CCSD's Schools Now Suffer from McGinley's Sham Oversight

The buck stops at ex-Superintendent Nancy McGinley's desk. She can try to obfuscate her inadequacy as a superintendent by blaming the Charleston County School Board for CCSD's financial woes, but in reality CCSD has been hoisted by her petard. Maybe the Broad Institute teaches her methods, or maybe the results of her tenure should rest squarely on her shoulders alone.

A flawed system holds Charleston County schools captive. While the election of school board members ostensibly results from independent efforts, nothing could be farther from the truth. McGinley knew her tenure depended on the willing cooperation of a school board meant to oversee her performance. Who can blame her for seeking out participants who would blindly support whatever she presented, those who had no knowledge with which to challenge her administration? 

For years the majority of board members has been a rubber stamp, a legal sham. Over the years when board members independent of her administration tried to investigate the facts or educate themselves on their jobs, both McGinley and her lackey reporters at our local rag heaped jeers and infamy upon their heads--Elizabeth Moffly and Elizabeth Kandrac come to mind as well as others now gone. The same treatment was doled out to constituent board members and the general public if anyone dared to question. Both Democrats and Republicans have taken to running de facto slates of candidates, while Arthur Ravenel's proposal that the board members run openly as Republicans or Democrats was met with derision. Too often the result has been self-selected individuals running without vetting by anyone--except the superintendent or the Chamber of Commerce.

Finally, unlike some other South Carolina school districts, the county delegation has no financial oversight over CCSD. Some of us have been trying for years to figure out what qualifications ex-chief financial officer Michael Bobby enjoyed. Check out his resume, and then explain to me how he was equipped to run a multi-million-dollar organization's finances. McGinley did not need to continue his tenure, nor did the board need to make him interim superintendent. Whose idea was that, anyway? And why has he not been held accountable for the sloppy and negligent practises that led directly to CCSD's present financial mess.

Crickets.