Phillips pulls no punches

New schools superintendent praised for her bold decisions

By Todd Murphy

The Portland Tribune, Feb 18, 2005, Updated Oct 30, 2009

It was a one-two punch, spread over six days, that was heard throughout Portland.

Portland Schools Superintendent Vicki Phillips came to Portland last August. But she seemed to announce her presence in the last 10 days.

And Portland Ñ most of it, anyway Ñ seems to have enjoyed the introduction.

The first jolt came nine days ago, when Phillips terminated the contracts of three top executives in the school district’s human resources department, including its controversial director, Steve Goldschmidt.

Then, at the school board meeting Monday night, Phillips forwarded a sweeping proposal to close seven neighborhood schools Ñ six of them at the end of this school year Ñ and significantly revamp more than a dozen others.

If approved by the school board, the school closures and realignments would be the most significant within the Portland district in almost 25 years.

“I think (Phillips has) shown incredible decisiveness, and we’re just starting to see that now,” Tony Larson, longtime head of a citizens group that annually reviews and gives input on the school district’s budget.

“The (common) thing about both decisions is that she’s making bold, courageous decisions and is finally dealing with issues that have been long-standing issues in Portland,” said Cynthia Guyer, executive director of the nonprofit Portland Schools Foundation and an occasional critic of school district leadership during the last several years. “She’s doing things in a way that gives people confidence that the district finally has strong leadership.”

The human resources changes may have delivered the bigger shock to people who work in the district or watch it closely.

Some have lauded structural and policy changes that Goldschmidt made in the department after he was hired in 2001.

But many others have criticized him and his department for fomenting an antagonistic relationship with the district’s teachers union, and for his wielding inappropriate power within the district’s central administration.

Goodbye, Goldschmidt

Last month, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, after a study that began in late 2003, heavily criticized the school district’s central office administrators. District leaders had volunteered to undergo the review. Annenberg pointed out human resources department failures and cited a perception among district officials that the “human resources department has a disproportionate influence on decision making” within the district.

On Feb. 9, Phillips announced that she was terminating Goldschmidt “effective immediately” Ñ in spite of a contract Goldschmidt was able to negotiate with district leaders four years ago that seemed to allow him to be terminated only for “moral turpitude,” “gross neglect of duty” or with the district giving him a buyout of his contract in excess of $300,000.

Phillips’ announcement said Goldschmidt’s legal recourse to fight the immediate termination was “binding arbitration, pursuant to his contract, should he choose to pursue that route.”

Goldschmidt has not commented since his firing, and attempts to reach him this week were unsuccessful.

“I’ve never had so many teachers, parents, principals, business leaders, stop me on the street, stop me in stores, send me e-mails É jumping up and down,” Guyer said of the days following Phillips’ announcement terminating Goldschmidt and two of his staff members. “There are very few people who are not applauding Vicki’s decision there. I think many people regarded HR as sort of the poison of the organization.”

Some suggest the move likely was the single most important step Phillips could have taken to improve the district’s relationship with the teachers union. That relationship was so antagonistic that teachers voted to strike against the district two years ago before city and county leaders went around Goldschmidt and other district leaders to negotiate a contract settlement.

While Ann Nice, president of the Portland Association of Teachers, said that she liked some of Phillips’ moves “better than others,” the moves are bolder than other superintendents have been willing to make.

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