Thursday, 4:30 PM
School Committee chair under pressure to resign
By Tracy Jan
GLOBE STAFF
A city councilor and two others called for the ouster of Elizabeth Reilinger as Boston School Committee chairwoman, saying Reilinger should step down because her controlling style alienated the incoming schools superintendent, who withdrew from the post Tuesday.
Councilor at Large Michael Flaherty, the former council president, delivered a letter to Reilinger’s School Committee office Friday, demanding her resignation, and the Boston Teachers Union president and a former school committee member also said it was time for Reilinger to quit as chair because of her tendency to micromanage.
Two councilors, Felix Arroyo, and John Tobin, also criticized Reilinger’s leadership, questioning whether she should stay.
They blame Reilinger for the sudden withdrawal of Manuel J. Rivera, a nationally recognized superintendent, from the Boston schools job.
Two confidants of Rivera told the Globe this week that he decided to pull out of the Boston job in part because Reilinger had made moves to hire key department staff before Rivera was to take office this summer.
The calls for Reilinger’s resignation come after a longstanding undercurrent of discontent among some school committee members, city councilors and parents, who have felt that the school system was operating under a cloak of secrecy during Reilinger’s nine-year tenure as head of the School Committee. But she also has had widespread support, and her fellow committee members have elected her as chairwoman nine times, many saying because they admired her dedication to the post. Numerous supporters praise her for strong leadership.
In his letter to Reilinger, Flaherty wrote, ‘‘The search process, which you chair, has alienated many of the leading educators in the nation. . . . As a parent with three children in the Boston Public Schools, I feel it is my duty to ask that you step down as chairperson of the appointed Boston School Committee. I believe that only then will we be able to move forward and attract a great leader for our city’s schools.’’
Mayor Thomas M. Menino — who appoints members to the School Committee, for which they are eligible for a $7,500 annual stipend — reiterated his support for Reilinger yesterday through a spokeswoman.
Reilinger, who does not take the stipend for her work with the committee, declined to comment. On Thursday, she said she did not believe that her style played a role in Rivera’s decision and disputed assertions by Rivera’s confidantes that she tried to influence the hiring of Rivera’s staff.
Boston schools Superintendent Michael G. Contompasis, who took over after Thomas W. Payzant retired and had agreed to stay on until Rivera started, also disputed reports that Reilinger had tried to influence hiring decisions. Contompasis said he asked Rivera in December to recommend someone for the new position of chief academic officer, and Rivera said he did not have anyone in mind.
Reilinger’s ‘‘opinion is valued, but she doesn’t get engaged with the day to day operations of the schools,’’ Contompasis said.
Newly-elected Council President Maureen Feeney, who has known Reilinger for more than 13 years, said she saw no reason to make a change in leadership of the School Committee.
‘‘She is one of the most honorable and dedicated woman I have ever known,’’ Feeney said. ‘‘She is being used as a scapegoat. Let’s put the blame where it belongs, on Manny Rivera.’’
Rivera declined comment Friday.
Reilinger, 60, who ran a homeless shelter and alternative education program for more than 20 years, has served on the school committee since Menino appointed her in 1994.
The School Committee was elected by voters until the mayor gained the power to appoint members in 1991, and many observers have said the board has been less fractious as a mayorally appointed group, though some critics say the board now is a rubber stamp.
Richard Stutman, president of the Boston Teachers Union and a member of the superintendent search committee, sent an email to teachers yesterday saying that he understood why Rivera changed his mind about the job and said Reilinger’s micromanagement surfaced early in the search.
Reilinger ‘‘exuded a top-down, controlling style that permeated the entire search process,’’ wrote Stutman, who said that he had spoken with Rivera several times since he was named superintendent in September.
‘‘There is no doubt that Rivera saw this, understood this, and finally rejected it when Dr. Reilinger tried to extend her reach into his nascent administration,’’ wrote Stutman, who is in the midst of a contract battle with the school system. He called Reilinger a ‘‘self-appointed, wanna-be superintendent.’’
Tobin, a longtime critic of the School Committee’s lack of transparency, said Reilinger leads in a vacuum, and Menino should not allow her to lead the next search.
‘‘The mayor has said, ‘Judge me by the schools,’ and this is a part of it,’’ Tobin said. ‘‘This is not a good situation for the city.’’
Current and former School Committee members differ on their views of Reilinger’s working style.
Susan Naimark, who was on the School Committee for eight years through 2004, said Reilinger discouraged public discussion and often operated independently from the rest of the board.
But Dennis Wright, who served for 2-1/2 years beginning in 2002, called Reilinger ‘‘the ideal School Committee chair’’ because she was a good facilitator and collaborator — not a top-down manager.
Rev. Gregory G. Groover, Sr., a new School Committee member who also served on the search committee, said Reilinger was a focused, effective leader.
‘‘She asks the tough questions,’’ he said.
Donovan Slack of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
