Who will lead Rutherford County Schools? Retired educator speaks out about hiring process

My opinion, for what it is worth, is that certain special interest groups are trying to pressure the school board to go outside the state to select the next director.

As you are aware, I have been involved in education my whole life. I have been blessed to work with many of the very best educators from all parts of our great country. I have attended conferences across the nation that have had speakers who improved education. I have evaluated schools throughout our state. The main thing that I realized in my career is that the very best educators I have ever had the opportunity to work with and learn from have all come from Middle Tennessee.

The two best school systems that I have seen and worked with firsthand are Rutherford County Schools and Williamson County Schools. I would put these two systems against any other systems in the country.

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Because of gifted educators who have guided our Rutherford County Schools, who had a passion for giving our students, teachers, administrators and staff the very best opportunity to succeed and achieve, we have the best Central Office staff and the best administrators I have seen anywhere else in all my 50+ years in education.

My reason for saying all of this is why would any special interest group think for one second that their self-interest position should have any influence on our school board, especially since they have no knowledge of what is best for all our students, only for their own special interest group?

It is my perception that our school board has the best interest of our kids at heart. They know that we will have some tremendous candidates who will apply who know and understand education and Rutherford County. Going outside the state is stupid for many reasons. One, we have some of the best, they love kids, they know education, they are progressive, they know what works, they know the Middle Tennessee area and can hit the ground running and not have to spend time learning our ways and lifestyle. There are people who will apply from Middle Tennessee that have a proven track record of leading schools by being effective leaders, involving community and have a record of great professional relationships with people they have worked with or supervised.

Rutherford County School Board members, please, please, please, don’t think for one minute that someone from outside Middle Tennessee can do a better job. This has been proven over, over and over again. We have been there and done that with disastrous results. You will find no one outside of Middle Tennessee who wants Rutherford County to succeed more.

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In closing, I would like to give credit where credit is due. Director Bill Spurlock has done a great job of hiring some great people for key positions at the Central Office. He has made many great decisions, especially during the hard times of the last couple of years. Even though he didn’t have the personality of an ice cream salesman, he has done a great job in what he was hired to do, and that is to lead the system as evidenced by the results.

Editor's note: Butch Vaughn is a former Oakland High principal and Providence Christian Academy headmaster.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Retired educator speaks about Rutherford County Schools candidates