Peercy to be honored, but not for his moral courage

The Journal reports, link, APS School Board Member David Peercy is apparently in consideration for a prestigious award from the Council of the Great City Schools. He is in the running for the

Richard R. Green Award, which APS Superintendent Winston Brooks described as “the most important award a superintendent, administrator or school board member can receive.

Whatever the award is for, it is not for moral courage.

David Peercy runs APS Policy and Instruction Committee.  He is as responsible as anyone in APS for the fact that the Policy Committee will not hold an open and honest public discussion of whether school board standards of conduct should include a role modeling clause.

The question is simple enough, should the standards of conduct that apply to board members and senior administrators include language which reads;

In no case shall the standards of conduct for adults
be lower than the standards for students.

The role modeling clause was removed by unanimous school board approval in 2005.  The refusal to reinstate it, and more over, the refusal to openly and honestly discuss whether it should be reinstated, flows from one or both of two sources; a lack of character and or a lack of courage.

Either David Peercy and the rest of the leadership of the APS don't have character enough to hold themselves honestly accountable to a nationally recognized, accepted and respected code of ethical conduct, or they don't have courage enough.

If there is a third reason, if there is anything beside a lack of character and courage that keeps David Peercy and the rest of the leadership of the APS from stepping up to honest accountability to student standards of conduct,  it is yet to be articulated or imagined.

David Peercy getting an award for anything beside moral cowardice and corruption, is like APS Supt Winston Brooks getting a Dixon Award as a hero of transparency.

Who dreams up this crap?




photo Mark Bralley