Rosa Blackwell elected Superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools

[KaliTracy]

in CLOSED door session. With no public meetings about it at all. One board member walked out because of the way the election was conducted, another voted against, not because of the person, but because of the way the selection was conducted (They saved $100,000 to $200,000 by not having a search)

Granted -- just because she's married to Kenneth, doesn't mean there is anything weird going on -- she's been the temporary superintendent 2 different times, and has been in the school system over 35 years. I'm sure she stands on her own two feet -- I just found it interesting that they said they talked to the public 2 years ago (for the last Superintendent selection), and didn't feel it necessary to go to the public again...

Veteran picked to lead schools
Cincinnati board selects Rosa Blackwell as superintendent
By Denise Smith Amos
Enquirer staff writer

Rosa Blackwell, a longtime local educator and administrator, became the new superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools on Friday.

The school board picked her in a 5-1 vote after a closed-door session.

Her appointment, effective immediately, comes as the school district struggles to recover from financial difficulties, improve its academic record and stem an outflow of students. It also comes as her husband, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, former mayor of Cincinnati, prepares to run for governor in 2006.

Rosa Blackwell said Friday that her first priorities will be to reduce the school system's budget and improve its academic performance rating.

more: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050409/NEWS0102/504090344

[Jack Rabbit]

1. How were the votes tabulated?

Just wondering.

[KaliTracy]

3. LOL -- it was just the board of education -- no

diabold machines or punch card tabulators....

[Straight Shooter]

2. One must avoid not only impropriety, but the appearance of impropriety.

Not that the Blackwells give a rat's patooie about how things appear, they just go ahead and do whatever the hell they want.

I am sooooo hoping that Kenny Boy II is thrashed thoroughly by his opponent.

[burn the bush]

4. did ohio have any voting irregularities that happened in public schools?

you know any weird hiding of machines or something that maybe access to the schools would have given them an edge?

[KaliTracy]

5. the machines that were held back (that I know about) happened in

Cuyahoga county, at the BOE level --

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/990

I don't think she was interim superintendent during the elections -- the prior superintendent just went to Texas to serve in a new position.

But -- I wonder if they did a "closed door session" in order to keep any public who were peeved at hubby out of the way. If people don't read the local paper, I doubt many in town know about this appointment, but if it were advertised in the neighborhoods and they had public meetings about it, I'm guessing more people would be involved.

Again, it was the way in which it happened which intrigued me -- she's been up the ladder for awhile, having served two interim positions, so it's not like she was had been a principal without any higher administrative experience.