I was cleaning out some old files when I came across a small blue address book – the kind we used before iPhones had contact lists, or even before we had iPhones. It dates from 2003. When I looked at the listings, I realized I was holding an artifact of my career.
Between October of 2003 and May of 2004, I was Director of Communications for St. Louis Public Schools. The school district, with many of the problems of an urban school district, had been in upheaval since June. A reform board had been elected, and it had promptly hired an outside management firm from New York to design and implement a total overhaul. It wasn’t a simple reorganization; instead, think Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency without the charm.
On its first day, the outside firm discovered that the district wasn’t technically but actually bankrupt. Suddenly, change came. Schools were closed and consolidated. Hundreds of staff positions had been eliminated. Operations were outsourced. Chaos and protests were the watchwords. As in, daily chaos and protests.
To continue reading, please see my post today at Dancing Priest.
Photograph by Chelaxy Designs via Unsplash. Used with permission.
Some Wednesday Readings
Brutality & Compassion: Howard Pyle’s “Otto of the Silver Hand” – David Deavel at The Imaginative Conservative.
What If the World is Enchanted? – Zak Schmoll.
The Right Stuff: President Washington Needed a General in 1792 – Bradley Crytzer at Journal of the American Revolution.
No comments:
Post a Comment