Goodloe-Johnson Applies to be Florida Education Commissioner (along with 18 other people)

Dr. Goodloe-Johnson continues to seek employment this time in Tampa Bay, Florida.  The deadline was May 25th but they are thinking of extending the period to Monday, June 6th.

The Commissioner of Education in Florida is the equivalent to the State Superintendent in Washington State.  He/she reports to the Governor as an agency head.  The salary range is $195k-275k.

Reading through the qualifications, I noted a few areas where Dr. Goodloe-Johnson might run into trouble:

• Inspires trust, possesses self-confidence, and models high standards of integrity.
• Possesses excellent communication skills and can effectively establish dialogue with all stakeholder groups.
• Is a “team player” who inspires others by example.
• Creates an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, open channels of communication and shared decision-making.

The TampaBay.com site says this:

We provided a partial list on Thursday evening. Here are the additional names provided this afternoon:
  • Oleh Bula, an Orlando charter school principal
  • Edward Hashey Jr., Manatee County school teacher
  • Maria Goodloe-Johnson, former Seattle schools superintendent (dismissed in a financial scandal in March)
  • Ellen Ryan, Nassau County school principal
  • Scott Whittle, Leon County school teacher
When reviewing my Google search, I saw this Florida education blog thread from March 2011 when the current Education Commissioner resigned.  The last line of the thread said this:
    Maybe the Broad Foundation has a candidate to fill this tall order.

    Scary.   Or, that blog also has the bead on the Broad Foundation's Superintendent Charm School.

    Comments

    Cap'n Billy Keg said…
    If it hasn't already been done, information regarding MGJ's dismal "track record" with the SSD should be forwarded to those who will be making such an important decision for their school system...

    Just the facts will help keep her off the "short list" or even being called back for a second interview... A link to this blog should do the trick...

    Arrggghhh...!!
    LouiseM said…
    Right now with all the problems we have to tackle in Seattle, I'm having a hard time jumping on what seems to be the "let's be obsessed about ruining Goodloe-Johnson's career" bandwagon.

    Just because she had issues here, doesn't mean you have the right to determine where she can work for the rest of her life. Nor do you have privy to anything she's done to improve her professional standing/skills since.

    People grow through failure. I bet 80% of the current workforce would be unemployed if they were dogged down by a group of folks hell bent on ensuring they never worked again because of mistakes.

    I'm not defending her actions here in SPS, I'm just saying you all don't have the right to play with someone else's livelihood like you're the keepers of all that's right.

    Focus on what's important--our SPS students.
    dj said…
    LouiseM, do you think we would have hired her in the first place had we had a clearer picture of her? I do not care about ruining her career, I do care about helping Florida kids avoid the same mess as she tries to fail upward. i don't think we only have responsibilities to kids in Seattle, and the argument that by giving information to FL we would somehow neglect kids here is specious.
    CT said…
    Following the link off MGJ’s name - the comment section sounds just like Seattle.

    Off-topic, but a good article on TFA can be found here:
    http://allthingsedu.blogspot.com/2011/05/teach-for-america-from-service-group-to.html

    -CT
    charlestontoseattle said…
    LouiseM, you have it backwards, it isn't about hurting Goodloe-Johnson, it is about preventing more kids from getting hurt.

    In general, I'm not sure why people have so much sympathy for executives getting another chance after they screw up. Executives are in a position of enormous power and bear a heavy responsibility for their impact on so many people's lives. The idea that it is about them, that they are not easily replaceable, that they can screw up over and over again while they try to "grow through failure" regardless of what wreckage they leave behind is absurd.
    Anonymous said…
    I strongly agree with dj and Charlestontoseattle - MGJ should not be able to "grow through failure" at the expense of others.

    - SPS parent
    Floor Pie said…
    So I guess she didn't get the job in Newark? Or is that still being decided?
    Bird said…
    Just because she had issues here, doesn't mean you have the right to determine where she can work for the rest of her life.

    I don't think providing information and perspective on her tenure at Seattle, is equivalent to determining where she can work for the rest of her life.

    People grow through failure

    Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

    It's important to remember that Goodloe-Johnson received a negative evaluation of her ability to provide complete and accurate information to the school board in Charlotte. This is exactly what brought her down here. If the board had taken this as a serious red flag, we might have all been spared considerable grief.

    Provide information. Let the employers decide whether she's changed and whether she's worth a risk.
    Stu said…
    Although I generally agree with your sentiments, LousieM, I have to hope that if our board had been inundated with information from her previous position, they might have though twice about hiring MGJ in the first place. (Though, since our board doesn't listen to the public here I'm not sure they would have listened to the public elsewhere!)

    I don't think people should be vindictive or do a lot of name calling, but calling attention to the specific problems she had here, based on their Florida's job requirements, seems important to me. The position she's going for is not just a superintendent of a single district; she wants to set policy for an entire state and I don't believe she has the "vision" for that kind of responsibility.

    stu
    WenD said…
    This comment has been removed by the author.
    WenD said…
    @Louise: I agree with you, it's always the best to learn from our mistakes, but MGJ mistakes aren't of the "oops" variety, so it's natural that the people she burned are going to learn from their mistake and warn the next town.

    Given that Florida, like New Jersey, has a governor who made huge cuts to education and would like to privatize entirely, MGJ might be the perfect match. Her record as a liar with a separate agenda might be just what Rick Scott is looking for. He doesn't think state laws apply to him either.
    Ting of the present and Looking towards the future... said…
    Louise M I'm with you. Why not focus our energies in a more positive way doing what's in the best interest of Seattle's students. Though our Board, at the time led by Cheryl Chow, was not efficient in their selection, not every selection committee would be so inefficient.

    One caution people might consider is the backlash Seattle might eventually get by continuing to sling mud. Don't recall the exactly how that saying goes.

    We do want to be able to attract qualified candidates for superintendent in the future after all.
    Thinking of the present looking towards the future said…
    Louise M I'm with you. Why not focus our energies in a more positive way doing what's in the best interest of Seattle's students. Though our Board, at the time led by Cheryl Chow, was not efficient in their selection, not every selection committee would be so inefficient.

    One caution people might consider is the backlash Seattle might eventually get by continuing to sling mud. Don't recall the exactly how that saying goes.

    We do want to be able to attract qualified candidates for superintendent in the future after all.
    dan dempsey said…
    Dear LouiseM,

    You wrote: "Just because she had issues here, doesn't mean you have the right to determine where she can work for the rest of her life."

    The phrase "she had issues here" seems to trivialize her completely inept four year performance in Seattle.

    MGJ had a lot more than "issues here" ... check with the SAO's office ... check the data for Seattle's academic performance during her tenure here ... check the damage that resulted from her stay here.

    I suggest you consider jumping on the bandwagon to not allow the destruction of any more school systems by this woman. Students anywhere deserve NOT to have MGJ as an education decision-maker.

    "To improve a system requires the intelligent application of relevant data" and clearly MGJ never gave the relevant data any consideration. The corporate "Eli Broad" roadmap was her guide and she was backed up by her rubber-stamping board.

    We would have a whole lot less problems to tackle in Seattle, if adequate information had been considered from Charlotte, SC. A major problem still comes back again to the head hunter firms that find people like this to be "elite candidates". How much is paid to a firm to propose several clowns for positions and call them elite candidates? Is there a warrantee on such paid service?

    ==========
    And a Big Tip or Big Crush of the Hat must go to Autocratic Cheryl Chow for Selecting and pushing MGJ upon Seattle.

    MGJ was picked prior to the 2007 Board elections that elected the $480,000 four. Reelect No One in 2011.
    dan dempsey said…
    You must be kidding with this one.

    "One caution people might consider is the backlash Seattle might eventually get by continuing to sling mud. Don't recall the exactly how that saying goes."

    Amazing when reporting factual truth is considered slinging mud. This one is definitely not at the level of the holacost denial, but nice try.

    Anyone else care to make an argument to bury the truth. No wonder "crappy decisions" are made so often ... with people preferring to discard the relevant data as "slung mud".
    Chris S. said…
    The amazing thing about the candidate list, is MGJ is not the only one with, um, baggage. Not the only one with financial scandal. Made me think two things 1: What DO you have to do to end your career in education? Go to prison?
    2: If the Broad Foundation actually could produce good managers, there might be a place for them in school districts. To bad they have other goald.
    Louise, you said this
    "...by a group of folks hell bent on ensuring they never worked again because of mistakes."

    I don't think there's group hell-bent on her never working again. This position actually might be a better job for her than actually being a district superintendent (given how little she cares about parents and communities).

    But she made some huge errors here and I have a hard time believing that she's changed. But that's for the State of Florida to decide.

    I WOULD like to focus on the students but there's always a backlog of cleaning up from one administrator or another. That's what makes it hard to get ahead in this district because there's always some loss of money one way or another. Or some new initiative.

    I would love for the day to come when it's about students and academic achievement. But it takes a well-run district to have that kind of laser focus and this is not a well-run district.
    seattle citizen said…
    LouiseM,
    You write that we have no right to continue to comment on the ex-superintendent, but that's just not true. For many of us (and, I might add, an increasing number of people who are becoming aware of this issue) it's not just about MGJ, it's about what she represents. She aligned herself with the various pieces that make up the Reform Movement, and because of that she represents them. Many of us are not just trying to get what's best for students here in Seattle, but what's best for ALL students, and it ain't Broad/NWEA/Alliance/Gates/Strategies 360.
    MGJ, as representative of the Broad/Gates agenda, will be followed throughout her career by those who are interested in defanging this monster. SHE chose to climb aboard that train; SHE chose to be a minion of the forces of evil, rather than an independent thinker.
    So it's not that anyone is necessarily after her, personally, but rather some are after Broad/Gates and she is still one of THEM.
    I wonder what sort of ground work is being prepared in Florida for a possible Broad Commissioner...I'm sure they already have their own "Our Schools Coalition" set up, with S360 running it; I'm sure they have been busy agitating for "teacher quality" and calling all the schools "failing." I'm sure they have some sort of "alliance" that is funding their OSC and their S360, using Gates/Broad "grants." I'm sure they have a SEEA, sister corporation to our "non-profit" NWEA, busy pumping out tests to test the teachers...I wonder if MGJ is on the board of that yet?

    THAT is what some of us want to make Florida aware of, if they're not already. As I said, many, many people are waking up to this craptitude, and I'm sure there are those in Florida who are doing what they can to cut off the many heads of the hydra. I'll help them if I can, MGJ or no.
    Lori said…
    I just want to point out that this position, which is responsible for overseeing an entire state, has a pay range that is generally LESS than what we paid her here in Seattle. Plus, I don't imagine this job comes with perks like the car allowance (wasn't that like $700/month or something?!).

    Just more evidence that perhaps our Superintendent pay scale is way out of whack with what these *big* jobs pay elsewhere.
    dan dempsey said…
    Lori,

    Right on .... no doubt the SPS superintendent payscale is "way out of whack" .

    Note the state does give districts money for Superintendent .... it is nowhere even close to what Districts are paying Superintendents in Seattle Tacoma etc.

    Here is the most recent word I have on NY State...
    About Supe pay in NY State.

    Note NY State pays teachers a lot more than WA State ... which gives an idea as to how far out of whack .. the Supe salary was and is in Seattle.

    Don'y forget the 10% bonus plan..... remember the $5280 bonus for MGJ for meeting around 25% of the goals.

    Reelect No one in 2011
    that is a good Strategic Plan
    Anonymous said…
    LouiseM

    No matter what any Sup does there will be fans and there will detractors. If someone can't deal with those facts, they should not have a job working for the public.

    Nothing is preventing you from starting your own blog countering what people in Seattle say.

    Seriously, why do you need to label actions you don't like as people not focusing on "what is important". You know what is important and what isn't and who should work on what? c'mon.

    Dear "thinking of the present..."

    so unless people do what you like they're not focusing their energy in positive ways, because you KNOW what should be focused on and what shouldn't be focused on and what is positive and what isn't positive? c'mon.

    do both of you realize that you sound like Censors who try to pull the moral high ground stunt as a way to get people to shut up? c'mon.

    C'MON
    Anonymous said…
    From the Huffington-Post, it looks like MGJ didn't get that Newark gigue afterall. It went to Cami Anderson:

    After ten years of teaching, Anderson worked as executive director for Teach for America as well as chief program officer for New Leaders for New Schools. Her credentials, Pallas said, are reminiscent of those of a much more recognizable name in education reform: Michelle Rhee, who formerly headed Washington, D.C.'s public schools.[]In New York, where Anderson served as superintendent for alternative schools, supporters lauded her results-oriented approach that shuttered failing programs, while critics complained about high turnover rates within her schools.

    So, sounds like she must be way better than Maria, right?

    As to the problems at hand:

    Only half of Newark's about 40,000 public school students graduate from high school on time. Even more require remedial coursework upon reaching college. These problems and an achievement gap persist, even despite the relatively high spending rate of $25,000 annually per student.

    Yikes! $25,000 per student! I guess that says something for not increasing spending on education. Doesn't seem to do much!

    Parent
    Sandra said…
    From Florida - We have had far too many scandals here and hiring someone with a $1.8 million oops for such an important position is not going to help any candidate. As the writer of the blog mentioned here, regular readers are now fully informed on the Broad Foundation and on a Broad watch. Eventually putting Broad on a resume might be career limiting - you think?
    Sandra In Brevard reports on the Grumpy Educators blog in Central Florida
    Grumpyelder said…
    I wouldn't worry about Florida's Governor Scott finding out about MGJ's little mistake and holding it against her.... He talked his way out of a multi billion dollar mistake and a Federal Indictment..

    I understand Eric Holder still goes into a rage when his name in mentioned...

    Given a limited choice between a Eli Board Super and a suspected crook.. Hmmm One might be out to steal a few dollars.. the other would be out to steal Florida's entire public education system..
    montag said…
    Hey, if that doesn't work out for her I know that Nordstrom is hiring for their annual sale
    Cap'n Billy Keg said…
    This comment has been removed by the author.
    Cap'n Billy Keg said…
    LouiseM said: "Right now with all the problems we have to tackle in Seattle, I'm having a hard time jumping on what seems to be the "let's be obsessed about ruining Goodloe-Johnson's career" bandwagon."

    Thank you everyone for your input, even you "LouiseM" - you are entitled to your opinion as we all are...

    Considering the "ruining" MGJ did here during her "tenure", personally I feel she is not fit to be in a position of leadership - especially in a school district...

    I wish no one the disaster of not being employed, but if I can save a school district - no matter where - the heartache (and expense) of a disastorous "leader", then I will speak up (as others have on this blog and elsewhere)

    If education truly is MGJ's calling, then I would encourage her to seek employment in the education system by all means - just not in a leadership role...

    If Gov. Scott does have a say so in her hiring, then he will deserve her - he is cut from the same cloth she is due to his (and her)financial missteps...
    Sahila said…
    All the Floridian education advocates I know are very happy to have the heads-up....

    They feel they've got enough on their plates dealing with the crooks running their state (Scott Walker et al) without having to deal with MGJ's additional shenanigans if she lands there....
    D said…
    Goodloe-Johnson does not deserve any kind of job. She is a shady character with shady dealings. In the 6/6/11 Seattle Times (front page) it was disclosed that she turned down the high bid for a school site for the cash-strapped district. Instead, she took the low bid of an anti-gay, African American Church for one third the offer http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015242396_mlk06m.html
    Anonymous said…
    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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