Thursday, February 24, 2005

Heads up for St. Louis, the other gateway city

I submitted a letter to the editor for publishing in the St. Louis newspaper as Dr. John Thompson is a finalist for the Superintendent's job there. See the comment area.
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1 comment:

Mark Rauterkus said...

Letter to Editor of St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Headline:
School Boss -- Take ours, Dr. John Thompson from Pittsburgh

Hi Editors, Educators and Friends of Children in the other Gateway City!

Dr. John Thompson was reported to be in the hunt for the top school job there. He had been the Superintendent here in Pittsburgh for nearly five years.

Our school board in Pittsburgh is dysfunction to the highest order. Our political landscape is ugly. Sadly, Dr. T, stepped into this mess some years ago -- and he was always within the grip of this quagmire.

I wish Dr. T had done a few other things in his tenure here. However, his love for the children, his devotion, his sensible approach is unquestioned.

Dr. Thompson is a great man and a great educational leader. You could do much worse -- and you might not be able to do any better.

What he didn't do -- work to overhaul the sports, coaching and teacher contracts to inject more recreational opportunities for the city and the students. As a coach and as a park advocate -- he was a flop. He had opportunities to do more in this area. Sadly, he didn't over reach in this area. That's a minor bicker, perhaps.

He also didn't do anything to take on the status quo in terms of our political landscape. He sat on the sidelines. Candidate nights didn't happen. We have a few on our board that shouldn't be there. Garbage in -- garbage out. Here, we've got trash at many milestones. Our school board is there to boost their own power positions -- not worry about teaching the kids in excellent ways. So, we'll flounder for years to come.

With shared love of great schools,

Mark Rauterkus, Mark@Rauterkus.com, Elect.Rauterkus.com
Pittsburgh, PA, USA -- presently a candidate for PA Senate and formerly a GOP candidate for Mayor, City of Pittsburgh

(okay to publish in the paper -- or forward to others)

February 24, 2005 12:51 PM

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