SANTA BARBARA VIEW.com

Private Thoughts on Public Schools

By Cheri Rae

“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”—Albert Einstein

It was disappointing that only a dozen parents showed up at the English-speakers’ community forum presented by the head-hunting firm hired to find candidates to become the next superintendent of Santa Barbara’s school district.

The observations about the state of the schools were heart-breaking.

The presenters started out on a positive note, soliciting comments about the strengths of our schools and this district. And parents responded with interesting, upbeat statements about diversity, choice, generational pride, athletic achievements, great theatres, public-private partnerships and philanthropic efforts among others.

But when the subject turned to challenges, truth-telling brought the current school district situation into sharp focus: a culture of mistrust; fear of retaliation among parents and teachers; a good-ol’ boy network; lack of transparency, the ever-present achievement gap; multiple failures in the special education department and more.

Turning finally to the subject of desirable characteristics in the next superintendent, comments included: a team-builder who is collaborative, communicative and committed to making a change in kids’ lives; a courageous and self-confident individual who has the ability to create a culture of accountability. As one person put it, “We need an inspiring leader; one who is JFK, not LBJ.”



To anyone who has been watching, this depressing collective commentary is spot-on and nothing new. The question is how did it get so bad? And why has it taken the impending retirement of the current superintendent for these systemic problems to see the light of day?

While the head-hunters promised to find several outstanding candidates for the job, it will be the school board that makes the final selection. Out of all this difficulty, they have the opportunity to allow a paradigm shift that fundamentally changes the direction of our district—and the quality of the education our children receive.

We can only hope the five individuals who have been elected to serve the community earn high marks for this appointment. To really earn a passing grade, though, they must fulfill their duty to hold the next superintendent accountable and meet the community’s expectations of excellence in education for every student in our schools.


This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 at 5:00 am and is filed under Cheri Rae, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.