Left In Lowell

I haven’t decided on a candidate, but if you have and it’s Barak Obama, there is a local Obama informational/organizational meeting this Friday, Jan. 25th from 6:30pm-7:30pm in downtown Lowell. It will be held at BAMS Family Salon, 11 Central Street (Off of Merrimack Street, across from the Dunkin Donuts). I am told that “Representatives of the Obama campaign will be there to speak about upcoming events, ways to get involved and to have discussions about why Obama is the best choice for President. We hope you can make it out and join us in supporting Obama. Please spread the word.”

You can contact Alex Buck at aebuck [at] comcast.net (replace the [at] and spaces with an @ sign). He’s asking people to RSVP if they can make it, so he knows how much refreshments to have, and he promises it’ll be only a one-hour meeting.

I admit to knowing very little about the process of hiring a superintendent. I wasn’t able to go last night, but there are very thorough reports from Dick Howe and Jackie. They disagree on one major component to the screening process: whether to have it open to the public, or closed. (The dispute is summarized here by the Sun.)

Dick points out that the screening process was open last time and resulted in the selection of Baehr (which, by most accounts, was a great decision). The School Committee’s four to three vote against an open screening process, he says, “ensured that the work of that committee, no matter how noble and well meaning, will always be vulnerable to accusations of backroom dealing, and will always lack the full confidence of the public.”

On the other side, Jackie argues for her vote to close the process, stating that “we absolutely must attract the best candidates. I sought advice from several credible sources who all told me it was imperative we ensure the confidentiality of the applicants if we were to attract experienced candidates.” She is worried that an open process, with such a shortage of supers in the state right now, might limit those who would be willing to apply if they are already employed by school districts elsewhere. She states:

Just hours before last night’s meeting, I spoke to Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Mass. Assoc. of School Committees, about the process, the shortage of superintendents statewide, and the lack of candidates (we have only five applicants so far). Mr. Koocher was adamant about the confidentiality piece. I also discussed it with Supt. Baehr, who noted that we may get assistant superintendents to apply, but without confidentiality, we will limit the pool of sitting superintendents.

It seems both sides have credible arguments here, and I personally like to err on the side of transparency. But experts apparently agree with Jackie that exposing applicants to the open at the beginning of the process will cause some otherwise qualified applicants to opt against sending their resume. I respect both Jackie and Dick greatly and I think they’ve debated this dispute admirably, and in the best interests of our kids. But this is a case, for me, of no clear right choice.

Regardless, the final five finalists, like with the City Manager hiring process, will be revealed and interviewed in public before the final decision is reached.

So, what do you think?