Hiring a new Carson City school superintendent was rightly characterized this week by school board member Joe Enge as "the most important thing we do as a board." Nevertheless, after a "rambling plea" by board member John McKenna, the trustees decided to fast-track the promotion of school administrator Richard Stokes without so much as a public interview. "I would like this board to forget about anyone else," declared McKenna.
That's a shame. Because our community deserves answers to some pretty relevant questions from any applicant who will be in charge of the education of our children for the next few years. Questions such as:
Do you believe all of the students in Carson City are attending excellent schools? If not, which schools are not excellent and why? Do you believe all of the public schools in Carson City are delivering generally the same level of academic quality? If not, why do you believe some schools are delivering a better product than others and what would you do to bring the deficient schools up to par?
Do you believe that "adequate" yearly progress is good enough? If not, what would you do to bring about better-than-adequate yearly progress in Carson City's public schools? Do you support the No Child Left Behind program? If not, why not? Would you be willing to recommend that Nevada opt-out of the program and give up the federal money attached to it in return for more autonomy in local decision-making?
Do you feel the Carson City school district has too many administrators, not enough administrators or just the right number of administrators? Is the bureaucracy of the school district running efficiently? Can the superintendent implement changes he or she believes will improve the academic performance of students quickly enough?
Do you agree that the school superintendent should have the authority to fire non-union district employees at will? Are you satisfied with the procedures required by union contracts in order to fire a sub-standard teacher or administrator? What changes, if any, would you like to see incorporated in the contracts the district has with the various unions representing district teachers and administrators?
Do you think the job of the superintendent is to do the bidding of the school board, even when he or she believes the policy is harmful to the education of our kids? How much autonomy and authority should the superintendent have in making policy decisions?
How do you feel about giving parents more school choice options? What is your opinion on charter schools? What do you think of the State Board of Education's moratorium on approving any new charter schools? Should Carson City aggressively pursue new charter schools?
Do you see school vouchers as a threat to the Carson City public schools, or do you believe the competition vouchers would bring would inspire our public schools to provide a better product? What is your opinion of home-schooling? Should the school district have more control over home-schoolers?
Do you believe the Carson City school district is adequately funded? If not, exactly how much more money do you think is required and how should it be spent? Would you support an increase in sales or property taxes to provide the additional money? If not, where would the money come from?
These and many other questions are legitimate and serious. That the school board listened to John McKenna and made a snap hiring decision without an open, public interview process is outrageous and irresponsible. How appropriate that Mark Twain is such an integral part of our community's history. It was Twain, after all, who once remarked: "In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards." Amen.
• Chuck Muth, of Carson City, is president and CEO of Citizen Outreach and a political blogger. Read his views Fridays on the Appeal Opinion page or visit www.muthstruths.com.