The Lowell Sun reports that town leaders expect an announcement from Superintendent of Schools for Billerica, Anthony Serio, to retire soon. Additionally, Richard Safier, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction announced that he would be leaving his post, also, to take a job as Superintendent of Schools for Gloucester. Both were awarded and accepted new three year contracts ahead of the need to do so by the School Committee. This comes on the heels of Lowell Superintendent of Schools, Chris Scott’s announcement that she will leave the Lowell system on June 30; the date upon which her contract expires. Mr. Serio has already submitted his letter of intent, but claims that nothing is official until the School Committee formally accepts his recognition. Mr. Serio has not stated what his plans are following his retirement.
Some have suggested that this would be a good time to begin negotiating with former Lowell Superintendent Scott to replace Serio. School Committee member, Marie Blanchette suggests that we need someone who knows Billerica. My response to Ms. Blanchette’s view that knowing Billerica is important is; why? I am not certain that hiring Scott as a knee jerk reaction is a good idea. I also feel hiring someone who knows little of Billerica, but a lot about being a competent superintendent is best for the town. Considering the state of education associated with public schools, I would support and expect the school committee to consult with student and quality education and highly skilled teacher and leadership advocacy groups such as http://www.studentsfirst.org on what qualities a superintendent must possess and to make a nationwide search part of the process of that replacement. Dr. Michelle Rhee, the former Superintendent who turned the Washington, D.C. school system from an utter failure to a success in progress, established studentsfirst.org specifically for situations such as ours.
We are at the point of making a major change to the leadership of our school system. This is the ideal opportunity to take sufficient time to decide in which direction we want our public education system to go. Do we want to continue a system of last hired, first fired that sheds our schools of energetic teachers eager to teach and keeps burnouts who long ago stopped teaching beyond what little effort it takes to go through the motions? Do we want teachers who are given tenure and paid no matter how well or poorly they do, or do we want a results oriented teaching corps who are paid well for doing well and let go for performing below expectations?
Would you want a physician who saw you and your health problems as just another interruption in an otherwise fine day, or would you want one who viewed your health problems with empathy and a genuine desire to work with you to improve your ability to live fully? If you chose the latter for yourself, why would you choose the former for your child when it comes to getting them the tools they need to appreciate that living a fully, happy, and interesting life is within their grasp if they are just willing to extend themselves. Intellectual health and education is every bit as important as physical health. In fact, what good is physical health if one lacks the intellectual capacity to put it to best use?
This Is A Good Time to Insist on Responsible School Committee Leadership
I have written about the importance of performing periodic forensic audits on both school districts and the corporate side of town government. Sticking to just schools, let me give you some information to read, ponder and use to decide whether such audits are as important as I have been claiming them to be. These audits are beyond the 10 questions Dr. Fusco recommends that citizens confront school districts with, and the fiscal atrocity he describes that I’ve cited within my blog postings.
May 16, 2010 article from “The Macomb Daily” – Forensic audit shows school officials bungled budget figure in the East Detroit Public School system. The district paid $20,000.00 and found that the current gap between revenue and expenses is $11,500,000.00 (11.5 million dollars).
Here is a PDF record of a case involving the Roslyn School District in New York. The conclusion reads as follows:
“
The two extensive reports issued by the New York State Comptroller’s Office provide an excellent and detailed illustration of the conduct of a forensic audit. Starting from vague allegations of financial impropriety, the audit determined the dollar amounts involved, the parties responsible, the control weaknesses that enabled the fraud, and the attempts to conceal it.
These audit reports serve as a useful guide for managers in general, for auditors in particular, and for educators and students who wish to gain an understanding and appreciation of forensic auditing.”
Next is a case under federal investigation by the federal authorities that involves a former Toms River School Superintendent who is alleged to have taken between 1 and 2 million dollars in bribes from an insurance company, Federal Hill Risk Management that allowed FHRM to inflate commissions between 2002 and 2010. The trial is scheduled for July 25, 2011
I could go on with quite an extensive listing of corrupt school districts uncovered by way of forensic audits. The fact is that a forensic audit doesn’t have to be ordered because of corruption; it is appropriate to do from time to time (in addition to the usual annual audits that obviously missed deficiencies in the cases noted above) just to ensure that funds aren’t being lost by way of careless or unintended mistakes. Whoever the next superintendent is, that person should be given the courtesy of walking into a job with a system that has been closely examined and certified as clean and free of past corruption or costly errors. Billerica taxpayers deserve the peace of mind such an audit would bring. They also deserve the best-qualified candidate for the job possible. Not advertising and searching nationally is a disservice to everyone who pays taxes, and should be seen as a mark against members of the School Committee or any other agency in government who advocate for a quick fix and opt not to search for the best candidate. The option for a quick fix also speaks to a callous disregard for the best interests of our children.