Reading the Hour’s articles about the search for superintendent is like being in the Twilight Zone. And, no I’m not referencing any vampire action, but boy, Norwalk could sure use some.
We’ll start here:
“He revamped the entire curriculum over time, he led the district through some massive building projects, renegotiated teacher contracts and got concessions from the unions, which in all the years I’ve seen has not happened,” said Vetter. “I was on the board 16 years and in my last five years there was more stuff going on than in the other 10 plus years put together.”
Didn’t the plans for the massive building projects come prior to Vetter’s last five years? Yeah I think there’s the 2000 master school building plan, or something named something close to that. So why credit Corda with that? And what union concessions is he referring to? Haven’t all the contracts been nothing but wage increases?
Then there’s this:
Roz McCarthy, the Board of Education chairwoman at the time, described it as a period of “turmoil.”
“People were so unhappy, and there was a lot of turmoil, and a lot of arguing and a lot of fighting about various issues that came up,” she said. “There was great drama that came up at every Board of Education (meeting). From a board point of view, we were looking for someone who would follow the rules … People were looking for someone who had experience. Someone who was calm, someone who would be able to provide some stability.”
Er, isn’t that what we have now? Lots of turmoil, lots of arguing? As for looking for someone who would follow the rules… WTF. Don’t you want someone that would provide leadership, make rules and policy and measure its success?
source: The Hour, THE SEARCH FOR A SUPERINTENDENT: Situation different than eight years ago, By LAUREN MYLO, July 2, 2009
He didn’t do anything when it came to the building projects. Instead, he gave Stu Opdahl free rein to do it as he saw fit, and we all know how that turned out for some schools that got short-changed. The actual oversight was done by the NFCC and the various schools’ building committees. Sal had nothing to do with those either.
The curriculum? Karen Lang led that charge, not that she did the real work. Teachers (with oversight by the instructional specialists) did all of that while she barked orders.
I’d like to know what contract concessions he got for the district.
And then there is the contract that he was able to get for himself. . ..
Sure Roz McCarthy had a tough time hiring Corda. Roz, it sure is tough to hire a guy who will turn around and give you as a member of the search committee a cushy $100,000 plus a year job. She is still employed by the Norwalk Schools and we are still paying for that cozy if not corrupt relationship. The Norwalk Board of Ed is a cesspool!
And that is why the BOE will screw up yet a third time. Wanted out of town super to run Norwalk school system to the ground, $250K per year.
#3–You are absolutely correct!
I can’t stand reading crapola like Anonymous #3 & #4. Need you be reminded that THIS BOE was able to rid us of Lang, Opdahl & Corda!!! They have earned my respect. I would wait and see who they hire as an interm Super and see who they ultimately hire as the Super Before flapping my gums Anon #3 & #4.
First, the majority on the BOE did not get rid of anyone. They never investigated Opdahl’s mismanagement of various projects– although they didn’t agree to give him a long term contract when he was an obvious failure. Secondly, #5, you realize that the majority of this Board voted in 2007 to renew Corda’s contract, even though they did not provide any chance for the public to see his sweetheart deal.
Third, this is a Board that has cultivated a sense of mediocrity among the top tiers of the Central Administration– to claim that they deserve a prize because they finally stood up to Corda after nine years of gross mismanagement points out that you need to hold your elected officials to a much higher standard.
Well, we may not have to wait too long. Even though it isn’t listed on their meetings, the BOE has a meeting on July 7 – that’s Tuesday!
I did a little research. They can appoint someone who isn’t certified for up to 90 days, which means they also get to make the call on the new superintendent. Something smells rotten in Norwalk.
Oh, the only catch is the appointed person has to be approved by the education commissioner. Phone calls and emails to the commissioner anyone???
#6 Certainly needs his meds! NOT all the BOE members were there to do those things and the other ones that were certainl changed their tune ..didn’t they?
Another cocktail, #8????
The Board of Ed changed its tune?
OK- they pass a bloated budget and when they have to balance it (which seemed to come as a surprise to many of them) they lay-off secretaries, cut funding to schools and school libraries and still (of course) make sure that they have money for conventions. Yep- that is quite the tune change.
But let’s continue- they try to block the appointment of the Naramake principal and, after an army of parents and teachers called them on their cheap political ploy, these “tune-changers” didn’t have the courage to actually vote and they abstained.
One more . . . how about the lack of courage they all showed when the two Republicans had the audicity to cut the Human Relations Director? Wow– that’s courage, that’s leadership.
And, do you forget that these same people hid Corda’s contract from the public and renewed it.
So, just how did they change their tune? They acted disrpectfully toward Corda? They chastised him when he suggested that the 3 extra middle school teachers go to Nathan Hale and made the principal and parents beg?
Or maybe they showed their mettle when Corda tried to cut the pool and they voted to reinstate it (although none of these tune changers actually talked to the public or told Corda publicly that his budget sucked and that parents and kids shouldn’t have to come to countless meetings and beg for the programs and staff that form their educations)?
This is a group who, collectively, have made so few good decisions that the prospect of their appointing an interim supt. and then a permanent supt. is absolutely mind-numbing. They may have changed their tune, but they are all still dancing to the wrong beat.
Well said # 10 – the one big thing you left out was the whole fiasco at the beginning of last summer – which they delayed for weeks so parents and faculty would stop coming to meetings because it would be summer – when they went against the recommendation and appointed their boy to ASI. Now word is they want to promote him. He only has the ASI job because his buddies were the ones with power. Qualification and talent don’t really matter if you know the right people – what a town! What a state of education.
# 5 To wait till after they ultimately hire someone would be a little late, saddly # 3 could not be more correct. Please take your own advise and SHUT UP already.
Thank you
#10, oh #10, you missed a biggie in your very impressive recital. How could we all forget the the fiasco last year when the Board demanded that the Director of Curriculum position be split in two, Corda did as requested, and when he put the transparency up for all to see, the Board flipped and stated that this was not what they had asked for? Shortly thereafter, they announced that they weren’t going to go with the split position, which left many people absolutely speechless. However, the creme de la creme was yet to come.
Apparently copies of the meeting minutes and statements from attendees found their way to Hartford and landed on the Superintendent of Education’s desk with a loud thump. He was so impressed that he came down personally to see this horse and pony show for himself. He was even more impressed with the Board when they accused him of having an “attitude”. In the words of the Mastercard commercial:
Running the Superintendent of Schools ragged with detailed demands for a job description:
$10,000
Seeing the look on the Super’s face when they canceled the whole idea after weeks and months of effort on their behalf: $5,000
All the good will the Board garnered with the State of Connecticut Superintendent of Education when they were rude and accused the Superintendent of Education of having an “attitude”: Priceless.
Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter in this lengthy saga!!
Thank you 11 and 13 for reminding me as well of the stupendous leadership the changed-tune-Board-of-Ed showed when they took the entire Central Administration Special Ed Dept. to task after hearing the heart-wrenching stories of the families whose children were irrepairably harmed by Spectrum Kids. Oh, I forgot– THEY DID NOTHING, EXCEPT HELP CORDA SWEEP THE INCIDENT UNDER THE CARPET.
Wow, you’re right- they have changed their tune . . . they’ve actually become less responsive to the kids they should be serving and more beholden to Corda than they were two years ago. Thanks for pointing that out, Music Man.
Let’s just hope that the state dept. remembers all of the above mentioned fiascos when they are approached after Tuesday’s BOE meeting for permission to appoint someone unqualified because the BOE has appointed Tony.
Better yet, this BOE won’t even go to the state, they will try to slip it by without anyone noticing – because after the way they treated the state and the fact that Norwalk is a failing district, there is NO WAY the state should approve an uncertified person. For that matter, it is a shame that the BOE would even consider putting an uncertifed person in charge of a failing district. That in itself shows you the concern they have for the education system and the children.
#15: The state dept of education isn’t going to stop the appointment of anyone who doesn’t have a glaring problem in his/her record. They have no way to assess educational competence, and they would be reluctant to do what is the responsibility of the board of education, even though this board makes terrible decisions.
Anyone with basic management skills could do that job much better and in turn actually improve the situation for Norwalk taxpayers.
I’d do it for 1/2 the pay, but then it could possibly interfere with my current day job.
Does it really take a PhD to call a snow day here and there? And don’t even BS me and tell me he ever did anything more significant than that.
In the real world, entry level financial analysts manage greater budgets with no where near the admistrative support that loiters on the 3rd floor of city hall, that is those you can actually find for the 25 hours a week that the typical staff puts in there.
Acutually Corda even screwed that up. Anyone remember the storm back about 5 years ago. Warnings were up the night before for the impending blizzard conditions. The snow began just before noon by 2pm the school busses couldnt move and thousands of students and hundreds of teachers were stranded at the schools, some were stranded at the schools till 10 pm until plows got through and the snow taperd off. Corda? MIA at a golf tournament in FL.
Look at the big picture. In the last 30 years, Norwalk had 2 long term superintendents, one short term, and a whole bunch of well meaning BOE members. They just got by. They just managed the status quo. Sure the BOE budget grew to be more than half the town budget. Sure there has been a general decline in the number of students. In the end, did they really have an impact? Did they really do anything extraorinary or worth remembering? Hopefully, the next superintendent can improve that track record. But without a serious culture change in educlation that focuses on educating students, what will one person truly be able to do?
Yes I remember my children being stranded and I as a mother with no access to a 4 wheel drive sat for hours on the phone trying to find someone that could reach my children, but everything came to a complete halt, nothing was running exccept the trains. I was infuriated that my childeren were stuck at the school with no food, so unesscarily. I couldnt believe it. I tried to reach the school in my station wagon at 1pm and couldnt get out of my street. Stuck in a drift. Than, as Corda always does, he overreacted and began calling snow days even if there was a hint of weather, sending kids home early without any parental notice even when there is nothing on the radar. Clear indications the entire school system was not firing on all cylinders.
#18 – boy do I remember that one. He actually was embarrassed enough to ask for the names of all the staff members who voluntarily ended up sticking with all the leftover kids and gave us overtime! But if I recall properly, it wasn’t time and a half or double, just regular rate.
At least by the time WE got to drive home, the roads were in better shape!
Let us shift the focus from the failures and errors and misjudgments of Sal Corda, and move them to the board of education, which failed to address them. Worse, the board, in essence, answered to the superintendent for most of Dr. Corda’s years in Norwalk. The board is to be blamed for this, not Dr. Corda.
This board needs to begin demonstrating courage and intelligence. The board members need to understand that it is time for revolutionary change, not more of the same type of supposed leadership that got the district into this mess. I have no particular interest in Mike Bloomberg, but he had the courage to reshape the NYC schools, making radical changes that almost all consider to be in the best interests of the kids and of the future of the city. If only the Norwalk board had similar intelligence and courage. . ..
The shift sounds logical! Corda is gone. We have to contend with this board or a new one come November.
Let’s shift to the board, but also to teacher’s unions. I have recently read about a national parent move to do something about teacher’s unions. There is just too much going on in education that adds to its brokenness. I want to toss this situation into the ring to get your points of view.
Teachers Union Facts
http://teachersunionexposed.com/site_guide.cfm
You can select Connecticut from the sidebar on the left side of the page for specific info.
I think a major attitude change is in order for the Board. If I am not mistaken, at the full Board meeting the night when the budget was balanced, the Mayor told the BOE Chair some late breaking news about the pool. Well, golly gee whiz, rather than being happy about the positive news, she basically said she hadn’t received it in writing yet, so it didn’t count . I can understand people wanting to err on the side of caution, especially with such a tight budget, but there are ways to say it without sounding snotty. The Mayor explained that he had been out of town at a conference and had just gotten the information – at least twice, but that apparently wasn’t good enough. How great it must feel to be the Chair of the Board and treat the Mayor of the City like some errant underling!! Talk about power. Does it get any better than that???
While I am all for policy and procedure, there’s a point where it’s taken too far and being snarky about good news is one of them. Obviously, they trust no one, which is pretty sad since they expect everyone to trust their judgment. Ah, well, just remember Board members …ya reap what ya sow, or in other words…what goes around, comes around.
#23 – would like to hear more specifics from you about why you are anti- teacher unions. I have to tell you that a number of innovative, excellent teachers would not have jobs because of threatened administration if it wasn’t for unions. I encourage you to read the book, Educating Esme, a first-hand account by a new teacher from Chicago public schools.
Ms. Sullivan, re-read the post. Perhaps you are confused with another. My post mentions nothing of being anti-teacher’s unions. It clearly states that the mention was for informational purposes and solicits opinions.
Center for Union Facts is a very secretive anti-union group, based in Washington, DC, and led by a lobbyist named Rick Berman. He, and his organizations (he uses several names), refuse to identify his source of income, but seem to have plenty of money to lobby against certain legislation and fund multi-million dollar advertising camapigns. Much of what he blames on unions is simply not true. Bad teachers can be fired, but not capricously. The unions will represent them to ensure they get due process protections written into their contracts, but will not defend against criminal charges, or civil suits. Other unions offer similar protection for their members. There are administrations, and boards of education, that are too lazy or timid to fire bad teachers and blame the unions, in much the same way poor management in the Auto industry try to blame the unions for management’s failings.
Oh my. Very funny stuff. The revisionists will revise as long as they’re able. The memories will resonate in the minds of the participants for as long as they live.
In the end we will either continue with a failing school system, or someone will step up and fix what needs mending, and scrap what is beyond repair.
And during the entire transition or lack there of, children will continue to pass through the system and into adulthood. The successes and failures recorded in their young minds for the generations to come.
Among the revisionistas, Amy Jimenez (who was Corda’s big supporter when she was last on the BOE) is being encouraged to stand for election– and she is considering it. Seems Dem insiders have forgotten her support of Corda, much like they’ve forgotten her vote for that awful school budget . . .
hey we all have days of judgment error, least she came back and corrected her error. Maybe you should take an evening and see for yourself. Even if she did hire Corda, she did get rid of him, no one else even had the guts to try.
Corda quit #30, what are you talking about?