Combat Pay

 Here's the analogy that will send my younger brother skimming to the end of this piece: Two National Basketball Association franchises just fired their head coaches. Not a surprise, exactly since it's closing in on the end of their season and that's usually a good time to "clean house." Except in this case, both of the coaches who were fired were leading their teams into the playoffs. The Denver Nuggets and the Memphis Grizzlies are both looking at extending their seasons with a chance at winning the "world" championship. Why would a winning team from all outward appearances want to set their captain adrift when there is still so much basketball left to be played?

I cannot answer that question with any degree of certainty. It definitely goes against what most people would refer to as "conventional wisdom." 

Which brings me to the turn my younger brother is probably trying to find: The Oakland Unified School District's School Board is currently trying to oust the current superintendent. The same superintendent who was only recently granted a contract extension. A three year extension. Granted this past August. 

Now the difference between a school district and a professional basketball team is a mighty gulf. I leave it to you to decide the relative cultural impact that each may occupy in our current zeitgeist. Certainly we put a large stake in our professional athletes compared to our professional educators. The annual salary of a superintendent of an urban school district versus that of an NBA head coach is an quick way to check that comparison. 

In sports, the hunger is for championships. In education, the hunger is for scholarship. Success in either relies on a myriad of factors. Winning isn't everything, as some folks would tell you. It's the only thing. In a world that elevates a very thin line of achievement, showing up and doing your job is rarely enough. That one reads, "What have you done for me lately?"

In the case of Oakland's superintendent, she has increased graduation rates, led the way in creating a model for community schools districtwide, and oh by the way has been in the job for over seven years. Which may not sound like a lot, but it turns out that it is the longest tenure for an OUSD superintendent in more than sixty-two years. 

And yet, things are not perfect. If you ask anyone, including Superintendent Tramell-Johnson, she would tell you that there are far too many kids who are on the brink of failure academically. There is also that nagging specter of debt that currently sits just above ten million dollars for the coming fiscal year. It used to be ninety-eight million. But it's not zero. The district is not making money. 

The irony in this moment is that if you were to have asked me how our superintendent was doing, I would have had plenty to crab about. Now suddenly I feel the need to defend her. Oakland has a way of chasing after an ideal that they don't fully understand themselves, as witnessed by the current race for mayor, necessitated by the recall of our last mayor. Is there any correlation between these attitudes and the departure of three major league sports franchises over the past two years from "The Town?" As opposed to "The City" across the bay? 

So let's just say that taking any one of these jobs requires a certain temperament and a willingness to duck the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. You never know when the bell will toll for thee.