Houston's secret search

This from the Houston Chronicle:

If you want to run our public-school system,

you need to say so. Publicly

The Houston Independent School District’s board said a few months ago that it would conduct its search for a new superintendent out in the open, with finalists’ names made public. A great idea, that. We wish they’d stuck with it.

But no. Last week, after search firm Heidrick & Struggles whined that its job would be easier if conducted in secret, board members openly abandoned openness. Some candidates demand secrecy, they explained. Too much sunshine will dry up the talent pool.

Wow. We stand in awe of you secrecy-loving candidates: HISD’s board hasn’t even short-listed you yet, and already you’ve sold them a load of hooey....

So man up, candidates: So what if everyone back home knows you’ve been asked to interview here? Respond with this tried-and-true line: “I’m flattered that Houston asked me to interview, and I look forward to exchanging ideas with some of the most innovative educators in the country. But I love my current job.” Your bosses, hoping to keep you, may offer a raise....

You’ll have to face various interest groups sooner or later — and if you wait till you’re the only candidate, some of those factions will almost certainly feel cut out, even before you’ve said hello.

If you’re the right candidate, rough-and-tumble doesn’t scare you. You’re a political animal. You know how to build coalitions, to win friends and influence people...

The public deserves to know who might be running our public schools.

If it's the school district's error, keep the money

...that's the advise of Houston Federation of Teachers head Gayle Fallon. The HFT represents about 6,500 employees.

Ninety-nine Houston teachers who received performance bonuses are now being told to pay it back because the district accidentally overpaid them. Bonuses ranged from $62.50 to $2,790. School officials blame a computer programming error.

The Houston Chronicle's Ericka Mellon quotes Fallon: "If you tell someone they deserve money and put it in their bank account, you've got a helluva nerve taking it back."

Fallon said she is encouraging teachers not to sign the form authorizing the district to deduct the money from their paycheck. Without the signed form, the district can't take back the money, Fallon said.

"And if they direct them to sign it, we'll see them in court," she added.

Asked to respond to Fallon's comments, HISD spokesman Terry Abbott said simply, "The money will need to be returned."

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The HFT opposed the merit system when it was unanimously approved by the school board last year. This is the third event to hamper implementation of the incentive pay scheme since its inception.

The superintendent referred to the teachers who received top bonuses as "the cream of the crop," drawing criticism and angry e-mail from offended employees who didn't get bonuses.

Later, after the district payed out $14 million to almost 8,000 teachers, HISD distributed another $1 million after officials realized several hundred teachers had been overlooked.

Salaries for full-time teachers in the district range from about $40,000 to nearly $68,000.