Filtering Noise From Signal In The Succession At LAUSD
Written by redqueeninla in EducationSometimes, reasonable minds really can disagree on a course of action. And sometimes that disagreement is not hypocritical or foot-dragging; sometimes just taking a deep breath and counting to ten is not only the most cautious and respectful thing to do, but the most pragmatic as well.
Following the death of octogenarian LAUSD board member LaMotte, there has been a flurry of assertive indecision regarding the next, proper course of action. She was in life herself iconic of a style of cut-and-dried, unambiguous straight-talking, action. If it jeopardizes my babies, I’m agin’ it. Ms LaMotte seemed less willing to hedge or preempt a political vote with games of strategy than some. Whether she actually saw things as more black-or-white than they appeared to others, or rather whether she simply chose an aesthetic of expedience, is unclear. But her forcefulness was commanding, and in the wake of her death it feels incumbent upon we who survive to see the process of her succession match her style of honesty.
That said, most of the rest of her colleagues were never quite so definitive in the clicking of that speaker-button on and off. It is hardly surprising that the board failed to agree upon a majority action for deciding how to anoint her successor when even her funeral has yet to be unfurled. For there is deep, reasonable ambiguity in how to proceed. And choosing between two courses that are each significantly different yet simultaneously reasonable, merits a period of respectful waiting to permit an understanding of how the