Failure Of Due Diligence

Our View: Revelations Of Brian Morris' Checkered Financial And Legal Past Show Why It Was A Mistake To Hire Him As A Top School Deputy With No Public Process

Brian D. Morris' resignation Saturday as deputy CEO of the Baltimore schools saves the city of the risk of having someone whose own finances are in shambles overseeing the management of a $1.1 billion system. Once The Sun's Robert Little, Melissa Harris and Liz Bowie reported Friday about the 15-year string of legal judgments against him, his bad debts and garnisheed wages, Mr. Morris faced mounting pressure from educational and civic leaders to step down before he even began the job. It only took him a day to bow to the obvious - his employment in the system, in any capacity, was untenable.

But his action doesn't erase the stain the whole episode has brought on a system that, under the leadership of CEO Andres Alonso, had appeared to be shedding its reputation as a home for cronyism and poor management. Mr. Alonso erred uncharacteristically badly when he hired Mr. Morris, who as school board chairman for the past six years had been instrumental in hiring Mr. Alonso, evaluating his performance and setting his compensation. Mr. Alonso offered a man who was essentially his boss an unadvertised job with a six-figure salary, even though he had no formal credentials as an educator or professional experience as a school administrator.

Mr. Alonso generally deserves praise as a hardworking, dedicated leader. Over the last two years he's done more to improve Baltimore's troubled schools than any of his predecessors. But in one moment of recklessness, he jeopardized all the goodwill he has built by failing to perform even the most basic due diligence. Mr. Alonso was apparently so focused on getting his team up and running before the next school term that he didn't press his choice for the system's No. 2 executive slot for the kind of details that might have indicated a problem. Next time he asks for the community's support for his reforms, will we trust that he's done his homework?

The blame is not Mr. Alonso's alone, though. Given Mr. Morris' lack of a track record and the queasiness they should have felt in approving the hiring of their former chairman, the school board members should have made doubly sure there was nothing potentially damaging in Mr. Morris' background.And what of Mr. Morris himself? Why didn't he tell Mr. Alonso about his financial difficulties? Why did he think it acceptable to negotiate behind closed doors for a high-paying job in the system he oversaw? Mr. Morris issued a statement Saturday pleading for the public not to forget the progress city schools made under his tenure. He should have thought of that before he took the job.

But Mr. Morris is right that the reform of Baltimore City schools is too important for us to let his personal failings torpedo it. That's why Mr. Alonso needs to convince us that he recognizes what he did wrong. We need to know that he understands why having a free, open and transparent process for filling such an important position as his chief deputy is essential. He needs to apologize, and he needs to mean it.