Some folks want to forget their guilty past and move on quickly. Others believe a few mea culpas are needed first, to fully comply with a state's attorney's ruling and to begin the healing.
It got so bad that Dawn Miller, a representative of the Illinois Association of School Boards, who was there to assist said, "Perhaps if you can’t put this aside, I should have seven resignation forms up here... This is outrageous!” ...
More from the Kane County Chronicle, and this.
While some members pig-headedly refuse to atone for their past dealing so that healing might begin, the one veteran board member who did understand what went wrong and tried to fix it, just gave up.
Chris Hansen submitted his resignation yesterday saying, "People have to remember this is about the children, and there's so many good things happening that we shouldn't lose sight of. Hansen said he hopes his resignation helps change the dynamic of the embattled board, whose members are struggling to overcome turmoil from recent controversies.
The wrong guy - did the right thing.
This from the Daily Herald.
~Kentucky can be glad. The dysfunctional leadership in Allen, Texas took some time to heal. The same for Scottsdale, Arizona. In St Charles, Illinois it may take longer.
What happens in Kentucky's schools over the next decade will be a product of what our board does now. The sooner board members can forget their Erwin flirtation the better. If members choose to focus on their own embarrassment, forgetting Erwin will be hard to do. But if members focus on the best interests of Kentucky's students, people will notice, and the board can put this behind them relatively quickly.
Most board members (but not all) seem to understand that the press was not the problem.
~
This take from Jeffrey Ward of the Batavia Sun.
What happens in Kentucky's schools over the next decade will be a product of what our board does now. The sooner board members can forget their Erwin flirtation the better. If members choose to focus on their own embarrassment, forgetting Erwin will be hard to do. But if members focus on the best interests of Kentucky's students, people will notice, and the board can put this behind them relatively quickly.
Most board members (but not all) seem to understand that the press was not the problem.
~
This take from Jeffrey Ward of the Batavia Sun.
Don't blame me!
I'll take the blame for a lot of things. Global warming, being liberal on social issues, driving my editors to unusually high levels of alcohol consumption, being a Cubs fan since 1964, corrupting my young assistant with my foul mouth and being a lot less smart than some of my readers (they tell me so).
In fact, I've been trained to take the blame whenever any woman accuses me of anything. A recent study claims men utter the same 16,000 words per day as women. What they failed to mention is that 8,000 of those words are "yes" and the other half "dear."
But, despite her statement to the contrary, I will not take the blame for former St. Charles School Superintendent Barbara Erwin backing out of her Kentucky Commissioner of Education job. As a man, I have to draw the line somewhere because my wife told me so.
In a clear and continuing case of truth being far stranger that fiction, Erwin just quit two jobs she didn't have at the same time. Though already out of the picture in District 303, her final day on the payroll (no coincidence) was actually Friday, July 13. On that very same day she submitted a letter of resignation to the Kentucky State Board of Education two days before starting that job.
In that letter Erwin writes, "The continued noise by the media is and will detract us from our mission..." Oh! So this is our fault! It's those pesky reporters and columnists!
Even football has a penalty for piling on and, so far, I've avoided tackling Erwin. But, as liberal as I can be on some issues, I'm a raging conservative when it comes to personal responsibility. So, as a duly and self-appointed representative of the media in Kane County and Kentucky I will endeavor to respond to Dr. Erwin's accusation.
Dr. Erwin, I -- or anyone else in the news media -- am not responsible for your "it's my way or the highway" management style. I didn't play the game of divide and conquer, choosing favorites and then turning my back on them when expedient. It's not my fault that eight of the nine officials directly under you, four principals and countless other staff bailed out during your tenure -- most to lower-paying jobs.
If I remember correctly, the media didn't create a special position for my buddy from Scottsdale, so he could play enforcer to my every edict. Was it a reporter that canned a long-time IT director and hired a former board member for $50,000 a year more?
Was it the media who placed those fictional Texas "Superintendent of the Year" awards in your resume? Did a columnist claim you twice presented at the Illinois Association of School Boards Triple I Conference, despite not being listed as a speaker? Should a Louisville news station take the blame for reporting you were a member of the executive board of the American Association of School Administrators from only 1999 to 2002 and not from 1991 per your resume?
But, instead of taking responsibility for "gilding the lily," you dismiss it all with the now famous, "it's a typo" defense. As a TV judge says, "If you're going to lie -- please make it a good one -- don't insult my intelligence." So if by "media noise" you mean ferreting out the truth then I understand.
I wasn't the one who couldn't keep my reason for leaving straight. First you're retiring, then superintendent elsewhere, next Kentucky and now it's retirement again. The media didn't insist on your Aug. 4 departure date and then move it to July 13.
Then, just when we thought you were Kentucky's problem, like a bad B horror movie, there's always one more scene. Your missing personnel file. I'm guessing you think the press took it. You said, "I'm dumbfounded to learn my personnel file is missing." And if anyone buys that one, they'll probably believe Jim Gaffney will win a St. Charles school board member of the year award.
Lastly, instead of leaving with a shred of class, you couldn't resist taking one more swipe at the very people who broke the law to give you your "raise." You just couldn't resist dissing the board who, in an illegal closed meeting, presented you with an astonishing 85 sick days per year. No! Even that couldn't keep you from saying, "It is so refreshing to talk with board members who truly have the belief that ALL children can learn!" in that letter of resignation to Kentucky.
Dr. Erwin, I'm sorry you believe whatever you've been thinking for the last five minutes is the truth. You could have been a good if not great superintendent, but the mark of a good leader is one who doesn't blame others for their failures. A great leader admits to and learns from their mistakes. When all is said and done, your inability to take responsibility for any of your actions or for the words that come out of your mouth, brought you to the place you are now.
And you can't blame me for that.
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