Makeup of Lowell school chief hiring panel is criticized

Two minorities on school chief search
By Russell Contreras
Globe Staff / February 14, 2008
LOWELL - If you were to ask Lowell residents what they want in a new superintendent of schools, you probably would get standard answers: The best person for the job. Someone who works well with others. An educator who will become part of the Lowell community.
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Ask them how the city's education chief should be selected and you may get a different story.
Last week, the School Committee introduced a 13-member Superintendent Citizens' Screening Committee, which will interview the first batch of candidates vying to replace Superintendent Karla Brooks Baehr, who is stepping down. Making up the screening committee are representatives of the Citywide Parent Council, the teachers union, the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce, the school district, and area universities.
But before the screening committee was introduced last week, some critics were expressing concerns that the group did not have enough representation from the city's various minority communities. Out of the 13-member committee, only two members - Teresa Colena, a member of the Citywide Parent Council, and Carla Correa-Berg, a social worker in the Lowell schools - are minorities.
"We as an organization are concerned that the hiring committee is not representative" of Lowell, said Vong Ros, executive director of the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Center. "It's baffling that the political leadership in this city allows this to happen time and time again."