Once again Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has shown his propensity to be reactive rather than proactive. The latest example: his firing of Ruby Simmonds as Education commissioner after three years of dire and continual problems with education in our public schools.
The governor fired Simmonds seemingly because three of our high schools lost their accreditation. Simmonds appealed that decision but to no avail.
What is puzzling here is why it took the governor so long to realize that Simmonds was not up to the desperately needed job of transforming our public schools.
It would have made far more sense to have replaced Simmonds nearly three years ago during the Sibilly School contaminated water debacle. It was clear then that Simmonds didn't have a handle on what needed to be done. It was also clear that her modus operandi was to cover up the problem – not a good example for a leader to set.
It would have made more sense to have replaced Simmonds when our national test scores – at every level, including SATs – remained the lowest in the nation, year after year.
It would have made more sense to have ousted Simmonds when she used federal discretionary funds to buy herself a nifty new car rather than, say, library books or lab equipment.
It would have made more sense to have fired her when the cost of new schools to replace those destroyed by Hurricane Marilyn in 1995 spiraled out of control.
The position of Education commissioner is not a sinecure post. It requires someone who is fully committed and capable. But the problem starts at the top.
When a governor doesn’t recognize his commissioners’ failings until something as disastrous as the loss of accreditation occurs, something is seriously wrong.
When a governor puts political considerations above the public good — especially the good of our students — something is wrong.
When commissioners don't have the power to carry out their mandates, something is also wrong. Case in point: the governor's handling of Superintendent Rosalia Payne's infamous cruise. In October of 2000 Simmonds told Payne she couldn't go on her planned vacation in the middle of a teachers’ strike. The governor overruled her. What message did that send to the rank-and-file in the Education Department? To students? To parents? To the community?
The message it sent to us was that the education of our children is not a top priority of this administration, despite the governor’s protestations to the contrary.
The Education Department needs to be dismantled and rebuilt. We are coming upon summer — a good time to start the process.
We will be interested in hearing in detail the governor’s plan for overhauling our public schools. It is time to move from reacting to problems to addressing them head-on in a proactive way.