At the end of my lifetime career in public education, I find myself reflecting on past decisions, choices, and relationships. Of particular significance to the educational leader is his/her relationship with their community through the eyes of the school board members who represent that community. Being a superintendent was not my childhood dream. However, I was proud of growing up in the nation’s No. 1 education state, Iowa. I eventually chose to be an educator. I hoped I would one day find a community where I could raise my children and retire as a respected educator in a modest neighborhood among like-minded friends.
I thought our educational mission was to promote America’s form of representative government. College taught me we should teach all the children to be literate, functional, critical thinkers so they could successfully participate in society. Voting and participating is more than a right, but a responsibility and obligation. I wanted my own children to work hard, respect their elders, treat others with respect, stay out of trouble, go to church, and give back to their community. I wanted the next generation of leaders to care for others.
Much has evolved in Iowa education from the time I started contemplating serious career choices. The information age has ushered in many changes, and not all are good. Unfortunately, Iowa’s change in status as the clear national leader in education appears to be among the casualties.
I am thankful for school board members who donated their time to set local policies, approved budgets, and hired the school leader to manage staff, programs, and curriculum. Superintendents are required to lead as they juggle and balance finances, student needs, and laws. I am proud to have served strong school board members. And I appreciated the support I received from those who shared my goals and worldview.
The harmful trend I now see starts at the top, selecting a superintendent. School boards now commonly hire a firm to help them with this process. I see nothing but harmful effects of this process to our educational system. Honestly consider the following:
Why would your elected school board use your tax dollars to do their job? That’s convenient. Wouldn’t it be nice if others could do that? Teachers or maintenance workers can’t hire out their jobs. If a board is spending $10,000 to $20,000 of general fund money on a search firm, they are underpaying their employees by $10,000 to $20,000 Who wants to work for that board?
I know, I know, the search firm will say they will provide a larger pool of applicants. They will say, superintendents will only apply through them in order to maintain anonymity. But does a community really want a school leader lacking the courage or confidence to publicly apply for a position? Will the search firm encourage the board to increase the superintendent’s salary? Of course, they will. If the superintendent salary were higher, would the pool of applicants be bigger? Sure, it would. Does an excessive salary improve the quality of the individual hired? No, it does not.
The search firm only benefits from open positions which they can fill. Are you currently employed in a position likely to also use a search firm to fill that position you would be vacating? Are you a person interested in moving around a lot? What good is stability to a search firm? Is the search firm associated with a particular college or university? Are you currently taking classes from that institution? Does the search firm offer a service where (for a fee) they will help you “improve” your resume? That sounds icky. Finally, if the search firm can help hire a superintendent perhaps that superintendent will recommend the board spend more money to hire the principal? That is now happening. When will that trend reach the teachers and associates in the classroom?
The money spent on the search firm acts as an insurance policy for the school board. In the event the superintendent doesn’t work out, the board has someone to throw under the bus. This use of a search firm allows school boards to avoid accountability.
Finally, do the school board members who use a search firm to free up their time so they can “help” their local licensed qualified and certified administrators evaluate other staff on a daily basis? If so, is that the board an educational leader would want to work for? This reminds me of the poem by Shel Silverstein, “Some kind of help is the kind of help that helping’s all about and some kind of help is the kind of help we can all do without.”
My advice to any aspiring superintendent is to be honest with your community and school board. If you are interested in a superintendent position for a school district using a search firm, run. I know I wouldn’t want to work there.
Steve Mitchell lives in Knoxville. He was the superintendent for Melcher-Dallas schools until 2011.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: School districts should stop using search firms to find superintendents | Opinion
Reporting by Steve Mitchell / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
