What went wrong in Minneapolis?
Here's a cautionary tale about Superintendent searches gone wrong. Not only can picking a Superintendent can be a risky crap shot, it can quickly turn into a costly fiasco. But it is amusing to note the dollar figures involved. We should get away so cheap!
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune,
School superintendent buyouts: What went wrong?
Buyouts of Minneapolis and Osseo superintendents raise questions about search processes.
Norman Draper, Star Tribune
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune,
School superintendent buyouts: What went wrong?
Buyouts of Minneapolis and Osseo superintendents raise questions about search processes.
Norman Draper, Star Tribune
Superintendents in two of the Twin Cities' largest school districts were bought out and sent packing within two weeks of each other. Tens of thousands of dollars were spent to get rid of them. One had been superintendent for a year and a half; the other, only seven months.
What went wrong?
The outcome might have been unavoidable. Finding a good superintendent is a complex process, often involving national search firms that patch together profiles of what communities and boards of education want and match them with the available talent. With different people wanting different things, selecting just the right superintendent is no slam dunk.
"In the end it's a crapshoot," said Bob Lowe, a former Minnesota superintendent who is now an official with the Minnesota School Boards Association.
4 Comments:
Are you suggesting that we would be getting off easy paying AA her $250K salary + $375K golden parachute just to get rid of her with the least amount of hassle?
That's exactly what it boils down to, given the current standards in the world of big-city superintendents.
I posted the article as a heads-up about the risks of the superintendent hiring process, and the potential for it to end badly -- both in terms of not finding the right person, not lasting long, and costing a lot in buyouts and contract settlements.
The aside about "we shoudl be so lucky" was a wry observation that the contracts in Minneapolis, and the buyouts, were cheaper than what we face -- both with AA and with her replacement.
thanks for posting the info. i do know folks in the area - esp. st. paul MINN, and will ask re board of education rationale for the buyouts.
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