Letters to the Strib: Chris Stewart
From the Letters to the Editor section of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
~~~~~
April 27th
CHRIS STEWART
Outrageous, and board colleagues are complicit
Minneapolis School Board Member Chris Stewart has demonstrated his destructive character to the public once again ("Principal on leave after words with Minneapolis board member," April 21). Unfortunately, resignation or expiration of term are the only remedies available to voters when an elected official turns rogue.
However, it would be very difficult to create a situation like this one if other board members and administrators were not enabling Stewart by either encouraging him or ignoring him. In either case, Stewart's defective character has already been shown publicly. His unfitness for office is obvious. If his colleagues tolerate his behavior and do not seek his resignation, they are as disgraceful as Stewart himself.
This is an outrageous episode in an already terrible and costly story of ongoing incompetence and self-righteousness. The school board and the senior administrative leadership need to go. Now.
ANN BERGET, MINNEAPOLIS
FORMER MEMBER OF THE MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOL BOARD
~~~~~
April 25th
CLASH AT BURROUGHS
Cadotte deserves respect and an apology
I was shocked to read that Tim Cadotte, the principal of Burroughs Community School, had been placed on an involuntary administrative leave for allegedly having a confrontation with a school board member.
I met Mr. Cadotte one time when I was a legislator. I, too, made an unannounced visit to Burroughs.
It was on a Sunday, after church. The school was open, and Mr. Cadotte was there. He took at least 30 minutes to show my wife and me around the campus and to tell us about the school's successes and challenges. While I gave him my name, I never told him I was a legislator nor did I tell him I served on Education Finance Committee. Perhaps he already knew.
The point is that he went out of his way, on a Sunday, to accommodate our curiosity. I think it would have taken a bizarre effort on my part to make him mad.
I don't claim to have been a saint when it came to dealing with other public officials and administrators. Candidly, I had plenty of heated arguments with them. But I never thought they should be punished just because they disagreed with me.
This error should be corrected immediately; Principal Cadotte should be reinstated now. He is a leader dedicated to children who gives parents confidence in our system. His removal does the opposite.
One other thing -- he deserves an apology.
WES SKOGLUND, MINNEAPOLIS;
RETIRED STATE SENATOR
~~~~~
Now we learn that the unpleasantness at Burroughs Community School began over a poster. So Minneapolis School Board Member Chris Stewart not only throws charges of racism around -- ironic, coming from him -- but apparently wishes to suppress students' freedom of speech.
PETER REED, MINNEAPOLIS
~~~~~
The April 24 article about the Stewart-Cadotte clash should serve as a wake-up call for other school boards. As details of the conflict are sorted out privately, all school boards might do some self evaluation or seek training from the Minnesota Association of School Boards.
Many principals or superintendents I know have witnessed the damage done to reputations and performance when just one erratic school board member views his or her role as a license to become every employee's boss.
One person's unprofessional behavior can cast a cloud on the whole board. It's fair to ask why school boards don't educate their members about duties under district governance policies and Minnesota law and remind them that an elected school board member has no official authority outside of official school board meetings.
MARY ANN NELSON, MINNEAPOLIS;
RETIRED ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
~~~~~
April 23rd
MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOLS
Burroughs flap speaks to leadership failure
The real story in the current dispute at Burroughs School is not the school itself, nor is it the school's principal, Tim Cadotte. Neither needs any more defense than a visit to the school to see the educational excellence of the program and the staunch parental and community support.
The real story is the abysmal state of Minneapolis School District leadership. Chris Stewart's credentials as an educational "leader" are themselves suspect, and his own flair for racial melodrama is well documented. But Stewart alone is not empowered to suspend a principal. A name-calling bully has disrupted an entire school and now a school district. (Don't we work to discourage this type of behavior among 10-year-olds?)
How can such behavior cause so much havoc in an esteemed profession in the 21st century? The answer to that question lies with the school board and the central administration headed by Dr. William Green, both of which have apparently abdicated all responsibility in this sad affair.
MARC BURGETT, MINNEAPOLIS
~~~~~
(Emphasis mine)
~~~~~
April 27th
CHRIS STEWART
Outrageous, and board colleagues are complicit
Minneapolis School Board Member Chris Stewart has demonstrated his destructive character to the public once again ("Principal on leave after words with Minneapolis board member," April 21). Unfortunately, resignation or expiration of term are the only remedies available to voters when an elected official turns rogue.
However, it would be very difficult to create a situation like this one if other board members and administrators were not enabling Stewart by either encouraging him or ignoring him. In either case, Stewart's defective character has already been shown publicly. His unfitness for office is obvious. If his colleagues tolerate his behavior and do not seek his resignation, they are as disgraceful as Stewart himself.
This is an outrageous episode in an already terrible and costly story of ongoing incompetence and self-righteousness. The school board and the senior administrative leadership need to go. Now.
ANN BERGET, MINNEAPOLIS
FORMER MEMBER OF THE MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOL BOARD
~~~~~
April 25th
CLASH AT BURROUGHS
Cadotte deserves respect and an apology
I was shocked to read that Tim Cadotte, the principal of Burroughs Community School, had been placed on an involuntary administrative leave for allegedly having a confrontation with a school board member.
I met Mr. Cadotte one time when I was a legislator. I, too, made an unannounced visit to Burroughs.
It was on a Sunday, after church. The school was open, and Mr. Cadotte was there. He took at least 30 minutes to show my wife and me around the campus and to tell us about the school's successes and challenges. While I gave him my name, I never told him I was a legislator nor did I tell him I served on Education Finance Committee. Perhaps he already knew.
The point is that he went out of his way, on a Sunday, to accommodate our curiosity. I think it would have taken a bizarre effort on my part to make him mad.
I don't claim to have been a saint when it came to dealing with other public officials and administrators. Candidly, I had plenty of heated arguments with them. But I never thought they should be punished just because they disagreed with me.
This error should be corrected immediately; Principal Cadotte should be reinstated now. He is a leader dedicated to children who gives parents confidence in our system. His removal does the opposite.
One other thing -- he deserves an apology.
WES SKOGLUND, MINNEAPOLIS;
RETIRED STATE SENATOR
~~~~~
Now we learn that the unpleasantness at Burroughs Community School began over a poster. So Minneapolis School Board Member Chris Stewart not only throws charges of racism around -- ironic, coming from him -- but apparently wishes to suppress students' freedom of speech.
PETER REED, MINNEAPOLIS
~~~~~
The April 24 article about the Stewart-Cadotte clash should serve as a wake-up call for other school boards. As details of the conflict are sorted out privately, all school boards might do some self evaluation or seek training from the Minnesota Association of School Boards.
Many principals or superintendents I know have witnessed the damage done to reputations and performance when just one erratic school board member views his or her role as a license to become every employee's boss.
One person's unprofessional behavior can cast a cloud on the whole board. It's fair to ask why school boards don't educate their members about duties under district governance policies and Minnesota law and remind them that an elected school board member has no official authority outside of official school board meetings.
MARY ANN NELSON, MINNEAPOLIS;
RETIRED ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
~~~~~
April 23rd
MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOLS
Burroughs flap speaks to leadership failure
The real story in the current dispute at Burroughs School is not the school itself, nor is it the school's principal, Tim Cadotte. Neither needs any more defense than a visit to the school to see the educational excellence of the program and the staunch parental and community support.
The real story is the abysmal state of Minneapolis School District leadership. Chris Stewart's credentials as an educational "leader" are themselves suspect, and his own flair for racial melodrama is well documented. But Stewart alone is not empowered to suspend a principal. A name-calling bully has disrupted an entire school and now a school district. (Don't we work to discourage this type of behavior among 10-year-olds?)
How can such behavior cause so much havoc in an esteemed profession in the 21st century? The answer to that question lies with the school board and the central administration headed by Dr. William Green, both of which have apparently abdicated all responsibility in this sad affair.
MARC BURGETT, MINNEAPOLIS
~~~~~
(Emphasis mine)
posted by Badda at 6:49 AM
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