Editorials

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 300 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Sunday, June 29, 2008 Everett schools can refocus on education Everett School District Superintendent Carol Whitehead’s early retirement, announced Friday, will help teachers, parents and students put the focus back on education and away from controversy. Whitehead cited a death threat she received in April, and the resulting concern of her family, for her decision. Whitehead has made significant contributions over her eight-year term running Everett schools. She’s worked in education for 40 years, with 18 of them in Everett. Whitehead is a skilled and dedicated administrator and her accomplishments are many. But her handling of an investigation into teacher Kay Powers showed poor judgement — and another reason for retiring early. Powers, an English and journalism teacher, was fired from Cascade High School in November after she helped students produce an underground newspaper on school equipment after being told not to. The teachers union appealed the ruling. In April, before Powers’ case went to a hearing, the district reached a settlement, allowing Powers to teach at Jackson High School until she retires in August 2009, and provided her with back pay. The reason for the abrupt about face is that teachers remembered seeing a strange object in the ceiling of Kay Powers’ classroom, which turned out to be a hidden camera. This mess is where Whitehead’s leadership wheels fell off. In April, the district denied any knowledge of a hidden camera. “There was no surveillance of her classroom,” said the district’s attorney, Valerie Hughes. In May, however, Whitehead told the district’s 2,500 employees that there was, in fact, a hidden camera and it was authorized by Deputy Superintendent Karst Brandsma. “I was not aware that there was any video,” Whitehead said. A few days later, however, Whitehead told the school board that, “After consulting with me, Deputy Superintendent Karst Brandsma authorized the video.” And whatever video there was, can no longer be found. Whitehead told the board she didn’t believe any laws had been broken. As it turns out, we’ll have a chance to find out if that’s true. In June, the teachers union filed a complaint, charging that the district committed an unfair labor practice by installing the camera. Breaking or bending the rules to investigate a teacher accused of breaking the rules is not good leadership. Whitehead’s many contributions to students, teachers and the field of education — over her career and her tenure as superintendent — stand on their own. This cloud won’t change that. She leaves the district in great shape, and ready for a fresh start.

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