AISD: Carstarphen Seals the Deal

Folks, we've got ourselves a new school superintendent

By Richard Whittaker, Fri., March 27, 2009

New AISD Superintendent Meria Carstarphen (Photo by Jana Birchum)

When the Austin Independent School District board of trustees voted March 23 to confirm Meria Carstarphen as the district's next superintendent, it was, in many ways, a rubber-stamping exercise.

There was more public discussion on the night the board considered naming a new Southwest middle school than there was about who the district is getting as its new chief executive. After a brief introduction by board President Mark Williams, Carstarphen was nominated by board secretary and District 6 trustee Lori Moya, seconded by Vice President Vince Torres, and elected by a unanimous show of hands.

In a moment of stagecraft, Carstarphen then appeared from the back of the board auditorium to a standing ovation.

Now begins the real getting-to-know-you process. On Feb. 26, when the St. Paul superintendent was announced as the sole candidate to replace Superintendent Pat Forgione, the consensus was that the state-mandated 21-day public vetting period was strictly pro forma. In fact, the 21 days turned out to be 26: If the board had kept to the state-mandated minimum, it would have had to make the announcement on the Thursday of spring break. Instead, even pushing the meeting back to March 23, the district was in the less than ideal position of holding a public consultation process while its schools and offices were closed for a week. In addition, as a sitting superintendent, Carstarphen still had a job to do in Minnesota. Since the Feb. 26 announcement, she had spent a total of seven days in Austin and had been in St. Paul since March 10.

While most Austinites understood Carstarphen's appointment was a done deal, the terms of her contract were only released at the meeting. Initially, she has signed for four years, with an option for the board to extend for a fifth. At $275,000 plus bonuses and allowances, her starting pay is up from her St. Paul salary of $195,000 but slightly below Forgione's $285,000 a year. Williams called the package "reasonable and fair" and comparable to superintendent salaries in the rest of the "Big 8" of Texas independent school districts (Brownsville, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Ysleta). Forgione said he would be working with Carstarphen on the transition while she finishes out her contract in St. Paul and added, "I promise you that Meria and I will work together to ensure that work is productive and that we pass that baton together."

After June 30, it's Carstarphen's district. While Williams praised her as a "passionate, energetic, reform-minded visionary," St. Paul has actually experienced that energy and vision. Sources within that district who prefer to remain anonymous said Carstarphen is notorious for her hardworking attitude. As one longtime observer put it, she'll squeeze 17 hours of meetings into a 15-hour day, and she expects the same commitment of her staff. (Before the vote, St. Paul Federation of Teachers President Mary Cathryn Ricker said she understood the sources' caution: "If she signs today ... she still has a few months up here.")

Her proactive style has been a big hit with the Austin business community, and in her acceptance speech, Carstarphen said, "All our children must be successful if Austin is going to continue as a vibrant, healthy, economic generator." Her commitment to the best education possible for all children is also widely applauded, especially her belief in personal mentoring of students. However, like Austin, St. Paul has seen its share of rocky school repurposings, and her take-charge style can cause friction. Even her biggest supporters from St. Paul said her relationships with staff and teachers have become strained. "It will be interesting to see if folks from St. Paul start following her [to Austin]," said Ricker.

Carstarphen will now face the "People's Republic of Austin" attitude that there is no such thing as too much public input, as well as groups that are wary of lip service. With a school accountability system that even its old defenders now say is far past time for reform, the AISD community will also be watching to see whether her reported data disaggregation skills really get to the root problems of struggling schools or become another part of the "blame the teachers" official ethos.

Education Austin President Louis Malfaro remains cautiously optimistic. However, he said, "She's not here yet, so we're not really getting any time to work with her." With the major focus of his union and the district on more immediate issues like the current legislative session and the next budget, he added, "She'll have to drop into the middle of that when she gets here."