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Mike Edwards urges “no” on electing school superintendents
Posted By katie allison granju
From the Knoxville Chamber blog today:
The Knoxville Chamber has sent letters to a number of Knoxville-area legislators urging them to vote against Rep. Niceley’s bill, which would have the superintendent voted by the public, rather than appointed by the school board. Here is a copy of the letter, sent from Mike Edwards, which states the Chamber’s position:
To sustain our economy and continue our economic prosperity substantial improvements are necessary in public education. We need to increase academic rigor and improve the skills of high school graduates so students are ready for the workplace or post-secondary training. These improvements will not come easy and will require the focused effort of a strong, professional school superintendent.
The current legislative effort to allow for an elected school superintendent (Amendment 3 to HB 3857) is bad public policy. The Knoxville Chamber is opposed to this legislation and would look at its passage as hostile to public education. I hope you will not allow such a vote to become part of your public record.
Knox County’s superintendent of schools needs to have academic improvement and execution of strategies to increase the skills of graduates as his/her singular focus. That professional cannot be distracted by periodic elections.
May 15th, 2008
Yes. Public election of school superintendents will open this position up to any two-bit political hack or fanatic who has some special interest ax to grind. This is how intelligent design (ID) makes it into science classrooms. Right wing fundamentalist groups sponsor stealth candidates, candidate gets elected, new supt. institutes pet policies on ID, teacher-directed prayer in schools, and a “Bible as Literature” curriculum designed to ensure that all of the evil theology the children learn in their Catholic, Methodist, Episcopal, AME Zion, etc. Sunday school classes will be properly countermanded and rubber stamped by the authority of the state. Then comes the multi-million dollar laws suits that the school system will lose. Down the toilet will go all of the truly useful educational materials and services that those dollars could have bought.