interview. She learned about the Houston article. She may have learned other facts through the grapevine, such as that she was being interviewed only because of the recommendation of the previous superintendent, her "friend" from the Broad Institute, or that her interview was pro forma because the School Board really wants a black replacement for its present Hispanic.

Abe Saavedra! The name brings back sweet memories of Corpus Christi, his post prior to Houston. I won't rehash his shenigans there except to point out that he hired Maria Goodloe-Johnson. You all remember her, right? These three Broad Institute graduates make quite a triumvirate. If McGinley should leave, one hopes another won't be shoved down our throats.

Another reason? Why would Saavedra leave Houston at the ripe old age of 58 without another superintendent's job on the horizon? One Houston blog may have had the answer last February:

". . .he's made more than his fair share of bungles. Board members have sometimes seemed blindsided by his proposals -- like cutting transportation for magnet schools or combining whiz-kid high school Carnegie Tech with the much rougher Worthing.

"He'd been on thin ice for a while; it seems the ice finally cracked. " [See Houston - Hair Balls - Abe Saavedra Is Leaving The Building.]

In another of those bizarre coincidences, the name of Houston's school board chairman is Greg Meyers.

Our own Meyers version was already blowing more smoke:

"Board Vice Chairman Gregg Meyers said McGinley's actions tell him that she has such little interest in moving somewhere else that even a job paying more than double what she earns here isn't of sufficient interest to bother with an interview if there's a small inconvenience involved.

"'I don't think this trip means anything,' he said."

Why the subterfuge? Who would blame McGinley if she took a job paying double what she gets now? Let's just hope that she doesn't pull an Abe Saavedra on us and work this "interview" into a raise to keep her here.

Does it ever occur to these people that a little honesty would go a long way towards restoring their credibility?