Through the Looking Glass with Kentucky's Board of Education members

No plans to resign with so much to do

Kentucky School Boards Association Communications Director Brad Hughes got KBE members on the record about their job performance so far...and what lies ahead. I'm going to chat through this one.

Despite some calls for their resignation, the members of the Kentucky Board of Education say they aren’t going anywhere.

Truer words were never spoken.

Rather than being defiant, most say they understand concerns over the initial search for a new education commissioner but want to complete that and other tasks confronting the state’s K-12 policy-making body.

Oh good. They understand. Pay attention to what else they say. There may be a quiz at the end.

"I plan on staying; I took a job and I’m going to do it," said Joe Brothers, the new chairman of the state board. "We’ve been looking at including the ACT and norm-referenced questions in our CATS test and a whole litany of other things all the while we’ve been conducting the search.

OK...here we go...

"Our process has been one of due diligence, attempting to ensure that we are fair and equitable.

Pull the other one.

If there was another single issue that was more obviously lacking in the Barbara Erwin debacle than the board's outsourcing of its responsibilities for due diligence, I don't know what it might be.

The board not only gave it up, but later said it was not their responsibility to check candidate references - this while conducting their most important duty of all; selecting the next education commissioner.

Due diligence is not about being fair and equitable. One must always be fair and equitable. Due diligence is about stewardship of the public trust. It is the board's duty to conduct a reasonable amount of research and analysis before entering into any kind of business transaction. It's how a reasonable person exercises care - to avoid potential harm - to the children.

By and large, I believe people understand," said Brothers, a former Elizabethtown Independent school board member and KSBA president.

No. It would be much more accurate to suggest that by and large the people don't understand - but simply feel powerless to do anything about it ...all things considered.

After controversial candidate Barbara Erwin accepted and then withdrew from the commissioner’s job, Kentucky’s two largest newspapers, The Courier-Journal and Lexington Herald-Leader, published editorials urging Gov. Ernie Fletcher to replace the entire board. The board and its search were criticized in other Kentucky newspapers, radio talk shows and Internet blogs.

Deservedly so. It would have been better if the board had fired her for her application misstatements, rather than her resigning because folks complained about them. If they had, Kentuckians might have believed the board came to its senses. Now, we still have to wait to see how the board actually behaves. Talk is useless now.

"This is about continuity. We’ve changed 10 members in the past three years," said former chairman Keith Travis of Benton.

Is he suggesting there has been continuity - while pointing out evidence to the contrary? Or is he saying that continuity has been so lacking that - even though this board hasn't performed very well - changing members again would be worse?

"(Our) role can be a lightning rod for strong emotions, but sometimes folding the tent through issues such as we’ve faced is the wrong thing to do."

Huh? The role of a board member can be lots of things, including effective. Under this board - not so much. Strong emotions resulted when the public couldn't understand why the board was so completely unable to see the obvious, and then ignored public outcry, while continuing to follow the lead of their search firm. Suggestions that the board should resign came later.

Board member and nominating committee chairman C. B. Akins said the change in the leadership should not be mistaken as a reaction to criticism.

Why not? It's the only thing that softened calls for the whole board to resign.

"Our simple agenda is to do the best we can possibly do for 650,000 kids in Kentucky. Do we care about the opinions of adults? Yes, we do. Are we here to serve adults? Not really," said Akins, of Lexington.

Oh. So, the implication is that you know what's best for kids? Kentucky's adults don't. So you care about Kentuckian's opinions. But not too much because you already know what's best... and that was Barbara Erwin. Is that it? Where's the evidence for that?

"Innuendo and assumptions are designed to cause people to lose focus. We can’t afford to do that," he said.

But the hard facts that the award-winning nominating committee and the school board chose to ignore were designed to keep the board from embarrasing themselves and this state.

When errors were first discovered, the first effort was to contact KDE Communications Director Lisa Gross in an attempt to inform the board of what was discovered and avoid the mess we just went through.

The second call went to the press. Why the second call? Because as CB suggests, the egoes of board members and other adults should be respected, but in the end, it's the kids that matter. Whether these particular adults serve as board members, doesn't matter at all. There are lots of qualified Kentuckians - who arguably might have done better.

"Certainly the change was no reflection on Keith Travis, who has done a dynamic job at great personal sacrifice and all of us owe him a great deal of gratitude for his service."

Oh yes! Stupendous! That 1-10 vote was no reflection on him. Perhaps he should get an award too. That's the ticket.

Dr. Janna Vice, a board member from Richmond, said she and her colleagues are committed to serving "with great concern and competence.

"We have very serious educational issues ahead for the board. I think the board is hoping to bring the commissioner search to fruition quickly so we can get back to task," Vice said. "Our goal is really all about the children of Kentucky."

Great...all except that one word "quickly." Quality is better than speed. And competence would be a nice change.

Disapproval misplaced?
Vice believes some of the heat the state board is taking comes from its decision to step up and take full responsibility for the first round of the commissioner search.

"We decided to take the high road and not use the search firm as a scapegoat," she said, "so we’ve been criticized for the actions of the (consultants)."

Ahhhh. So incompetence is the high road?!

Somebody ought to look up the word "scapegoat." When somebody is not at fault, but they get blamed anyway...that's a scapegoat {an object of irrational hostility}.

But in what way was Ray & Associates NOT at fault?

And if the Board is responsible for the children's best interests, why all this hand-wringing over the reputation of the search firm? They are arguably the only group who faired worse than the board in the whole mess.

As for taking responsibiltiy...I DO think I heard the board express that - once.

But what I hear from the board with much greater frequency are excuses, blaming the press, bloggers and concerned citizens - anyone except themselves...and their precious search firm, who they declined to use a second time.

Doug Hubbard of Bardstown said, "The importance of the problems with the search have been exaggerated somewhat.

Protecting adult egoes again? C'mon Doug. You're the one member who knew better.

It (hiring the new commissioner) all has to do with reaching proficiency by 2014 and that’s what we need to get back to doing."

That is the reason the board hired a consultant in the first place, according to David Rhodes of Mount Sterling. "We went with a national search firm so the board would have time to continue working with our staff on that goal of proficiency by 2014," he said. "We’re going to continue with that focus along with searching for a new commissioner."

So...remind me...how'd that work out?

David Webb of Brownsville said, "Obviously, some mistakes have been made, but we’re picking up and moving on.

Obviously.

I have confidence in the other board members that we will attack the leadership problem in a very aggressive manner."

Despite the criticisms, Louisville board member Jeanne Ferguson is "delighted everyone is so concerned about education. That’s why we’re staying; that’s the hope of the future."

...springs eternal.

Beyond the search

Several KBE members point out that the state board is working on issues besides the commissioner search – from integrating the ACT test into the CATS school accountability process to setting school funding priorities for consideration in the 2008 legislative session.

"The commissioner search is one of the most important things that we are doing because our decision will leave a legacy for all of the children and students in Kentucky," said Bonnie Lash Freeman, another KBE member from Louisville, "but we do have a lot more to think about (and) a lot more to contribute."

Judy Gibbons, a board member from Lakeside Park, echoed Freeman on the board’s to-do list.

"I’m not sure that people realize the extent of the work that board members put into understanding the issues and focusing on what needs to be done to advance education in Kentucky," she said. "There are some weeks when it’s a full-time job. There is an unbelievable amount of material to understand. We always try to think, ‘Is this the best for all students? Is this fair for all students?’"

Kaye Baird, a former Pikeville Independent board member prior to her state appointment, said she and her colleagues "are ready to move on to other things.

You gotta know that's true.

"We are a group of very conscientious people. We were trying to do the right thing (in hiring Erwin), but things did not unfold in the way we thought they would," Baird said. "We need to get on with the business of the education of children. That’s what we are all about."

And, I'm sure that's true as well.

But as the board goes on with its important business...maybe they might lighten up on the excuses. They don't accept excuses from school personnel. Why should Kentuckians have to listen to excuses from them?
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Photo: Newly-elected KBE Chairman Joe Brothers (center) and re-elected Vice Chairwoman Bonnie Lash Freeman at the August state board meeting. Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Noland is at left.