When Mayor Tom Barrett was asked what he would do if he got control of the Milwaukee school system, he stated that he would appoint a good school superintendent and pretty much leave that person alone. All that sounds pretty good until the wrong person is selected as superintendent. When the checks and balances are missing, a superintendent can run amok.
Few school boards have been shown to be more dysfunctional recently than Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission. The SRC is partly appointed by the mayor and partly appointed by the Pennsylvania governor. In August, just four months after extending Superintendent Arlene Ackerman’s contract, the SRC concluded she just wasn’t the right person for the job and pieced together a buyout package of an astounding $900,000! Why, after several years with Ackerman as superintendent, it took only four months to determine Ackerman wasn’t right for the position is pretty astonishing.
But the SRC had been pretty passive for a long time. After all, appointed boards are to make only general policy and not get involved in micromanaging day-to-day operations. Ackerman was allowed to run Philadelphia’s schools without much oversight. Only one SCR member raised serious questions – Dr. Heidi Ramirez.
If that name sounds familiar to you, it is because Milwaukee’s School Superintendent, Gregory Thornton, picked her to be the MPS Chief Academic Officer.
In Philadelphia, Ramirez asked too many questions according to Ackerman. Ramirez contended that the superintendent didn’t supply data that she requested to see if good decisions were being made. Ackerman shot back, “The SRC should reform itself.” Instead of dumping Ackerman, the SRC just sat there and took the tongue-lashing.
Finally Ramirez resigned in August of 2009, stating that she believed she could “… do more to improve teaching and learning for the most needy students from work outside the SRC…” She continued her work at Temple University until Gregory Thornton picked her for Milwaukee’s Chief Academic Officer.
If the SCR had not been asleep at the switch and demanded data as Ramirez requested, there is a good chance that the SCR could have figured out Ackerman’s budgets habits and wouldn’t find itself going into the 2011-2012 school year with a $664 million spending gap.
Speculation is that Thornton might be interested in the superintendent job back in Philly. After all, he is from the area, his wife still lives there, and Thornton commutes regularly to be with her and his family.
But there are good reasons why Thornton may stay in Milwaukee. The budget in the Philadelphia school system is such a mess that Milwaukee looks like an island of fiscal responsibility. Then there is the question of how much crow the SCR is willing to eat. They passed up once to hire Thornton. And Thornton would most likely want to bring Ramirez back with him, the same Heidi Ramirez who questioned the leadership of Ackerman while other SCR member sat on their hands.
But what does this Milwaukee school board member know? After all, the Milwaukee school board, which is elected by the citizens, wouldn’t possibly be as wise or as competent as the appointed board in Philadelphia. The Milwaukee board was the board that hired Thornton while the Philadelphia’s SCR passed on him and hired Ackerman. And unlike the SRC that gave Ackerman free rein, the Milwaukee board keeps on asking Thornton lots of questions to keep him on the straight and narrow. That is just too much micromanaging, isn’t it?
