Value Of A Nemesis

Whether it’s a matter of being ill-conceived, ill-advised, ill-equipped, ill-mannered, ill-willed, illegitimate, illiterate, illegal, or illicit, neither our school system nor our residents deserve to be faced with the prospect of an ill-fated future crafted by rationalizations for the failure to earnestly, responsibly or honorably lead this district.

And after even ONE single solitary questionable or perceivably clandestine move on the part of our top leadership, folks will inevitably raise the question of exactly when we shall see stories surface of connections to ill-gotten gains! We cannot afford another Gallon-istic spectacle, controversy, embarrassment, fiasco, travesty or whatever else you may want to label it.

Please hear this, Plainfield: Dr. Steve Gallon III’s vital role in the potential reformation phenomenon in Plainfield education may not be clearly understood by many, but he has presented us with a great cause for unified effort.  This “arch nemesis” of so many Plainfielders and even some New Jerseyans arrived at a time when the political landscape and professional backdrop in our town was such that too many of us left the gates unwatched and some willingly invited into our unstable home one now recognized as a blood sucker bent on extracting financial and educational resources without real concern for our well-being.

I question our joint capacity to exercise appropriate discrimination with the blind acceptance and undue embracing of such ego-maniacal individuals. Sadly, they may continue to covertly operate in the shadows cast by their stature, as created and perceived by the naive, gullible and corruptible parties.  

Gallon, without question, brought with him a presentation that was impeccable, if you looked at him in the image for what he is probably best suited… that of a motivational speaker. How many gradually or immediately became hopeful that his stated intent to bring accountability to ALL of PPS was liable to turn mismanagement and corruption on it’s ear?  Unfortunately, he almost immediately set out to launch all out war against ALL that would question his authority, his word, his logic, his manner, or his sense of entitlement as he navigated through our district trampling upon folks rights, in his wake.

Some saw hope in his decisions to exact justice upon those administrators that, for years (or what sometimes just SEEMED like it) were known to rule with cold and callous dictatorship in their appointed or assigned district domains.  Yet, contrarily, he handed down decision after decision that increasingly eroded the trust and faith that some personnel had managed to muster for him, despite his abrasive “style.”

After Gallon's gauntlet lie recklessly thrown upon us, his was to some a promise of correction in the form of a whole new “branding” of the district, by way of his strategic plan.  However, this “plan” as it turned out, resembled just an empty shell of an outline begging to be filled and detailed by the same staff he came to abuse, all the while expecting that this often confusing work be accomplished, in conditions of low morale and during unpaid time. "No way!" said some...but not enough, and not soon enough to save us months of wear and tear and inner conflicts and vying for positions surrounding his majesty's throne.

The missing piece, despite the strong urgings for true collaboration, was…yes, COLLABORATION. Although the very spirit of the current PEA/PBOE Collective Bargaining Agreement called for collaborative respect and consideration, it seems Gallon’s definition was so convoluted (as was much of his communication) that he actually seemed to entirely dismiss the notion of real input from the district’s best and brightest. But again, Dr. Gallon could not have been acting alone in this regard, nor could he be capable of the single-handed crippling of this district for which he has been credited by some.

So beyond this gallon of humiliation and misery we have endured, an ounce of precaution could take us a long way.  With our school system's stability, viability, credibility (and property values) at stake, does it not behoove us to go about the possibly painstaking deliberation that is the sensible precursor to final selection?  In other words, do what GREAT school districts do for their students?!  Otherwise, what is the use in voicing all the outrage, the likes of which one might expect of a consistently vigil and fair citizenry? 

We must adjust, modify, re-examine and improve upon our concepts of and demands for "Prequisite Skills."  We must, in this process, afix a standard that takes into serious account those qualities in Leadership that would prevent, preclude, or at least render unlikely the incidence of mismanagement, abuse, complacency, corruption, conspiracy, detachment, fraud, collusion, cronyism, politicking, or other iresponsible and harmful occurences.

And we must NOT, as it pertains to any of this, compromise our integrity, values or honor;  for to do so possibly compromises--again--the lives of countless numbers pupils.