I was asked to speak to a consultant who is helping to form a recommendation for selecting the Superintendent of Schools for Los Banos Ca.

What follows is the letter I delivered to him and expresses my opinion on this issue as of February 21, 2007

Greetings,

I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to speak with you about the selection of a Superintendent of Schools for the City of Los Banos. I am providing you with this note so that if we do not cover all of the points that I thought were salient to this discussion you might still have the opportunity to read some of my personal opinions on the topic.

I believe that the choice of the Superintendent is a critical choice because of the situation that the Los Banos Schools are in at this time. I do not need to give a litany of the problems that our schools face as I am sure you have been well briefed on this and probably know far more about it than I do. However the overcrowding, lack of facilities, staff morale problems, and potential for gang related violence are critical issues that the new Superintendent will absolutely need to address.

So you understand my personal biases I should tell you that my personal background in school administration is absolutely nil. I am college educated but in a non related field. I come from a long line of public school teachers on my mother's side. Mom, grandmother, aunts, uncles and I have personally done plenty of teaching but mine was in more of a practical and professional training environment situation. Having said that I have done some assisting in classroom environments with special students, both at the high end of the scale and the EH. We "homeschool" our children through a charter school which provides State oversight and testing on a regular basis. Our children regularly test far above their age-designated peers in the subjects that they have studied. (We teach some subjects in a different order than the public school system.)

What follows is not in any particular order but I believe these are the critical issues and personal characteristics that need to be tackled as we move forward with this selection:

1) First and foremost the superintendent needs to be a person that has the tenaciousness that it is going to allow him or her to take on this very difficult job for the long term. The issues that the school district faces are very tough ones and the individual that is selected must not be the type of person who will leave with the job half finished. Nothing is more detrimental to long term goals than to have short term visionaries who depart their commitments when things do not fall into place.

2) The new superintendent must be an able and proven MANAGER. This job is not just about education, it is in many ways more about managing people and funds than people might surmise. The job of Superintendent is not unlike that of the CEO for a large multi million dollar corporation. Staffing, budgets, real estate, and politics all come into play. It is my considered opinion that this person must be willing to do a Fortune 500 manager job for remuneration that is substantially less than any CEO would take. That is asking a lot. Nearly every quality that you find necessary for a top notch manager in corporate America is going to be a quality that you need in this person.

A few examples:
- general proactivity in how they approach their jobs - they must be an absolute go-getter
- high motivation to build a successful enterprise (but in this case not for financial rewards)
- proven ability to manage a very diverse group of people and a lot of them
- a person politically savvy but still honest
- able to garner people's trust and build a working and consentual inner circle
- a person willing to surround themselves with opinionated people smarter than himself
- a person with superior communication skills - but one that can communicate to all strata
- ability to manage a huge budget
- ability to hire AND FIRE staff to accomplish tasks
- ability to euthanize petty office and inter-departmental and city politics and foster a consensus driven administration

3) This individual in my opinion must be highly educated themselves. I do not believe that this is a position for a glorified clerk. I would like to see a very high level degree as a minimum. Advanced training in school administration would be a highly valued plus.

4) Experience. I believe it is critical that the person selected for this job to have had a large number of years in the field teaching. It is hard to manage what you do not truly understand. I would also be very impressed if they had a number of years of experience in business administration. I do not believe that this school district will be well served by on the job training at this juncture. The person HAS to hit the ground running and in order to do that they need to understand the environment from years of previous experience. I would also very much like to see a person with experience in 'the real world'. Academicians often times get locked into a very closed minded way of thinking that is propagated by educational institutions. We need to have a person capable of the outside of the box thinking that a CEO/CFO/CIO would have in a corporate setting.

I must admit some ambivalence on my part as to whether the person should have previously been a school superintendent. I vacillate because there are some very fine people who are educators and academics who could bring some outstanding vision to the problems we have and not be hemmed in by previous thought patterns. HOWEVER at the same time we need a person who have been there and done that and is able to get it together on their first day. If this seems oxymoronic - I will admit that it is. I am given to understand that we have not promoted from within for a very long time and I really think having an understanding of local matters and connections is important HOWEVER at the same time the experience MIGHT be lacking and we do not have time to make a few trial runs.

5) Ability to work with Law Enforcement officials is KEY. Because Los Banos has a growing gang problem that MUST be killed in the cradle NOW, whoever has this job MUST be able to work very closely and very amicably with Law Enforcement officials. There are some circles of academia where law enforcement and the people drawn to law enforcement are looked at askance. No person who feels that Law Enforcement is unwanted or burdensome should even be considered for the position.

6) Because our schools are so badly burdened with overcrowding and because it is the right thing to do, whoever is granted the job of Superintendent MUST be homeschool and alternative school friendly. Every student that is taught in private schools or is homeschooled in our town is one less desk to fill and one less expense for the school district. If the applicants for this job are not home education friendly then they should at least exhibit a laizes faire attitude as opposed to a combative one toward those who choose to home educate, charter, or private school their children.

7) One of my readers wrote to me and said that they believed that the Superintendent needed to have experience with high schools. I generally agree with this premise. One of the most critical aspects of this job in the near future is going to be dealing with the unique needs of an overburdened and overcrowded high school. Another excellent point was made that there are unique money and SAFETY issues that are not extant in primary school settings.

8.) The new Superintendent must not be myopically hindered by a SOLE vision of the three R's. While I believe those are primary and critical, we need to have opportunities open particularly in the high school for more expansive options for the students. I think it important that the Superintendent make it very clear that policy will favor not just teaching to the tests but also in preparing students for VOCATIONS. Not everyone is capable of going to Stanford and Los Banos Schools should not neglect vocational preparation for the students in this town. In addition having other 'diversions of interest' such as the music and sports programs helps to ameliorate some of the after-school crime that might otherwise be committed by idle hands.

9) On a practical level I believe that the Superintendent should be willing to live in Los Banos. This was brought to my attention by a person I was having diner with a few nights ago and it makes perfect sense. There will be times when there are going to be emergencies that need rapid response and there is also the idea that a person gets a better understanding of the 'taste' and 'feel' of a town by being a resident.

10) The person we select must have a willingness to interact with the community and be an excellent communicator at all levels. If they lack this ability but are wonderful in all other areas then they should have a proven background of being able to select a 'press secretary' who is willing and able to do this and the superintendent needs to be open to outside influence garnered in this manner. A great number of members of the community of Los Banos are more than willing to help and many have outside of the box ideas that are worthy of consideration. Others need to be mollified in a diplomatic way from time to time. It is critical that this individual be perceptive to those needs and be able to diplomatically gore someone's ox without creating enemies if possible when such a need is in the best interest of the propagation of clear and correct goals.

11) I am privy to allegations of continual wasteful practices within the district. The Superintendent must be willing to make some people angry and cut programs and fat from the budget where it is being wasted or misused. It is imperative that the person is able to do this surgically and without personal imperatives or prejudicial or nepotism related issues interfering in this task.

Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you today. I wrote this note in anticipation of our conversation and I am sure that many other items of concern were noted during our time together. Again I put this together so that I would not forget some of my more critical main points.

Take Care,
Charles Guest
Administrator and Owner of OurLosBanos.com

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