End secrecy in the search process

The developer of Microsoft's innovative effort to put laptops on every desk in a classroom, Mark Mitrovich sounds like a good fit for superintendent of Naperville Unit District 203, an affluent district with involved parents and high scores.

Mitrovich also brings decades of experience and dozens of testimonials to back up his qualifications for the $203,000-a-year job.

Yet, 10 days after the school board introduced Mitrovich as their pick, the community is focusing on something else.

After reading news reports about Mitrovich, someone in the community questioned his Ph.D. The now-shuttered University of Santa Barbara was not accredited, a designation District 203 requires before a teacher can get credit for an advanced degree. The embarrassment of the school board not knowing this before the appointment led to a three-hour closed-door meeting and left the search firm with only half its contracted $19,000 compensation.

More importantly, it illustrates the need for transparency in a selection process that kept names of finalists secret. District 203's process is not unusual. Many boards follow this policy out of fear they will scare off applicants if a public dissection is part of the hiring process. The best candidates, the argument goes, will not apply because they won't want their current bosses to know they're looking. That might make sense if the search process didn't include a visit and interviews at the candidate's current workplace.

Besides, protecting the candidates shouldn't be a school board's first instinct. The board members' job is to protect the people they are supposed to be serving - their communities, their schools, their schoolchildren.

Lake Park High School District 108 had the right idea in 2002. Parents, students, teachers, journalists and everyone else had a chance to grill the three superintendent finalists during separate after-school receptions. The names were not kept secret. Resumes were available for review.

Those who were interested had an opportunity to ask the questions they wanted asked before the board selected someone for the job that oversees the education of our children and how the largest portion of the property tax bill is spent. Mitrovich said he went through a similar public review as part of the hiring process at a different district.

If the District 203 school board invited public scrutiny before they revealed Mitrovich as their pick, questions about his degree might have been raised and addressed. Ultimately, this focus on the school that awarded his doctorate might be irrelevant. However, damage has been done.

And the school board continues to violate the public trust by designating one member to speak to the media. We should hear from every elected official on issues that are this important.

The Naperville board's mistakes here should serve as a lesson for other school boards - and to the search firms they hire. Abandon the secrecy. When finalists are selected, invite input and interviewing assistance from the public, who will be more understanding if issues do arise.

Transparency only works to your advantage.