Dear Source:
The Governor has nominated, as promised before the opening of school, a Commissioner of Education in the person of Dr. Lynn Spampinato. She comes with an impressive list of credentials to include being a special education teacher, principal, Superintendent and chief academic officer. It is sufficed to say she has an understanding of the different aspects of education to include working with those that have special needs. However, a good Commissioner of Education, or the head of any department, cannot be judged only on credentials but other factors including people skills, vision (or lack of), overall leadership style based on past performances and personal dedication and commitment to the task at hand.
With the official nomination, it is time for us to allow the process that has been put in place to take its course. Senators need to not make decisions regarding this nomination until they have wholisticaly done their thorough research and subsquently question Dr. Spampinato privately and during the nomination hearing. We as a community should not be passing judgment either based on hearsay. We should do our own research and pay attention to the nomination hearing before the Rules Committee. It is only after then that we can make a good sound judgment on this nominee.
Dr. Spampinato's nomination is the most critical one the Governor has sent down and whether she passes or not will have an effect on our most precious resource, our children. If we, especially Senators, are to make a valuable contribution to this whole process, we should not speak out prematurely. And the Senators, our elected fifteen representatives, should remember that they were elected to lead and not to follow.
Horace T. Brooks
St. Thomas
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