The Gatekeeper
There have been questions on this blog and within the district about the selection process for the principal of Freedom Elementary. Was this principal the best suited for the job? Did he have the qualifications to lead the new school, and is he a match for his community? Were the parents of Freedom involved in the selection process and was their input considered before the new principal was selected?
As I have pointed out over and over again, the parents and tax payers of any public school district are the owners of those schools. They should be allowed to be a part of the selection process for the principals of their buildings. Each school building is required by law to have a building accountability committee (called a BAAC) whose membership is made up of citizens from the community. These BAACs should play a heavy role in the selection process of new leadership for a building.
“What should be” and “what is” in District 11 are two very different animals.
David Schenkel is the D11 Director of Human Resources (HR). He is best known in the district for having the same discrepancies within his department year after year when the district’s external auditors perform their evaluation. Schenkel never takes action to fix these discrepancies, and the superintendents, his bosses, have never had the courage to sanction Schenkel for his failure to perform his duties. His errors include faulty record keeping year after year, and he was responsible for a $700,000 pay blunder that hit the district during the same time period that ex-superintendent Sharon Thomas was absconding with $400,000 tax payer dollars for getting fired.
In addition to his HR position, Schenkel also happens to be the lead “negotiator” who, in theory, is supposed to represent the district in its “negotiations” with the labor union. Ex-labor union boss Mike Coughlin once informed me that the labor union absolutely loved having Schenkel on the district’s side of the table during negotiations. The reason: because Schenkel gave the labor union anything it wanted.
When a school such as Freedom needs a new principal, Schenkel is the gatekeeper through which any candidate must pass. First and foremost, the person applying for the administrative job must be a loyal labor union supporter. If the person applying is currently a teacher, then Schenkel checks with the school principal to determine if the applicant was “manageable,” ie, is someone who will take instructions from central administration without questioning whether those instructions will be beneficial to the students. Schenkel then consults with the labor union to ensure that the applicant is a solid labor union member and is acceptable to the labor union bosses. If either the principal or the labor union leaders give a thumbs down, the applicant in question will never make it through the initial screening process. Even if the members of the school staff and community want a specific person as their leader, Schenkel will not allow that person to move through the selection process if he deems them not worthy.
Schenkel likes to pretend that the school communities are allowed to be involved in the selection of their principals. After he trims the candidate pool to one or two people, he pre-determines the candidate who will receive the job based on the candidate’s relationship with him or another high ranking administrator. Schenkel is not looking for leadership in the schools. Academic performance and achievement never cross the mind of the head of HR. The chosen candidate will be someone who will never question authority and who will never make waves. In short, central administration had better take priority over their school.
After Schenkel has determined who his next principal will be, he will send the one or two finalists to meet with the BAAC and school community members. This meeting is not a meeting for the BAAC to have a say in which candidate is ultimately chosen. Schenkel will have already made that decision. If the BAAC decides that it likes candidate B, and Schenkel has decided upon candidate A, then candidate A will get the nod and the BAAC will be said to have been allowed to participate in the process.
George Marin had no special qualifications that made him best suited for Freedom. He and his wife first came to D11 as special education administrators. Under his leadership, Penrose Elementary remained an average performing school. Marin never offered any strong initiatives to improve the school. Average was good enough, but most important to central administration and Dave Schenkel, he never made waves.
Parents of a new school such as Freedom have high hopes that the academic performance within their building will be top notch like the building itself. Parents of Freedom students are probably not sending their children to that new building in hopes that the school will be just another school. These parents need only look across the street at D20 and they will see schools performing at the 80%-90% proficient and advanced (PA) range on standardized testing (with “High” accountability reports), and they will ask themselves if they want to settle for 50%-70% PA with “Average” as the school accountability grade.
The fact that some Freedom parents might be upset with the principal selection for their school only 3 weeks into the year is beside the point. The Freedom principal has a performance record that all parents can view. They have a right to demand the best for their kids. There is no requirement that these parents have to wait for several years to determine whether their kids are receiving the type of quality education that they deserve. Did other candidates submit their names for consideration at Freedom? Absolutely, but Schenkel will never discuss his selection criteria for making his final choice. He will use “personnel confidentiality” to tell you that he cannot discuss his process.
Dave Schenkel is not interested in what Freedom parents (or any other parents) think about their principal. His is a system of rewards and punishment based on a person’s loyalty to the system, not their performance in the schools.
As I have pointed out over and over again, the parents and tax payers of any public school district are the owners of those schools. They should be allowed to be a part of the selection process for the principals of their buildings. Each school building is required by law to have a building accountability committee (called a BAAC) whose membership is made up of citizens from the community. These BAACs should play a heavy role in the selection process of new leadership for a building.
“What should be” and “what is” in District 11 are two very different animals.
David Schenkel is the D11 Director of Human Resources (HR). He is best known in the district for having the same discrepancies within his department year after year when the district’s external auditors perform their evaluation. Schenkel never takes action to fix these discrepancies, and the superintendents, his bosses, have never had the courage to sanction Schenkel for his failure to perform his duties. His errors include faulty record keeping year after year, and he was responsible for a $700,000 pay blunder that hit the district during the same time period that ex-superintendent Sharon Thomas was absconding with $400,000 tax payer dollars for getting fired.
In addition to his HR position, Schenkel also happens to be the lead “negotiator” who, in theory, is supposed to represent the district in its “negotiations” with the labor union. Ex-labor union boss Mike Coughlin once informed me that the labor union absolutely loved having Schenkel on the district’s side of the table during negotiations. The reason: because Schenkel gave the labor union anything it wanted.
When a school such as Freedom needs a new principal, Schenkel is the gatekeeper through which any candidate must pass. First and foremost, the person applying for the administrative job must be a loyal labor union supporter. If the person applying is currently a teacher, then Schenkel checks with the school principal to determine if the applicant was “manageable,” ie, is someone who will take instructions from central administration without questioning whether those instructions will be beneficial to the students. Schenkel then consults with the labor union to ensure that the applicant is a solid labor union member and is acceptable to the labor union bosses. If either the principal or the labor union leaders give a thumbs down, the applicant in question will never make it through the initial screening process. Even if the members of the school staff and community want a specific person as their leader, Schenkel will not allow that person to move through the selection process if he deems them not worthy.
Schenkel likes to pretend that the school communities are allowed to be involved in the selection of their principals. After he trims the candidate pool to one or two people, he pre-determines the candidate who will receive the job based on the candidate’s relationship with him or another high ranking administrator. Schenkel is not looking for leadership in the schools. Academic performance and achievement never cross the mind of the head of HR. The chosen candidate will be someone who will never question authority and who will never make waves. In short, central administration had better take priority over their school.
After Schenkel has determined who his next principal will be, he will send the one or two finalists to meet with the BAAC and school community members. This meeting is not a meeting for the BAAC to have a say in which candidate is ultimately chosen. Schenkel will have already made that decision. If the BAAC decides that it likes candidate B, and Schenkel has decided upon candidate A, then candidate A will get the nod and the BAAC will be said to have been allowed to participate in the process.
George Marin had no special qualifications that made him best suited for Freedom. He and his wife first came to D11 as special education administrators. Under his leadership, Penrose Elementary remained an average performing school. Marin never offered any strong initiatives to improve the school. Average was good enough, but most important to central administration and Dave Schenkel, he never made waves.
Parents of a new school such as Freedom have high hopes that the academic performance within their building will be top notch like the building itself. Parents of Freedom students are probably not sending their children to that new building in hopes that the school will be just another school. These parents need only look across the street at D20 and they will see schools performing at the 80%-90% proficient and advanced (PA) range on standardized testing (with “High” accountability reports), and they will ask themselves if they want to settle for 50%-70% PA with “Average” as the school accountability grade.
The fact that some Freedom parents might be upset with the principal selection for their school only 3 weeks into the year is beside the point. The Freedom principal has a performance record that all parents can view. They have a right to demand the best for their kids. There is no requirement that these parents have to wait for several years to determine whether their kids are receiving the type of quality education that they deserve. Did other candidates submit their names for consideration at Freedom? Absolutely, but Schenkel will never discuss his selection criteria for making his final choice. He will use “personnel confidentiality” to tell you that he cannot discuss his process.
Dave Schenkel is not interested in what Freedom parents (or any other parents) think about their principal. His is a system of rewards and punishment based on a person’s loyalty to the system, not their performance in the schools.
posted by Craig Cox | 10:07 PM
1 Comments:
This is exactly what we had to deal with when we were looking for a principal at Stratton. The administration gave us lip service to our desire to have a say in the selection process. Mary Thurman was also heavily involved. By that I mean that she kept giving us the brush-off any time we demanded a say in the selection process.
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