June 19, 2009
Had anyone taken the trouble to properly vet Brian D. Morris' credentials, it's hard to see how he would have gotten a seat on the school board six years ago, much less have been in a position as chairman to be handed an unadvertised, $175,000-a-year job overseeing the city schools' day-to-day operations. Not only did he have a long history of financial and legal woes, but it also turns out that he never quite finished the University of Maryland bachelor's degree he claimed to have earned.
The state board of education, the mayor's office and the governor's office all said they assumed someone else was responsible for unearthing such problems when people are named to the city school board. But that answer was just a way of passing the buck to deflect the political fallout from the Morris fiasco, not to ensure that the people managing our schools are the most qualified and competent ones available. What they should have said was: "We messed up. From now on, we'll take responsibility for doing the vetting ourselves."
Fortunately, they won't have to wait long for an opportunity. Mr. Morris left a vacancy when he resigned from the school board in anticipation of becoming city schools chief Andr?s Alonso's top deputy; moreover, the terms of two current school board members expire at the end of this month. That means Gov. Martin O'Malley and Mayor Sheila Dixon, who jointly appoint members to the nine-member board, will soon be called upon to fill as many as three possible vacancies on that body.
When they do, they should give particular scrutiny to the three candidates whose resumes Mr. Alonso personally forwarded to the state board of education for consideration. The state board's role in the appointment process is relatively limited, being confined mainly to determining which applicants meet the minimum legal requirements. The state board compiles a list of eligible candidates and passes it on to the mayor and governor.
But apparently Mr. Alonso has been doing some vetting of his own - finding candidates who support a "reform agenda" to the fill vacancies on the city school board. And the state board has been showing him so much deference that it hasn't even bothered to advertise for applicants for those positions. If Mr. Alonso's preferred candidates end up on the city school board, he'll find himself in the enviable position of having picked the people who are going to be his bosses.
That's why the governor and mayor should go out of their way to make sure the process of appointing any new board members is as open and transparent as possible.
While we certainly support Mr. Alonso's efforts at reform - and hope the city school board will, too - it has become clear in the last week that Mr. Alonso is not infallible and could use some independent-minded people looking over his shoulder. Given the progress he has made, it's certain that Mr. O'Malley and Ms. Dixon would name people who would vote to continue his policies. But they need not be his hand-picked supporters.
Mr. Alonso's candidates may have the best credentials and experience in the world, but they won't have much credibility if it looks as if they all owe their jobs to the person whose management of the school system they're supposed to oversee.
