CMS chief Peter Gorman may have lost his first race with the clock. His first budget asks for big spending increases at the same time CMS shows itself to be largely unreformed from when Gorman took over. This does not mean that Gorman does not plan big changes, it is just in terms of concrete, on-the-ground change, firing 21 teachers while asking for a 10 budget increase does not quite scan.
The area superintendent and “zoned” approach may pay dividends for CMS in the future, but the fact remains that much of the Ed Center bureaucracy will just be getting new offices and org boxes, not pink slips.
Gorman needed to either do more, faster or hold the line on his initial spending request to something more modest. Now CMS is back on the treadmill of trying to argue for more money while hiding continuing shortcomings in the system, particularly in the area of school violence and dropouts. This suggests that Gorman, change-agent, has been effectively captured by the CMS status quo.
It occurs to me that Gorman is lot like Michael Jordan. Both have significant turn-around jobs on their hands with CMS and the Bobcats, respectively, and both seem capable of making strides in those tasks. But neither guy seems to get just how important it is to show improvement now, sooner rather than later.
Bonus Observations: One for each guy — where else but Meck Deck? MJ, take Kevin Durant over Greg Oden. Durant is Shawn Kemp with a handle and a 3-ball. Oden is a poor-man’s James Donaldson. And Peter, has anyone ever told you that your teachers hate, I mean hate, Ann Clark? Not that they should, but I thought someone should tell you.
