The mainstream press missed an important discussion by the Board of Education during its meeting last Tuesday. Members voted 7-2 to take responsibility for the district's future and work with the state to set immediate priorities for a new director to and end corrective action.
Board voted to form a committee charged with setting goals for the new director when he or she begins work this fall.The committee will include state officials who have moved to not only take over some schools because of their poor performance, but to replace and reorganize central office staff in order to make the district more effective.
The committee was proposed by member Gracie Porter who said, "It has seemed to me that the board, the director and the state have been walking separate paths to a common destination. We all want better schools, but we have defined distinct roles for ourselves." She added, "It’s not the individual responsibility of the board, the director or the state to make our schools successful. It is a shared responsibility and I believe this committee can unite us in that effort."
Perhaps the best part of the meeting was a speech from outgoing member George Thompson who clearly outlined the board's past failings and why it was time for the board to assert its responsibility to lead the district. Because I have poor video editing skills, the best I can do is to send you to this link and tell you that Mr. Thompson's comments begin at 9:45 into the clip.
Thompson's speech is probably the most honest assessment of the failings of the Metro Nashville Public School Board that has been made in public. He outlines how the board sat aside and allowed the schools to be run by a single director without accountability from the board. The candor is refreshing and likely only possible from a lame-duck school board member. It's worth a few minutes of your time to view.
Porter's committee has created the opportunity to rectify past mistakes. It allows the board to come together on a set of immediate goals, made in consultation with the state, so that the new director will clearly understand the immediate goals he or she is expected to meet.
It will be up to the director to decide how to go about the day-to-day operations of the district and decide, with the approval of the board and the state, how to meet the goals. It is a move supported by the firm searching for a new director, whose representative said at the meeting that he has never seen a district move forward unless all board members were united.
In her comments, board chair Marsha Warden made it clear she favors a district led by a director and was hesitant for the board to set out an agenda. She voted against the committee and she is wrong. It's the board's job to make sure Nashville's schools are as strong as they can be. The board's job is to hire and fire the director, but it cannot wait a year to see if the job is being done to its satisfaction. It must set clear direction for a new director and make sure that the three entities responsible for the district -- the board, the state and the director -- are going in the same direction.
This committee and the decisions it makes will help a new director get started on the right foot. It also sets the tone that those responsible for the district must work together and not simply relegate themselves to separate roles.
Congratulations to the board for stepping up to its responsibility. Now it's time to do the job it was elected to do.
-- Jim Grinstead
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