What a wasted opportunity by the BOE last night. Here they finally grew a spine beyond a chocolate eclair and voted against extending Corda’s contract for another year and they failed to provide incentive or even basic guidelines as to how Corda should improve his and the school Norwalk Public School system’s performance. Instead we get this:
Board member Gregory Burnett unsuccessfully suggested giving Corda a 3 percent cost-of-living salary increase.
Jack Chiaramonte, another board member, said Corda didn’t merit the increase.
“In the current economy, many people making a fifth of that (Corda’s salary) won’t get a cost-of-living increase. As the highest-paid person in the city, I don’t think the superintendent is going to starve,” he said.
Burnett said his proposed motion had nothing to do with merit.
“Because he’s the highest-paid employee, it just appears that we’re holding that against the employee,” Burnett said. “Someone has to be No. 1. And I don’t think that should be held against them. I’m just making a point. Again, I did not tie it to merit.”
Board member Bruce Kimmel said there is precedent for city department heads forgoing cost-of-living increases in tight economic times and said Corda’s individual contract is different than negotiating a collective bargaining agreement.
Where’s the beef BOE? Where’s the direction that rising fuel costs are going to have to be addressed with building operations. Where’s the guidance about curriculum improvements targeted by school? Where’s the incentive for Corda to make changes that will improve educational opportunities, reduce study halls, reduce overcrowding in some schools, improve communication more cost effectively? I could go on. Corda’s contract and performance evaluation isn’t about what he makes, or what benefits he gets. It’s about whether the schools are improving or not, what the metrics for judging that are and how they can best be measured and evaluated. Nothing of that came out of the BOE last night.
Norwalk Federation of Teachers President Bruce LeVine Mellion said the board’s move is considered a vote of no-confidence.
“When a Board of Education sends a message to a superintendent that they’re not going to extend his or her contract or give a salary raise, it is an extraordinarily strong statement to make,” Mellion said.
Board President Susan Hamilton, however, tempered that assessment.
“Dr. Corda has indicated his willingness to work with us. We will continue discussion with him, in the hopes that concerns around communication and collaboration will be addressed,” she said.
Corda’s strengths this year included further improvements to the budget process,
Hamilton said, but his contract was not renewed for a number of reasons.
“The board does have some concerns around communication and collaboration between the superintendent, the school and community at large. There are also some concerns about his visibility in schools,” she said.
Concerns? That’s the best they can do? Will someone on the BOE please start paying attention to educational issues? Wouldn’t it be nice if they could start focusing on how to make Norwalk a world class educational system instead of worrying about how many sick days the superintendent is allowed?
source: Advocate, No raise or contract extension for Corda, By Alexandra Fenwick, 07/01/2008
