The three finalists for the superintendency in DeKalb erased a lot of doubts about their ability to run a 99,000-student system during their public inquisition Thursday.
All the candidates run systems less than a tenth of the size of DeKalb, Georgia’s third-largest district and one of its most troubled. However, as the candidates demonstrated in the three-hour question and answer session, their ideas for improving DeKalb schools aren’t small.
Most of us have seen new managers arrive with ideal credentials only to prove themselves utterly unsuitable for the demands of the job. And we have seen other leaders with unremarkable backgrounds succeed. A curriculum vitae doesn’t tell the full story.
In sharing their personal stories, the candidates acknowledged the challenges in DeKalb, which has been rocked by a turnover in leadership and the indictment last year of former superintendent Crawford Lewis and former chief operating officer Patricia Reid on charges of racketeering, theft and bribery.
In March, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the district on advisement, which is the step before probation. The district has until October to improve its planning, policies, training, administration and communications to avoid probation.
DeKalb also just endured the emotional turmoil of closing schools due to dwindling enrollments, a process that exacerbated the historic tensions between north and south DeKalb, a chasm defined by race, socioeconomics and, according to south DeKalb parents who saw more of their schools shuttered, political clout.
Given these conditions, why would anyone want to lead DeKalb schools?
“I seem to aspire to challenge,” said Gloria Davis, the superintendent of schools in Decatur, Ill., who described herself as “a taskmaster who leads by example.”
With the complaints of nepotism and cronyism in DeKalb, Davis won the audience over with her definition of a school system’s purpose: “Instruction in the classroom and throughout the school building is our priority. It is not an adult employment system. It is about the education of children.”
Davis earned more nods of approval when she addressed administrative staffing in DeKalb, a sore point with parents who feel the system is top-heavy. She agreed that DeKalb has too many “layers” and said one of her first tasks must be to “figure out which layers, shall we say, should be gently leveled.”
She also said she would perform “instructional walk-throughs,” as would the entire central office staff. “I know good instruction when I see it, and I know bad instruction when I see it,” she said.
As an example, Davis said if teachers have been teaching AP for many years, yet their students are scoring in the lowest ranks on the exam, she has to consider whether those teachers should still be teaching those classes. “It is about looking at the data,” Davis said. “It takes the personality out of critical conversations.”
Superintendent in Champaign, Ill., Arthur Culver compared DeKalb to a gold mine, explaining, “A person who mines gold has to remove tons of dirt to find an ounce of gold.”
He maintained that he can unearth that gold and turn DeKalb into a beacon of excellence for the state and the nation.
“The resources are here. The expertise is here. There are some things that need to be changed. It is about the right leader, the right focus and the right effort,” said Culver.
A former special education teacher, Culver said the emphasis has to be on getting all students to learn to high levels.
“I know it can be done. It is just how bad do you feel about the fact that it hasn’t been done. There is no silver bullet,” he said to murmurs of agreement.
“You have to drill down to the individual kid. Every test score has a child’s name behind it. It’s about really caring and engaging the system and engaging the community. And not accepting excuses. It is a lot of hard work, but it is not mission impossible,” he said.
The candidates all gave conditional endorsements of charter schools but Culver was the most open to the concept, saying, “If a charter school can do a better job than we are doing, then I am for that.”
He also supported performance pay for teachers. “Most teachers are in this business to help children; they are not here to get rich. I believe in rewarding high performance. A pat on the back is good but sometimes it is good to give something that they can take to the bank, too.”
In the area of teacher development and improvement, Lillie Cox, school chief in Hickory, N.C., delved the deepest of the trio. “My strength as a leader is that I am able to identify key issues and problems and I am not afraid to address them head on. Another strength is my understanding of the teaching and learning process,” she said. “If you take your eye off of that, it will slip. I always have a laser focus on the children.”
“DeKalb is a school district with a wealth of resources,” Cox said. “You have had a couple of years of crisis and challenges. From what I have seen online and heard from the community, there is a lot passion for education here. This is a community that holds education at its heart and wants to embrace the school system so it can finally show the growth and potential it certainly has.”
Cox gave the frankest response to the question on how she would go about uniting a county that has chosen to segregate itself by its housing choices.
Noting her own district’s north and south divide, Cox said, “Sometimes, the idea of bringing people together may not be our role as a school district. Our role is to provide a quality and highly rigorous education for every child.
“I believe in equity for all children. Sometimes, that doesn’t mean equal,” she said. “Sometimes, that is something that you just have to say. Some students need different resources to meet the standards.”
Several residents expressed more confidence in the three finalists after their appearances, but still worried about whether any of them could work with the DeKalb school board.
And that’s the toughest question of all.
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