Call It A Comeback
I’m not sure they have to… Thanks to a tip in comments, Dan Proft is leading the fight to open Kerry’s divorce records.
Problem is I’m not sure they are sealed. Anyone? I’m looking and they appear to be open records in Massachusetts. Did Kerry seal them?
They should be open if so.
Really my readers ought to be employed doing oppo
Trib Editorial 4/21/99
FILLING CITY COLLEGES’ LEADERSHIP GAP
Ronald Gidwitz did Mayor Richard Daley a big favor last week by resigning as chairman of the board of City Colleges of Chicago.
It’s a favor not because Gidwitz reportedly was edged out by Wayne Watson, Daley’s hand-picked chancellor, but because his resignation gives the mayor a priceless opportunity to appoint a chairman who can turn the colleges into the asset they should be for the city.
Gidwitz’s nearly eight-year tenure as board chairman was marked by a continuing decline in enrollment at the colleges and a lack of a clear sense of direction for the system as a whole.
Ouch. Worse, the fight between Gidwitz and Vallas was over when standardized tests would be given. The tests were designed to incorporate the full year of instruction, but under Gidwitz the State BoE wanted to give thm in the middle of the year. IOW, the tests were testing material not yet covered by curriculum guidelines. Vallas was right on a very basic issue.
From the Sun-Times Letters to the Editor February 26, 2002
BODY:
Talk about the gang that couldn’t shoot straight! After firing dedicated, knowledgeable state Education Supt. Max McGee, state board Chairman Ronald Gidwitz and his accomplices on the State Board of Education hired a Gidwitz family friend and accountant, Ernie Wish, to be state superintendent.Wish, who by most accounts (no pun intended) was a fine numbers cruncher and managing partner of a prestigious accounting firm, was hailed as the proximate savior of the state’s educational system, even though he had no real knowledge of educational policy issues or the needs of the schoolchildren of Illinois. What he did have was a connection to Gidwitz and the recently arrested president of the clout-heavy Near North Insurance Brokerage, Michael Segal. Wish’s connection with Near North, which continued after his appointment as superintendent, was a result of “miscommunication,” according to Gidwitz, and ultimately led to Wish’s dismissal [news story, Feb. 13]. This is not to suggest guilt by association on anyone’s part, but to quote Sir Walter Scott, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”
So now that one crony of Gidwitz had to be removed as state superintendent, he has been replaced not by the chief education officer of the state board, Christopher Koch, but by Respicio Vazquez, general counsel to the state board and a former Gidwitz crony from his days as chairman of the board of City Colleges of Chicago.
Again, by most accounts, Vazquez is a fine fellow, but clearly the message being received here is that cronyism has supplanted professional education considerations in the selection process of the state superintendent of education. One can only wonder what this chairman and his board have in mind regarding the selection of the next state superintendent. To say the least, their recent track record has been abominable.
To provide the children of Illinois with the educational leadership they deserve, we must remove this state board chairman and his allies on the board. If the current governor doesn’t have the guts to do it, then perhaps the next one will. Once this is accomplished, we should move to a new process for selecting state board members and their chairperson. Their appointments should not be based on the level of their campaign contributions or other political considerations, but on their accomplishments in leadership, management or education.
The progressive state of Washington has a system for electing state board members regionally. These individuals are elected by the votes of local Board of Education members who have a direct link to their educational communities.
Although this system may also have some weaknesses, it would be far superior to the current politically influenced selection process, which has yielded a state board that is an embarrassment to the educational community in Illinois. Serving on the state board should be a reward for outstanding service to children–not for large campaign contributions.
Dr. Harry P. Rossi,
superintendent of schools,
Northbrook/Glenview
I don’t know enough of Gidwitz’s history, but here is the first bit I have on him. Trib on January 27, 2000
Vallas called state officials “Keystone Kops” who were caught in “a comedy of errors” in the way they administered the new ISAT.
“The problem is that the state is running this (test) from a distance,” Vallas said during a morning appearance on WBEZ-FM. “They are just making arbitrary policy. First of all they get a superintendent (McGee) from the suburbs who had 3,000 kids in his district, and now of course he is in charge of overseeing all the schools in the state of Illinois.
“They appoint as the board president, Ron Gidwitz, who was an absolute failure in City Colleges–ran City Colleges into the ground. So of course he basically gets promoted to the state job. But that’s what happens when you’re worth a fortune.
“So we have basically . . . (people) setting state policy who basically are either not serious about it or being amateurish about it or maybe they have other motivations. But the bottom line is they are mismanaging the policy,” Vallas said.
I’ll be looking into this, but obviously I have a lot of respect for Vallas’ opinions.
And wants to help the party in other ways–from comments. Given how hard this race would be no one can blame him.
Couldn’t see that coming could you?
Ideally, it would be Rauschenberger. I still think that would be a great race that would make Illinois proud–two smart articulate and thoughtful guys going head to head in a true debate over what government should be about.
As it stands now, I don’t know enough about Gidwitz to even make a snarky comment about the guy (errr–maybe that was snarky–shrug)
Just to make sure you all know, feel free to send me news tips. Sometimes I’ve heard of it, but even if so, it never hurts to duplicate. Generally you want to tell me if it is confidential or if you don’t want your name used. Usually I don’t use names, but I could. Some folks I regularly correspond with I know for sure, but it never hurts to reiterate the point.
From the Hotline:
Ryan Poll Tested Gidwitz Last Night; Obama Starts With 34 Point Lead
A Public Opinion Strategies (R) poll, conducted last night for Ryan’s campaign, surveyed 593 likely voters; margin of error +/- 4.2% (Hotline sources, 6/25).General Election Matchup
Obama 55
Gidwitz 21
DK/Other 24
Is to keep trying when schools are failing and trying new things instead of just changing personnel. The current effort to recreate schools by Daley is one of the best examples of why long term consistency in leadership is so essential–instead of just jumping from reform plan to reform plan, you systematically see what works in specific places.
Looks to be Bear, Stearns and their involvement in a host of projects, some of which include Republican National Committeeman Bob Kjellander and the state pension debt swap.
ArchPundit