Ridgefield Candidates '97
Board of Education

Mary Pat Devine

Candidate Statement

The following statement was published in The Ridgefield Press on September 18, 1997:

School Board Should Draw The Map, Not Drive The Car

"I will recognize that my responsibility is not to 'run the schools' through the administration but, together with my fellow board members, to see that they are well- run through effective policies."
-- Connecticut Association of Boards of Education's Code of Ethics

Once again, the Board of Education is looking for a new superintendent of schools. The challenge for Ridgefield won't be finding a qualified superintendent, but keeping one. We'll search for strong leadership, good communications skills, forward-thinking, a keen business sense and a good heart! Then, unless things change, the political games will begin.

Board members will attempt to micro-manage and undermine the superintendent's authority with staff. At meetings, there will be rude "dissing" by board members intent on using body language to show contempt when the superintendent speaks. Worn down and worn out, the superintendent will quit. The cycle will begin again.

It's time for change on the Board of Ed. The behavior of the board sets the tone for the entire educational system. Ridgefielders can no longer tolerate board members subverting the superintendent or using meetings to publicly humiliate him as a kind of grotesque sport.

Good schools depend on board members willing to establish a good working relationship with the superintendent. Effective members know their job is to draw the map, not drive the car. That's the way successful policies are created and executed.

If elected in November, I pledge to abide by the CABE Code of Ethics. Let's find an excellent superintendent, then let's keep her.

Contributions to Ms. Devine's campaign may be sent to Mary Pat Devine for Board of Education, 23 Overlook Drive. Information about the campaign can be seen at the new Democratic Web site, www.ridgefielddems.org.

Campaign '97 Home GO TO Mary Pat Devine profile

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