What kind of message does it send to children, parents and the public when there are people in the education world who become the furthest thing from role models? Students need teachers and principals for whom they can trust, look up to, rely on for empathy and have no reason to doubt their credibility or background.
The same goes for school superintendents.
They are at the top of a school district’s hierarchy, the ones who oversee the teachers and principals and set the course for students’ education. And importantly, they should set the standard in the district for strong character and honesty.
After all, they not only are responsible for how thousands of the district’s children are educated, they also are responsible for handling millions of dollars of public funds. And for their work, they usually are quite well compensated.
Devon Horton, the now-suspended superintendent of DeKalb County Schools, has been indicted on 17 federal counts, including fraud, theft and tax evasion, involving his previous position as superintendent of the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 in Illinois.
Hiring a superintendent should not be taken lightly. Just because someone like Horton came from a wealthy, high-achieving district like Evanston/Skokie, it shouldn’t mean the candidate should be given the benefit of the doubt with a flimsy vetting process.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Questions were raised about Horton when he was under consideration for the DeKalb job. Then-board member Joyce Morley voted against Horton’s hiring, arguing at the time that the board ignored public input that questioned Horton’s fitness for the job.
A case brought by an Evanston/Skokie teacher, which is still pending, alleges that teachers and students were treated differently based on race. Court records also show he had a history of financial problems, including bankruptcies.
These should have been red flags, and public input should not have been limited or dismissed.
Superintendent searches should never be closed-door processes that deliver candidates without serious background checks. Further, the public needs a voice; after all, it’s their children who will be most affected by the choice.
All of this turmoil in Georgia comes on the heels of the shocking revelation that the Des Moines, Iowa, school superintendent was not whom he had represented himself to be.
Ian Roberts became that city’s superintendent in 2023 and resigned. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Roberts and revealed him to be an undocumented immigrant. Investigators found him with a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed-blade hunting knife.
District and school board vetting of school superintendents must take their assignment seriously; it’s a job that helps put students on their journey to college, career and life.
There’s a lot of pressure on schools nationwide to raise academic achievement, keep campuses safe and spend public funds properly and on ways that are best for students to learn and teachers to teach. A thorough and comprehensive background check should leave no stone unturned to dig up anything in a person’s background that should rightfully deny them the job.
The search committee must either include or create avenues to hear from important stakeholders, such as educators and members of the community. The committee should decide whether there are talented internal candidates who already are familiar with the district or whether the search needs to be widened.
And, importantly, the committee must gather evidence of leadership skills, such as performance reviews from previous employment; the ability to work collaboratively with students, teachers, parents and lawmakers; and the person’s capability to manage district finances and budgets.
Frequent turnover of superintendents indicates the strong possibility of poor vetting and oversight. The nation’s 500 largest school systems in the 2024-25 school year had a turnover rate of 23%, according to the Superintendent Research Project, with 114 of them experiencing at least one leadership change during that year.
That’s an increase of the 20% turnover rate from the previous year and well above the prepandemic averages of 14-16%.
Turnover leads to chaos in a district, not to mention the additional expenses involved to look for new candidates and often provide an even more generous compensation package than the previous person was given.
Students, their families and the community need stability in school leadership. If we want steady, strong academic outcomes, we need steady and strong leadership. And that begins with the hiring process.
School districts and school boards have to get it right. We expect that for our teachers and principals; there’s no reason why we shouldn’t expect that, too, for our superintendents. They need to have an impeccable record, outstanding character and appropriate educational experience.
The DeKalb community needs to be able to trust those who get the final approval to lead our students. We expect our leaders to uphold the highest ideals and the strongest character, just the traits that we hope to instill in our students.
Verdaillia Turner is president of the Georgia Federation of Teachers.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
