It may be no surprise that the search for someone to lead the state’s new “achievement school district” is starting all over again. The district’s mission is to manage and improve F-rated school districts and schools around the state. The enormity of that challenge could turn the leadership job into a place where careers die.
The Ocean Springs superintendent, who is in charge of a 24-person panel planning the new district, said none of the original 75 applicants for the top job had the qualifications the panel desired. It now hopes to recommend someone to hire by October.
The new district is supposed start taking over the lowest-rated districts and individual schools in 2018, so the state needs to get its people in place well ahead of time.
Realistically, there is no way that this achievement district will be able to take over all of the failing school institutions in Mississippi. More than likely, it will only handle the worst of the worst.
But even then, they will need a unique and talented leader to pull off the hoped-for turnarounds. Let’s hope such a person is found soon.
