Rochester, N.Y. Board of Education OKs corporate superindentant search

[Earth_First]

Hours before the city school board publicly approved a resolution allowing it to enter into a contract with a superintendent search firm, a posting for the job appeared on the company's website.

The posting on the Ray and Associates Inc. site at least three hours before Thursday night's board meeting raised questions among open government advocates, who said the premature posting seemed to indicate the board had made a decision before conducting a public vote, as it is required to do by law.Ray and Associates is an

Iowa-based search firm whose website boasts relationships with the Urban Superintendents of America, the Council of Great City Schools, Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents and the Broad Urban Superintendents Academy, which is often criticized for what some see as an agenda that puts power over schools in the hands of corporations.

The board was scheduled to vote on the resolution at a special meeting earlier this month, but tabled the plan after dozens of community members turned out to protest and raised concerns that the board did not give proper notice of the meeting under the law. While the board sent out a notice of the meeting several days beforehand, it did not post what resolutions would be voted on until the day of the meeting.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20111028/NEWS01/110280315/School-board-OKs-search-contract?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s

This was tabled after an outpouring of community dissent last week. Last night's meeting did not feature the topic on the agenda, possibly an effort to prevent community protest groups from attending, and was brought to vote in the last minutes of last night's meeting.

[Selatius]

1. Sounds to me like the whole bastard lot of them were paid off for an outcome.

They should all be sacked.

[ejpoeta]

2. sounds like a bait and switch to me.