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Thomas Sobol Addresses Area Superintendents at BOCES
As New York's newly appointed state education commissioner in the late 1980s, Thomas Sobol chose to support an initiative aimed at removing racial and ethnic bias from the state curriculum. The effort provoked storms of protest and was widely criticized in the press as pandering to extremists and rewriting history.
Ultimately, Sobol said, "The initiative failed."
He shared that humbling experience with a group of school superintendents to make a point: "Not all defining moments are success stories … but they continue to define and shape you no matter what the immediate outcome."
Sobol spoke at a seminar for Early Career Superintendents, those with two to five years on the job, sponsored by the Center for Educational Leadership at Putnam/Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services.
The seminar series is being presented in conjunction with the New York State Council of School Superintendents and Bank Street College of Education to provide less experienced administrators with an opportunity to develop their leadership skills. It is one of a number of new programs being offered this fall by BOCES' Center for Educational Leadership.
"I think it is a great idea to work with people who like me are new to the office of superintendent," said Ralph Napolitano, who was appointed superintendent of Yorktown schools in January. "At the same time, it is great to have seasoned, respected and knowledgeable superintendents to reassure you that they have been through many of the same challenges and have survived."
Participants in the seminar series, which pairs less experienced superintendents with experienced, successful school leaders, attend four seminars throughout the school year, and two and half days of workshops during the summer, according to Joan Thompson, Executive Director of the Center for Educational Leadership.
In addition to hearing from Sobol, seminar participants worked in small groups, sharing their own defining moments and what they had learned from them. One group said they had learned that they "were not in control yet were responsible for everything that happens in the district." Another group said they had discovered the need to separate their private life from their professional life as superintendent.
Briarcliff Schools Superintendent Fran Wills, who has held the district's top spot for 14 years and is serving as one of the facilitators for the group, said the seminar series was "a great model of collaboration. We're here to help the new superintendents dig a little deeper and discover their leadership style and strengths, but we're also here to learn from them."
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