But Campana declares his page an Erwin-free zone. Is this premature?
Maybe not. Maybe the folks in St Charles are so fatigued by the whole mess that they are content to let residual issues go unaddressed and quit looking for the missing file. So what if she tried to get even more sick days than her cronies were willing to take heat for? The effort failed; let it go.
But what if there are a few "law and order" or "good government" folks running around St Charles? Maybe some average taxpayers? Maybe some education advocates who saw Erwin's effort as taking money away from the children?
What if the system IS working, only it's behind the scenes?
If the file is found, or more news breaks, isn't the Chronicle going to cover it?
Of course they are. The Chronicle gets my vote for best on-going coverage of the whole affair. The Daily Herald was far more timid and joined the story late, after the Chronicle had built in into something.
So, maybe Campana's right and it's over. It is no longer my particular concern since Kentucky children will not suffer.
But if I were to advise a St Charles board that needs to ask citizens for more support in the near future - I'd tell them that they'd better show a renewed sense of stewardship for district funds first. A stewardship that is focused squarely on children - not adults.
Time will tell.
~Campana: Chronicle says goodbye to Barb ErwinAfter today, page 2A will forever be a Barbara Erwin-free zone.
Later than it should have been, Erwin no longer is employed by the St. Charles school district. Her three years and two weeks as superintendent provided a wide-range of memories, questions and excessive forehead scratching.
Now that the end is here, why not take a trip down memory lane in this Barb retrospective, as reported by the Chronicle.
Dim the lights and cue the sappy music.
• “I hope to accomplish what the community wants. It is not about what Dr. Erwin wants,” Erwin said in January 2004, after the school board hired her.
Hmmm …
• “Some people say that you get what you pay for. Actually, I think we got a bargain,” former school board president Mary Jo Knipp talking about the $14,000 price tag to select Erwin.
Where do we begin to dissect this comment from Knipp, who led the school board through an illegal closed-session vote to extend Erwin’s contract and now is employed by the district?
• “You need to begin with the end in mind,” Erwin in July 2004 on the eve
of taking over District 303.
Nostradamus might not have seen this type of ending in St. Charles – or the beginning and end in Kentucky – but maybe Erwin’s colleagues in Arizona, Texas and Indiana could.
• “Barbara Erwin said she had planned to retire from education before she interviewed to become the next St. Charles school superintendent,” the lead
paragraph to a July 2, 2004, story about Erwin’s first day.
What a minute, this sounds familiar?
• “Superintendent Barbara Erwin tendered her retirement Monday night, effective in August 2007;” “Erwin said she could enter higher education or the private sector during her retirement,” excerpts from an October 2006 story about Erwin’s surprise retirement announcement.
Getting warmer …
• “As you know, my original plan was to retire in August 2007. I believe it is in the best interests of all if I maintain those plans ... ,” Erwin’s letter last week to Kentucky officials.
Oh, that’s right.
• “I find it interesting because a contract’s a contract. … Now people are upset about it. I don’t understand, they weren’t upset about it three years ago,” Erwin to a Kentucky newspaper last week about the D-303 contract flap.
Uh, because no one knew about it three years ago. Your board made sure of
that.
• “Erwin could not be reached for comment;” “Erwin did not return phone calls seeking comment,” published on, well, heck, pick a story since October.
Tom Hernandez, former D-303 communications director, must have taken all her comments with him when he left for Plainfield in November.
• “She was a cancer for our district. … And now the cancer has shown up in another part of public education,” Eric Kurland, who worked with Erwin in Arizona, in October 2006.
Now St. Charles enters remission, to further Kurland’s analogy.
• “Whatever I’ll do, it’ll revolve around children,” Erwin in October, talking about her “retirement” plans.
When you think you’re the Sun, everything revolves around you.
Good riddance.
3 comments:
I'm sure it's a columnist gimmick. He'll come crawling back when need be with another column about Erwin, and I'm sure the reporters will not stop hunting for more on this district and Erwin's aftermath. In fact, I guarantee it.
I still find it so puzzling that there is not more input from prior administrators and teachers. It seems that the people who are closest to kids, and have their best intentions at heart, should be asked about the qualities and deficiencies of their prior leaders. I honestly had no idea that my quote would be picked up by the AP but I am glad that a reporter called. Hopefully, this last bit of chemo will lead to a clean educational bill of health for everyone and Ms. Erwin will act like the rest of us after short stays in other parts of the country...stick to collecting shot glasses rather than state pensions.
Eric Kurland
Sadly, the ones who most often spout the phrase "it's for the children," are the ones who are most often in it for themselves.
Hopefully the Kentucky Board of Education and school districts across our nation have learned a lesson from this mess.
The search firms are there to make money. Transient superintendents are there to make money.
Hopefully the KBE will do a full (and I mean private) investigation of their next candidate before filling a job that allows its holder to choose between (1) doing what's right for Kentucky's school-age children or (2) lightening its taxpayers' wallets at the childrens' expense.
Best wishes,
Christine Schild
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