BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hiring a Cincinnati school superintendent by a 4-3 vote is no guarantee of disaster, veteran board member Virginia Griffin said Monday. She noted that retiring Superintendent J. Michael Brandt was hired by a 4-3 vote in 1991.
His recent predecessors were confirmed with split or unanimous decisions, and there was no obvious relationship between votes and degrees of success. The question of a close vote came up as the majority favoring Steven Adamowski slipped to 4-3.
Monday, Ms. Griffin, Lynn Marmer and Harriet Russell confirmed they remain committed to Mr. Adamowski. Lynwood Battle, who could not be reached, also appeared to be in his camp.
Board President Art Hull said he and Sally Warner and Catherine Ingram preferred Anthony Alvarado, a district superintendent in the New York City school system. Mr. Hull said his second choice was Rosa Blackwell, an assistant Cincinnati superintendent. That's a shift from the 7-0 consensus after initial interviews, Ms. Russell said, although support for Mr. Adamowski varied.
Ms. Griffin agreed. "We had it up a lot higher than that. . . . You can add up the votes without anybody voting."
Since then, City Council Democrats Minette Cooper and Dwight Tillery have criticized the Adamowski choice, saying he lacks urban experience and a 4-3 vote would demonstrate a lack of community confidence.
The Urban League of Greater Cincinnati and Parents for Public Schools also raised the urban experience issue and urged the board to look further.
Ms. Marmer said she was puzzled by Mr. Hull's comment because the only person everyone wanted back for a second interview was Mr. Adamowski, and Mr. Alvarado "is not interested in the position."
However, Ms. Marmer cautioned against assuming the final vote will be 4-3; an Adamowski consensus could form again.
Ms. Marmer also said it was too strong to call Mr. Hull, Ms. Warner and Ms. Ingram an "opposition." She saw their stance as a "reservation" about Mr. Adamowski.
Mr. Adamowski, Delaware's associate secretary of education, said he will take the job if a contract can be worked out.
Mr. Hull said he and Mr. Adamowski "had a meeting of the minds last weekend" and negotiations have begun.
Ms. Russell and Ms. Griffin said they expect to pass a "resolution of intent to employ" at tonight's meeting, the last of the school year. Assuming it passes and contract negotiations succeed, the next vote would be to approve the contract.
A vote tonight would be unnecessary and premature, Mr. Hull complained, because the board is scheduled to vote whether to hire Mr. Adamowski on June 8.
Rather than oppose Mr. Adamowski, Mr. Hull said the question was, "Who do you have the most confidence in."
Mr. Hull would not say whether he still prefers Mr. Alvarado or Ms. Blackwell, referring only to himself and others as those "who are not there yet" on Mr. Adamowski's candidacy.
Mr. Hull agreed with Ms. Griffin that a 4-3 vote need not be a formula for disaster. "It all depends on what you make of it. . . . We have to find a way to go on."
Mr. Hull said he did not believe board members opposed Mr. Adamowski because he is white. Rather, he said, they were troubled by Mr. Adamowski's "lack of urban experience," and for the board, at least, that was not a code word for race.
Ms. Russell said critics used a "too narrow definition of urban experience." Granted, the largest district Mr. Adamowski has run had 5,000 students, she said, but "raw numbers" do not tell the story.
Mr. Adamowski has worked in and with systems that have diverse racial, ethnic and economic groups, she said. "He has sufficient urban experience."
If hired, Mr. Adamowski would be the 10th superintendent Ms. Griffin has employed.
Ms. Griffin said a vote against a winning superintendent "is not saying you don't like him." Rather, it usually means "we have somebody else on our list that I like a little bit better."
