ED, board votes to offer supt position to local candidate [D209]
After re-interviewing the final two candidates the District 209 board of education voted to begin negotiations with Stan Fields to be the new superintendent of Proviso Township High Schools. Fields is currently the superintendent at Mundelein High School.
The board voted 4-3, split along the usual lines. The Welch-led block (Chris Welch, Dan Adams, Sue Henry and Shirley Madlock) outvoted Charles Flowers, Theresa Kelly and Gary Marine who favored James Harris.
According to people who were involved in the search process Fields has completed only two years of a five-year contract with Mundelein. Further Fields total compensation (with benefits) is over $200,000 per year. In the beginning of the search process the board agreed to pay the new superintendent between $140-160,000. So it’s not clear why Fields would leave Mundelein to participate in the rough politics of Proviso.
One theory holds that the Fields offer is just a tactic to manipulate the hiring process to eventually select Robert Libka, the current CEO. If negotiations with Fields take long enough and then break down the Welch-led majority is probably hoping Harris will have accepted another position. Then they can hire Libka by claiming he’s the only candidate available.
Libka was paid $150,000 to be the CEO (de facto superintendent) in 2005-06. It seems likely that the majority decided to offer the low salary $140-160,000 to discourage more qualified candidates.
But Harris is a highly qualified candidate. He’s recognized for his writings and been superintendent in multiple districts, including superintendent for Buffalo, NY. He has specific proposals to improve academic achievement of minority students.
Fields supervised Nikita Johnson, the new business manager, at both Mundelein and Morton High Schools. Some consider Johnson to be a highly political member of the D209 administration. If there is a ruse afoot it seems likely that Nikita Johnson provided some of the personal connections to hold the project together.
The board voted 4-3, split along the usual lines. The Welch-led block (Chris Welch, Dan Adams, Sue Henry and Shirley Madlock) outvoted Charles Flowers, Theresa Kelly and Gary Marine who favored James Harris.
According to people who were involved in the search process Fields has completed only two years of a five-year contract with Mundelein. Further Fields total compensation (with benefits) is over $200,000 per year. In the beginning of the search process the board agreed to pay the new superintendent between $140-160,000. So it’s not clear why Fields would leave Mundelein to participate in the rough politics of Proviso.
One theory holds that the Fields offer is just a tactic to manipulate the hiring process to eventually select Robert Libka, the current CEO. If negotiations with Fields take long enough and then break down the Welch-led majority is probably hoping Harris will have accepted another position. Then they can hire Libka by claiming he’s the only candidate available.
Libka was paid $150,000 to be the CEO (de facto superintendent) in 2005-06. It seems likely that the majority decided to offer the low salary $140-160,000 to discourage more qualified candidates.
But Harris is a highly qualified candidate. He’s recognized for his writings and been superintendent in multiple districts, including superintendent for Buffalo, NY. He has specific proposals to improve academic achievement of minority students.
Fields supervised Nikita Johnson, the new business manager, at both Mundelein and Morton High Schools. Some consider Johnson to be a highly political member of the D209 administration. If there is a ruse afoot it seems likely that Nikita Johnson provided some of the personal connections to hold the project together.
posted by Carl Nyberg at
11:02 AM
9 Comments:
Proviso now has our old superintendent. I am so sorry to hear that. Get ready employees of Proviso, you are now in for the worst time in your lives! The team of our old business manager, Nikita Johnson and Slick Stan Fields will decimate Proviso beyond what you can even think. They will butcher your budget and eliminate every staff member they can even if they do an outstanding job. They are about the bottom line so they can look good and move on to the next school district. When they leave nothing but a skeleton will be left and the faculty will have to deal with that which will eventually hurt the children. Update those resumes folks and get on the job hunt before you are in the unemployment line. No job is safe. Don’t let Slick’s “first impression” line fool you. He’ll be your friend find out everything about what you do or have consultants do it, and outsource everything! Maintenance, technology, library services, director positions, secretaries, printing, it’s all targeted. If you don’t believe me check out for yourself what he has done for Mundelein http://www.mundeleinmustangs.com/BoardOfEducation/index.html
Or ask any Mundelein staff past or present. Leopards do not change their spots. Make decisions on your own, but everyone be ready for the axe, its coming.
By
Anonymous, at 7:29 PM, August 15, 2006
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
Anonymous, at 8:14 PM, August 15, 2006
Anonymous said: "Get ready employees of Proviso, you are now in for the worst time in your lives!"
For some it will be the best of times...
Definitely something major is underway. Right now, seems we're only in the beginning phase of a new era of accountability.
I find it interesting that several of the new appointees are known for their ability to tackle matters in the areas of fiscal austerity and performance accountability. And I suspect that teachers, perhaps like never before, will have to justify their being retained during the shakeout that might ensue.
Everyone is more or less behind the eight-ball at this juncture. As a teacher, you will have to prove yourself worthy of remaining in your position. Same for the administrator and other support staff.
Teachers, I believe, know deep down that content knowledge, while valuable, is meaningless if no results are visible. Knowledge in your head is worthless if it is not being transferred to others.
Looks to me like the ways and means for judging another's worthiness is underway. And some faculty will defintely go down in flames. Such is the nature of any housecleaning effort. After all, how can I hold on to my own job if I'm surrounded by folk who are lacking the requisite skill, essentially incompetent in what are critical areas? Old boy networks simply won't survive. They must become released.
Key to the success of this effort will involve some dis-empowering of the traditional union role. There will develop a sense that there is no blanket umbrella of protection afforded a teacher. In some instances, years of service will mean nothing.
Job actions wil have to be supported by documentation, else there will be no ground on which the administration can stand. Given a release action, they'll perservere only by proving a case of lack of competence. This is the intention. And so it goes.
By
Anonymous, at 11:00 PM, August 15, 2006
The frst volley will be in an area considered inconsequential, like Maintenance. Then the teachers
By
Anonymous, at 1:20 AM, August 16, 2006
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
Anonymous, at 1:29 AM, August 16, 2006
Copyright law prohibits posting entire articles. Make your point and quote no more than 10% or four paragraphs, whichever is less.
Houdini made the point I was listed as a contributor to the FPR article.
Bob Skolnik asked me to get some quotes from board members while he talked to Welch. I got a couple quotes. Don't even remember what I gave him. That's my contribution to the FPR article.
By
Carl Nyberg, at 8:58 AM, August 16, 2006
I'm going to leave the post by "our old supterintendent" even though its technically by anonymous.
I'm making this call because it seems to be made by someone who has worked with Stan Fields. It's obviously not objective, but it is a point of view worth considering.
By
Carl Nyberg, at 9:01 AM, August 16, 2006
deja-vu2,
Are you familiar with Godwin's Law?
As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.
By
Carl Nyberg, at 9:12 AM, August 16, 2006
Just checked the Mundelein school report card. 20 average Act and they wereABOVE state standards on the PSAE. Fields must have done a terrible job!
By
Anonymous, at 4:58 PM, August 17, 2006
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