The WESD Debacle

If you don't subscribe to the Salem Statesman-Journal, you should be sure to buy a copy of today's edition (Sunday, December 19). There is a special supplement by Tracy Loew detailing the results of her 16 month investigation into the mess at the WESD. Among the problems: no-bid contracts, sweetheart deals, administrators dinging the taxpayers for in-town meals, hiring top administrators on the basis on personal friendships and connections, bullying and intimidation of staff. Does any of this sound familiar? The web of connections stretches into our own Central School District. Jack Stoops, former superintendent for Central, former board chair of WESD, and spouse of our very own board chair, Susan Stoops, figures prominently in the story. Susan herself was a special education administrator at WESD "during the time that state auditors found problems" (p. 7AA). What is perhaps most remarkable is how little oversight exists at any level of our public education system, from the local level all the way to the top. Oversight, particularly of finances, is left largely to local or regional boards of directors. Those boards, however, are told to place their trust in the superintendents whom they hire and to not ask too many questions. My own observations have led me to conclude that board members who do ask questions are regarded as "difficult" and quickly find themselves marginalized by the "team players" on the board. One of the most telling quotes from the report comes from Jack Stoops. "A board has to depend on the word of its superintendent. There's so much detail - expenditure strands, revenue strands. Unless you're into it on a daily basis, you have to depend on what the superintendent says " (p. 6AA). What an extraordinary claim from a former superintendent. Is is really too complicated or is this some kind of "professional courtesy?" It certainly seems to be the guiding philosophy of Central's current board chair and a majority of our other board members (with a couple of notable exceptions). It has, not surprisingly, yielded similar results.