Lame Duck Superintendent Lashes Out at Project Appleseed No Partnerships. No Parent Support. No New Contract.
University City Superintendent James Victory announced his resignation a week ago
in an email to District staff and did not answer inquiries from
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday. Victory's home has been on the market for months.
The announcement comes one week after launching
an attack
against Project Appleseed in the district's 'Pride' newsletter.
It comes one month after Project
Appleseed published surveys showing that 55% of district
teachers said U. City schools were on the 'wrong track'. It is
widely believed that Victory was not offered a contract extension
by the Board of Education on his $182,000.00 a year salary, which
expires in June of 2008.
Since he began in July of 2005, Victory has failed to create a positive partnership with parents and teachers. What could U. City expect? No member of the Board of Education visited Norfolk Public Schools, Victory's previous employer in Virginia, to check Victory's qualifications, background, and references. He was hired blind - based solely on the recommendation of consultants. The school board promised U. City a superintendent who had previous experience. Victory has none - and it shows.
Time for Superintendent Joylynn Wilson
"I agree with Former School Board Vice President, Walter Daniels, and other former board members. Victory's contract should be terminated today. He is bringing us Wellston Class Schools. We need Joylynn Wilson as superintendent and Flynn Park Principal Lynne Glickert as assistant superintendent. Together they can restore credibility and bring the district out of the dark." said Project Appleseed President Kevin Walker.
Joylynn Wilson should be superintendent today but the School Board never gave her an interview in 2005. Instead they hired an untested stranger. Was this fair? It is time for the Board of Education to admit its mistakes, move forward with Joylynn Wilson and Lynne Glickert, and return the District to the stability that we knew under Vern Moore. To continue paying this superintendent to job search at the expense of U. City taxpayers and to do a poor job, makes us all World Class Clowns. It is what it is.
Since 1996
Member of the United States Department of Education
Partnership for Family Involvement In Education
