Diane Wiley wrote:
Dan McGuire wrote:
OK, I guess I was wrong. After the above and the stories in today's
paper, it's beginning to look like there is a racial component. >
My reply:
I'm having a hard time with the idea that this is racial -- or even that
it's an "east coast style" thing. ... I just don't think it's racial
The chances are more than 50-50 that it's all of the above plus:
1-East Coast--they do speak differently than we do and meaning may seem
to shift or meaning may, indeed, shift. They tend to be blunt, abrupt,
and always in a hurry. Dancing around an issue in order to "soften" the
blow of possible criticism is not part of the general language pattern.
2-strong black women--oh, yeah, this one will set you back a notch or
two till you get used to it. The previous superintendent did not go
there, consequently, the previous superintendent did not accomplish some
things that needed doing. Look on Ms. Johnson as the one who tested the
waters in this school district.
3-class--I do not know this for a fact about Dr. Peebles, but I'd be
willing to bet that if she comes out of the middle class, her parents
were the first in her extended family to enter the middle class
economically. It takes at least another generation, under favorable
circumstances, before the nuclear family members begin to take on the
protective coverings of the middle class consistently.
4-management issues--there have to be a lot of things about management
she does not know, considering this is her first shot at managing on
this scale. (I wonder if more experienced managers declined to apply for
the position, knowing they could make as much in a school system with
fewer problems.)
Failure to delegate is the commonest of the failings of EDs, or
superintendents, or other big bear's chair positions. Part of that is
unfamiliarity with the people she's working with, so a trust factor is
not there. In business CEOs bring in their own people for top jobs so
the trust is already there.
5-recipients of "nastiness"--they, too, are facing the big unknown.
They have felt insulted when, in all probability, no insult was
intended. They have probably been insulted at times as well. Change is
hard and we usually want the change so long as other people are doing
the changing.
Personally, I consider the first year of a person new to the job
(elected, appointed, or hired) at this level to be more or less a wash.
The real evaluation cannot be worth too much until the end of the second
year, if then. (And in this instance, test scores don't really mean
squat, no matter how much we hold them up as some sort of benchmark for
teachers, students, and superintendents.)
WizardMarks, Central
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