Outsider Superintendent in Worcester

By Jim Stergios
October 19th, 2008

We’ve been watching the selection of the next Worcester Public School Superintendent with great interest. After over a decade with Dr. Jim Caradonio, everyone expected that the next Superintendent would be Dr. Steve Mills. He was certainly the inside candidate with support of much of the political establishment, from the former mayor/current lieutenant governor to many on the school committee.

As the Worcester Telegram & Gazette editorialized yesterday, that did not happen — instead Melinda J. Boone was selected as the new super. And the T&G was very optimistic about Ms. Boone:

[H]er educational credentials, temperament and approach to school governance she articulated this week suggest she and Worcester will be an excellent fit.

Her selection is not final yet, as it will depend on the outcome of a “site visit by committee representatives.” Interestingly, not only was Ms. Boone “the only one of the three finalists who has not served as superintendent elsewhere”, but she, like the new superintendents in Springfield, Lowell, and New Bedford, is an outsider.

This suggests that slowly, all-too-slowly, the mayors and school committees are getting antsy about the lack of improvement in their schools. Thank god.

A trip to DC and to NYC would help these leaders understand wht is necessary and possible.