Al Smith adds his doubt to the sum of doubt: Erwin should be reconsidered

Veteran reporter and host of KET's Comment on Kentucky Al Smith joins in calling for a pause - and reconsideration of Erwin's selection in today's Courier-Journal and the Herald-Leader. He not only gets the Erwin issue right, but also warns against selection of another finalist, Richard LaPlante, as being even worse.

I agree.

LaPlante was appointed by, and carried out the wishes of Governor George Allen (of "macaca" fame) when he was state superintendent in Virginia.The Richmond Times Dispatch noted, La Pointe a former education official in the Reagan and Bush administrations "has been criticized by some in the legislature as too ideological." La Pointe backed graduation standards that reduced focus on the arts, and he supported the controversial Family Life Education program.

When a more moderate Republican Governor (and now, candidate for the Republican nomination for president) James Gilmore succeeded Allen he chose not to reappoint La Pointe as Superintendent. Philosophical about his disappointment La Pointe said, "I've carried out what Governor Allen has asked me to do, and I'm terribly pleased with the opportunity I had."Newport News Daily Press lamented that "Richard La Pointe's management of the department created serious morale problems" and his replacement was moving the department "toward a moderate education policy and away from the perceived ideological bent."


Al Smith says,

"Erwin has had trouble with boards and teachers in three states. Now that her problems have come to light, why would our state board persist in giving her direction over 665,000 Kentucky school children anyway? If her history repeats itself a fourth time, the anguish will reflect forever not only on the judgment of our board members but of Fletcher, who met with them and the finalists before Erwin was named.

Despite citations for achievement, the narrative of Erwin's career in Texas, Arizona and Illinois is repeatedly indexed with controversy. Beyond the criticism that she has poor "people skills," there is no question that she has never managed the responsibility for a program as large as Kentucky's and that she deceived the Kentucky board with a fictitious award (which she now calls "a typo").

Although these problems were exposed by reporters, not the board's search firm, it's not too late to address them.

...A case for an extended pause is the obvious problem recruiters have had trying to entice more competent candidates to apply for education commissioner in a state so buffeted by the winds of politics. Who would want to risk leaving a secure position to lead Kentucky's schools in the current political climate? This also suggests that if the board sensibly changes its mind about Erwin, the very worst thing it could do would be to fall back on another of its three finalists -- the gentleman from Washington who was ousted from another job and accused of undermining school reforms in Virginia.

All that said, the press and other critics of the Erwin selection should soundly applaud, not mock, the board if it musters the courage to change its course."