Firing Fallout

I was asked to vote on whether or not to renew the contract of one of our principals recently (all but one of our principals are on 3-year renewable contracts). It was a controversial decision for some people. Personally, I had no problem with it at all.

Without going into too much detail (if anyone wants to know, the details are a matter of public record) there were many documented reasons for the non-renewal of the principal in question. Any one of those reasons would have gotten any private citizen fired. Despite that, some teachers and private citizens who are still complaining about the decision.

I was disappointed at the people who were so willing to pull out the "race card" over this situation but what really cooked my goose was the fact that so many people are willing to give our school leaders a pass when it comes to educating our kids. Some seem to be willing to settle for something less that the absolute best leadership that money can buy.

Not me. Contrary to popular belief, I was not elected to represent the views of my constituents. I was not elected to base my decisions on popular consensus. I darn sure was not elected to represent the views of the Alabama Education Association. No, I was elected to do my very best to make sure that every child in this school system gets the best education possible.

My fellow board members made such a decision recently. I hope the message to our school leaders is loud and clear: This board will not tolerate anything less than excellence.