Commentary: Hite appointment is not a cause for celebration.
by Ron Whitehorne on Jul 11 2012 Posted in Blogger commentary
The appointment of William Hite as our new superintendent has won praise from many in education circles. His performance in meetings with stakeholders, his credentials as an educator,high marks from the teacher’s union in Prince George’s County, and his apparent effectiveness as an administrator of a large, poor and financially troubled school district all worked to his favor, especially given the weakness of his competition.
But before we break out the champagne, let’s remind ourselves that Hite was selected by the SRC based on their assessment that he was the best available candidate to carry out their agenda of austerity and privatization.
That agenda as it has emerged over the last six months includes:
- accepting the idea that the District must "live within its means" rather than vigorously advocate for equitable funding.
- continue the rapid and costly growth of charters in the midst of austerity, while closing neighborhood public schools.
- continue implementing a "portfolio approach" which assumes that the path to school improvement is to change the management organization or shut