Equity is Not a Luxury Item

I’m absolutely cheating here by copying and pasting a post I made yesterday on a local education-oriented site. If you have already read it, you may want your money back.

Food for thought: I’ve seen several posts from community members suggesting that we forego the expense of a national search for a new superintendent. I think it’s wonderful that Mr. Barnes has such widespread support. But there are people who were upset that we didn’t do a search *last time*, because we bypassed the responsibility of considering applicants regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and so on. For them a choice to pick a white man to follow a white man - - without considering anyone else - - could be hurtful.

Now, the Board is absolutely going to fulfill its responsibility to have a complete search for a new superintendent and yes, it feels wildly expensive, especially right now. We all have a need in our back pocket for that money - - a school need, I mean. I’m not an expert in the process or how one chooses a firm to conduct a search. Is it possible that a cut-rate search would produce low-value applicants?

I don’t know.

But I do know that it matters to look at more than white men in an applicant pool. Not because the law requires it, but because you can’t have considered your best options if you don’t. I’m tired of people saying that all hiring should be color blind when they really mean being blind to people of color. If we keep on doing things the same way, and seeing things the same way, the only candidates for leadership positions will keep on looking like us.

Every single time.

And what that says, in regards to the superintendent search, is that a big chunk of students and families and faculty and staff will feel disregarded and disempowered. And they would have every right to.

Acting superintendent Barnes has stepped in at a very difficult time and I am grateful for his willingness to take on current challenges. I don’t blame folks who feel confident in him and just want to keep moving in that direction and avoid any more upheaval. But we can’t just throw up our hands and say that we don’t have money to follow the law and practice equity in our hiring process.

Some things we just need to do. Not to be nice, not because someone makes us, but because the best results will come from opening ourselves to different kinds of candidates, with different training, skills, and experience. Leadership in k-12 education is a tough place to be right now. It is looking less and less appealing from a potential applicant’s standpoint.

I wonder if we have what it takes to attract the kind of leader that we need?

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