Comments on: The Oakland supe search: How closed should the door be?

By: Mike McMahon

Mike McMahon — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:30:31 +0000

The best thing the Oakland school board can do is firmly and decisively made a commitment to a process before Ray and Associates start the search. If they change the rules during the process they run the risk of having to start all over.

One area that the Board should consider is how “open” would open be? Is it just disclosure of finalists before the Board interviews? How would disclosure of the finalists influence the interview as blogs, interest groups and others weigh in on what they could dig up on the finalists candidates?

Would “open” mean the inclusion of a second committee that interviews the finalists? If so, who decides how many and who would serve on the committee? If there is a second committee what role would they play in providing feedback to the Board? What happens the committee disagrees with the Board’s final decision?

In my opinion, whatever process the Board of Education elects to use, I believe it should ensure the greatest degree of accountability.

By: Katy Murphy

Katy Murphy — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:17:39 +0000

Good point.

I can look into the others, but one of the three unsuccessful Cal State East Bay candidates, Judy Sakaki — once in the UC Davis administration — appeared to have landed on her feet.

http://www.ucop.edu/sas/judy_sakaki.html

By: TheTruthHurts

TheTruthHurts — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:50:36 +0000

I guess my question would be, did their previous employer know they were looking for a job? Did the finalists not chosen keep there existing employment unscathed? I’d like an open process, but I’d also like the best candidates to apply. I willing to let the experts determine what that balance is because I don’t know.