IJ Editorial - A Good Choice to Lead School District

A good choice to lead school district
Marin Independent Journal April 17,2006
Opinion Section Editorial Page B7


THE Sausalito Marin City School District is a mystery. The best-funded school district in Marin is among the poorest performing.
This is a school district that is crying out for strong leadership, direction and community support.

Hiring Debra Bradley as the district's new superintendent appears to be a move in the right direction.

The school board is hoping she will help the district fulfill its "Vision 900" goals of improving student test scores to among the best in California. That's a lofty goal, and one that will take committed leadership, dedicated and talented teachers and widespread community support to achieve.

Bradley is no stranger to such challenges. She was superintendent of the 11,000-student Lompoc Unified School District in Santa Barbara County. She succeeded at turning around test scores in that district, where enrollment is about 62 percent Latino.

Over the past two years, she has worked for the state Department of Education as an academic troubleshooter focused on improving student performance in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The Sausalito Marin City School District is far smaller, with 280 students, but some of the complex issues are the same.

She will team up with a local school board that has committed
itself to rebuilding enrollment and community confidence - in both Marin City and Sausalito - in the district's three schools.

The school board could use some of Bradley's veteran leadership after missteps that include the decision to use drug-sniffing dogs on the middle school campus before working to make sure that parents and the community were aware of and fully supported such a drastic measure.

The board also faces lingering criticism for its sudden dismissal of Bradley's predecessor, Rose Marie Roberson, who had made some progress in improving test scores and building community support.

There is much more of that mountain that needs to be scaled to attain the goals of "Vision 900."

But Bradley appears to have the talent and experience that will be needed to help the district achieve the academic gains it seeks and create the environment for learning that the Sausalito Marin City School District students deserve.

We wish her swift success.