Transparency, and Accountability, an Example: The MMSD Interim Superintendent Search Process | AMPS

Transparency, and Accountability, an Example: The MMSD Interim Superintendent Search Process | AMPS

Transparency, and Accountability, an Example: The MMSD Interim Superintendent Search Process

From “The Glass Ballot Box and Political Transparency,” by Ellery Foutch

Television — “See No Evil” (click to listen/watch)

Transparency and accountability for government bodies depend on the public knowing the positions and actions of their elected officials, and at base that means knowing how they voted.  When decisions to act, to not act, or how to act are made without votes whether in open or private (and here) meetings, transparency and accountability are diminished.  The Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education too often refrains from exercising their collective power via votes, instead only voicing individual opinions and giving feedback, like a focus group not a governing body.  This creates confusion, and limits transparency and the potential for accountability.  This is one manifestation of a district culture that seeks to control the flow of information, and only do the minimum in relation to transparency.  The recent meetings on the process for selecting an Interim Superintendent serve as examples of this.

There have been (at least) two meetings on the Interim selection process, no votes have been taken, yet decisions have been made (there are many reports that the Board illegally discussed an Interim selection in closed session on May 6).

The first noticed meeting was on May 13 where the initial legal notice included as a closed session item “Consideration of employment of a district administrator, pursuant to Wis. Stat. Sec. 19.85(1)(c),” but an amended notice changed it to an open session item on the “Interim Superintendent Hiring Process,” as a “discussion” (not an “action” or voting item), and with no materials attached.   A small step toward transparency.

The Board met again on May 20, 2019 in a Special “Workshop” (which generally CONTINUE READING: Transparency, and Accountability, an Example: The MMSD Interim Superintendent Search Process | AMPS