When The Missus saw the list of LPS Superintendent candidates, she revealed her own qualifications for a good candidate: "Somebody under 40 whose spouse wants to stay in Lincoln". It's an interesting (and brief) set of qualifications that highlights a common frustration with the people who fill this sort of high-ranking position: they leave too darn soon. The Missus strongly prefers somebody who has every intention of hanging around for the long haul. She even gave a good example, Lincoln Southwest's Ryan Mahoney.
There's a downside to encouraging such relative youth, of course. Youth and inexperience are strongly correlated. But surely that's not all bad. Sometimes experience is just a synonym for being stuck in the same old broken frame of mind.
With the exception of the candidates from Lincoln -- Marilyn Moore is 60 and Dennis Van Horn is 59 -- I don't know how old the candidates are. I doubt any meet The Missus' strict age requirement. Moore and Van Horn are likely to stay in Lincoln for the rest of their careers, while we simply can't know about the others. Dr. Susan Gourley was here for the rest of her career, which totaled all of 6 years.
What do you think about The Missus' quick-and-dirty set of qualifications for LPS Superintendent? What are you looking for in your ideal candidate?
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That’s not bad. I think you could even raise it to under 50 - that gives you ten more years of experience, and a time horizon of 15 or so years before one would hit retirement age.
The wanting to stay in Lincoln is key.
Younger candidates may also offer the benefit of coming at a cheaper price. A $255k cash outlay for the position of superintendent seems ridiculous when compared to LPS teachers’ salaries and the cost of living in Lincoln.
Will Richardson says:
“What I
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