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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > May > 18 > Entry
The big question: Inside or outside
In South Carolina, the State newspaper tells the folks down there about Percy Mack. But back here in Dayton, DDN editorial page editor Ellen Blecher proposes the school board take its time and says Mack’s departure is an opportunity to rally the community around the schools. Done well, she says, this could build a case for a fall levy.
The choice is shaping up like this — move fast and go internal for Mack’s replacement or move slow and go outside. Deputy Superintendent Debra Brathwaite is the strongest internal candidate, but it appears she is going to have other options. There could be other inside choices for interim superintendent if Brathwaite goes elsewhere, but her departure would seem to assure a full-blown search.
Here are some pros and cons of the two possible routes.
An internal choice wouldn’t have any learning curve. And in the case of Brathwaite, she’s basically been groomed for the position. Brathwaite runs the day-to-day academic side operations for DPS and just finished her doctorate.
But an external candidate would bring a fresh pair of eyes to the district’s management and would be unburdened by conventional wisdom and existing loyalties. It might take someone from the outside some time to get his or her bearings, though.
Let’s not forget that the November levy is a high stakes affair, with huge ramifications for the district’s long term financial and educational prospects. Would either route be an advantage in the fall election? That’s hard to say. It probably depends entirely on who the selected superintendent is and how he or she play the politics of the campaign.
If you were on the board, which way would you lean? Internal or external? Would you want to move fast or go more slowly?
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Dayton Public Schools
Comments
By Dave
May 20, 2008 9:58 AM | Link to this
Null, I have insulted NOBODY. I asked Oldprof an honest question about his comment.By null
May 19, 2008 11:36 PM | Link to this
Dave, why do you assume the students in DPS are not getting an education? Plenty of the students in DPS care a great deal about their education, come to school regularly and study in the evenings. They have supportive parents who know what their children are capable of and do not accept less. To make a comment like yours is a slap in the face to those students. As for the students who don’t fall into this category…that is not the school district’s fault but it does become their problem as is evident here.By Laura
May 19, 2008 10:52 PM | Link to this
If we keep someone “in-house” we are going to get the same thing we have been getting. However, we have to be careful we don’t “throw the baby out with the dishwater”, so to speak. It seems like everytime we bring a new superintendent into the district everyone wants someone who will “shake things up.” Why can’t someone come in, find out what is working AND THEN apply some new approaches without throwing away all the things that do work? We need someone who won’t be a “yes person” to every whim of the BOE. Someone who respects the teachers. That is not saying someone who gives in to everything the teachers ask for, but who doesn’t come in with the attitude that teachers are like a wild horse that needs to be “broken”. We have had that before (Dr. Hatch, Dr. (?) Wiiliams to name a few).By Davidss2
May 19, 2008 9:28 PM | Link to this
Mary, do you have links to some of the articles? That’d be interesting to see how they portray the Dayton syndrome. For Buford, the tax system balances local taxes with paying it to the state who then decides how to split up their “take” to give it back to their selected districts based on their method of “sharing” the funds. It’s my opinion the big districts are already getting more than their share; why would they get more of an income tax pie? The big business tax base for all those properties and buildings should help pay for the costs and waste in the big districts. Oh, I forgot with McLin and other local problems we have tax base leaving rather than coming. Maybe there’s more for voters to think about changing than just the DPS head educator. A city where one can drive in and out and never see a police car doesn’t make one feel safe. But I can see two red light cameras making money for the city. However I don’t feel safe driving in and out. I don’t feel safe parking around Fifth-Third Field and coming out unless I’m with the main crowd leaving. The local media spends more time showing the families of police shootings, e.g., telling how their relative was a good person—they just happen to be with drug dealers, e.g., trying to escape the police commands. Does that parallel lack of discipline inside the school buildings? You betcha!!! Command to stop by police or teacher given—just ignore it. Dayton has too many problems and not enough hard hitters. We need and I-Team like Cinci TV to investigate some realities here.By charterschoolhater
May 19, 2008 6:20 PM | Link to this
Oldprof. But during the decades when one superintendent served the kids learned. Dayton Public Schools was a great district who produced many leaders in industry, science, education and the arts. A diploma from one of the schools meant something. Not today. The status quo is not working so the democrats got involved to try to shake things up. We tried Mack for years, give Joe Lacey and his cohorts a chance. They deserve at least as much as they gave Mack. I say get a new superintendent who favors strong discipline in the classroom. Is supportive of all staff who work with children. He should also demand excellence from all administrators as well as him/herself, and have a get more with less attitude. Administrators are salaried employees. Make them earn their keep. Also while we do allow one union president in particular to drive board owned vehicle to take home and do shopping in it and god knows what else at taxpayers expense? We make Ms. Manuel and drive her own car and apply to the savings to the $30million deficit. That goes for all people who take home board owned vehicles, and not just her.By Dave
May 19, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this
Oldprof, you make an excellent point. But where’s the balance point? How long do you “stay the course”, knowing that 16,000 students at DPS are not getting the proper education? How many years of their education can they afford to throw away while we tinker with new education fads? I’m not sniping at you or anyone else, but we really need to figure out an answer here.By Mary
May 19, 2008 9:25 AM | Link to this
In this game, there are not any “outsiders”. Everyone considered is in the school administrators’club and trade association, as if education is an experience unique only to education majors. The Columbia article is typical of how the news media practices “softball journalism” on these issues. The public has been totally misled about the situation in Dayton. The reporter might as well be in the advertising and marketing business. I suppose that is what newspapers are anymore - advertising and marketing - not informing the public.By Buford
May 19, 2008 9:18 AM | Link to this
I would prefer to see someone from outside, and a new crew running the show. Believe a completely new look at how to do business would be to DPS advantage. Of course, unless student/parental involvement gets better and student discipline gets better, it probably won’t make much difference who is at the top. And until we property owners can get our elected officials to change the school funding system and get it off off our backs (as a primary source) there is reasonable view that levies will continue to fail. The economy is not getting better, the population in Dayton continues to erode, as does the number of students within the school system.By Oldprof
May 19, 2008 7:34 AM | Link to this
Sure, an internal choice means “stay the course” and external means “shake things up”. But we’re missing one other factor. It takes a long time to create change—positive or negative—in a school. I recall hearing a consultant who explained that we have no idea whether many programs worked or not because every time a school board is reconstituted (and it happens rather often), there’s a tendency to bring in a new superintendent—who replaces the previous administrations’ initiatives before they get a fair run. Somewhere in DPS (forgetting where—the old Board room, maybe?) there was a wall with photos of previous superintendents, and back in the mid-20th century—when DPS was doing quite well—there were only a couple of superintendents, each serving for decades. Compare that to the three people who’ve held the spot in the past 10 years. This kind of instability is bad for a school district, and the Democratic Party leaders who decided to endorse rookies rather than established board members ought to be condemned for their partisanship.