Sally Hoelscher Is Gone and Now Chris Lynch Is President?

In a recent blog post I said that former Iowa City Community School District board president Sally Hoelscher and current board president Chris Lynch had to go. Hoelscher resigned for "personal reasons" after thoroughly antagonizing the community with her autocratic bullying (like repeatedly threatening to "clear the room" if people applauded a speaker), and now the board has elected Chris Lynch is president? What a ghastly mistake that is.

For all of you who love the status quo of this district and this rubber-stamp board, you'll love Lynch as board president. Throughout his entire tenure, he's been virtually sitting in Superintendent Steve Murley's lap and speaking as Murley's hand puppet. I don't know how he'll handle the separation anxiety now that he's board president and has to sit three feet further away from Murley.

Lynch, like many other members of the board (Jeff McGinness, for example) doesn't seem to understand that he's not Steve Murley's handmaiden or his accomplice. He's Steve Murley's supervisor. Steve Murley is the board's only employee. McGinness said he "isn't qualified" to second-guess "educational experts" like Murley. Lynch wouldn't dream of questioning him, given his all too apparent awe of the man.

Maybe it's just me, but if I were supervising someone who is as profligate with the taxpayers' money as Murley, I don't think I'd rubber-stamp his program cuts that cut closest to students' educational welfare/well being and approve his personal extravagances, like his private executive parking lot in back of the administration building, but this board does.

In late August or early September 2015, we need to vote all board members out and start fresh with a new board and hopefully, a new superintendent.

Tuyet Dorau and Patti Fields show signs of being sharper than the rest and certainly have a better understanding of the board's rules and history, but they vote "aye" anyway when they should vote "no" on far too many occasions. If you know better and you still vote "aye" to follow the general consensus of the status quo, how useful are you, really?