Dear Source:
I was stunned by Mr. Whitman T. Browne's article about interim Education Commissioner Spampinato abilities and intents. Mr. Browne obviously has done a lot of research on Ms. Spampinato and finds her to be a "bleeding heart liberal" and one who "extorts money from taxpayers". It seems that Mr. Browne is more concerned with her politics than her ability to take an obviously broken system, notwithstanding the few gains made over the past 10 years.
Where Mr. Browne points out that Ms. Spampinato has moved often, he does not point out that she made gains in those placed where she worked. It is my opinion that the VI needs and aggressive "person quite savvy about the business of education". We need money to make this education system come up to at least close to national standards. I would prefer to have a person on board he would aggressively get the federal funding and put that money into meaningful programs so we can breathe new life into a failing educational system.
Do I care if she is not "a people person" or is "controversial? Not in the least, as long as she has the administrative skills necessary to bring in the money and allow our teachers and administrators to give our children a better education. What is being forgotten is: It's the Commissioner's job to bring in money; to make sure that the money is used and that programs are infused into the educational goals of the system; to aggressively oversee the progress of programs and to ensure the people that anyone not doing their job should be removed. We need someone who is aggressive, that's why the governor chose her. Should we have more of the same? Should we choose to keep the system below par simply because the governor may have chosen an "outsider" to get the job done? Mr. Browne describes her as a "carpet-bagger" if that's true, then it's a direct assault on the governor's ability to choose for the people. Is that what you meant Mr. Browne?
Maybe it's time to hire people who have demonstrated, seasoned abilities rather than local connections. We have to hire our brightest and best from among our local, well-educated populace, but when those persons are not available and the demands of the job require bringing in the big guns, then we must do that regardless of skin color or national origin.
Mr. Browne, perhaps you should do a thorough research Ms Spampinato's record on fiscal accomplishment, rather than her decorum and report back to the Source.
Paul Devine
St. John
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