As a parent of three Des Moines school students, I am excited about what placing new talent in the top education post could mean for my community. The search is among the most important local endeavors of the day, and we are wise to give serious thought about the tool set we want the next superintendent to bring to the job.
I was proud of our schools before I served on the school board a number of years ago. However, my concern about those critical and costly areas where our schools fall short has increased over the years.
Too many kids are pushed through and out of school without ever coming close to reaching their potential. Like a troubled student who gets an “A” in English and an “F” in math, Des Moines has a complex and disquieting track record.
We need an education chief who understands the importance of supporting what is working, and yet capable of challenging while simultaneously motivating the community to join in drastically changing a system that all too often fails the kids who need our support the most.
Nearly every teacher, administrator and school board member can cite the facts and figures. The number of those in poverty is increasing. While a varied population speaking numerous languages brings a beautiful cultural diversity and enriching worldview into classrooms every day, the price of teaching this multiplicity of students wreaks havoc on an already fatigued budget.
Add to this the constraints the Legislature and Congress place on schools and teachers with test-centric policies and one begins to wonder how schools accomplish anything.
If Des Moines wishes to maintain its current standing and pursue only modest successes as it has in recent years, it would make sense to conduct a search similar to that of Omaha or Boulder, Colo., the other district where Sebring applied. These districts wanted administrators who knew how to make the type of gains that would avoid controversy. They found exactly what they sought.
If Des Moines wants to regain its once proud standing as a district boldly making progress in every corner, the school board needs to pursue a different kind of candidate.
Other districts hire administrators who will keep the buses running on time. Des Moines should hire an education CEO more interested in advancement than appeasing the risk adverse.
Such a fighter will be articulate and possess a commanding personality. She will be a champion for those whose voices cannot be heard, as well as an advocate for the already achieving. This superintendent will know innovation looks less like a charter school or another token program and a lot more like a wholesale redesign of a middle school formula that has not been altered significantly in 50 years.
The next superintendent needs to come from a different mold, but I fear the school board is following the tired path trodden by so many others. Last week, members decided it would cost $150,000 to $200,000 and take until July 2013 to find a replacement. As the 50 percent of McCombs Middle School sixth-graders who scored proficient in math in 2011 could tell you, this 15-month search will be equal to 20 percent of the 72 months Sebring was in Des Moines.
That is too long. One only need review the rich contract the school board approved less than a year ago to keep her from bolting — that did not work out so well — to understand why they feel they face this drawn-out process. School boards have driven up the price of education talent and complicated the hiring process.
Many find it acceptable to put things on hold until the next generally accepted superintendent-bidding season comes to close next July 1. It isn’t.
The talent we need may not be constrained by — or be willing to break free of — this old-school way of thinking. It was frustrating to hear the board president say, “For us to even think about doing something between now and July 1 is penny-wise and pound-foolish.”
I understand the board’s desire to conduct a thorough and thoughtful search for a visionary and effective superintendent. But, Des Moines has much to offer a person interested in embracing success.
If the person we seek is different, the search should be different. Let’s not postpone for a moment finding a new kind of leader for a school district that could be exceptional.
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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com This entry was first published as a guest essay in the Des Moines Register.
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