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 School
Politics: Granholm Needs to Explain Why Watkins Should Go
Detroit Free Press, January 21, 2005
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Gov. Jennifer
Granholm needs to be more specific about the problems she has
with state Schools Superintendent Tom Watkins that have made her
so anxious to show him the door.
By law, the governor can't actually ax Watkins. But she can
certainly influence the decision of the eight-member, elected
state Board of Education, which hires and fires the
superintendent. The board is now split 4-4 between Democrats and
Republicans, and about whether to keep Watkins, although the
latter issue crosses party lines. The situation is unusual,
given the rosy evaluation he received from the board just six
months ago.
The whole thing appears more political than philosophical, and
the few, vague reasons Granholm has advanced for wanting Watkins
to quit only make her motives appear more questionable.
"He needs to resign for the good of the state board," Granholm
has said, "for the good of state education."
For those same reasons, Granholm should be more specific about
where Watkins has failed. If he's not measuring up to certain
policies, name them. Give the board something on which to hang a
decision. That shouldn't be hard, because the governor says she
has been unhappy with Watkins for more than a year.
To be sure, Watkins is something of a maverick. He doesn't mind
saying the politically unpopular thing and standing alone in his
candor, if that means getting state residents to think smarter
and more deeply about public education. Few other state leaders
have been as willing to suggest that Michigan consider whether
it can carry the financial burden of 750 public school districts
and charter schools. Some form of consolidation, Watkins has
argued, may be the state's best means of keeping districts out
of debt long enough to focus on educating children.
Unless Granholm is ready to make a better case, Watkins should
be spared. His voice may be annoying her, but it could be a
valuable one as the state wrestles with the future of public
education and how to pay for it. At the moment, what should be a
great debate involving the governor looks more like a power
play.
Commentary: Any Blame Game Will Likely Delay School
Solutions
Detroit Free Press, January 25, 2005
The latest crisis report from Detroit Public Schools CEO Kenneth
Burnley shows why city taxpayers, those with kids and without,
must take more than a spectator's stance in the fight to rescue
the district.
Even the word "crisis" begins to seem too small to capture
properly the district's disastrous state. This may well be
Detroit's Titanic, given new estimates that show another 40,000
students jumping ship by September 2008. Along with that student
exodus is the projection that 3,400 jobs will vanish and only
142 of the district's 250 schools will be open for business.
Blaming Burnley for being too slow and too academically focused
to admit how dire the situation had grown sooner does not change
the truth: This ship either shrinks or it sinks.
The city and its school are conjoined. Just as the city is
slowly embracing radical downsizing, the district must go even
further. It can no longer run from such possibilities as
creating a series of smaller districts. And as much as
Detroiters have been coaxed into viewing charter schools as
evil, there are ways the district could use chartering to its
gain. Neither hard-working Detroiters nor the state can continue
to support blindly a district with no eye toward a solvent
future.
Burnley insists he is focused solely on the future and is
capable of doing the dirty work if his contract is extended for
another year. There are reasons to debate his obvious leadership
blunders. (That would, of course, be easier if he'd submit to a
public interview to keep his job.)
None move the ball, though. They don't erase the $200-million
deficit, the need to cut another $380 million over the next four
years, or thousands of students and families who've bailed on
the schools and the city.
The point is, this crisis is bigger than Burnley. Absent
committed broad-thinking involvement from all city stakeholders,
the crisis will linger long after he has packed up his
briefcase.
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