Will hiring of new Kentucky Commissioner of Education be rushed…again?

A special meeting to hire a search firm for the next Kentucky Commissioner of Education was just announced – on short notice – in Kentucky Department of Education News Advisory No. 15-046. This really catches my attention. Are we going to rush a really critical decision?

First of all, some background: Kentucky’s history of hiring education commissioners isn’t exactly sterling. In 2007 the Kentucky Board of Education conducted a search largely in secret using a search firm that charitably didn’t do its job well. The state almost wound up with a very problematic choice. Kentucky narrowly dodged that bullet when the selection for commissioner found herself in legal trouble in her former position and resigned a few days before actually taking over the helm here.

Given this history, I was uneasy about this new News Advisory announcing a short-notice meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education – starting at an unusually early hour in – not Frankfort – but Louisville. This venue probably means the meeting won’t be webcast, a departure from current state board transparency.

Here is the proposed agenda for this important meeting:

I. Call to Order, 8 a.m. ET

II. Roll Call

III. Discussion of Characteristics for the Next Commissioner -- Gene Wilhoit, Facilitator (8:05 - 10 a.m. ET; Open Session)

IV. Search Firm Interview Process (10 a.m. ET; Closed Session)

V. Deliberations on Search Firm Presentations (Closed Session)

VI. Consideration of a Motion to Select a Search Firm to Conduct the Commissioner of Education Search (Open Session)

VII. Lunch (12:00-12:30 p.m. EDT)

VIII. Conversation with Selected Vendor on Process/Timeline for Search (12:30 p.m. EDT; Open Session)

IX. Discussion with Search Firm on Potential Candidates for Commissioner (Closed Session)

X. Adjournment

Notice several parts of the meeting (Items IV, V and IX) will be conducted in closed session (i.e. secret). Secrecy was at the heart of many problems with the 2007 commissioner hiring mess. Shouldn’t the current board avoid it as much as possible? Because a contract with the search firm is involved, some parts of the May 7 meeting might need to be conducted in closed session, but let’s carefully consider this agenda.

The agenda indicates the board first intends to discuss what they want in the next commissioner under the facilitation of Gene Wilhoit. Wilhoit is a past commissioner here, but should he be the only voice except for the board during this critical deliberation?

Shouldn’t other key players, maybe the heads of some chambers of commerce, some representatives from higher education, some parents and even teachers also be heard? How about hearing from some superintendents, too? I’ll even allow that the teachers union has a dog in this fight but doesn’t seem to be invited, either.

Why does the board need “facilitation?” The Kentucky Board of Education normally conducts its business under its own chair’s leadership. I have no doubt that current Kentucky Board of Education chair Roger Marcum is more than capable of running this discussion.

Use of a facilitator can introduce enormous biases into the process.

I wonder, is “facilitating” of the functions of an official Kentucky state agency by a private citizen even allowed? Could Mr. Marcum inappropriately be passing his leadership responsibility and authority on to another, unappointed and unelected official with such a process?

To be very honest, I am wary of facilitated meetings. They often are used to push agendas rather than as a way to develop solid policy. Facilitators were used in the Common Core process, for example, and they proved highly problematic.

I have more questions about the commissioner search meeting. Click the "Read more" link to see them.

Agenda Item IV, “Search Firm Interview Process” doesn’t tell much about what has been happening. However, I got a message from board chair Roger Marcum that says a committee consisting of board members David Karem, Grayson Boyd, Marcum and several staff members from the Kentucky Department of Education already spent “many hours” looking over vendor proposals and already decided to recommend the firm of Greenwood/Asher to the rest of the board. This is the same firm that was used to locate our current commissioner of education, Terry Holliday.

I wonder – were all the many hours of deliberation to locate this final candidate firm conducted in secret? I have not heard anything about the search firm selection process since the last board meeting when Commissioner Holliday announced he was leaving in August.

Since a single, final search firm candidate has already been chosen by the committee, why isn’t that information included in the meeting announcement? Also, if only one firm is in the running, is it necessary to conduct items IV and V in closed session?

The board’s agenda for Thursday’s meeting certainly allows no time for other board members to independently check the applicant search firm’s track record. The public and the press don’t have enough time to check search firm’s recent performance, either (Holliday was hired five years ago. A firm’s performance can change over that period of time). The rush and secrecy are concerning given what happened in 2007.More is going to happen after lunch.

According to wording of Agenda Item VIII, the board wants to set up delivery time lines with its new search firm. That obviously anticipates a successful board vote for the lone candidate firm. Also note that this part of the meeting is an open-to-the-public session even though it seems to deal with contractual material. If this session can be open, why can’t more of the other sessions, too?

Now, here is a real attention-grabber. Agenda Item IX indicates the board actually plans to start talking with its selected firm, not just about characteristics they want in a commissioner and timelines, but also about potential candidates.

How could the search firm move so fast into actual discussion of personalities unless the search committee already discussed some ideas with the search firm even before their official selection to do the search? Can a research firm that has just been hired and was just briefed on desired characteristics in a new commissioner instantly provide more than a superficial listing of names in the space of less than one day?

It almost makes you wonder: has a commissioner candidate already been selected and is this search firm process largely a formality?

For sure, the commissioner of education is a tremendously important position in Kentucky. His or her department directs the spending of something around 40 percent of all tax dollars sent to Frankfort plus a large amount of spending of locally generated tax money and a notable chunk of federal dollars, as well. Most importantly, the department oversees the education of over 650,000 of Kentucky’s young citizens.

Kentuckians certainly need an open, calmly deliberated process both to select a head hunter firm and to finally make that crucial selection for Kentucky Commissioner of Education. I really hope we get that. Along those lines, click here for some suggestions to the board of education about how to hire our next superintendent.

(Note Updated May 6, 2015 to correct spelling of Roger Marcum's last name)