The public won’t get a chance to ask any questions of the three semi-finalists in the Portland schools superintendent search when they come for interviews this month. And the Portland School Board hasn’t seemed interested in soliciting any suggestions so far.
But here’s hoping that someone in the room — whether a member of the board or the advisory committee that’s also meeting with candidates — takes a hard look at three areas in which Portland’s next superintendent must distinguish himself or herself.
First: Can the candidate manage a large, complex organization? While the next superintendent must obviously bring impeccable educational credentials and a clear vision of what a high-performing school system entails, he or she must be familiar with the business operations that keep any entity running. Former Superintendent Carole Smith learned the hard way that the public could apparently live with lagging graduation rates but couldn’t forgive her administration’s failure to maintain schools with safe drinking water.
The best candidates will not only impart their philosophy for the district, but show that they can competently oversee the organizational nuts and bolts of hiring people, issuing contracts that follow state law and budgeting for priorities when money is tight. They should also have done their own homework on the district and its needs. It was disappointing that Interim Superintendent Bob McKean had not read a 2016 report that detailed the district’s operational deficiencies until after he landed the job. The next superintendent should be fully aware of what he or she is getting into.
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Second: How has the candidate demonstrated in specific ways a commitment to accountability? Certainly, Smith offered plenty on the vision end of the management scale. But holding employees accountable to make the vision a reality never happened. For example, Smith allowed poor-performing principals to be rotated from school to school, disrupting dozens of school communities each year. Even when she took the unusual move of demoting two principals to vice-principal, she couldn’t bring herself to cut their pay. A strong superintendent candidate shouldn’t be uncomfortable with the idea that employee accountability is directly associated with whether students’ needs are served.
And finally: How equipped is the candidate to handle a dysfunctional school board as his or her boss? There are numerous instances from meetings over the past couple of years that show the squabbles, rude exchanges and lack of professional behavior among members of the Portland School Board. Board members recently authored dueling op-eds for The Oregonian about the secrecy shrouding the superintendent search. A Portland Tribune story questioned whether board member Pam Knowles was making a gagging motion while board member Steve Buel was speaking. And even a recent four-minute-long board meeting devolved into a bickerfest, coincidentally between Knowles and Buel.
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It’s not only unprofessional, but the in-fighting also translates into scattershot priorities and confusing messages. Candidates should be able to articulate how they have handled conflicting agendas, changing school boards and unexpected crises in the past to provide a glimpse of how they can navigate the personality and priority conflicts of this board. And ideally? The top candidates won’t be shy about telling this board precisely what they from the board to get the job done.
– The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
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