January 5, 2016
Just when you thought the Minneapolis superintendent search could not get any weirder….
Superintendent candidate Dr. Sergio Paez is in town today and tomorrow, presumably to try to generate good will and reestablish himself as the one for the job, Currently, he has no contract with the Minneapolis Public Schools, and is not a district employee. (Now, if he was superintendent, and he was hosting open coffee hours all over town, that would be something else, all together….)
He is still perched at “potential superintendent” status, after being named, by a 6-3 margin, as the candidate of choice by the school board in December–in the wake of an $85,000 national search. He was then immediately subject to further, contract-stopping scrutiny and thus does not officially have the job yet.
Whether or not Paez is the best choice to lead Minneapolis forward is still up for debate, and will be taken into full consideration by the school board at a January 12 public meeting, as it should be.
Until then, it seems odd that, while in town, Paez is being treated to all kinds of meet and greets with Minneapolis constituents, board members and high rollers. I can’t blame him for coming here, a week ahead of the board’s reexamination of his candidacy, to try to drum up support. It would be a blow to go through this turmoil and not come out with a job on the other end of it.
And, of course, our public conversations about what he would or would not bring as superintendent of the Minneapolis schools should not become personal. Smearing Paez isn’t the goal here, finding the best leader for Minneapolis is.
This morning, sources say, Paez was seated at the Avenue Eatery in north Minneapolis, meeting with some NAACP and Black Lives Matter folks, to be followed up by a meeting with former Minneapolis mayor and education reform advocate RT Rybak.
Later today and tomorrow, he is hosting two “coffee hours” that are open to the public. He is reportedly meeting one-on-one with board members, too, (if they so choose), and southwest Minneapolis school board rep Tracine Asberry has scheduled two other meet and greets for him, at neighborhood establishments. (I have not yet heard of any other board members doing this.)
My head is spinning; how about you?
It seems as though the board should be meeting, together, to discuss whether or not to go ahead and offer Paez a contract–without the added influence and distraction of Paez’s PR spin thought the city. After all, Asberry and fellow board member Josh Reimnitz were tasked with a December 18 “fact-confirming” trip to Paez’s former district in Massachusetts, but have yet to turn their findings over to the board.
Are we in danger of putting the candidate before the community?
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Yes, Sarah, you’ve hit the nail on the head again. It sure does look like a whole lot of folks are more interested in saving Paez’s career ahead of what’s best for the city of Minneapolis.
The board or, at least, some on the board, are now in a saving face mode. And, Paez is really desperate. He’s already more than adequately demonstrated that he does NOT have the necessary public relations chops or long term interest of the city of Minneapolis in mind. He clearly should have told someone, at a number of different points, that there was a potential huge mess, but he didn’t. And, if he couldn’t see that there was a potential huge mess, then we really don’t want him.
It seems to me to be totally inappropriate for Team Tracine to be doing any hosting or promoting for Paez. And, we really don’t need RT getting into this conversation. RT is a politician and philanthropy broker, but not an educator.
The most troubling thing about Paez is the lawsuit alleging abuse of special Ed students in EBD rooms that was dismissed by Paez. A lawsuit against the Minneapolis Public Schools for treatment of EBD students is overdue. Special Ed students are entitled to an education in the least restrictive environment possible. Isolation of students in EBD rooms is a bad practice, and use of chemical and physical restraints for behavior control should be seen as red flags. I worked as an Educational Associate in Edina and Richfield public schools, where there were plenty of EBD students, but they were mainstreamed and got extra support in the classroom from Education Associates. Those suburban schools are far more compliant with special Ed laws and best practices in dealing with EBD students, and less likely to get sued than the Minneapolis School District.
Doug Mann
I prefer the opportunity to meet and see Dr. Paez in person. As a MPS parent and veteran urban educator, I welcome any type of transparency from any MPS source. I have made up my mind about how I feel about the superintendent search process, the school board’s decision, and Dr. Paez. Meeting him will not change my mind; just curious.
Interesting that Josh & Tacine have not shared their data with the rest of the board. I see that the board is having a retreat Thurs & Fri. If this is the case, it will be having an extremely dysfunctional board where the right hand has no clue as what is happening with the left hand. It is sad that there is no structure where the parents and community can push the board harder to make sure they are doing what needs to be done. They are no different than their inability to control the sup. What a mess and it will probably get worse before it gets better. I certainly hope not.
Dr. Paez was not experienced and qualified to be a Superintendent for Holyoke Public Schools District, thus the State of Massachusetts had to take over. He is also NOT experienced or qualified to be a Superintendent in Minneapolis. All I would simply say is that you need to do your homework. The one gift he has is the gift of charm and persuasion.
I’m getting batter coverage of the Paez situation here than on any other news site. Thank you, Sarah!