Two Madison Board of Education members have criticized the district’s recent selection of a white female as the new principal of Madison’s East High School.
Juan Jose Lopez, board treasurer, accused the district of racism in the decision, pointing out East High School is composed of nearly 40 percent minority students.
The Board of Education’s vice president Ray Allen also criticized the decision, suggesting the position should have been filled by someone already familiar with the district.
Allen and Lopez were the only two board members to vote against her appointment.
“Race is always an issue for people we hire,” Lopez said Sunday. “It is an issue whether we are hiring a janitor, a teacher or a staff member.”
Superintendent of Schools Art Rainwater disagreed and said that race was not an issue in the selection process.
“Certainly we want to diversify our staff,” Rainwater said. “But we try always to hire the most-qualified candidate that best fits the job, regardless of race. That is always the approach.”
Rainwater said the process in choosing the new East High principal was no different.
“We weighed all applicants equally,” Rainwater said. “The committee that interviewed her felt very comfortable with her approach to things.”
Lopez articulated the fact that of the five high schools in the district, there is not one principal of color.
Catherine Tillman was named as the new principal of East High Sept. 9. Allen fervently denied that her race played a role in his decision to vote against her selection.
“It is not so much that she was picked over a minority candidate,” Allen said. “The issue is that we have internal candidates who, in my belief, were equally qualified, if not more qualified, and should have been chosen instead.” “There’s nothing special I can see that she brings to the table that would make her a candidate over and above the ones we had applying,” he added.
Lopez had a similar view, but emphasized the importance of diversity in the applicant pool. One of the candidates Lopez advocated was Barbara Townsend, an African-American woman who has served in the district for several years and was once a principal.
“I don’t know if [internal candidates] were more qualified, but they had the credentials, they had more experience and these people have been principals,” Lopez said. “Why do we have to look elsewhere for candidates when we have somebody locally, especially if we have people of color? If no one of color had applied, then I would definitely be pushing for a candidate of color from the outside.”
Allen said while he feels diversity is part of the issue, he is a strong advocate of internal promotion.
“The district has a tendency to bring people from the outside, and that sends an inappropriate message, at least to the school’s staff,” Allen said. “And it’s not only in our schools, it is in the way this city interacts.”
Allen alluded to the fact that several elementary principals, as well as Madison’s police and fire chiefs, were from outside the region when they were hired.
“This shows that a propensity of bodies [in Madison] feel the need to bring in external candidates, and it creates a situation where the internal people become frustrated. Certainly we should be promoting our folks from within.”
While Allen and Lopez said they would have liked to see a different outcome, both expressed confidence in Tillman.
“It is not a reflection on the person we hired. I hope she does well, and I think she can do well,” Lopez said. “But when we have people we can pick from here in our own district, why not choose them?”
