A finalist to be Nashville’s next superintendent called for unity on the school board during his callback interview Tuesday. Shawn Joseph also said he planned to be an open book, if he’s hired.
It was clear Joseph did a little homework on the Metro school board, which has often been divided along ideological lines, especially dealing with charter schools and other modern reform ideas.
“The dilemma happens when the board isn’t clear, because then I’m confused. And if I’m confused, the organization will be confused,” he says. “So we have to understand that there is a short game and a long game.”
Joseph, who is currently a deputy superintendent in Prince George’s County, Maryland, also asked that board members come directly to him with problems. He says he prefers bluntness, even if it means making someone uncomfortable.
In his second-round interview, Joseph also talked about tactics to improve stubbornly low academic measures, like ACT scores. He encouraged offering test prep courses aimed at English learners and students from low-income families, like the help wealthier students often pay for on their own.
“We have to equalize the playing field by giving those kids those same opportunities,” Joseph said. “I mean, that’s what great school districts do.”
Community Questions
Parents, teachers and students got to question Joseph at a forum Tuesday night, and he emphasized one key phrase.
“Equity and access.” Joseph often repeated those words in interviews with the school board this week, and they popped up again in his answers at a community event. He said “equal is not equitable,” especially when it comes to per-student funding.
And, although he has previously praised Nashville’s high-performing academic magnets, Joseph says they are unfair. He says he prefers effort-based education that doesn’t help a “select few” at the expense of the broader community.
The crowd at Maplewood High School applauded that push to help all students, not just those marked as “gifted.” Attendee Tim Magsby worked to get his children into competitive magnets. Still, he thinks Joseph pinpoints a weakness in Nashville.
“A lot of parents in this district realize the disparity because… I mean, the fact of the matter is the magnet programs are in black neighborhoods, but if you look at the number of black students that attend those schools, it’s very low,” Magsby says.
Despite the enthusiastic reception from some parents, the candidate emphasized that he doesn’t have all the answers. Joseph says he’d have a lot to learn before making some key decisions.
“Until I know what we’re doing, it’s hard for me to communicate what needs to be done,” he said.
Joseph says Nashville needs a clear vision for its public schools. And he says he’d be “methodical” in developing that vision if given the district’s top job.
On Wednesday,
superintendent finalist Allen Smith from Oakland interviews with the Metro school board for a second time, with a community forum at Creswell Prep in the evening. Thursday, it’s Jesus Jara from Orlando. And the board hopes to make an offer by Friday.
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