Don’t let Miami-Dade School Board get away with this ‘sham’ selection process, people! | Editorial

The Miami-Dade School Board on Wednesday will likely continue its sham selection of a new superintendent. Too bad. Someone should stop them — and that means you, outraged parents, teachers and civic leaders.

The outrage expressed by people in a Miami Herald story must show up and confront those School Board members who are prepared to ram some sacrificial superintendent down the community’s throat.

When the Board meets on Wednesday, we hope community pressure will force the Board to rethink its misguided and insulting seven-day sprint to fill such an important job.

In a recent editorial, we, too, were stunned at the Board’s irresponsible plan to replace Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who led the district for 14 years, allowing only a too-brief, seven-day window to let interested and eligible candidates to apply.

That’s right: To find the best person to lead the fourth-largest school district in the country and oversee 330,000 students and 47,000 full- and part-time workers, a majority of the Board decided, that neither a national search nor an interim superintendent was needed.

The deadline for applying is 5 p.m. Wednesday. Carvalho’s last day is three weeks later, Feb. 3. The Board has been vague about how they will vet these candidates. So far, eight have applied; more will likely throw their hats in the race before the deadline.

By all appearances, the selection may be a fait accompli. Otherwise, why the seven-day scramble?

The requirements are few: Experience as a classroom teacher, principal, and administrator; a master’s degree, although a doctorate is preferred; an understanding of South Florida’s diverse community and being knowledgeable of local student needs. That’s it.

As we wrote last week, there is no mention of requiring experience in navigating the political needs of the job, advocating for funding and keeping teachers happy. Nothing about seeing candidates’ metrics for taking a school district to the next higher level academically. The Board is ignoring the lessons from the hiring of former Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo, which ended in his termination after six months.

Most Board members, insiders say, want a figurehead chief who will do what they say, already undercutting the new superintendent’s authority, before one even is hired.

True, some will say that when Carvalho was selected, no interim was named first. But there was a marked difference. The district was in shambles financially and morale-wise. The former superintendent was at war with the Board and his departure was dramatic and headline worthy.

There is no crisis today. Carvalho, hired away by the Los Angeles school system, is leaving the district in good shape.

It’s typical to appoint an interim chief, not rush to hire a replacement, Christopher Gentile, managing partner at Cognizeo, an education-tech consulting firm, told the Herald.

In Miami-Dade, outrage is growing as observers point to Broward and Lee counties, smaller districts that are conducting national searches for superintendents. The Miami-Dade School Board’s plan is the “greatest miscarriage of responsibility I’ve seen in a long time,” T. Willard Fair, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Miami, told the Herald.

We commend veteran Board member Marta Perez, who has openly and loudly denounced the process, calling it a “sham.”

Don’t settle for expressing your displeasure just through the online portal the School Board has set up for public comment. No, flood members’ offices with calls. And show up on Wednesday to call BS on this travesty.

This editorial has been updated.

This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 6:00 AM.