Her Master's Voice

A picture tells a thousand words and this one tells us quite a lot about the disordered, backward relationships in our school district. Those of you who attend board meetings regularly know that Superintendent Hunter sits next to Board Chairwoman Stoops and whispers instructions to her throughout the meetings. These communications are invariably one-way; we rarely if ever see her giving instructions to the superintendent. But these are the boards's meetings; the superintendent is present as their employee to answer any questions they may have, not to tell them what to do. As a reader pointed out months ago (see the comments to the August 19th "Duties of the Board" post below) the seating arrangements at the board meetings are a clear demonstration that the board does not understand the relationship they are supposed to have to the superintendent. The superintendent works for the board; the board works for the public. But a former board member remarked as she was leaving the board that she had enjoyed working for Dr. Hunter. The board chair, who should know better, apparently believes this as well. This helps to explain the board's unwillingness, for many years now, to provide any real oversight of his activities or behaviors. Moreover, it is instructive to notice how other board members are excluded from the plotting and planning at the head of the table. The chair's role is to run meetings and act as spokesperson for the group; it is not her role to place herself over and above other board members, to make decsions with the superintendent that should properly be made by the board, or to conceal important information from them. This is not the way these relationships are supposed to work.