Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > October > 03 > Entry
A rising star?
(Dayton School Superintendent Percy Mack)
Last week, I caught up with Dayton school superintendent Percy Mack for a brief interview. After we talked about a few issues facing the city school district, I half-jokingly asked him a half-serious question:
Was he a candidate for superintendent in Los Angeles?
Mack laughed, quickly said no and mentioned he’d heard school board meetings there sometimes last nine hours. Then he reiterated how fortunate he felt to be working with the Dayton school board and staff, a functional and level-headed bunch compared to most big cities.
But I’ll tell you this — Mack is going to be an attractive guy for a bigger superintendent’s job soon, if he hasn’t been approached already.
Los Angeles may be a bit out if his league. It’s the second largest school district in the country and a hyper-political environment that probably needs a politician at the top. The outgoing superintendent there is Ray Romer, who’s last job was governor of Colorado.
Mack is not a politician. But he is a rare urban superintendent in that he has a track record of efficient management, good relationships and more recently, student test score gains. Even most critics of Dayton Public Schools acknowledge he’s led a fairly remarkable turnaround in his time leading the district.
And Mack’s prior experience was in DeKalb County, Ga., a metro Atlanta school district that ranks 29th biggest in the nation. Plus, he’s relatively young at age 55 and African American, two desirable attributes in many big urban districts’ superintendent searches.
Is Dayton in danger of losing Percy Mack? Perhaps not immediately, but head hunters are sure to be calling and the pay packages of top school districts can be enticing.
Mack has repeatedly told me he is not a candidate for other jobs and that he is happy here in Dayton. He came here as deputy superintendent in 2001 and ascended to the top job in 2002. A Savannah, Ga., native, he still travels home to Georgia fairly frequently to see his grown children and grandchildren. If he was only here trying to climb the professional ladder, he probably would have moved on by now. His pay ranks sixth highest among Ohio’s eight big urban districts. I’ll double check this figure, but I believe he makes about $140,000 a year.
I would imagine Deputy Superintendent Debra Brathwaite, who came here from Cleveland and has prior experience in New York City, would be a strong candidate to replace Mack if he ever did take another job. She’s Mack’s trusted top lieutenant who runs many of the district’s most important operations day-to-day.
What do you think of Mack’s track record here? Would you urge the board to take pre-emptive steps now, such as a big pay raise, to try to keep him?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Dayton Public Schools
Comments
By Oldprof
October 3, 2006 11:36 PM | Link to this
Percy Mack is the real deal, and I’m of the impression that he’ll stick around Dayton so long as the school board is primarily composed of level-headed members. If future elections load the school board with politicos who, hypothetically, make unfounded allegations about mismanagement of funds or who pursue personal agendas without regard for the welfare of the district, then Mack will be gone to a better place faster than Flash. Want to keep Percy Mack? Then elect school board members who tend toward the center and who acknowledge the good decision-making that’s gone before.