The increasingly public superintendent

I offer this story today, from the Rochester Post-Bulletin, but not as a commentary on Rochester Public Schools. To be honest, I have little familiarity and even less experience with their school system.

But the story brings to light how political school superintendencies have become. I don't mean political in the snide, pejorative sense; but political in terms of the dialogue superintendents have with their district residents.

Witness the rise in town hall meetings and community feedback forums in public school districts. Witness the way superintendents in many districts spend much of their time stumping for fall referendums. Most superintendents are now hired on three-year contracts and it is not uncommon for school boards not to renew those contracts.

Not to say this evolution has been a negative one. Superintendents serve as a primary conduit between the classroom and the public - and that's significant. Classrooms are, in some ways, very similar to halls of congress where the actions and behaviors of its participants can seem strangely foreign when viewed from the outside.

Superintendents are also largely responsible for measuring the success of their respective districts and sharing that information with the community. That element of public accountability, while flawed in some ways, has long been needed in public schools - and I think most superintendents would agree.

And while publicly elected superintendents are rare, the debate is long-raging with very few states outside those in the south even allowing such a selection method. I would tend to agree that appointment works best, but it's an interesting debate nonetheless.