By DAVID BOYLE
The Anchorage School District is in the process of selecting a new superintendent to replace retiring Superintendent Deena Bishop. The selection will impact the Anchorage community and students for the next few years.
The superintendent sets the tone and helps the board set the policy priorities that will impact our students and parents. Will the new superintendent emphasize best practices to improve student achievement? Or will that superintendent emphasize the dog-whistle diversion of diversity, inclusion, and equity?
The district has selected Ray & Associates, Inc. to help manage the selection process. This firm was used in the past to select the current superintendent as well as the MatSu Borough and Juneau superintendents. This was a sole source contract, which is permissible under ASD Board policy.
Ray & Associates has provided the district with a list of 31 qualities/characteristics that a superintendent should have.
Read: Your voice matters, public input on new search for school superintendent
Two of these qualities are, “Has a strong moral compass that is rooted in justice and equality” and “Is able to lead district diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.” This is a direct reference to Critical Race Theory and its tenets.
The contract has an entire page devoted to “Inclusion, Equity and Elimination of Institutional Racism.”
The contract’s exact wording on this topic is:
“We recognize social injustice, systemic racism, socio-economic limitations and the disparities associated with the identification and placement of school district leadership personnel. Furthermore, this recognition has not only guided our recruitment and placement of school district leaders, it directly impacts our recruitment and selection of our search Associates and national office personnel.”
This is the only section of the contract that is bolded. These appear to be the most important criteria for selection. Note that the firm will use these criteria to “guide our recruitment and placement of school district leaders”.
Ray & Associates continues with “We will recognize systemic racism as an equity problem for children’s access to a fair, thorough and effective public education.”
Believing “systemic racism” exists in our schools is apparently one of the most important qualities for the new superintendent.
Is that what the parents, teachers, and Anchorage citizens want? Are these the criteria most important to you in the education of your children?
You can make a difference by voicing your opinions to the ASD Board. The Board is having virtual townhalls to get citizens’ input. Here are the virtual townhalls:
Tuesday, January 25, noon -1:00 pm.
Thursday, January 27, 6-7 pm.
Click this link to join the webinar.
Webinar ID: 923 1591 8124, Passcode: 117790
You can also contact all the Anchorage School Board members by emailing them: [email protected]
Parents and grandparents can let the school board know what it thinks about the Critical Race Theory priorities in the selection process.
