Letter: Cronyism keeps school district from new ideas

Tuesday, March 7, 2000 | 9:10 a.m.

The good news is that it has finally come to light why the problems continue to exist. The bad news is that there are more Silverados to come. The reasons stem from Superintendent Brian Cram's decade-long practice of valuing cronyism over competency.

The two consequences of Cram's practice are that his incompetent friends are making very poor project planning decisions, and that he has created a "funnel effect" by limiting the participation in the development of schools to a select few architects and contractors.

The school district limits the design and construction of all new schools, year in and year out, to only four architectural firms and six or so contractors. Thus, creating a funnel effect where only a limited number of schools can be designed and constructed within a given time. If the public demanded that this practice of cronyism be stopped and the process opened up to more firms to include design/build consortiums, then the problem of overcrowding could be solved once and for all in three years or less.

A warning: please do not hold your breath waiting for this to occur, because "it ain't gonna happen." The old superintendent is going to continue to control the process, regardless of who the new superintendent might be. Also, I predict that her tenure will be less than three years, because she will not be given the authority needed to clean up the "mess" in the Facilities Division. Jim Rogers, on an interim basis, is just what this school system needs. However, this will not happen either.

E. LOUIS OVERSTREET

Licensed professional engineer

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