Erwin Timeline

The Herald-Leader posted a resume and timeline on Barbara Erwin. I have added more detail to it.

RESUME
Barbara F. Erwin
Age: 56
Hometown: Born in Chicago, raised in Hammond, Ind.
Education: Bachelor's degree in special education from Indiana University; master's degree in school administration from Purdue University; and a doctorate in school administration from Indiana University.
Family: Married with two sons.

Work history: Led the 30,000-student Scottsdale (Arizona) Unified School District as superintendent from 2000 to 2004; served as superintendent of the Allen (Texas) Independent School District from 1994 to 2000.

ERWIN TIME LINE
Sept. 8: Gene Wilhoit, education commissioner for six years, announces he will resign Nov. 1 to become executive director of an education advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

October: Erwin announces her retirement from St Charles effective August 4th.

December: Ray and Associates Inc., an Iowa-based firm, is hired to handle the search for Wilhoit's replacement. The firm receives a base fee of $32,000 plus about $1,000 for preparation of the flier and application form, about $8,000 for applicant interviews, about $4,300 for travel expenses, and other fees.

April 1: Kentucky Department of Education commissioner search committee holds first meeting.

April 7: Mark Hebert (WHAS) reports Commissioner search is secret. KSN&C gets involved.

April 10: KDE board says the names of finalists might not be released to the public.

April 16: Gov. Ernie Fletcher sends a letter to board chairman Keith Travis urging the board to seek public input on the candidates.

April 18: The board complies and announces its top three candidates: Barbara Erwin, superintendent of St. Charles community Unit District 303 in Illinois; Mitchell Chester, a senior associate state superintendent for the Ohio Department of Education's Office of Policy and Accountability; and Richard La Pointe, deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education.

April 19: KSN&C posts numerous pages of background on the 3 finalists.

April 22: KSN&C reports "differences in philosophy" cited in Erwin's retirement; Ky job is the third she sought since "retirement." Issues raised over the number of retirement systems already vested in.

April 24: KSN&C sends brief candidate summary, access to more information and recommendation to KBE search committee. KSN&C opines that the field is relatively weak, Mitchell Chester is probably the best candidate; Erwin is suspect in areas related to openness with the press and an overall tendency toward disharmony and combativeness., and LaPointe is suspect, and probably unacceptable, on cultural issues. Herald-Leader urges an apolitical Commissioner.

April 24: After KBE closed session, Erwin accepts offer to become Kentucky's first female education commissioner and announces plans to retire from St. Charles on August 4. Officials with districts in St. Charles, Scottsdale, Ariz., and Allen, Texas, say Erwin clashed with some of the district's leaders.

April 26: Mark Hebart reports Ky Board chair Keith Travis said he was unaware of Erwin's troubles in prior districts, planned ot release names of finalists all along. Lisa Gross confirms the board read and discussed the KSN&C material before they voted.

April 29: Courier-Journal reader "nowisright" questions Erwin's credibility in Superintendent of the Year claims. Bluegrass Institute (Richard Innes) contacts KSN&C (Richard Day), agree to a joint investigation of Erwin claims.

May 1: Bluegrass Institute confirms Erwin exaggerated Superintendent of the Year claims. Fletcher flies to Bowling Green to meet Erwin.

May 2: KSN&C questions whether Ray & Associates (the search firm) presented particular bothersome past events from Erwin's career; later confirmed, they did not. Bluegrass Institute blasts search process.

May 3: Herald-Leader picks up story on Erwin's temperament and Courier-Journal picks up resume story. Bob Sexton blames search firm. Board stands by Erwin.

May 6: Board member Doug Hubbard urges Erwin to withdraw. Herald-Leader reports that some Kentucky districts spend over $200,000 on legal fees. KSN&C reports Erwin spent $650,000 on legal fees in Scottsdale.

May 7: KSN&C criticizes state board for outsourcing its responsibilities for due diligence to its search firm, Ray & Associates, who seem to have advised secrecy, which produced a bad result. Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer critizes the board's over-reliance on the search firm.

May 8: Al Smith, writing in both the C-J and H-L, urges the board to slow down the process, get past the gubernatorial election, get it right; Wartns against La Pointe. St Charles Board member Bobbie Raehl, alleges an Open Meetings Act violation in approving Erwin's Illinois contract. KSN&C posts huge summary of 800+ articles involving Erwin, alerts KBE. KSN&C expressed difficulty confirming Erwin's claim that she presented a tht eTriple I conference in 2006.

May 9: Board goes into closed session with Erwin at 9:30 AM (EST). At 9:54 AM, KSN&C gets confirmation of Erwin's false conference presentation claim. KSN&C's contacts Lisa Gross (KDE) but attempt to get word to the board fails. KSN&C contacts H-L, C-J & Mark Hebert. Board members vote unanimously to hire Erwin, despite concerns about errors in her resume and her reputation in other districts she's led. She is offered a four-year contract with a base salary of $220,000 a year and scheduled to start on July 16. When confronted after the lengthy closed session, Erwin said she had to "sign off" for others to present. Board members said they were unaware - looked past her credibility problems.

May 10: KSN&C criticizes a pattern of behavior that is emerging form its research. KSN&C and the Bluegrass Institute start digging into other resume claims. KSN&C ponts out another resume "typo" where Erwin misnamed an honorary fraternity.

May 11: C-J calls selection process tolerated by Fletcher appointees "slipshod." Bluegrass Institute and KSN&C independently confirm another resume error; Erwin claimed ten-year membership on AASA committee, which should have been three years. Concerns raised by Comment on Kentucky, Ashland Daily Independent, State-Journal and the Family Foundation.

May 16: H-L confirms fifth error; regarding membership on Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce Board. KSN&C exposes sixth error; teaching certification mystery: Indiana officials can not explain how Erwin got a teaching license in 1971-72 school year, when she didn't graduate IU until May 1972. Erwin does not respond to KSN&C inquiry. Erwin's St Charles contract moved to personnel file, not released to press.

May 23rd KSN&C reports rumor of Erwin asking for 85 sick days beginning in 2004 contrary to her contract.

May 28: KSN&C reports a conflict in Erwin's announced work schedule. She tells St Charles she will work until August 4, after commiting to Kentucky that she would start July 16th.

June 6: Illinois state's attorney finds St Charles Board in willful violation of Open Meetings Act in Erwin contract.

June 8: KSN&C confirms another error; this on Erwin's application where she indicated that she had never been sued and never left a district under pressure. Erwin was a name defendant, at the U.S. District Court in Phoenix: styled Schild v. Erwin (2:04-cv-00910); being sued by one of her board members at the time she left Scottsdale. St Charles board votes to ratify her 2005 contract.

June 11: KSN&C reports that the Ray & Associates claim that Erwin solved a mold problem in St Charles was false.

June 12: Op-Ed by Richard Day in Courier-Journal recaps the concerns and calls for the Kentucky Board of Education to dismiss Erwin.

June 23: Jamie Lucke faults weak field of candidates, inexperienced Kentucky School Board for Erwin mess. Ronnie Ellis cites Erwin's double-speak.

June 26: The Illinois state attorney's office cites the St. Charles school board for violating the Open Meetings Act when it met in private on April 11 to vote on an amendment that would give Erwin an additional 85 sick days for every year of her contract from 2005. Her contact was to expire in 2010.

June 30: Four state educators are named to associate commissioners posts, including Elaine Farris, the state's first black superintendent.

July 3: St. Charles officials contact police about Erwin's missing personnel file. A police investigation into the missing file is ongoing.

July 10: Erwin memo surfaces claiming 85 sick days starting in 2004. Citizens claim memo was an attmept to defraud the Illinois Teachers Retirement System and the St Charles schools.

July 11: Erwin attends her first KBE meeting [as Commissioner-select].

July 13: Erwin withdraws from her contact with KDE.

July 14: Kentucky Board of Education meets to plot a new course.

C-J's take on Erwin Selection Process: Criticism flies over school chief selection

A terrific article from Antoinette Konz in today's Courier-Journal:
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Barbara Erwin's resignation just days before she was to take over as Kentucky education commissioner was the capstone to what critics say was a botched search that should have eliminated the controversial superintendent long before she was offered the job.

The Iowa search firm hired by the Kentucky Board of Education to produce a list of candidates should have vetted Erwin more closely and targeted problems more quickly, the critics argue.

And they say board members failed to do their job, ignoring concerns raised by the media and the public over Erwin's resume, which contained an award she hadn't won and a presentation she never made, and her reputation for running roughshod over teachers and administrators when she was a superintendent in Texas, Arizona and Illinois.

"There is no shortage of places where it went wrong," said Bob Sexton, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. "The board found out all sorts of things about Erwin too late. But in the end, it was the board's responsibility to make sure that the best person for the job was named commissioner, and that didn't happen."

The board's chairman, Keith Travis, acknowledges mistakes but says the search firm, Ray and Associates, failed to inform the board promptly of Erwin's reputation and dismissed her resume errors as "minor."

"If we had known, I think the board would have taken a different approach," Travis said.

Ray officials counter that the firm did its job, checking everything it was asked to check.

"Our reputation is on the line here. We feel we conducted a solid search, brought them good candidates and they made a choice," said William Newman, national executive director of Ray and Associates.

The cost to taxpayers?

More than $50,000 for a failed search, and the prospect of months more without a permanent commissioner, whose job is to oversee the state Department of Education and implement policies for the state's public schools and their 660,000 students.

Board chooses search firm

The hunt for a new education commissioner began last September when Gene Wilhoit announced he was resigning to become executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, a Washington-based education advocacy group.

The school board interviewed three search firms, settling in December on Ray and Associates, which specializes in searching for school executive leadership and has been recognized as one of the top search firms in the county by The School Administrator, a publication of the American Association of School Administrators.

The contract with Ray called for the firm to identify suitable candidates and screen their qualifications and eligibility. The firm also was to meet with the board's search committee, prepare written recommendations and evaluations for each candidate and "assist the board with a statement of qualifications that the candidates will be expected to meet," according to a copy of the contract obtained by The Courier-Journal through an open-records request.

The board agreed to pay Ray a base fee of $32,000, plus expenses and fees, not to exceed a total of $50,000.

The board also appointed five of its members to a search committee, naming Bonnie Lash Freeman of Louisville as chairwoman.

Newman said Ray and Associates gave the search committee files on 20 to 30 potential candidates in mid-March. On March 28, the committee met in closed session to review those applications and discuss interview questions for the semifinalists.

The files given to the search committee consisted of each candidate's application, resume, letters of reference and a summary report written by the firm, Newman said, with the summary based on interviews conducted with "various sources."

Erwin's file included her application, resume, a reference sheet with eight names, a summary sheet from the firm and 16 letters of reference from former school board members, teachers and principals, according to a copy obtained by The Courier-Journal through an open-records request.

None of the letters, nor any information in the summary report, contained criticism concerning Erwin's tenure.

Newman said the firm did not provide the board with any negative comments regarding Erwin because "there were not any negatives we had a real concern about."

"Any time you are in a top position, you will have people who will support you and you will have people who oppose and criticize you," he said.

The search committee privately interviewed five semifinalists on April 1-3, and then narrowed the field to three finalists. The finalists were brought to Bowling Green April 15-16 to interview with the full board.

The finalists' names were not initially released to the public.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher wrote to the board on April 17 asking it to release the names, and the board complied that day.

Travis said the board had planned on releasing the names all along.

"We just wanted to interview the finalists first and make sure that we still wanted to consider them," he said. "We didn't see a point of naming them when we hadn't even met or interviewed them."

The finalists were Richard La Pointe, deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education; Mitchell Chester, senior associate state superintendent with the Ohio Department of Education; and Erwin, superintendent at St. Charles, Ill.

Criticism starts to emerge

With the finalists named, Freeman said the board waited several days for public feedback.

That's when it began to hear criticism of Erwin, she said -- some questioning her leadership style in Scottsdale, Ariz., others raising concerns about her tenure in Texas. Freeman said she couldn't remember the specifics. (KSN&C sent brief candidate summary to KBE on April 24 which - KDE's Lisa Gross confirmed - was read and discussed before the board voted.)

"We began receiving all sorts of phone calls and e-mails about the candidates," Freeman said. "Some of it was good; some of it was bad. I forwarded the concerns to the search firm and asked them to look into those things."

Newman said his firm looked into the claims by calling people who knew of Erwin's tenure as a superintendent in Allen, Texas, and Scottsdale.

In a follow-up report given to the board -- obtained by The Courier Journal through an open-records request -- the firm said it had spoken to Worley Stein, a former school board member and board president in Allen, who said "there is absolutely no truth to the negative claims regarding Barbara Erwin's tenure of the district."

No other person was mentioned or interviewed in the Texas follow-up.

Newman said the firm was not able to contact Nancy Cantor, a woman who had criticized Erwin's tenure in Scottsdale. Newman said he spoke with David Goldstaub, a former school board president who was familiar with Cantor.

"We were advised to disregard whatever she (Cantor) says because, inexplicably, she had it in for Dr. Erwin, along with a few of her friends," the follow-up report said.

Cantor could not be reached for comment.

Erwin named top choice

On April 25, the Kentucky Department of Education sent out a news release saying board members had reached a consensus, based on their interviews.

"The board is very pleased to identify Barbara Erwin as its top candidate," Travis said in the release, adding that the board was "most appreciative of the professional services provided by Ray and Associates."

In a recent interview, Travis said the board selected Erwin as its top choice because of her self-confidence and aggressiveness.

"She interviewed extremely well," Travis said. "We looked at the numbers (data) she presented, and it showed that she took large school districts from (scoring at) an average level to a higher level of performance in a very short period of time."

But within days, newspapers around Kentucky began publishing stories detailing Erwin's troubles in her previous jobs.

For example, Eric Kurland and Bob Bernier, the president and vice president of the Scottsdale Teachers Association, told The Courier-Journal in a story published April 26 that Erwin did not work well with teachers and "ruled by intimidation." Kurland said that during Erwin's tenure, the Scottsdale district lost a lot of good teachers, principals and administrators.

"She was like a cancer. She took the life out of our district," Kurland said in the story. "We are now just starting to recover."

Erwin never responded to the claims made by Kurland and Bernier.

On May 1, The Courier-Journal reported that Erwin's resume contained an award she didn't win. The resume she gave the state Board of Education stated that she was named Texas superintendent of the year in 1997 and 1998. But the agency that gave her the award, the Texas Association of School Boards, said she received the top honor only once, in 1997. (First confirmed by Richard Innes at the Bluegrass Institute)

Erwin acknowledged the mistake but said it was simply a "typo."

Travis said the newspaper reports caught board members by surprise. He said he and other board members expected Ray and Associates to alert them to "some of the issues that may have existed with the candidates."

"It would have been nice to know if there was any controversy so that we could have addressed it in the initial interview," he said.

Freeman agreed.

"We wanted a balanced view on what each of the candidates were about, and we really didn't get that," she said.

In response to the news reports, Freeman said she had the search firm check out the errors on Erwin's resume and the firm "admitted there were items they missed and went back to her and asked her for a clarification."

Newman said the search firm checked the inaccuracies and decided they were "minor."

"We took those things very seriously and looked into them, but in the end we felt they were more like misunderstandings," Newman said.

Board looks into concerns

The board decided to continue pursuing Erwin for the job, announcing it would hold a meeting at its annual retreat to ratify an employment contract.

But by that time, board member Doug Hubbard of Bardstown had changed his mind, calling for Erwin to withdraw because of growing concerns about her background. Hubbard said her credibility was suspect.

"The last nine days have been one revelation after another revelation, and I think there is a perception that she cannot overcome," Hubbard told The Courier-Journal in an article published May 5.

The rest of the board continued to support Erwin, with Travis stating publicly that she remained the best candidate.

"I haven't seen any evidence that changes my mind," Travis told the newspaper.

During its May 9 retreat in Bowling Green, the board called an executive session to talk with Erwin about some of the issues that had been raised.

"We went over a lot of the concerns that had been raised, item by item," Travis said in a recent interview. "It was a very stressful, challenging time. She brought in documentation and files with her and answered our questions to the satisfaction of the board at that time."

During a break in its four-hour executive session, the board was informed by The Courier-Journal that Erwin's resume contained a second mistake -- listing a presentation she hadn't made. (KDE, the Courier-Journal, the Herald-Leader and WHAS TV had been informed of the error by Kentucky School News and Commentary during the meeting!)

The resume said Erwin had conducted presentations on school improvement, Advanced Placement and superintendent search processes in 2004 and 2006 during the Illinois Association of School Boards Triple I Conference in Chicago. But an official with the association said Erwin wasn't listed as a presenter for the 2006 conference.

But when board members reopened the meeting, they voted 10-0 to approve a four-year contract with Erwin. Hubbard was traveling and couldn't vote.

Freeman said the board decided to give Erwin the benefit of the doubt and agreed to pay her a base salary of $220,000.

"We felt comfortable with the items and materials she brought in to justify the inaccuracies," Freeman said.

More problems revealed

In June, more inaccuracies on Erwin's resume became public, including an error in the number of years she served on the board of directors for the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce. Her resume also listed her membership on the executive board of the American Association of School Administrators from 1991 to 2000, when she was actually a member of the association's executive committee from 1999 to 2002. (Discovered by the Bluegrass Institute)

In addition, Erwin said in her application for the commissioner job that she had never been involved with pending litigation. However, Erwin was named a defendant in a court case filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix in 2004. (Also discovered by KSN&C.)

Christine Schild accused Erwin and lawyers for the Scottsdale Unified School District of violating her right First Amendment rights by preventing her from speaking on some agenda items at school board meetings. A federal judge dismissed the case; Schild eventually was elected to the school board.

In June, the Illinois state attorney's office cited the St. Charles school board for violating the open meetings act when it met in private on April 11 to vote to give Erwin an additional 85 sick days for every year of her contract since 2005.

Travis and Freeman said the Kentucky board did not become aware of the additional concerns until after they were published in newspapers.

"It seemed like the longer people dug, the more problems that were found," Freeman said. (Incluidng possible fraud.)

Then on July 11, the same day Erwin attended her first board meeting in Frankfort as Kentucky's commissioner-select, The Courier-Journal and other media outlets reported that Illinois police were investigating the disappearance of Erwin's personnel file, which was reported missing July 3 from the St. Charles school district. The investigation is continuing.

Newman said his firm did not know about the missing file until it was reported in the media. But Travis said it was the "icing on the cake."

On July 13, Travis said he spoke to Erwin in the morning about board concerns about her past and that she might not be able to do her job because she would be "so immersed in other issues."

A few hours later, Erwin submitted her letter of resignation, just three days before she was to begin her new job, citing "overwhelming and acute scrutiny" and "continued noise by the media."

Critics, board assess blame

With Erwin's resignation, critics more vigorously questioned whether the school board had failed to properly check out its choice, while board members began pointing fingers at the search firm.

Richard Day, a former Kentucky principal and an education instructor at the University of Kentucky and Georgetown College, blogged frequently about the flawed search process.

"I believe it was perfectly proper for the board to get a firm to assist in the search, but they should have done their own diligence once it got down to the final candidates," Day said. "Even after she was named, there was a quantity of folks out there who were telling them about all these problems surrounding her, but they did not want to listen."

Hubbard said the search firm was partly to blame, and he has called on Ray and Associates to refund the money it was paid. But he also criticized the board leadership, which he said allowed Erwin to be selected.

"We have had a completely chaotic situation for almost 90 days and we need someone to get us out," Hubbard said in an interview. "If the current leadership led us into this problem, we may need someone else to get us out."

Freeman said she does not blame Travis for what happened.

"We expected to get all of the information (about the candidates) from the search firm," she said. "If we had gotten all of the information from the firm, we would have never named (Erwin). We would have named someone else."

Travis said he accepts responsibility for the "circumstances we engaged in," but said he doesn't believe it was the state board's job to double-check resumes and references.

"That was what we paid the search firm to do," he said. "I expected that the further a candidate goes in the process, the more scrutiny there should be. That includes credit history, education verification and, obviously, looking at the resume and making sure that everything checks out."

Newman agreed that that is the search firm's responsibility, and he believes his firm met that duty. He said his firm does not give refunds, but he offered a two-year guarantee and promised to assist the board "in any way we can to help them find the best candidate for the job."

That isn't likely, Travis said. The board's preference is "not to use that firm again."

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Erwin Timeline from KSN&C provides evidence that disputes some KBE claims.

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The State board meets at 10AM today in Frankfort,

"Attempted Fraud": Ex St Charles Board President gives Erwin memo to County Prosecutor, police

Erwin's Quest to Vest

Gaffney: “I didn’t write the memo...I just signed it.”

The post-Erwin fallout continues in WestChiTown as St Charles board member Jim Gaffney tries to distance himself from the now infamous "Erwin memo" that bears his signature.

His 'I didn't write it but I signed it' excuse is the lamest thing I've heard since Erwin's, 'I didn't present at the conference, but I signed off on it.'

What's next? 'I'm not the Queen of England, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night?'

One source close to district leadership in St Charles told KSN&C, in April, that several district personnel were aware of Erwin's efforts to pressure HR staff to add 85 sick days to her account starting in 2004 - a year early. Some have opined that such pressure may have played a role in the departure of a former HR chief in 2006.

The rumor was that after only a few weeks on the job, new HR director Tony Spahr started receiving significant pressure from Erwin - first orally - then, after he reviewed her contract, and refused to add the days - she gave him the memo Gaffney signed, and directed Spahr to add the days again.

Spahr sought legal advice and refused again. After that, Erwin told him that maybe he should start looking for work elsewhere - which he apparently did.

If the rumor is true - there ought to be a piece of paper out there - some kind of legal opinion from the board attorney Mike Duggan, written in mid February.
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This from AMELIA FLOOD at the Kane County Chronicle:

ST. CHARLES – Former District 303 school board President Bobbie Raehl has taken to police and county prosecutors a memo – signed by board member James Gaffney – that she says shows “behind-the-scenes business.”

“Personally, I feel it’s attempted fraud and it’s a violation of the Open Meetings Act,” Raehl said.

Gaffney denies writing the one-sentence memo that states that the school board agreed in 2004 to award nearly a year in sick days to its then-superintendent.

“I didn’t write the memo,” Gaffney said during a recess of Monday night’s school board meeting. “I just signed it.”

The board later approved a contract amendment to give 340 sick days to then-Superintendent Barbara Erwin. But that action was taken during a 2005 closed-session vote that was found to be in violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

The memo that was signed by Gaffney, Raehl said, showed he was trying to act on behalf of the board.“He was saying it was the board’s intent, and it was not,” Raehl insisted.

Gaffney explained that “the human resources guy” faxed him the memo.

The district’s former human resources director, Tony Spahr, said the document was not faxed by his department. He said he first received it from Erwin in her office in February.“I don’t know how she obtained it,” Spahr said. “I’d never received anything like it.”

The memo consists of a single sentence: “This is to affirm that the Board of Education, agreed in 2004, as part of her employment contract to award her 340 sick days at 85 days a year.”

It is signed, “Jim Gaffney, past president.”

Raehl said she learned of the memo in March. She confronted Gaffney about it during an executive session April 9, Raehl reported, but he would not acknowledge the memo.

Gaffney said the memo would have been on his personal letterhead if he had written it.“If you look back at the record, everything is on my personal letterhead,” Gaffney said Monday. “If I had written it, ... it would’ve been better written.”

He did not return phone calls Tuesday for comment on Raehl’s accusations.

On Monday night, Gaffney was called upon by resident Jeff Blankenship to explain the memo.“Like a bicycle that’s broken, you have to fix what’s broken,” Blankenship said.

Blankenship also asked Gaffney and board President Kathy Hewell to resign amid the controversy involving a contract extension the board awarded to Erwin.“Mrs. Hewell, Mr. Gaffney, you aren’t helping this board,” Blankenship said. “If we’re going to do what’s best for our children, some people have to leave.”

Gaffney would not comment Monday on the calls for his resignation or those asking for an explanation of his actions.“Everybody’s got their own opinions,” Gaffney said.

Hewell could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Timeline of events

February 2007 -– Tony Spahr, the former head of human resources at the district, is given a memo signed by Jim Gaffney asking that Superintendent Barbara Erwin be given 340 sick days retroactively.

March – Board President Bobbi Raehl becomes aware of the memo through the board’s attorney, Mike Duggan.

April 9 – Raehl alleges she confronted Gaffney in executive session about the memo and that he did not acknowledge it.

July 2 – The Kane County Chronicle requests the memo under the Freedom of Information Act.

Aug. 9 – Raehl meets with lawyers in the civil division of the State’s Attorney’s Office to discuss the memo.

Aug. 13 – Raehl and others call for an explanation of the memo during citizen comments at the school board meeting. Gaffney informs a Chronicle reporter that he did not write the memo, only signed it and that it was faxed to him for his signature by District 303’s human resources department.

Aug. 14 – Tony Spahr says that the fax did not come from his department and that the first time he saw the memo was when he was given it by Erwin in February.

Click here to see the signed memo

Click here to see the Chronicle's request for the memo

Photo by Travis Houghton at the Kane CountyChronicle.

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Gaffney says "the Human resources guy" sent it to him. Bull.

Apart from the fact that Tony Spahr had no motivation to do so, it would have constituted an illegal act, and he had previously refused to grant her the days, despite being threatened with termination...WHERE ARE THE FAX MACHINE MARKINGS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MEMO?

I don't know about your faxes...but mine all have a time stamps on them. Take a good look at the Chronicle's photo of the actual memo. No marks.

Did Gaffney mess up his story?

So who really wrote the memo? You can't rule out Gaffney. You can't rule out a couple of others either.

KBE refuses payment to Ray and Associates, says botched search produced Erwin.

See at the bottom of this Post:

Kentucky School News and Commentary's

June interview with Dr. Gary Ray

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Good job by Raviya Ismail this morning @ the Herald-Leader, reporting:

Search firm is refused payment
Consultant failed to do job

The state is refusing to pay bills submitted by a consulting firm that conducted a failed search for a new education commissioner earlier this year, and the two sides are fighting over the money in court.

State officials say the consulting firm, Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, conducted an "unsuccessful and discredited search" marred by a lack of thoroughness and accuracy in checking the candidates' backgrounds...

Here's the search firm backstory from C-J and KSN&C and KSN&C's Barbara Erwin Timeline

On August 14th, Interim Commissioner Kevin Noland wrote to Ray & Associates President Gary Ray, noting the Board's initial payment of $15,030.44 but that the firm's "lack of thoroughness and accuracy," resulted in "an unsuccessful and discredited search," that cost the state seven months.

Noland then let Ray know that he could stop checking the mail for the $33,734.77 balance - it wasn't coming.

"We feel that because they didn't deliver a qualified successful candidate that they did not fulfill their end of the contract," Noland, interim commissioner and legal counsel for the board, said in an [H-L] interview yesterday. Ray and Associates "did not do a thorough vetting of the candidates that they recommended to us. It resulted in the problems that we had, and doing the search over."

On August 27th, Gary Ray responded by citing the firm's patience, professionalism and determination to get paid. Ray claimed they had "fulfilled all obligations" and even "exceeded usual and customary services by continuing to answer questions and inquiries submitted ...by the Board of Education even after the new commissioner was hired."

Ray asserted that the board conducted interviews, noted "extreme scrutiny by the media and many other entities," but the board hired her anyway. He stopped short of claiming that the extreme scrutiny came from Ray & Associates.

We feel we conducted a solid search, brought them good candidates and they made a choice," William Newman, national executive director of Ray and Associates told the Courier-Journal in late July.

Erwin's file included her application, resume, a reference sheet with eight names, a summary sheet from the firm and 16 letters of reference from former school board members, teachers and principals. None of the letters, nor any information in the summary report, contained criticism concerning Erwin's tenure.

Newman said the firm did not provide the board with any negative comments regarding Erwin because "there were not any negatives we had a real concern about."

In mid July, Mark Hebert had reported:

According to the Iowa Secretary of State's Office, the I.R.S. has a lien on Ray and Associates because the company has failed to pay more than $5700 in federal taxes. ... [An] Iowa state web site also shows that Ray and Associates was administratively dissolved in 1994 and hasn't been in good standing with the state of Iowa since then." Until Mark told them...they didn't know it!

But with some pluck, Ray & Associates filed suit in Franklin County Circuit Court to compel payment of $50,000 they say they earned. Gary Ray says he is defending the firm's reputation.

Civil Action # 07-CI-1527 (20 September) claims that Ray & Associates:

• entered into a personal service contract with the Kentucky Board of Education


• identified individuals who were qualified to be candidates for Education commissioner


• that on May 9, KBE appointed Barbara Erwin


• that KBE made the first payment but 33,734.77 is still due


• that KBE has breeched their contract


• that Ray & Associates wants a 12% per month penalty for late payments since July

On October 12th, the Kentucky Board of Education responded with a counterclaim:

• that Ray & Associates "breached its contractual duties...by failing to adequately investigate the background of Barbara Erwin and discover or disclose serious inaccuracies in her resume and a history of problems at other school districts where this candidate previously served.


• KBE admits it entered into a contract, but Ray & Associates failed to thoroughly and accurately screen Barbara Erwin


• that Erwin declined to accept the position on July 13th, "before she assumed her duties and before any paperwork was processed that would have officially made her an employee of the Commonwealth..."


• that her failure to assume the position meant that Ray & Associates was not due any payment, "or it constitutes a frustration of purpose for the contract."


• that Erwin was selected, but never assumed her duties as a result of Ray & Associates failures and breach of contract


• that Ray & Associates owes the Commonwealth all monies paid and damages


• that Ray & Associates failed in its obligation to serve "in good faith"


• that Ray & Associates "knew or should have known that Barbara Erwin made several false misstatements on her resume"


• including: Supt of Year award from an organization that does not give such an award; claiming conference presentations she did not make; that the Scottsdale Board of education bought out her contract to get rid of her (KSN&C could never confirm this one); the St Charles investigation over her missing personnel file


• that Ray & Associates either failed to investigate or was so eager to receive its commission that it failed to reveal "significant facts"


• that Ray & Associates had claimed to be 100% successful in their searches and their proposal included a satisfaction guarantee that Ray & Associates breached


• and therefore, Ray & Associates should provide the Commonwealth a full refund, and interest

The H-L article also notes

State Board Chairman Joe Brothers said the search firm promised the board candidates that were highly qualified and reputable.

"We were assured there would not be anything that would surface that would embarrass the state in the process of hiring any applicant that they brought to us," he said. "The taxpayers and the state of Kentucky should not be paying for this
service."

Attorney Robert C. Moore of Frankfort-based Hazelrigg & Cox is representing the search firm and said the board had plenty of opportunity to select another candidate.

"It's extremely odd that the Board of Education didn't pay the remaining amount due on the contract when they actually hired the candidate that was identified by Ray and Associates," he said.

It will be interesting to see how the court looks at this situation. Ray & Associates clearly fell short of fulfilling its obligations to the citizens of Kentucky, and in my opinion, should withdraw the complaint. We are a long way from 100% satisfaction. Failing that, they should lose the case.

But the board of education failed, too. In my view, whatever redress may be indicated should be supplied apolitically, for the benefit of Kentucky's children and in support of competent government. Given plenty of reason to be suspicious of Ray & Associates assurances, the board chose instead to believe what they wished to be true.

Unfortunately, my concerns about Ray & Associates were largely confirmed by a conversation I had with Dr. Gary Ray in early June. My read is that the firm's performance departed from the promise to provide professional and reliable service.

I'm am quite certain the firm was effective at collecting and organizing material supplied to them by the candidate. Clearly they were less inclined to invest the half hour it would have taken to reveal a pattern of specific concerns about Barbara Erwin.

It also seems clear that they had something to sell.

KSN&C Interview with Dr. Gary Ray, June 7th

(After identifying one another)

Kentucky School News and Commentary: I'm not sure if you are aware that Dr. Erwin listed some things on her resume that have not been verifiable.

Dr Gary Ray: "I'm not sure where you get that. We had a couple questions; some people might have said that, and everything's been verified as much as possible, I mean they have been accurate, so I'd like to know a little bit more specific what you're asking about."

KSN&C: Sure, well...

Ray: "I mean, you know, just to make that statement wouldn't necessarily be a; that's a pretty broad statement, so I'd like to know just exactly what you're asking about."

(So, KSN&C listed

• ...Claimed to be a presenter at the 2006 Triple I Conference


• Claimed AASA Exec Board 10 years


• Claimed she was still on the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce


• Has not yet explained how she received an Indiana teaching certificatebefore her IU diploma
  
• Claims of post doctoral degrees from USC and Columbia.)

KSN&C: Is that something you would typically do; to do degree verifications?

Ray: "Yeah, we would be able to do that. I tell ya, the person I could have you talk with, because he has verified her resume and has done a good job in that regard, would be Dr. Don Cusmo, and if I can get your name and number, I'll just have Don call you."

(We exchanged contact information)

Ray: Have you spoken with her?

KSN&C: I have not. I have written to her but haven't heard back yet.

(We exchanges pleasantries about the time of year and how busy everyone was)

KSN&C: Let me make you aware of another thing that concerns me, but that I also have not been able to confirm yet. One of the items she had to complete on her background check as part of her application in Kentucky was whether or not she had ever been involved in litigation. And I didn't know if you all were aware that she was sued by [a] board [member] in Arizona, but yet, she marked that she had not been [sued], on her application.

Ray: Uh huh, well, I think there's a story that goes with that... I'm pretty comfortable that she's OK with that...

KSN&C: So you guys are aware of that.

Ray: "Sure. You know people can make claims all the time..."

(and he told the story of a case where a reporting error got into print where a claim of a lawsuit just wasn't true.) Understand, these things, kind of, not always are on the surface, what they might appear to be."

KSN&C: Sure. I certainly understand that and that's why it's so important to verify this stuff. This is an important position for us in Kentucky and my concern is that there appear to be a few of these and that's an uncomfortable pattern.

Ray: "Yeah, I think you'll find when it's all done, it will shake out very well."

C-J dreams a little dream in today's editorial

Today's C-J editorial on the Kentucky school board correctly sees the Travis ouster as atonement for past failures, but not full accountability.

Accountability is a dream of things not to come.

But, somebody had to pay.

And all evidence suggests that Travis deserved what he got.

When information about Commissioner candidate Barbara Erwin came out, and piled up, Travis did his best to ignore it and wish it away. His leadership was to tell the rest of the board to believe the search firm's "sales job" and it would all be OK. As Joe Brothers correctly points out - they all bought it; they all own it.

The whole bunch, with the possible exception of Doug Hubbard, ought to have resigned - or been fired by any governor who valued integrity, competence in public office, and accountability when that competence was proven to be lacking.

Travis lost his leadership spot because somebody had to pay.

All things considered, the board's 10-1 vote probably takes some heat off the rest of the board members. By ousting Travis, maybe folks will quit calling for the rest of the board to quit as the Herald-Leader did recently.

The thing about Ray & Associates

When things go badly, it's good to keep ones head. I can fully understand the board's current notion of running as far away from Ray & Associates as possible. Once burned; twice shy.

But any search requires a lot of grunt work. Advertising. Correspondence. Compiling. Scheduling. Ray & Associates says they have a no refund policy on the botched search - but they guarantee two-years of continued assistance for boards that are unhappy with the results and promise to help "in any way we can to help them find the best candidate for the job."

The board of education needs many of the services a search firm can provide right now, and maybe that's one way Ray & Associates can repay Kentucky.

I think we should use them. I just don't think we should trust them.

Once candidates have been organized, paperwork collected and interviews scheduled...Ray & Associates should be thanked and sent away - while the board conducts a real investigation.

You don't outsource judgment.

A new Commissioner

I love the fact that the Chairman Brothers held discussions of the process and timeline the board would follow in hiring a new commissioner in open session yesterday. That's good leadership and a big step in the right direction. I hope it signals a return to the required public openness on the part of the board.

I'm much less thrilled by the timeline itself.

In the school business there is a hiring season - and this isn't it.

We don't need a commissioner quickly so much as we need a commissioner who is excellent. All of the top folks who were considering moves this past year are presently geared up for the start of the new school year wherever they are. The folks who are ready to change positions in October are largely leftovers. Any superstars who were willing to move have already done so.

In January, the political picture in Kentucky will be a settled issue and there will be a whole new crop of potential candidates who are looking ahead to the next year. To the extent Kentucky's leaders, including the board of education, can convince candidates that Kentucky is still a great place to be, that crop will be improved. That's the time to start anew.

Evidence suggests that the governor will use all of this term to do what he started out doing - placing Republicans in state positions. The thought that his appointees will resign in January - if the polls hold true and Beshear is elected governor - may be what C-J wants, but that's a dream that won't come true. Public accountability is for school folks - not the board of education.

I've got an alternative idea. If board members are not going to hold themselves accountable, can the members of the search committee at least give back the plaques they were awarded by Travis in June for the outstanding job they did in selecting Erwin?

The Board of Education at 30,000 feet

A few years ago, every school leadership conversation began with someone saying we had to get the right people "on the bus." This was a theme from Jim Collins' bestselling book, Good to Great. Unfortunately the idea was being used by some folks that weren't even good yet. Too frequently it was the leader that needed to be thrown under the bus. But, I digress.

I was amused by the conversation at the June board of education meeting when one member asserted to the group that he was operating at 30,000 feet. Not having been in required pubic school professional development sessions for a few years, I hadn't heard this one used quite this way before.

But, I get it. State board of education members should look at the big picture. Babysit the process, not the projects (As Harvard Business Review was reporting in 2003). Leave the details to the professionals (in other words, don't bug the staff). It caught my attention because the board chair in St Charles, Illinois (Barbara Erwin's prior school district) was using the same language at the same time. It made me wonder if Barbara Erwin imported this reconstruction.

I chuckled again as the next speaker said she was operating at 35,000 feet.

Uh oh. The competition was on. She talked about big picture issues and assured the group that she was on-board.

A few minutes later a third member came in at 40,000 feet and I laughed out loud.

But the competition ended when a vendor told the board that his view was from 100,000 feet. Smiles faded as members began to realize the newest cliche had just run its course.

Look. The idea of maintaining a leadership perspective that focuses more on process than projects is the right way to go. And if thinking one is in an airplane while doing it helps - fine. But let's not forget the little dots on the ground...the ones we can't quite make out. Those are the students who must be cared for, and that means they must be seen. The mile high club notwithstanding, I don't think love works very well when one loses sight of their beloved.

And the particular sin in the failed commissioner search was the board's steadfast refusal to look into the detailed evidence presented them. That's where the devil was. The business literature argues that management needs to be attentive and flexible, ready to swoop in at the first sign of real trouble.

Somebody forgot that part of the equation.

~

This from the Courier-Journal:

Old faces, new seats

Two things come to mind in the aftermath of the Kentucky Board of Education's vote to sack its chairman, Keith Travis.

First, given that Mr. Travis cast the only vote for his retention in a 10-1 rout, he may not have been any better at assessing his political strength with his colleagues than he was in conducting a search for a new state education commissioner.

That exercise was a debacle from start to finish.

The Iowa search firm retained to screen and recommend candidates, Ray and Associates, failed to examine the record of Illinois educator Barbara Erwin carefully enough to illuminate her troubling and controversial professional background.

That fumble was compounded by the board's unwillingness simply to cut bait.

Instead, it forged ahead and hired Ms. Erwin despite false claims in her résumé and allegations that she ran roughshod over teachers and administrators in three states where she served. The appointment unraveled just three days before she was to start work, after her personnel file mysteriously went missing.

Second, however, the board's decision to put itself under new leadership and to acknowledge how badly it botched the search is better than what might reasonably have been expected.

In other places and at other times, the board's vote could be dismissed as a case of very little, very late. But this is the Frankfort of Gov. Ernie Fletcher, and the board members are his appointees. Gov. Fletcher's administration was investigated for criminal acts in the merit-system scandal, and only a blanket gubernatorial pardon averted multiple prosecutions. Yet, the Governor sees himself as an innocent victim.

Given that context, the school board's action seems a vigorous act of accountability.

That said, Mr. Travis' replacement should make Kentuckians feel slightly better only about the past -- not about what lies ahead.

The board and its new chairman, Joe Brothers of Elizabethtown, are still committed to hiring a new education commissioner.

The Erwin debacle cannot be blamed entirely on Mr. Travis. Other board members could have asserted themselves and reopened the search for a better candidate. Mr. Brothers properly acknowledges that the entire board must take responsibility for voting to bring Ms. Erwin to Kentucky.

It's hard to feel confident that this same group can do a better job the second time around.

A better course would be to recognize that a gubernatorial election looms.

If the voters decide to give Gov. Fletcher a second term, then there can't be serious quarrel with allowing his appointees to choose a new education commissioner. But if his Democratic rival, Steve Beshear, is elected, the new governor should have a major role in filling such a key position.

Such an outcome would require more than just Mr. Beshear's victory. It would also take the resignations of at least a majority of the board, so that Mr. Beshear could replace them.

That would not be Kentucky politics as usual, to be sure. But it would be real accountability -- and it would be an act for the common good.

Erwin probe set to begin, Regional Superintendent says honor contract and move on

Kane County Regional Superintendent Clem Mejia told the Kane County Chronicle that the St. Charles school board should uphold the previous board’s intentions and move on.

“I say honor the contract. ... Dr. [Barbara] Erwin didn’t do anything wrong,” Mejia, whose tenure ends June 30, said Friday. “It’s on both sides; that’s why you have contracts. They’re there to be honored, whether it’s one day, one year or 10 years.”

But Erwin's contract amendment two is under investigation by Kane County state's attorney John Barsanti, and that outcome is uncertain.

Mejia says voiding the agreement would be an extreme measure on the part of Barsanti, since such drastic action is only taken after multiple Open Meeting Act violations.

Mejia apparently did not say how many violations of the Open Meeting Act should be tolerated before the law is enforced, but he offered a sense of what constitutes business-as-usual.

“I’m going to draw on the 20-years I’ve been in office: If there was a violation, the state’s attorney would send a very stern letter stating ‘Don’t do it again,’” Mejia said.

Sweet.

Barsanti allowed District 303 extra time to gather the necessary meeting agendas, minutes and recordings of the closed session conversations, and said he expects his office will begin their inquiry soon. He has declined to issue a timeline on how long the review will take.

Despite the impending investigation and the many hours she has spent with fellow board members trying to ratify Erwin’s contract, District 303's Board Chair Kathleen Hewell says the district has inherently approved the contract by granting Erwin 85 sick days credit since 2005.

If the investigation finds fault with district's processes, the district could be issued civil sanctions, including fines, or have the contract voided, Barsanti said.

Unless the contract is declared valid as of the date written, the board may still be subject to penalties for officially ratifying a contract, in 2007, that includes an excessive number of sick days in violation of PA 94-004.

Erwin’s original contract would have expired on June 30, but the amended contract (signed before June 1, 2005) extended the agreement until 2010. If she remains an employee of the district after July 1, she stands to have another 85 sick days credited to her account. Her last day in the district is now said to be July 13th.

The Illinois State Board of Education declined to comment citing a lack of information. An attorney with the Illinois Association of School Boards also was unavailable for comment on Friday.

This from the Kane County Chronicle.

More from C-J on new commish search timeline

This from Antoinette Konz at the Courier-Journal:

Education chief sought by fall
State board aims for mid-November

By mid-November, Kentucky should have a new education commissioner, according to a selection plan approved yesterday by the state Board of Education.

"We realize the timeline might shift a little as the search progresses, but our goal is to have someone named by mid-November and have them start the job as soon as possible," board Chairman Joe Brothers said.

The position has been advertised since mid-July on the Kentucky Department of Education's Web site. So far, five people have applied, Brothers said.

The board will advertise the position in state and national publications and accept applications until Sept. 30.

"Certainly, we have a place in our heart for Kentucky educators, but that doesn't mean we won't consider educators from out of state," Brothers said. "We want the most qualified person out there."

The full board will serve as the screening committee and will narrow the applicants to several semifinalists on Oct. 3, he said. Each semifinalist will undergo an "extensive background and reference check," he said.

"We are going to hire someone to assist us with the background and reference check," Brothers said. "Once the (semifinalists) get through the background check, we hope to publicly identify about five finalists."

Interviews will be conducted on Nov. 13, the same day the board would like to name the new commissioner.

This will be the second commissioner search conducted this year.

The board has been looking for a replacement since last November, when Gene Wilhoit left to take a job in Washington, D.C.

In May, the board voted 10-0 to name Illinois educator Barbara Erwin as commissioner. But after a series of revelations about her background, Erwin resigned July 13 -- three days before she was to begin the job.

Ray and Associates Inc., the Iowa-based firm the board hired for up to $50,000 to assist with the first search, offered to conduct the second search at no cost, but the board decided not to use the firm again.

Board members have criticized Ray and Associates, saying it should have vetted Erwin more closely.

The board's critics have agreed that the search firm should have done a better job, but they also say that board members failed to do their job. They say the board ignored concerns raised by the media and the public over Erwin's resume, which contained an award she hadn't won and a presentation she never made, and her reputation for running roughshod over teachers and administrators when she was a superintendent in Texas, Arizona and Illinois.

In a job created in 1990 as part of Kentucky's education reform efforts, the commissioner oversees the Department of Education and recommends and implements policies for the state's 175 public school districts, which include more than 1,200 schools and 660,000 students.

Chronicle says St Charles board needs to end the Erwin contract issue

I missed this yesterday. It's from the Kane County Chronicle.

The St. Charles school board should ratify embattled Superintendent Barbara Erwin’s contract extension because the board has operated for two years under the assumption that it is legal.

Not ratifying the extension could open a Pandora’s box of legal questions and create an even bigger mess than exists now.

...We still are curious about how not a single school board member noticed that the contract apparently never had been voted on in public.

Comments from school board member Karla Ray intensify our questions. Ray told a reporter Wednesday that the recording of the closed-door session reflects a “blatant intent to not be open with the public on what they’re paying their superintendent.”

The public needs to know what was said in that closed meeting. Barsanti this week should receive meeting minutes, closed-session recordings, and other information about the contract extension. Barsanti has offered no timeline on his investigation.

...The board should acknowledge that it made an error, ratify the contract and get on with the business of the district. The board’s sloppiness comes at a cost to taxpayers, but the board needs to accept this and move on.
~

But not every St Charles taxpayer is satisfied with the solution offered.

Grampywatches wrote:
" "The board’s sloppiness comes at a cost to taxpayers, but the board needs to accept this and move on." We do NOT let these people represent OUR best interests to be "sloppy". This is an illegal contract and should be labeled same. What is the thinking behind "it will cost the taxpayers.. but who cares..." attitude? Since when is 'the intention' the call of the local newspaper that never reported the problem to begin with?? "

AreYouKiddingMe:
" What about the "sloppiness" that this superintendent is leaving behind for a new superintendent to fix. Erwin chose to retire, chose to move on to Kentucky, chose not to divulge contract dates until it was confirmed through Kentucy and chose to misrepresent herself. I am one of those taxpayers and June 30 is time to say good-bye without her receiving one more dime from this district. We have paid enough for her travel expenses, working outside of the district at Aurora University for that higher learning teaching she was going to do when she retired. Well guess what, that had been going on while employed by CUSD 303 during a time when there were pressing issues that needed her attention while she prepped to teach graduate classes. This is not the board's fault...they are trying to now look out for the best interests of the students and taxpayers of this district and for anyone to say that Erwin deserves to be compensated at this point is an insult to this community. It's her own fault if she didn't get it in writing in the proper fashion - but then again we have seen the outcome of some of the other contracts she has been responsible for so it shouldn't come as a surprise. "

KBE Selects Search Firm... but Doesn't Name It

At its meeting yesteray in Louisville, the Kentucky Board of Education interviewed four firms to handle the search for the next commissioner of education.

After the interviews, the board discussed the qualifications, experience and other attributes of each firm. Based on the members’ consensus scoring, one firm will be contacted and a contract negotiated for the search process.

Because of the restrictions of the Kentucky Model Procurement Code, the name of the top-scoring firm cannot be released until the terms of the contract have been established and entered into.

KSN&C has it on good authority that KDE is not even flirting with Ray & Associates. The board settled a law suit with that firm a couple of months ago, for something around $25 K. Problems surrounding the selection; public rejection; resignation of Education Commissioner candidate Barbara Erwin led to the suit.

The board had one additional agenda item for its meeting, which was held Wednesday and Thursday. The board agreed to waive the requirements relative to the timeline for graduation ceremonies outlined in state regulation (702 KAR 7:125) for the 2008-09 school year. This regulation mandates that graduation ceremonies be scheduled to occur following the completion of the instructional term. Many school districts are experiencing unanticipated hardships in scheduling the ceremonies due to large numbers of days missed because of inclement weather.

Local boards of education may ask for waivers of the regulation, and those will be reviewed by the commissioner of education.

SOURCE: KDE press release

No NCLB Flexibility for Kentucky

It looks like Kentucky won't be among the first ten states to fix the unreasonable portions of No Child Left Behind. That's too bad.

The time lost to the Barbara Erwin debacle may have cost Kentucky a great opportunity to revise its NCLB benchmarks.

But the way things worked out, Jon Draud had been Commissioner for about five minutes when the US Office of Education issued an invitation for qualifying states to come up with a revised plan. ...and the General Assembly was about to meet.

It is not assured that the feds previous approval of Kentucky's testing system would be enough to qualify, but KDE may not be in a position to respond anyhow.

KDE Communications Director Lisa Gross told Kentucky School News and Commentary there are "no formal plans to apply for this round of flexibility," but state education leaders "will be discussing it."

With only one regular meeting before the deadline," the timeline is likely too short for the Kentucky Board of Education to review and make a decision by May 1," Gross said.

Unfortunately, some of our hardest working teachers will have to wait a little longer for a more reasonable accountability system.

This from the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration is trying to address one of the most common complaints about the No Child Left Behind education law: It treats schools the same, regardless of whether they fail to meet annual benchmarks by a little or a lot.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings plans to announce Tuesday that she wants states to submit proposals for assigning different consequences to schools based on the degree to which they miss annual progress goals.

...Educators have complained that the consequences for failing to hit yearly progress goals are the same for schools in which one group of students misses the mark as it is for schools in which many groups or many grades fail to hit targets.... ...The new initiative will allow states to distinguish between "on-fire schools and those with a smolder," Spellings said in an interview Monday.

...Only a limited number of states — 10 in all — will be able to participate at first. Spellings said states must submit proposals by May and that only carefully thought-out plans would get a green light. "Not every state will meet the core principles that are required," she said. "This is complicated stuff that requires sound data systems, good reporting systems." ...

...The six-year-old education law is up for renewal in Congress, but lawmakers trying to advance it haven't gained much traction. Without congressional action, the existing law remains in place. Spellings said she didn't think her efforts to improve the law through administrative action would further stymie efforts on Capitol Hill. "Plan A continues to be getting a good law done as soon as possible," she said.

State Board Outlines Target Dates for Decision on New Commissioner

No decision on when the public will learn finalists' names


“I want to stress how extremely important proper vetting is and that it is done well, especially if we are going to make names public at some point. We had a kind of embarrassing situation a few years ago (and) I don’t want that to happen again.”

--KBE Chair Roger Marcum

This from Brad Hughes at KSBA:

The successor to Education Commissioner Terry Holliday could be named a day or two before his Aug. 31 retirement date. But to achieve that goal, members of the Kentucky Board of Education are going to have a “very intense summer, a really busy late summer.”

Late Wednesday, KBE members signed off on a tentative schedule for the search submitted by Greenwood/Asher & Associates of Miramar Beach, Fla. The timetable calls for the board to take a first look at prospective applicants on Aug. 5; meet face-to-face with up to 12 semi-finalists Aug. 14-15; and then conduct a second round of more intensive interviews with the board’s final candidates Aug. 28-29. At Wednesday’s session, it was noted that the board could make a selection Aug. 29.

The question of whether an interim commissioner will be needed to oversee the Kentucky Department of Education between Holliday’s departure and the start day of the new agency CEO remains undecided.

KBE Chairman Roger Marcum of Bardstown said the board would discuss that issue at its August meeting.

“I don’t know (about needing an interim, but) it sounds like we are going to have a period of time there,” Marcum said. “I think we’ll have a better idea after the meeting.”

When former Commissioner of Education Jon Draud resigned in 2009, two KDE staff members served as interims (one retired several months into the search that led to Holliday’s hiring.) An interim also served when former commissioner Gene Wilhoit stepped down in 2007.

Commissioner traits finalized; Kentuckian an issue

During Wednesday’s meeting, the board finalized the list of important candidate characteristics it drafted at its May 7 meeting (Background story here.) An online public survey and search firm interviews with a dozen leaders of state education organizations endorsed the priorities, according to Marcum and consultant Betty Asher.

“Most of them were in agreement with the traits that you have identified that the new commissioner needs to do and must possess,” said Asher, citing three common themes from her interviews: the need for the next commissioner to be attentive to strong relationships with all stakeholders; adamant support for maintaining common core standards; and a person who could balance the state’s “uncertain political environment” with a contested gubernatorial election in November.

Asher also said leaders she interviewed had a lot to say about whether the next commissioner needs to be a Kentuckian, which would be ideal but not a deal breaker.

“They unanimously said they want the best person for the job. And whether (he or she) comes from Kentucky or elsewhere would be perfectly alright,” she said.

Marcum, who said he read every comment posted by citizens in the online survey, found a recurring theme.

“Folks are very concerned that our next commissioner knows Kentucky. The board has made it clear that’s a priority,” he said.

“Some stated it in terms of that it needed to be a Kentuckian. If it’s a Kentuckian who is the best qualified candidate, I would agree with them,” he said. “I don’t want to eliminate folks from out of state who would have an interest in this position who might be the best qualified, but I want them to have what Commissioner Holliday came to this job with, and that’s an extensive knowledge of Kentucky’s past in education and a good bit of knowledge about what we plan on doing going forward. If they are strong candidates -- in state or out of state -- they will have that level of knowledge. That’s all about coming prepared to do the work.”

Next steps, including vetting finalists

Consultant Jan Greenwood said the formal start of the search will move very rapidly following Wednesday’s meeting, with advertisements and other formal announcements of the search. She said that several of the K-12 group leaders interviewed on the candidate traits offered names of potential contacts. She and Asher said they will spend most of this month and July on the phone “building the pool” for the board to consider at its August meeting.

During a discussion of the different ways to vet applicants, Marcum underscored that part of the process.

“I want to stress how extremely important proper vetting is and that it is done well, especially if we are going to make names public at some point,” he said. “We had a kind of embarrassing situation a few years ago (and) I don’t want that to happen again.”

In 2007, the KBE serving at that time hired an Illinois superintendent to succeed Wilhoit. But Barbara Erwin resigned before beginning the job after news media reports exposed errors in her resume and brought attention to leadership issues in her previous employment.

Greenwood said candidate vetting has changed in recent years, including the option of using firms that specialize in “deep” background checks by former FBI investigators. However, she cautioned that some of those options could run as much as $25,000 over the already contracted amount of $80,000 for her firm’s services.

This from the Kentucky School Advocate:

Roger Marcum

In Conversation With…features an interview between a leader or figure involved in public education and a representative of the Kentucky School Advocate.

Roger Marcum is chairman of the Kentucky Board of Education, which has launched a national search for a new education commissioner following Commissioner Terry Holliday’s April 1 announcement that he will retire Aug. 31.

Q: Could you outline the major steps involved in the search for Kentucky’s next education commissioner?

A: At its meeting May 7, the board drafted a list of characteristics and criteria that it would like to see in our next commissioner. That list should be ready this week (week of May 11) to share with the education community for its input and feedback before we draft a final copy. We would then share the list of characteristics with the search firm.

The second step was identifying a search firm. A subcommittee made up of board of education members and staff of the Kentucky Department of Education reviewed the four proposals we received and recommended that Greenwood/Asher and Associates, the firm used when Dr. Holliday was hired, make a presentation to the board. The board voted unanimously to hire that firm.

Q: Is it likely a commissioner will be hired before Dr. Holliday leaves Aug. 31?

A: We are working with the search firm on a timeline and a process for moving forward. The board’s preference would be to have someone in place by Aug. 31 or soon after. But board members have made it clear they are going to take however much time is necessary to make sure we get the right person. We think getting this decision right is more important than just getting someone in place by a certain date. Which leaves us with the possibility of needing to appoint an interim commissioner. I would hope that would not be necessary but that all depends on how well this process goes. Many things could extend us beyond Aug. 31.

Q: What kinds of things?

A: Vetting the candidates. We want to make sure each candidate has been thoroughly vetted so there are no surprises for us. We also want to give the education community enough time to provide feedback and input about what we should be looking for in a new commissioner.

Q: How long will the education community have to respond?

A: I certainly think by the end of this month or early June should give folks adequate time. We plan to do outreach through the website, through all of the “K” education organizations, and through the news media.

Q: An online survey will also be a part of the process for collecting input?

A: Yes, we are going to put out this draft of 12 to 15 criteria that the board came up with and ask the education community to tell us what it sees as priorities. Each board member sent in three to five criteria that they felt were most important.

Q: Was there overlap among board members’ priority criteria?

A: Yes, and I think that says a lot in regard to the board being on the same page in regard to where we are in terms of education reform and where we would like to go. We also included some criteria used during the last search for a commissioner, because lot of that criteria is still applicable. But there are some things that we found that needed to be added, too, including the emphasis on a more balanced assessment and accountability system that leads to results and students being not just college and career ready but also globally competent, experiencing deeper learning than their classroom experiences. This is a priority with the board as part of the Kentucky Rising initiative (a statewide cradle to career strategic plan.) We want someone who has some knowledge and experience in that area and also a willingness to pursue the vision.

Q: Will the desire to have someone with experience leading an initiative like Kentucky Rising narrow the pool of applicants?

A: Yes, quite a bit. Especially since I don’t know of any state that has taken this on. What is most important, though, is that they share the vision of Kentucky Rising and are willing to take Kentucky in that direction.

Q: You have said that considering a candidate’s potential for future success is important. As you pointed out, Dr. Holliday was serving as a district superintendent before he came to Kentucky.

A: Yes, and he has become not only a statewide leader but a leader nationally. He is well-respected across the country as was Gene Wilhoit, the commissioner before, so some of this is about potential and willingness to step up to that increased role not only at the state but at the national level. Several board members feel it is important that we maintain that national presence that we have had under Dr. Holliday’s leadership, under Gene Wilhoit and back to Dr. Boysen’s leadership in the beginning of the Kentucky Education Reform Act.

Q: So we don’t want to lose our status as a leader in education?

A: It helps the morale of our educators and students to know that Kentucky is well-respected across the country. And certainly it is nice to know that leaders in our state might be impacting not just the quality of education for the children of our state, but for all of the children of the United States.

Q: Communication skills were at the top of the initial list of criteria. Can you explain why?

A: I think that it is important in any leadership position. It is not just the ability to have the folks you are trying to lead understand what you are communicating but also getting the buy-in and willingness to do what is necessary to make the vision become a reality. The board emphasized the ability to listen to those who are trying to implement that vision – superintendents, principals, teachers, parents, other partners in education and the student voice. It is important that the commissioner have the ability to understand not only what they are saying, but why they are saying it.

Q: How important is the candidate’s track record in working with the state legislature and other state leaders?

A: We discussed that at our board meeting and it will be given consideration, especially since we have a two-party General Assembly, with the Republican-led Senate and Democratic-led House. The ability to work with both parties is important, while at the same time not compromising on those things we are trying to accomplish for Kentucky’s kids. More resources will be needed to make Kentucky Rising a reality, and not just a vision.

Q: Board members met informally to float names of potential candidates. How many people were mentioned?

A: It wasn’t a large number, and it was not a very fruitful discussion. We are going to need to wait and see what kind of interest we have in the position and how successful the search firm will be in recruiting.

Q: Are there qualities that Dr. Holliday possesses that you will look for in the next commissioner?

A: Yes, there’s no question. He had the vision for how to move forward with the implementation of Senate Bill 1 in 2009 and do that with pretty much no additional resources. He had done extensive study on the reform effort in Kentucky and knew a lot about what we had already done and what we were hoping to do. That helped him hit the ground running. He has laser-like focus, and even his critics would say he is incredibly hard-working. And even though he was coming from a superintendency in North Carolina, he became a pretty prominent national figure as well. Those are all things we would like to see in next commissioner.

Q: Commissioner Holliday had a sometimes rocky relationship with school superintendents. What will you look for in a candidate in this regard?

A: It is important that we hear from Kentucky superintendents about what they are searching for in this commissioner. At the May 7 meeting, Tom Shelton, executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents, provided a list of characteristics that they had compiled from his visits to co-ops across the state. I think most of what we are looking for there is with communication. As we know, superintendents are local leaders and much of the perception of local teachers, parents and others involved in local education about what is being done at the state level is formed by the relationship between the superintendent and the commissioner.

One of the things I am hearing as I go to different co-op meetings and share the search process is that they believe we should be considering implementation fatigue among educators. I have said to superintendents at these meetings that early on with KERA we were also talking about implementation fatigue so I do understand. One of challenges for the commissioner is how do you balance moving forward with the vision while still considering that concern about implementation fatigue so that people feel they can move forward with progress and that what we are doing is of quality and is sustainable.

Q: But won’t it be difficult as long as there are no changes in the assessment and evaluation systems?

A: One of the things I see changing, or at least I hope will change, is a more balanced assessment and accountability system. That really drives what happens with instruction and drives how resources are allocated. By a more balanced system, I mean more emphasis on formative assessment and less on summative assessment. Summative assessment won’t go away completely, but more emphasis on assessment at the classroom level that will drive the kind of instruction that leads to deeper learning. A starting place for this is the next generation science standards, because if you look at those science standards, they certainly can’t be fully assessed with pencil and paper testing. You have to demonstrate what you can do with science.