Look far, wide for next superintendent

The longer the Clark County School Board waits to launch a national search for a new superintendent, the less appealing the job becomes to potential candidates across the country.

The entrenched special interests who benefit from the status quo — the teachers union foremost among them — are carrying the day with the argument that only a career Nevada educator, familiar with every political pitfall, can steer this system toward higher achievement and graduation rates. That a clearly divided School Board would entertain this absurd position for months shows a staggering lack of leadership.

We might as well raise red flags from every campus in the valley. Change agents not welcome. Outsiders not welcome. Big ideas come here to die.

The sudden exit of reform-minded Superintendent Dwight Jones, who stuck around for just two years and jumped ship in the middle of this year’s legislative session, burned a lot of bridges around Nevada. A great number of parents and taxpayers who want the School Board to hire from within have no overtly political motivations. They simply don’t see the point of paying tens of thousands of dollars to a search firm, then handing over even bigger money to a carpetbagger with one eye on the exit when so many classrooms are short of resources. They want to save face.

It’s the job of the School Board to remind the wounded public of their interest in best practices. Anytime a large organization loses its leader, it’s obligated to identify and pursue the best talent possible. Nothing is lost from an open search that includes qualified internal candidates. Nothing is gained from shutting doors and posting signs that say “Keep out.”

The School Board started with the right approach in March, naming Pat Skorkowsky interim superintendent and announcing a plan to hire a permanent replacement by fall. Administrators negotiated with a search firm for weeks. Last month, the board turned 180 degrees, halting the search process and scheduling 14 meetings to get public input on how to proceed. That created a bigger forum for the no-search crowd. The last of those meetings is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. at Legacy High School.

We haven’t seen nearly enough from Mr. Skorkowsky to know whether he’s up to the task of lifting a system with deep structural flaws, huge socioeconomic challenges, labor issues and a long-standing lack of accountability. The best way to find out: Make him compete against other applicants.

If the Clark County School District’s struggles could be pinned on decades of following outside advice and ignoring local perspectives, perhaps the case for shunning a search would be stronger. In truth, the district has long resisted out-of-state influence. The insiders own this system. And we want them to keep the keys, no questions asked? Nevada’s education system screams out for experimentation.

Come Monday night, the School Board’s slate of public forums will end. There will be no reason for further delay. Start the national search.