A nation wide search is currently underway for BPS’s (Boston Public Schools) next superintendent. The very capable John McDonough will be the interim superintendent until, presumably, well after our next mayor is elected. My question to those pulling the strings is why the nationwide search when we have perfectly capable candidates here in Boston? A local superintendent would be superior to a carpet bagger in a number of ways.
Firstly, a locally raised school chief would know how the system works now, and what can be implemented to ensure real and lasting improvements are made. Transportation, for one, is a beast that must be vanquished by a townie, who knows the lay of the land. An outsider would just foul things up even more than they are already. Neighborhoods should be cherished and prioritized. Currently, Boston’s neighborhoods are on the endangered species list. Poaching should be illegal; a Bostonian superintendent can ensure that not only our neighborhoods, schools, students, and transportation reform be adequate, but also incubate prosperity.
Secondly, a “city kid” at the helm of our school system will ensure that further colonization of our city be thwarted. Outside interests, masked as education reformists, have infiltrated our local and state governments, school systems, and schools. These ALEC financed groups (DFER, STAND FOR CHILDREN, STUDENTS FIRST, STUDENTS FOR EDUCATION REFORM) have a privatization agenda that puts profit before the needs of students and fairness to teachers. Hedge fund mangers are leading the way: paving the foundation for the corporate agenda. NEW MARKET TAX CREDITS are their rallying call – not what’s best for kids. Their propaganda is heavily financed, while their lobbying efforts are appetizing to both democrats and republicans alike. We need a superintendent who is accountable to the residents of Boston, responsive to the needs and wants of all parents, and deny foreign privatizers and Harvard policy “experimenters” the claim of “stakeholder” when the real stakeholders are shutout. A street smart Bostonian would know the difference between a stakeholder and a stockholder, and would not be in the latter’s pockets if she or he were a true daughter or son of Boston.
Lastly, hiring from within our community would enable real and lasting local reform to thrive. An alien superintendent would come in with prejudices about our fine city, ignorance of our history and struggles, and a predetermined agenda. An outside superintendent would also have an out of town and out of touch “team” that would take over. The functionality and progress of the system would not be optimal as unnecessary hiccups would certainly arise. These hiccups are easily avoided if we hire one of our own. If we really want to embrace neighborhood schools and inject tens of millions of dollars into our classrooms via transportation cost savings then the puppet masters must hire a neighborhood superintendent.
Colum Whyte
BPS TEACHER
Building Representative to the BTU
BTU Delegate to AFTMA and AFT
a superintendent who would actually care about Special Education and all of the worries and issues that come with educating our most vulnerable students…
I think often communities do nationwide searches and broadcast that they are doing so is to fend off accusations of cronyism or having the inside track.
but cronyism is not a local beast; in fact an outside hire can more easily bring his/her friends/relatives etc. without anyone catching on as easily.
Can you imagine Diane Lam of Conservatory Charter School Brighton trying to hire her husband here like she did in New York! Then there was her Texas buyout windfall of $781,000! Ms. Lam could apply given her new “banking” experience!
It will be interesting to see what locals apply. Maybe Roger Harris will try to jump the sinking Boston Renaissance Charter School in Hyde Park? Maybe Mary Grassa O’Neil will escape the Boston Archdiocese!