Pubdate: Thu, 05 Oct 2006
Source: Daily Southtown (Tinley Park, IL)
Copyright: 2006 Daily Southtown
Contact:  http://www.dailysouthtown.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/810

SCHOOLS CHIEF MUST GO; SCHOOL BOARD SHOULD FOLLOW IN SD 228

THE ISSUE: Superintendent showed terrible judgment in  posting spoof 
videos on the school district's Web site  after many months of controversy.

WE SAY: Richard Mitchell has gotten a raw deal in  District 228, but 
in the best interests of the school  district and its students, he 
should be replaced. The  school board ought to follow him.

Richard Mitchell, the superintendent of schools in  Bremen High 
School District 228, has gotten a raw deal  from the district school 
board. He's been hamstrung by  the board majority headed by president 
Evelyn Gleason.  His initiatives, such as a mentoring program to help 
incoming freshmen, have been blocked, and he's been  unfairly 
targeted throughout his two-year tenure as  superintendent.

As the situation in District 228 has devolved, it's  become clear 
Mitchell is not blameless either. Two of  the district's four schools 
are on the state's academic  watch list, but it appears he has been 
preoccupied with  board politics. Principals and other administrators 
at  all four schools now accuse him of creating a "hostile  work 
environment." And the controversial videotapes he  put together, 
apparently as a misguided attempt at  humorous hazing for new 
teachers, showed astoundingly  bad judgment. This error was 
compounded by his  inexplicable decision to put the videos on the 
school district's Web site.

The videos, in which Mitchell juxtaposed taped  interviews of 
teachers with tapes of himself asking  phony questions, might have 
been funny in the setting  of a faculty-administration seminar, where 
they initially were shown. But putting them on the Web site,  where 
anyone could access them, was a thoroughly bad  decision. They 
appeared to show teachers admitting to  being strippers, drug abusers 
and murderers, and they  showed Mitchell holding a martini glass and 
seemingly  drinking while conducting the interviews.

The outrage of parents exhibited at Tuesday's school  board meeting 
was well-deserved. The public, most of  whom saw the videos on TV 
reports over the past few  days, rightly was appalled by what they saw.

We have been supporters of Mitchell during his battles  with the 
board president. We liked his ideas. We found  significant evidence 
he had the support of staff. And  we clearly saw through Gleason's 
machinations.

But Mitchell's good ideas and energy are now irrelevant  because it's 
clear he'll never be able to put them to  use in Bremen District 228. 
The school board has  scheduled a dismissal hearing, clearly 
intending to  fire Mitchell. He ought to resign and save everyone 
the  trouble of going through hearings and a firing. He  obviously 
cannot recover from this controversy.

An impending lawsuit, in which he plans to allege  discrimination 
based on the fact that he is openly gay,  would be a further 
distraction and a waste of taxpayer  money. We are surprised to hear 
Mitchell plans to make  these allegations, because he has insisted 
all along  that his sexual orientation was not an issue for 
those  who have opposed him.

Regardless, the school district can't afford more  distractions and 
misplaced attention. The school board,  teachers and administrators 
need to be focusing on  schools that are failing to provide an 
adequate  education.

We have no confidence this school board ever will get  beyond the 
political fighting that has occupied it for  years, even before 
Mitchell was hired. Based on  history, it's obvious Mitchell's 
successor will be  subject to the same kind of political targeting 
under  which he has labored. The best thing for the district,  the 
taxpayers and the students would be for the entire  board to resign. 
They have failed the parents,  taxpayers and students of District 228.

We don't expect any of this to happen. Very few of the  individuals 
involved in this disaster are concerned  about the kids or the 
performance of the schools.  Everyone seems to be bearing a grudge 
and looking for  payback from someone else. The voters will need to 
pay attention leading up to next spring's election,  although it will 
take several elections before they can  wipe clean the entire slate.

The best the public and parents can hope for is that  the adults in 
charge of District 228 listened to the  outrage expressed by the 
public Tuesday. If they did  listen, they now will do the best they 
can to bury the  politics and the infighting and make the quality of 
the  schools their top priority.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine