FINDING THE RIGHT FIT FOR CITY SCHOOLS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 30, 1993                   TAG: 9302010246
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
FINDING THE RIGHT FIT FOR CITY SCHOOLS
HOW GOOD is Roanoke's reputation for quality of life and commitment to public education? Good enough, apparently, to have attracted candidates with strong credentials to succeed retiring school Superintendent Frank Tota.
All three finalists, one of whom has now dropped out, seem to meet threshold requirements and more. The one out of the hunt was the only one who has been a superintendent, but all three are experienced administrators, accustomed to working with urban and diverse populations.
Though some superintendent applicants, including some of the nine semifinalists, were from out of state, the remaining finalists are from Virginia. The hope must be that this reflects neither outsiders' fears nor fear of outsiders, and certainly not a retreat from the effort under Tota to put Roanoke's schools on the national map for quality.
We can never know for sure. But it is notable that the finalists are from regions other than Southwest Virginia, suggesting that personal School Board agendas were not at the forefront, and good ol' boy friendships were not accounted a crucial qualification.
It is notable, too, that the finalists are well-qualified. They aren't professional peas in a pod. Each would bring a different kind of background; each has grappled with different kinds of public-education challenges.
As an area superintendent in the huge Fairfax County system, finalist E. Wayne Harris has overseen an administrative area with more students - 27,000 - than Roanoke city and county combined.
His geographic area included concentrations of immigrants who speak little English, a phenomenon not seen much in Roanoke. But Harris' work in programs for at-risk students could have direct relevance for Roanoke. And the mixture of low-income and affluent students that characterizes parts of Fairfax County is also a characteristic of Roanoke.
In Roanoke as in Fairfax, the community must come to grips with social problems pressing in on educators' ability to do their jobs. But the educational action - and the greatest area for improvement - is still in the classroom.
At least on paper, Harris is an exciting prospect. He is to receive his doctorate in June from Harvard University, and has been mentioned as a possible future superintendent in Fairfax, Virginia's biggest school district.
Willis B. McLeod, who has dropped out of consideration, was school superintendent in Petersburg before moving a few months ago into his current job as associate superintendent in Richmond.
In Petersburg, he gained prominence for halving the dropout rate, improving academics and generally reversing the performance of a school system, its students mostly black, that had seemed on the skids.
Roanoke schools, however, don't need a turnaround so much as a continued commitment to excellence and a constant search for improvements, with the goal of putting and keeping them in the top tier nationally.
As assistant superintendent for finance/personnel/data processing in Charlottesville for 10 years, Herbert R. Cottrill is experienced in budget-making and priority-setting in a district similar in many respects to Roanoke.
The racial breakdown of Charlottesville's school enrollment - 57 percent white, 43 percent black - is roughly the same as Roanoke's. The Charlottesville area grew during the '80s, which the Roanoke Valley did not. As in Roanoke, however, the population of school-age children in Charlottesville itself has been shrinking.
One big difference between the two cities, of course, is that Charlottesville is home of the University of Virginia.
Cottrill visited Roanoke this week to go through his paces for school administrators, teachers and PTA members; Harris is scheduled for his turn next week. There is, naturally and properly, great interest in meeting these men, schmoozing, pressing the flesh, hearing answers to sometimes tough questions, seeing how they operate.
But sizing up the out-of-towners is only half the task. Also part of the task is sizing up ourselves. Understanding where Roanoke's schools are and where they should go are crucial in choosing the right person to lead them there.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB