Challenges await Register in Nashville

There’s a very good chance that Jesse Register will begin work in January as Nashville’s next director of schools. Matthew Williams/The City Paper

There’s a very good chance that Hamilton County’s Jesse Register will begin work in January as Nashville’s next director of schools.

But as contract negotiations begin and education stakeholders digest the School Board process leading up to Register being extended a job offer, it’s looking increasingly as though Register may be walking into something of a minefield.

Some of Nashville’s most involved participants in public education say they feel they haven’t been sufficiently engaged in the director selection process, and that they need to learn more about Register and his plans for Metro Nashville Public Schools.

There are some concerns about whether Register should be extended a long-term contract, given the political uncertainty of Metro schools at this time, and some fear that the divided board vote [7-to-2 on Saturday] resulting in the selection of Register may be a sign of divided support for Register within the community.

Though Register may have challenges ahead of him, virtually everyone involved with local public schools seems to recognize the importance of supporting the board’s decision now that it has been made.

“The worst thing we can do is be a divided city regarding our director,” said Jerry Maynard, an at-large Metro Council member. “What’s important now is that the entire Nashville community get behind this director for our community. …Let’s go in one direction — and that is the best test scores and the best performance for our children.”

Contract negotiations, in the next few days, will be closely watched. Mayor Karl Dean has publicly stated his belief that Nashville’s next director be extended a short-term contract of about 12 months, considering the level of uncertainty in school district governance here. A wide-range of Nashvillians feel the same.

Ron Samuels, chairman of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and president and CEO of Avenue Bank, said there are feelings among some in the business community that a 12- to 18-month contract would best suit Nashville’s needs right now.

And Erin Richardson, an attorney and special education advocate who is among those concerned about Register’s involvement in a special education lawsuit in Hamilton County, said she believes a short-term contract would alleviate some worries. The board’s hiring of Register with what Richardson considered to be little discussion of the details of the lawsuit could contribute to tensions between public schools and special education parents and advocates.

“We have so many unknowns. It doesn’t seem fiscally prudent to enter into four-year contract,” Richardson said. “I think it will engender a lot of animosity on the part of the taxpayers of Davidson County if we have to buy [him] out.”

A crucial uncertainty is whether the district, as a whole, will continue to fail school performance benchmarks mandated by federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) guidelines, and advance to Restructuring II status this August.

The move to Restructuring II would give the state Department of Education the legal right to remove the current director of schools, as well as any individual board members. Restructuring II might also give the DOE the option of appointing Dean as trustee of Metro schools, a possibility Dean has said he is actively preparing for.

If a governance change resulted in removal of the director, the school district would be responsible for buying out that director’s contract. Buying out a three- to four-year contract for an employee with a compensation above $250,000 is no small financial penalty.

Today, board chair David Fox is slated to talk about the contract with Metro legal department attorney Mary Johnston and search firm consultant Bill Attea. Contract length will certainly be a topic of conversation, Fox said, but board members have directed him first and foremost to negotiate Register’s salary down and to consider the possibility of a clause protecting the board in the event of a district governance change.

“I think the most important thing is that we secure Jesse Register as our superintendent,” Fox said.

State lawmaker Rep. Ben West (D-Hermitage) is one who believes the Board of Education alone should decide whether a new director should be hired on an interim or longer-term basis and to weigh the uncertainties associated with NCLB. School board members are elected to make these decisions, he said, with minimal interference from government entities.

“With the state looming over us as it relates to No Child Left Behind, the new director has got his plate very full,” West said. “However, I think both the state and Metro government should allow our elected board members and their chosen leader to move forward. I think we ought to give him a chance.”

Some of those involved in public education feel left out of the loop in the director selection, and say they’re eager to learn more about Register.

Samuels said members of the business community are waiting and watching, and want to learn more about Register and hear his plans. The general public was not given much information about the three final candidates the board considered, and the community was not as involved as it could have been.

The new director will nonetheless find support in the business community, Samuels said.

“The commitment at the Chamber hasn’t changed at all,” Samuels said. “I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities for him to meet business leaders, and I think he’ll find a very open and willing business community here to assist him.”

Francie Hunt, local organizer of the Nashville Chapter of Stand for Children, indicated that she is less than satisfied with the hiring process. More community involvement should have been part of the selection, she said, to ensure more support across the board for Nashville’s next director. Stand for Children organizers, for their part, are nonetheless pleased with the selection of Register.

Stand for Children has worked with Hamilton County Schools, Hunt said, and organizers have heard good things about Register’s ability to work with the community. He is known for having successfully organized well-attended forums for the improvement of schools in Chattanooga, and was able to build relationships across the community and with parents.

“It will take him some time to win the trust, but I don’t think that’s impossible,” Hunt said. “The way the process went, it was unfair to all the candidates. … That’s not a reflection on Dr. Register. We feel really good about him.”

Not everyone feels that the community was not sufficiently engaged. Erick Huth, president of local teachers’ union, the Metro Nashville Education Association, said he felt the process was sufficient.

Huth was pleased to see Register hired, considering what he’s learned about Register’s relationships with teachers and Register’s support of progressive models of collective bargaining.