School Committees and Other Snake Wranglers

Well, a big chunk of my day today (evening, really) got chomped by a school committee meeting. No, I'm not on our local school board—I wouldn't take that job at the point of a gun—but I've found myself at their meetings a lot more than I ever dreamed possible. Tonight's occasion was a special session for public input on whether our superintendent is out of his mind for not renewing the contract of our middle school principal. (Hint: He is.) The woman he's trying to get rid of is extremely capable, immensely popular, and unanimously supported by the staff and faculty of the school. Everyone loves her, including me and my family. (Even after my younger daughter pulled out to home-school, she continued to support and encourage us.)

The school committee blocked out two hours for public input, and even though neither of my kids is in middle school anymore, I felt I should put in a statement of support for her. Which meant taking some time to write it first, then waiting my turn for a very long time, sitting in the school gymnasium. Tons of people turned out. Thirty-some spoke, including me, and all but one or two were adamantly in support of Ms. Bouris. It was pretty amazing.

But did we have any effect, other than emotional? Too soon to tell. The school board cannot legally overturn the superintendent's hiring decisions, and he didn't show much sign of wavering. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, I learn more and more about local governance. As the great late House Speaker Tip O'Neill said, "All politics is local."

I saw myself on TV later—in an incredibly poor-quality video feed to the community access cable channel. I thought I did okay. I also thought: man, that dude needs a haircut, something fierce. Shouldn't his wife tell him, or something? (Oh wait—she did. About three weeks ago. Okay, now I believe it.)
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By the way, Daisy the Goose continues to lead the pack in search phrases that bring people to my blog. (Some portion of it, anyway.) But someone recently did a search for "snake propaganda," which I thought was sort of interesting. Why would someone do that?