Superintendent latest casualty of Cincinnati's parochial attitude | Opinion

Not all marriages are made in heaven.

On paper, Iranetta Wright seemed like the perfect person to lead Cincinnati Public Schools and its nearly 36,000 students out of the doldrums of a pandemic and unprecedented learning loss and into a bright new academic future. But in practice, Wright was unable to garner enough support from the district's 6,000 employees and after just two years finds herself out of a job.

Wright resigned Wednesday following votes of no confidence from the district's six unions. Union leaders said Wright created a culture of fear and intimidation during her tenure, that she added to administrative bloat, mismanaged the district's budget, micromanaged workers and violated union contracts while making herself the face of the district. Wright disputed those claims and said she was surprised when the unions rallied against her.

In recent days, the district's breakup with Wright seemed inevitable. Once the no-confidence votes came, there appeared to be no viable path forward. It's hard to know which complaints against Wright are legitimate from those that are merely resistance to the sweeping changes she sought to bring to the district. But a few things are clear to us from this unfortunate series of events.

Cincinnati Public Schools students are the biggest losers

No one should be celebrating Wright's resignation today. There are no winners here, only losers for now. Four superintendents in five years doesn't exactly scream stability, clear focus or direction. And students are likely to suffer most from the current dysfunction.

While Wright's no-nonsense approach with staff might have ruffled some feathers, the district was showing signs of improvement under her guidance and students seemed to like her. Early indicators showed an improvement in student test scores and preliminary data showed downward trends in chronic absenteeism, disciplinary rates and bullying.

The question remains, how much of these gains might be lost in the interim as the district searches for a new superintendent? And once a replacement is found, how much more time will it take for that person to make an impact? Meanwhile, there's a budget deficit and looming cuts that certainly will have an impact on student outcomes. And how will tax-weary voters respond to all of this disruption when it comes time to cast their ballots for a levy renewal in November?

Both Wright and union leaders said they care about students and had their best interests at heart. If they were indeed putting students first, one has to wonder how they let this district reach such a toxic state. To us, it seemed most of the conversation revolved around adults not being able to get along, not student achievement.

District needs to decide if it's really ready for change

Wright was hired to be a change agent for a district that, at the time, did not meet any of the five state standards on Ohio's report card. The district scored mostly two-star ratings in the categories of achievement, progress, gap closing and early literacy; for graduation, the district scored one out of five stars. As a rule, a three-star rating means a district meets state standards.

Wright was brought in to turn around that poor performance, which meant doing business differently than in the past. Change is hard in any place of employment and does not come without some adjustments, frustrations and bumps and bruises along the way. But when Wright began to implement her vision of change, she was met with resistance from the unions and, in the end, a majority of the board that hired Wright didn't back her up.

It appears the school board wasn't ready for the change it said it wanted. Or, at the very least, the board wasn't prepared to deal with the inevitable blowback that comes with it. This school board and its unions need to decide once and for all if they really want change and what success looks like.

Board President Eve Bolton said Wright "helped us figure out the things we love and want to maintain," adding "leadership changes can be unsettling." Yes, they can. And doing things the same way over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.

Cincinnati not very friendly to outsiders

Let's be honest – Cincinnati can be brutal to outsiders. Our city has developed a bad reputation for how we treat leaders brought here from other places. Wright, who came to Cincinnati from Detroit Public Schools, is just the latest high-profile leader to be unceremoniously run out of town. Some have said Cincinnati is a graveyard for the careers of outsiders, strewn with the bones of ousted police chiefs, city managers, nonprofit directors and superintendents.

Wright told The Enquirer editorial board on Wednesday, before her resignation, that she didn't think race or gender played a role in the attacks coming at her. "I do believe it's because I'm not from Cincinnati," she said.

Wright said one of the things she kept hearing repeatedly during her tenure was that she "did not understand Cincinnati" or accept "the Cincinnati way."

"I often heard, 'That's not how we do things here,'" she said.

As a community, we have to keep our hearts and minds open to the ideas of people who didn't go to high school here. Being resistant to or dismissing such ideas will only make it harder for Cincinnati to grow. It also makes us less attractive to top-level candidates when we do have job openings in key leadership positions. We must do better.

School board must be held accountable

In a situation with plenty of blame to spread around, let's be clear on one thing: The tragedy that is Iranetta Wright's tenure as superintendent rests squarely on the shoulders of the school board.

They hired Wright. They gave her mostly favorable feedback after her first year. And a majority of its members didn't publicly speak up after the unions cast their votes. And now, they must search for a new person to lead the second-largest public school district in Ohio.

After this debacle, they have their work cut out for them.

Opinion and Engagement Editor Kevin S. Aldridge writes this on behalf of The Enquirer's editorial board, which includes Editor Beryl Love and Senior News Director of Content Jackie Borchardt.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Superintendent latest casualty of Cincinnati's parochialism | Opinion