Thursday, March 22, 2012

Nine questions for would-be CMS leaders

If you could ask nine questions of the folks who want to lead Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, what would they be?  Here are the questions the school board posed to the people who came for interviews at the airport this week, along with what they were looking for in answers.

Most of the questions are fairly open-ended ones about leadership skills and approaches, though they did touch on some local specifics, such as experience in public-private partnerships such as Project LIFT and  opinions on CMS' strategic staffing plan.  According to the sheet they used,  the board is looking for someone with teaching experience, a collaborative leadership style and an ability to communicate with employees and the community.

Kudos to CMS and board Chairman Ericka Ellis-Stewart for a quick response on this  --  I asked Ellis-Stewart about getting the questions as the crew left the airport yesterday and had them less than 24 hours later.  Next up:  Members will start comparing their reactions to the candidates they interviewed to line up a short list who will meet the public in April.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

World Class defined for CMS-How do we keep up with Highland Tech and South Point in Gaston County, Fort Mill, and Mooresville.

BolynMcClung said...

FAIR QUESTIONS. NOTHING OVER THE TOP EXCEPT...

Where was the question about whether the candidate can manage change?

Question 6 was that question but it limited the applicants to only three possibilities, all of them the board's.

The question didn't draw-out or eliminate that ellusive "change agent."



Bolyn McClung
Pineville

Anonymous said...

My question is did Mary Kendrick pose these questions for the board? Did the board have a private meeting to come up with them? Did Ericka Come up with them and provide to board members? They seem to have been written by Mrs. Kendrick who is Erickas buddy that we the tax payers fund to be a mediator. If it looks bad , smells bad, tastes bad its bad. This is a package deal that KOJO has his hand in and these folks are just delivering. Folks until the majority stands up to this group of "pals" that are under qualified and wasting tax payer funds its a travesty. Our children's future educational needs are being jeopardized along with the national reputation of CHarlotte pre-DNC. This must stop is a complete joke and we dont need the negativity. Keith W. Hurley

Anonymous said...

Kojo and his ilk have control of the board for the next 4 years. It is obvious where this school system, er, social services system is headed.

Anonymous said...

For CMS to change in terms of performance,their must be social change. However the context should be within the CMS mandate of K12.

Anonymous said...

Question 4 was a hoot. I'd love to have seen the epression on Ericka's, Richard's and Joce's face on that on. Anyway, the notes following it indicated she had no clue what high performing students were.

Anonymous said...

"10. This concludes are interview
questions."

SERIOUSLY!?!?!? What is wrong with these people? If you're going to share internal documents that are a reflection of you and your organization, could you at least be bothered to proofread?

Anonymous said...

7:30,
Spelling was never "intended to mislead" the public according to CMS Communications. Probably iPad screen slippage while ordering new 4" heels.

Jeff Wise said...

That is an unfortunate homonym error in Item 10 of the question sheet. Obviously the candidate wasn't handed the sheet but regardless, when an education institution has proofing issues....

More worrisome, these questions are bland and basic. ProACT should've asked most of these questions in the initial screening process - meaning the Board should have known most of these answers before meeting the candidates.

Curious as to how many candidates showed up with iPads or some kind of presentation to showcase their skills?

Given that CMS is a data-driven district I would hope a non-tech savvy candidate would be dinged heavily for that.

Jarmichael Marquise Lynn, said...

Whodda thunk it?