Betting (on the Superintendent Choice)

My friend sent me an email, asking me to "handicap" the AAPS Superintendent interviews based only on their names and school districts:

William DeFrance (Eaton Rapids Public Schools, Michigan); Patricia Green (North Allegheny School District, Pennsylvania.); Paul Long (Pennsbury School District, Pennsylvania); Michael Munoz (Des Moines Public Schools, Iowa); Shelley Redinger (Oregon Trail School District, Oregon); and Manuel Rodriguez (Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland).

Really, I said? I don't know anything about them.

No, he said--blind speculation is more fun.

So--based solely on their school district locations, I chose as finalists the candidates from Eaton Rapids and Des Moines. ("Oh," my friend said. "Home court advantage." Well, yeah, kind of.)

But it's a good thing there's going to be some more due diligence about them.

Read about the candidates here. I've got to say that after reading about them, they don't seem worthy of the big jump in pay that the board voted to give them in order to get AAPS the very best candidates. But see what you think for yourself.

Better yet, if you have the (substantial amount of) time required to go to the interviews this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, that is fabulous. (Feel free to share your comments after the interviews here.) The schedule for the interviews can be found here. All interviews will be held at the Courtyard Marriott, 3205 Boardwalk Drive. 

Finalists will be brought back the week of February 28th, and the public will get to ask questions then.