Seven months ago, Karla Wenzel and Marc Abrams were ready to pull the plug on Canada. Now board chairwoman Debbie Menashe says his future "is not on the table."

by NIGEL JAQUISS
njaquiss@wweek.com

Last week members of the Portland School Board gave Ben Canada a number of assignments: dump top aide Susan Dyer, make nice with the teachers union and the Education Crisis Team, and get Jefferson Principal Kevin Bacon back in school.

On Monday, Canada announced that Dyer, the deputy superintendent he'd hired just seven months ago, was gone.

That's progress, but it probably isn't enough. "Most people were expecting a bigger shakeup," says Richard Garrett, Portland Association of Teachers president. "This is a modest change, and it's hard to see how it's going to solve the problems Ben has."

Canada's most recent black eye stems from Principal Kevin Bacon's perplexing absence from Jefferson, the troubled high school Canada had earmarked for turnaround.

In the past 10 days, board members say, they have told Canada to get Bacon, currently on "sick leave," back into his school, pronto.

But while Canada was receiving that message, a top aide delivered a completely different one. On Jan. 29, Carolyn Leonard, Bacon's direct boss, sent a bizarre letter to Canada, Jefferson faculty and other principals, responding to a memo Bacon had circulated (click here to read both letters). Leonard suggested that Bacon is unqualified and a liar and that Jefferson is better off without him. "Students are in school. The building is quieter; students are not roaming the halls," Leonard wrote (emphasis hers).

While Leonard's concerns may be justified, her widely circulated missive demonstrates the downside of Canada's "hands-off" management style. Canada will now have to either embarrass Leonard by bringing Bacon back or face the wrath of the board and Jefferson supporters.

Neither Bacon nor Leonard returned WW's calls, but at least one influential observer is frustrated by the chaos at Jefferson. "Canada must do what it takes to bring Kevin Bacon back," says Lolenzo Poe, the Multnomah County mental health czar who is running unopposed for a school board seat.

Canada has similarly boxed himself in with the teachers union. While arguing that the superintendent deserves more time, school board vice-chairman Marc Abrams concedes that the district faces a probable trainwreck next year when it begins contract negotiations with the teachers union.

Although much of the criticism of Canada's staff focused on Dyer, the union is more upset by Canada's Human Resources director, Steve Goldschmidt. Antipathy for Goldschmidt stems from his role as management-side negotiator in the Eugene school strike in 1987, the longest in the state's history, and in subsequent contract talks around the state.

Last year, when Canada hired Goldschmidt as a consultant, Garrett told the superintendent that the union was dead-set against the move. Nonetheless, Canada announced plans last summer to make Goldschmidt's position permanent.

When Canada called Garrett on Monday to inform him of his staff shakeup, Garrett says he reiterated his opposition. "I told him Steve is still a major obstacle and until you do something about him, I can't see the relationship improving," Garrett says.

Nobody argues that the superintendent shouldn't choose his own team; however, Canada's disregard of the union's position presents major difficulties. "I told Ben, 'You need to understand the down side, because the union has been very unambiguous,'" Abrams recalls.

And that downside is coming soon. "I think that collective bargaining is going to be extremely problematic," Abrams admits. "I would like to be in a position where the union and the district are talking, but we don't have a common language at present."

Anyone who believes that Canada's continued leadership promises calm seas ahead might attend next week's board meeting.

Despite agreeing with Canada that the achievement gap is the district's biggest issue, the Education Crisis Team has emerged as the superintendent's harshest critic. Since forming in June 1999, the group has grown frustrated with what it says is Canada's lack of commitment.

On Jan. 23, at its fourth board-meeting protest, the Crisis Team's angry display terminated the proceedings. Despite a three-hour meeting with Canada on Friday, a repeat performance is likely next week, particularly given the subsequent comments of support by the board.

The board's backing of Canada is puzzling, given his recent performance. At the end of last school year, WW has learned, at least two of their number--Abrams and Karla Wenzel--voiced some support for not renewing his contract.

Then in September, board members say, Canada's formal evaluation yielded a mediocre rating. His bonus was cut by 16 percent--so incensing the superintendent that he hired a lawyer to renegotiate his contract and threatened to leave if his pay weren't raised.

Since his evaluation, Canada has flopped from one disaster to the next: the floundering Strategic Plan, his continued frequent absences, his October outburst at teachers, the meltdowns at Whitaker Middle School and Jefferson, and the barely concealed revolt at the Portland Schools Foundation. "These have been horrible months," concedes board chairwoman Debbie Menashe. "His performance has been dismal."

Nonetheless, Canada won the game of chicken. Despite his continued missteps, the board gave him a significant increase in pay on Dec. 11, greatly expanding his potential earnings.

Abrams insists that recent conversations with the superintendent have been blunt. "I'd say our shoes were off and we were pounding on the table," he says. "We have made it clear that the confluence of criticism that we hear from Crisis Team, the Portland Association of Teachers, the Foundation and others is unacceptable."

It's far less clear, however, that there's any reason for Canada to take the board seriously. As Menashe wrote in the Sunday Oregonian, his future "is not on the table."