Winter 2008: Best Way to Appreciate Cala is to Continue His Work

It is no accident that Bill Cala urged board members, unhappy that he would not seek the permanent appointment as superintendent, to make the vote for Mr. Brizard unanimous. Few people have made as favorable an impression
in difficult public office as has Bill Cala. His service should be treated with more respect than to be exploited for cheap political advantage, often by people and institutions who were skeptics about his appointment, and whose only agenda is to manufacture tension between Cala and the board that appointed him, without any concern for better schools or the well being of kids.

The conduct of some politicians in this city – Assembly members Gantt and Morelle, Commissioner Elliott, and the Democrat and Chronicle as well -- has been disgusting.

You would never know it to read Gannett, but the facts are plain. Bill Cala made clear from the very start, told the board he was available on a temporary basis only. He was gracious enough to agree to extend his stay, when the search for a permanent superintendent took more time than expected.

The board had an obligation to conduct the search in an ethical way. That meant accepting applications across the country in good faith. To invite people from across the nation to apply, to subject the finalist to public forums (which I favored) -- and then appoint somebody who did not go through that process would have been unethical, unprofessional, and harmful to the long term interests of Rochester. What quality candidate would ever apply in Rochester again, had we done that?

That said, Dr. Cala was not available. He said that from the start. He was invited to apply, and declined to. Had he applied, I think he would have been appointed. But absent that, the board had to move forward with a selection.

Politicians and media outlets, who care more about the political axes they have to grind with the school board, propagated the idea that Dr. Cala's temporary availability was the somehow the board's doing. Rather than credit the board with making a wise selection in Cala, and respect Cala's wish to move on, Gannett and the politicians named above sought to manufacture a difference between Cala and the board that did not exist.

Many of these people --Gannett, Gantt, Morelle -- have an agenda of abolishing the elected school board. Hardly an agenda that strengthens the public voice in the public schools, which is what Bill Cala was all about. These people should be ashamed of themselves.