Saturday, November 17, 2007

C-J not buying what Joe Brother's is selling

Rollin', rollin', rollin'

The engineer on the Appointment Express says he won't slow the train. The state school board will roll right ahead and name a new commissioner of education to replace Gene Wilhoit.

Never mind that the turmoil of a gubernatorial campaign undoubtedly kept some of the better potential candidates from stepping forward. Any really qualified individual would want to know what an incoming governor's views and priorities are, before pledging to work harmoniously with him.

The explanations offered by chairman Joe Brothers for railroading this choice are even less credible than the board's first search ...

...The public may be charged up about some things ... but quick action to fill a year-old vacancy in the Frankfort education bureaucracy is not one of them...

...People "across the state" may be paying attention to any number of things ... but the names of candidates for commissioner of education is not one of them.

The school board's responsibility is to the public. And if it goes ahead with an amateurish process ... the public will be justified in concluding the worst: that the board simply has failed to do its job.

... A Kentuckian may turn out to be just the right choice, but limiting the list to folks from Kentucky would be embarrassingly provincial.

The state properly has declined to pay bills from the consulting firm that botched the search culminating in the Erwin debacle. It's a shame nobody's in a position to dock the school board members' pay.

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