Well, I have softened my opinion of the superwoman but just a bit. First, I appreciated the comments. I tend to agree more with some of them than others although I don’t totally *disagree* with any of them and I love to hang out with all of the commenters whether it be on the internet or bombing around the Great Lake State. I loved the Grand Poohbah’s story. I hope for that kind of outcome from our superwoman but I am not optimistic.

And then, I read this article, by the Ann Arbor Chronicle. The Chronicle generally reports things in greater detail compared to a2.com (and I think both news sources have their place). Some might even say excruciating detail and I have heard even the most avid followers say that reading some of the reports is like watching paint dry. But if you need to know what happened at a civic board meeting, the Chronicle is the place to go. And this article did not disappoint. I got a much clearer picture of the events that led up to the controversy and the process that took place at that board meeting than what I got from a2.com.

I am still not impressed with our school board and administrator. I agree that you have to offer high salaries to get “top talent”. And that’s in quotes because, like I said before, over the last 10-15 years, we have hired one “talented” superintendent after another. They last a year or maybe two or even three and then they are booted out. Why? Not sure. I’m pretty sure that the Planet Ann Arbor is not the easiest place to walk into as a super. But we are a community and so often I feel as though whatever super we hire, no matter what paper credentials he/she comes with, has a tin ear. This is a tax-payer funded position and the super is a public figure of sorts whether he or she wants to be. So we’ll see what this superwoman does… And make no mistake, although I am convinced that our school board didn’t violate any of the open meeting rules, they sure handled the whole thing in a ham-handed fashion. We’ll see how that plays out when they put the planned “technology” bond on the ballot…

I think I am just about done with this issue. But not quite. That pesky achievement gap? Let’s get real here. The gap is NOT gonna get closed by the schools. It is a socio-economic status problem. When our society is such that all kids arrive at whatever flavor school they attend without any baggage from home, maybe we can erase the gap. But that is a utopia. Right now, I think that the schools are only one tool available for helping with the achievement gap. And, while I think that every employee that our school district hires should be committed to helping close that gap to the best of their ability, I do not think that they should have their feet held to the fire if they can’t close it. Not even the superwoman.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 19th, 2011 at 7:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.