SCHOOLS CHIEF MUST GO; SCHOOL BOARD SHOULD FOLLOW IN SD 228

THE ISSUE: Superintendent showed terrible judgment in posting spoof
videos on the school district's Web site after many months of controversy.

WE SAY: Richard Mitchell has gotten a raw deal in District 228, but
in the best interests of the school district and its students, he
should be replaced. The school board ought to follow him.

Richard Mitchell, the superintendent of schools in Bremen High
School District 228, has gotten a raw deal from the district school
board. He's been hamstrung by the board majority headed by president
Evelyn Gleason. His initiatives, such as a mentoring program to help
incoming freshmen, have been blocked, and he's been unfairly
targeted throughout his two-year tenure as superintendent.

As the situation in District 228 has devolved, it's become clear
Mitchell is not blameless either. Two of the district's four schools
are on the state's academic watch list, but it appears he has been
preoccupied with board politics. Principals and other administrators
at all four schools now accuse him of creating a "hostile work
environment." And the controversial videotapes he put together,
apparently as a misguided attempt at humorous hazing for new
teachers, showed astoundingly bad judgment. This error was
compounded by his inexplicable decision to put the videos on the
school district's Web site.

The videos, in which Mitchell juxtaposed taped interviews of
teachers with tapes of himself asking phony questions, might have
been funny in the setting of a faculty-administration seminar, where
they initially were shown. But putting them on the Web site, where
anyone could access them, was a thoroughly bad decision. They
appeared to show teachers admitting to being strippers, drug abusers
and murderers, and they showed Mitchell holding a martini glass and
seemingly drinking while conducting the interviews.

The outrage of parents exhibited at Tuesday's school board meeting
was well-deserved. The public, most of whom saw the videos on TV
reports over the past few days, rightly was appalled by what they saw.

We have been supporters of Mitchell during his battles with the
board president. We liked his ideas. We found significant evidence
he had the support of staff. And we clearly saw through Gleason's
machinations.

But Mitchell's good ideas and energy are now irrelevant because it's
clear he'll never be able to put them to use in Bremen District 228.
The school board has scheduled a dismissal hearing, clearly
intending to fire Mitchell. He ought to resign and save everyone
the trouble of going through hearings and a firing. He obviously
cannot recover from this controversy.

An impending lawsuit, in which he plans to allege discrimination
based on the fact that he is openly gay, would be a further
distraction and a waste of taxpayer money. We are surprised to hear
Mitchell plans to make these allegations, because he has insisted
all along that his sexual orientation was not an issue for
those who have opposed him.

Regardless, the school district can't afford more distractions and
misplaced attention. The school board, teachers and administrators
need to be focusing on schools that are failing to provide an
adequate education.

We have no confidence this school board ever will get beyond the
political fighting that has occupied it for years, even before
Mitchell was hired. Based on history, it's obvious Mitchell's
successor will be subject to the same kind of political targeting
under which he has labored. The best thing for the district, the
taxpayers and the students would be for the entire board to resign.
They have failed the parents, taxpayers and students of District 228.

We don't expect any of this to happen. Very few of the individuals
involved in this disaster are concerned about the kids or the
performance of the schools. Everyone seems to be bearing a grudge
and looking for payback from someone else. The voters will need to
pay attention leading up to next spring's election, although it will
take several elections before they can wipe clean the entire slate.

The best the public and parents can hope for is that the adults in
charge of District 228 listened to the outrage expressed by the
public Tuesday. If they did listen, they now will do the best they
can to bury the politics and the infighting and make the quality of
the schools their top priority.