DATE: Friday, November 28, 1997             TAG: 9711270003

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B14  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   77 lines

POINTLESS POLL THE VIRGINIA BEACH EDUCATION ASSOCIATION SAYS THAT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS TIMOTHY R. JENNEY IS NOT WELL-LIKED. SO WHAT?

The Virginia Beach Education Association released a survey last week showing that only 35 percent of the people who responded believe Superintendent of Schools Timothy R. Jenney is doing a good job.

So what?

First, this was a highly unscientific survey, distributed randomly by VBEA activists. But even if the results are accurate, what difference does it makes if the superintendent of schools is not well-liked so long as he is performing his duties?

The job of a school superintendent is not to win popularity contests. Jenney was brought on board in 1996 to clean up a financial mess that his beloved predecessor had created. Now-disgraced Superintendent Sid Faucette, whose irresponsible management ran up a $12 million deficit and triggered a special grand-jury investigation, enjoyed a 93 percent VBEA approval rating at the same point in his term of office. So much for being loved by the teachers.

Since coming on board, Jenney has run a fiscally taut ship. The school system ended last year with a surplus and is in a position to do the same this year.

Besides promising to balance the books, Jenney vowed to be a tough administrator and to bring accountability to all levels of the school system. He's begun that process, too.

Since last spring, the VBEA has been gunning for Jenney over two issues. Neither has merit.

First, the education association is angry that teachers are being ordered to teach 182 days this school year instead of the 180 days they have been accustomed to.

The decision to extend the school year was made on Jan. 21 by the School Board, not the superintendent. We agree with that decision and would support adding more days to the school calendar. If teachers have a problem with teaching two extra days, they should complain to the board. Jenney is only executing a policy it passed.

Furthermore, the teachers' association contends that educators are being asked to work ``two extra days without pay.'' Nonsense. Virginia Board of Education regulations mandate that 10-month employees of all Virginia public schools be available to work 200 days each school year. At least 180 of those days must be in the classroom. Ten days must be set aside for planning, records, conferences, etc. The remaining 10 days can be used for either purpose, as determined by local school officials.

In other words, teachers in the past were required to work 190 days and were paid for 200. Now they are being told to work 192 days, while being paid for 200. They are in an uproar, but it looks as if Virginia Beach teachers are still being paid for eight days they don't work. This is a grievance?

The second point of contention is involuntary transfers. Jenney was widely criticized last summer for transferring dissident teachers without their consent.

But while teachers enjoy many job-security safeguards not afforded to workers in other sectors of Virginia's work force, they can't be guaranteed lifelong assignments at any particular school.

The superintendent simply must be able to transfer teachers and principals within the system without justifying each move.

Superintendent Jenney is not without flaws. His sometimes abrasive style of leadership has struck a sour note with many in the school system. He has fences to mend, and school employees need to be reassured that merely questioning school policies will not result in punishment.

But on balance, Jenney's policies have been sound. His fiscal management of the school system has been excellent, and he has stubbornly stood up to a City Council that has been tightfisted and antagonistic toward its school system.

Teachers should stop acting like petulant children who resent having to attend school for two extra days a year. And the VBEA should focus on the needs of the students.

By playing political games with phony polls, the teachers' association risks losing the support of taxpayers who find its complaints petty and its actions destructive to the educational process.

The VBEA also needs to rethink who its friends are. There may be enemies of education in Virginia Beach, but the school superintendent isn't one of them. In fact, some of his unpopularity may be due to his commitment to it.

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