Respecting the Integrity of the School Year

In January, The Providence Journal-Bulletin in Rhode Island ran an Op-Ed piece I wrote laying out a simple New Year's resolution for schools looking to bring some order and reason to the leadership and management of our public schools. Basically, all I asked was that superintendents, principals, and teachers--anyone in the schools with direct responsibility for students--not retire or change jobs in the middle of the school year.

My piece was triggered, in part, by the announcement that Providence Superintendent Arthur Zarrella would retire from his position on Feb. 1, 1997, when his contract ended. His decision to resign made front-page news in the state--as it should have. The story talked about the difficulty of the job, the struggles of leading an urban district, and the accomplishments and disappointments of his five years in office. Nowhere was there even the slightest raised eyebrow over the timing of his departure.

Nor was that part of the decision ever questioned in the days that followed, when an impressive, if not surprising, public outcry urged the school committee to renew the contract and...