Will the safe choice for L.A. Unified chief turn out to be the best?
No question about it. The selection of Michelle King as superintendent of Los Angeles Unified comes with what PR folks call a nice narrative.
King, 54, attended district schools as a student, got her first job as an LAUSD student aide in 1978, became a teacher and a principal, and worked her way up to second-in-command under the last two superintendents.
We all want to root for someone who came up through the ranks, right?
But does any of that make her the best choice — or even a good choice — to lead the district?
I hope so, and I wish her success, but it's way too soon to know.
What's clear is that LAUSD board members made the safe choice. They decided on someone who has been a good, low-profile soldier rather than a strong,independent voice, and for now at least, I find that disappointing.
The 7-0 vote by board members suggests that they're comfortable with King. But their comfort isn't necessarily a good thing for anyone but themselves.
LAUSD is the nation's second-largest public school district, and it's hard to imagine anything more important to the city's success than the success of the district's largely impoverished student population.
I'm sure all the candidates who looked at the job found plenty to admire. There are great teachers getting through to deserving students in thousands of LAUSD classrooms every day.
I also know there's more than a morsel of truth in the statement by the outside candidate who declined the job, calling the district "a total mess."
Look at the problems: Declining enrollment, a steady flight by students to charters, lagging student achievement and a massive projected budget deficit, to name just a few.
Such challenges may have justified paying the handsome sum of $250,000 in consulting fees to a search firm and giving it the task of scouring the entire country for months on a mission to land the best possible candidate.
I kind of got my hopes up for a proven leader, from a functional enterprise, who Will the safe choice for L.A. Unified chief turn out to be the best? - LA Times: