Oakland should have a new superintendent. We should offer her a competitive contract and hold her accountable to that. Her contract is up for vote at the board meeting. I was disappointed to hear that the usual suspects were coming to protest the superintendent’s new contract.
Please don’t, please stay home.
Are we going to start with this shite again? Never-ending board meetings that repel any sane person and make a mockery of the “publickness” of it. Name calling, delays, and the parents that have to get home to their kids are waiting four hours to give a 2 minute statement that the board can’t even answer.
The cost of not having a superintendent, or driving one away through foolishness is higher than any marginal difference between her salary and that of other superintendents. And from the recent analysis of superintendent pay by Educate 78, she is getting a fair salary
Oakland is harder, we have real strategic challenges; issues with achievement and achievement gaps, schools are underfunded, a bottoming out teacher market, and flat future funding amidst spiking costs of living.
And you are inheriting a structural deficit, debt to the state from the last takeover, and some tough and unpopular decisions will have to be made.
It’s not really a superintendent’s buyer’s market, not a ton of great candidates still looking for a job that can step in and hit the ground running. She seems like she can. But not if folks are trying to trip her up rather than help her build.
Don’t come to the meeting, don’t waste the community’s time, and don’t waste your breath. Give this Sister a fair chance, despite what you may tell yourself, you are not helping.