Thanks Steven! I did some initial research as far as what information was available online since you were kind enough to provide the list.
Starting with Craig Bangston who is a candidate for a similar position in the Pulaski County Special School District in Arkansas:
Dr. Craig Bangston of Leitchfield, Ky., a former superintendent with both the Grayson County (Ga.) and Bartow County (Ga.) School Districts. Bangston has more than 30 years of education experience. He holds a doctorate in finance and business administration from Columbia Pacific University and a doctor of education degree in curriculum and finance from Texas A&M University. He also holds a master’s of science degree in elementary administration and elementary education and bachelor’s of science degree in physical education, special education and coaching, both from Bemidji (Minn.) State University.
He also is the author of a very interesting article that focuses on:
Have you ever encountered a school board member who was belligerent, talked too much and had solutions for all the problems of the district or a board member who refused to read the board policy manual, discussed executive session matters with constituents or back stabbed a fellow board member?
He's also a candidate for a job in Florida.
Debra Brathwaite who is the current Deputy Superintendent at Dayton Public Schools is next, with this:
An educator with 33 years of experience, Brathwaite came to Dayton Public Schools as deputy superintendent and chief academic officer in May 2003. A strong proponent of the benefits of single-gender education, Brathwaite was instrumental in starting the Charity Adams Earley Academy for Girls and the Dayton Boys Prep Academy. She oversees several departments, including curriculum and instruction, pupil services, special education, assessment and accountability, professional development, state and federal programs, information services, and grants development.
Prior to coming to Dayton, Brathwaite began her career in her native New York, working in the school system as a curriculum writer, staff developer, elementary school principal and deputy superintendent. She also taught undergraduates at Medgar Evers College of the City of New York as an adjunct professor in the education department for 12 years.
In addition, Brathwaite was an associate superintendent and academic supervisor with the Cleveland Municipal School District.
Brathwaite is a graduate of Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and holds a Bachelor of Arts in education, a Master of Science in education with a concentration in reading, and a Professional Diploma in administration and supervision of education.
John Foley is of course our current interim Superintendent...information on him can be found here
Luis B. Gonzalez who is the Superintendent of Mathis Idependent School District, not much information was found except from their website.
Same with Michael Harding, there is this from the Michigan City School website and this article from the local newspaper on December 6, 2006 that doesn't appear promising:
In a 5-2 vote, the Michigan City Area Schools board renewed the superintendent's contract Tuesday night, extending it until June 30, 2009.
With board members James Kintzele and Clyde Zeek voting against the contract, the board raised the salary of Superintendent Michael Harding from $111,500 to $118,554 per year retroactive to July 1.
“Education is hard,” the superintendent, who is responsible for about 1,100 employees, told the board. “But the positives far outweigh the negatives.”
This raise is the first Harding has received since coming to Michigan City in July 2004, board member Jeff Jones said.
Marlene Kennedy Mills in her online information shows she was a former Toledo Public School Principal at Fulton Elementary as well as a teacher in TPS and OLPH as well as other teaching/administrative positions before moving up to Mason Consolidated Schools.
John O'Sullivan - form lists he is the former Superintendent of Maple Grove MN, this states as updated on Updated 12/7/06:
Osseo School District, Osseo, MN
Appointed John O'Sullivan, Savannah, GA
Then this from the local MN paper from June of 2006:
When the board agreed to hire O'Sullivan, it was on a 4-2 vote, with board members John Nelson and Kim Green vocally opposed to his selection.
Conversely, all six board members were clear supporters of Hintz's candidacy, with all of them speaking during last week's meeting of her positive qualities.
"There are few districts like ours," said Lin Myszkowski, board member. "Most people would not be up to the challenge. I think it is a gift to us that our next leader is from within our midst."
O'Sullivan was selected at a Saturday meeting, with few members of the public present, while Hintz had a nearly full board room of supporters last week, including members of Brooklyn Park's African American Action Committee and many of the district's building principals.
Then this which is not very positive:
John O’Sullivan. A former Air Force colonel, he was superintendent in Savannah, Ga., from 2001 to 2004 and in Osesso, Minn., from 2004 to 2005. O’Sullivan was bought out early by the school board both times. In Savannah, he was bought out 20 months early. Went on to Osesso, Minn., in 2005 where he was again bought out, this time a year early. In both cases, board members complained about his brusque style.
Last but not least, another candidate who took his position as Superintendent not that long ago with Canton Schools, Stephen Stohla he took the job with Canton in 2004. He's also a candidate for the same job in Florida that Craig L. Bangston applied for.
And there you have it - a brief summary of what information is available online about these candidates.
posted by psyche777 at 02:31 P.M. EST on Fri Dec 08, 2006 #
psyche777
Thanks a lot for the reasearch and providing this information.
posted by purnhrt at 06:06 P.M. EST on Fri Dec 08, 2006 #
I love doing research purnhrt so always glad to help.
:-)
posted by psyche777 at 09:34 P.M. EST on Fri Dec 08, 2006 #
Great info! Thanks Lisa for the research.
The article by Craig Bangston is a must read. Methinks he's been to a school board meeting at TPS once or twice :-) Too bad we can't hire him as a mediator for the board. Seems like he's seen our situation before.
posted by katie82640 at 05:50 P.M. EST on Sat Dec 09, 2006 #
I especially liked his Code of Conduct.
posted by psyche777 at 08:59 P.M. EST on Sat Dec 09, 2006 #
I can't help but wonder if we'd be better off keeping Mr. Foley. Too many of them have jumped from job to job or have been bought out of their contracts, which to me doesn't send a good message or make a good impression. Also, more than one of them are bidding on other positions so would they use us as leverage to get more money from the other school or vice versa? At least Mr. Foley is someone who not only is familiar with TPS, but also someone we are familiar with. It just feels like we'd be in for more of a mess if we went with one of the other candidates at this time and I feel that with the split that is currently amongst the board members that the vote would be less than acceptable because of some trying to "prove their point".
I say we keep Mr. Foley on, then try to "fix" the board, then look again if Mr. Foley doesn't want to stay on as Super. Just my opinion.
posted by ThoughtsOnTPS at 09:49 A.M. EST on Sun Dec 10, 2006 #
Keeping Foley would short-circuit the process of constantly bidding up elite institutional jobs in America. I think that the Super-search is just going to continue and reach fruition with a significantly-higher compensation package. Sanders attained a package in Cleveland that was roughly double in size over what Toledo was giving him. The recent furor over city-executive pay is another vector showing us the way things are going. In my opinion, it's unstoppable. We would need a markedly different BOE, right now, just to put a stop to the overcompensation trend. Considering the drubbing I've taken for daring to suggest teachers in the area are overpaid, we would need a similarly-different electorate, too. Hence: unstoppable.
The current BOE is just going to use its majority-in-the-establishment to push the falsehood that a school system in such "need" is going to require the "best talent". That will directly translate into a much bigger compensation contract. The package itself will not be the only thing bloated here; the contract will undoubtedly contain many other "golden parachute" clauses that will force the citizens of Toledo to pay outlandish amounts of money to the new Super under a variety of silly conditions.
After all, some dipshit bankruptcy judge just approved similar provisions for the Dana executives. These things are now acculturated. We're going to have to become a lot poorer as a standard issue before people WAKE UP to their elitist processes which are contributing directly to their own poverty.
posted by GuestZero at 06:51 A.M. EST on Mon Dec 11, 2006 #
Mr Harding has a new article in the local paper. I posted it on http://www.tpssearch.com but you can also get to it directly here
The district announces in that article the salary range. It is strange they are announcing it early.
posted by chrismyers at 08:56 P.M. EST on Mon Dec 11, 2006 #
wow!!!
posted by purnhrt at 10:16 P.M. EST on Mon Dec 11, 2006 #
This link (from this list) claims Sanders was paid about $148K, with total compensation of about $194K. If this other article (given by chrismyers) is correct, the $140K to $170K range is likely to produce a massive salary increase. Paying $170K for what paid $148K is an obscene 15% pay raise. Even the middle of the range ($155K) is a fat 5% raise.
You'd think these people weren't spending their own money ... uh, waitaminnut!
posted by GuestZero at 06:05 A.M. EST on Tue Dec 12, 2006 #
GZ - I believe you overlookedd the comment in the story that the likely package (salary and benefits) would be in the $140k - $170k range.
Schroeder said his school corporation likely will offer a salary/benefits package ranging between $140,000 and $170,000.
At $170k, that is $24k less than the package for Sanders. BTW - a salary in the $150K range with benefits that would bring the package to around $200k is only about 3 - 4 times what the average teacher makes in compensation. This is not an excessive amount to pay for someone responsible for a $450 million dollar enterprise. Four times the salary for a corporate CEO of the average worker would be amazing in the private sector.
I'm not supporting excessive salaries and I agree that administration needs to be lean and more effective, but this salary range is not excessive in my opinion. And I also believe that you get what you pay for - you want good people in public service, you have to pay them. I'm talking total compensation here - salary, insurance and retirement. You could argue that you don't get your money's worth and you could be right, but the question you keep raising is whether a superintendent is worth the money. I would say yes, if he/she were good and was held to measurable standards.
As to the process of just anointing Foley, that has a whole lot of other consequences. I'll elaborate more at another time, but must run now.
posted by sflagg at 07:12 A.M. EST on Tue Dec 12, 2006 #
Well, I stand corrected. I missed the difference between salary and compensation package. Thanks for pointing that out.
If the report is true, then the process of bidding up instituional pay has lost ground in Toledo. I'm now "pleased" (well, as pleased as I ever get ... grr, snarl, growl).
posted by GuestZero at 02:03 P.M. EST on Tue Dec 12, 2006 #
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