Head of the head of the class
Why is the hiring of Sac city schools' new superintendent so messed up?
By Cosmo Garvin
cosmog@newsreview.com
Sacramento city schools have all but offered the job of superintendent to José Banda, current chief of the Seattle city schools. Having picked their man, members of the Sacramento City Unified School District board of education headed to Seattle this week to ask people there if Banda is a good superintendent.
Which is completely backward, of course, the kind of maneuver that’s only necessary when you’re trying to keep the name of your prospective hire a secret until the deal is done. More on that shortly.
So who is José Banda? Seattle alt-weeklyThe Stranger described Banda’s two-year tenure as “short and rocky.” Last year, when Seattle high-school teachers boycotted the district’s standardized tests in protest of excessive testing, Banda threatened the teachers with suspension, then backed off as the boycott garnered national attention and support.
Before Seattle, Banda was superintendent of the Anaheim City School District for four years. His bio boasts 30 years in education, potentially an improvement over Sacramento’s last superintendent, reform-y businessman Jonathan P. Raymond, who had no real education background.
Banda told the Seattle press that he wasn’t looking for a job, but was approached by Sacramento’s hired headhunters and decided to take it in order to be closer to family in California. He also told Seattle public radio station KUOW, “As I near the latter part of my career, it’s an opportunity to get back into the retirement system that I spent almost my entire career in.” The district isn’t making his salary public yet; he earns $270,000 in Seattle.
It’s interesting to read coverage ofSacramento’s superintendent search by the Seattle daily media—since they feel no obligation to stick to SCUSD’s press releases. Here’s another snippet from KUOW:
“Unlike Seattle’s public superintendent search processes, Sacramento was poised to vote on Banda’s contract on Thursday before even announcing that he was a finalist.”
Wait, why is that weird? You mean there is some other way to hire a school superintendent Sacramento News & Review - Head of the head of the class - Bites - Opinions - June 26, 2014:
Which is completely backward, of course, the kind of maneuver that’s only necessary when you’re trying to keep the name of your prospective hire a secret until the deal is done. More on that shortly.
So who is José Banda? Seattle alt-weeklyThe Stranger described Banda’s two-year tenure as “short and rocky.” Last year, when Seattle high-school teachers boycotted the district’s standardized tests in protest of excessive testing, Banda threatened the teachers with suspension, then backed off as the boycott garnered national attention and support.
Before Seattle, Banda was superintendent of the Anaheim City School District for four years. His bio boasts 30 years in education, potentially an improvement over Sacramento’s last superintendent, reform-y businessman Jonathan P. Raymond, who had no real education background.
Banda told the Seattle press that he wasn’t looking for a job, but was approached by Sacramento’s hired headhunters and decided to take it in order to be closer to family in California. He also told Seattle public radio station KUOW, “As I near the latter part of my career, it’s an opportunity to get back into the retirement system that I spent almost my entire career in.” The district isn’t making his salary public yet; he earns $270,000 in Seattle.
It’s interesting to read coverage ofSacramento’s superintendent search by the Seattle daily media—since they feel no obligation to stick to SCUSD’s press releases. Here’s another snippet from KUOW:
“Unlike Seattle’s public superintendent search processes, Sacramento was poised to vote on Banda’s contract on Thursday before even announcing that he was a finalist.”
Wait, why is that weird? You mean there is some other way to hire a school superintendent Sacramento News & Review - Head of the head of the class - Bites - Opinions - June 26, 2014: