When the School Board voted last night to consider amending Patti Jaffe’s contract as Interim Superintendent, it was great to see the Board respond to the community.
Clearly, enough people have said, “Why do we need to go outside for a Supe if one of our own can do the job?”
The Teachers Union has not made any endorsement here because we've really not been involved in a meaningful way in the process.
But we have said that we have confidence that Mrs. Jaffe has the skills needed to be a good superintendent as well as a clear commitment to this School District.
The Board did include us in the process by allowing us to meet with the candidates.
But having the employee organization leaders sit outside in the cold interviewing superintendent candidates —what message does that send?
I don't know how many teachers support Mrs. Jaffe.
But clearly enough of them feel sufficiently strongly to speak up.
This means something, because I think it's human nature to complain about people who supervise our work.
It's rare for those employees to then go to bat for that supervisor.
Finally, other school districts looking for supes are involving their unions in a real and meaningful way, understanding that employees probably know how problems in a district affect students at the school sites.
Why CCUSD wouldn't make us partners in this process illustrates, I think, their level of respect for us.
Mr. Mielke, president of the Teachers Union, may be contacted at davidmielke@ccusd.org
