all ya all back to high school debate class

What do Aspen and Washington DC have in common?  At first blush, it would seem not a lot.  Sadly, the controversy surrounding the Kavanaugh supreme court nomination and the discussions regarding Superintendent Maloy’s extension show some distressing similarities.  In both cases there has been a rush to judgement, an unwillingness to listen to each other, much hyperbole, and demonizing people with opposing views.  The parents opposing Maloy’s contract extension are not a lynch mob of angry parents spewing vitriol with a vendetta against Maloy.  Likewise, you can support Kavanaugh’s nomination, and support #metoo.

I think everyone (folks in Aspen, DC and our country) would benefit from taking a couple of debate classes at Aspen high school.  In this most excellent class they are assigned a topic to debate, and pro or con is determined by a coin flip.  You need to be prepared to debate both sides of the argument.  Think about how much better you understand the issue if you must be prepared to support either side.  How much more empathy would there be in DC if Lindsey Graham had to argue for withdrawing Kavanaugh’s nomination, and Cory Booker had to argue for his appointment to the Supreme court.  How about if APAC leaders had to present arguments for extending Maloy’s contract and Willis and Klug had to make arguments for his immediate removal.  This undoubtedly would increase compassion for people with differing opinions, improve discourse and result in better decision making.

In an attempt to get a passing grade in high school debate, I will present pros and cons for extending superintendent Maloy’s contract.

Pros:

1.     He has done a good job.  All schools are accredited with distinction.  The district is rated 20^th in the state and is in the top 15% of districts in the state.

2.     He knows the players and the district.  Onboarding a new hire is costly.

3.     He helped deliver a pay raise to teachers.

4.     He has shown tremendous support for teachers and staff.  When his head of HR was found to have some issues related to her prior job, he gave her his full support, believing her present accomplishments more than make up for her past indiscretions.

5.     Chasing out a superintendent who is performing well might make hiring a great new one very difficult.

Cons:

1.     The school district is performing worse.  The district has fallen from 3^rd in the state to 20^th.  While the district continues to be accredited with distinction, it has fallen from the top 5% to 15%.   Given how weak much of the competition is, that is a significant fall.

2.     Maloy lost his job in Indiana for bullying teachers.  He stands accused of the same behavior in Aspen.

3.     He has shown very poor judgement—

a.     his hiring of Hodges is hard to understand given her lack of relevant experience. His defense of her when crimes related to her previous job became know is inexplicable. 

b.     Allowing his daughter to apply to work in the school district showed little empathy or understanding for the perception of nepotism

c.     Trolling the halls and asking teachers to voice support for him at the BOE meeting shows a lack of understanding of the coercive and inappropriate nature of that request

4.     We can do better---Aspen superintendent is a plum job, surely, we can find someone with a terrific resume, excellent leadership and a history of good judgement

Things that clearly don’t improve the conversation include hyperbole, such as calling engaged parents angry or a lynch mob.  Nor does insisting on some self-determined rules about what can and can’t be discussed like ‘everything must be positive’.  A declining school ranking isn’t positive, and insisting on a positive spin is disingenuous and obscures the truth.

One of my college roommates is super conservative.  He was considered as a possible Supreme court nominee under the G W Bush administration.  I consider myself a very, very liberal voter.  We disagreed about a lot of things, AND we were good friends.  For example, he believed we should have used tactical nukes in Vietnam; I believe we shouldn’t have been in Vietnam.   During the 88 election he agreed to drink a shot for each state Bush lost, I for Dukakis.  I got really, really drunk, and he kept the demeanor and grace which would make him a good supreme court judge (and let me out of the bet). 

Whether a US supreme court nomination or a local school district superintendent, asking ourselves to argue the contra position is a great practice.  Not only are you liable to make your own arguments more compelling, you might pick up some useful ideas from the ‘other side’.  Darwinism of ideas brings out the best, and that requires conflict.  Evolution is painful, but those that don’t evolve perish.  We need my son’s high school debate coach to help us move our discourse to something more productive than what we see in either Aspen or DC.

P.S.  Donald,  if Kavanaugh goes down I would be pleased to pass along my college roommate’s name.  He would be the first immigrant to sit on the bench, and to my knowledge, never partied like Kavanaugh.