The Last King of I.P.S.
I went back and forth before deciding whether to use the above phrase as the title for this blog post. But the more I thought about it, the more fitting I thought it would be. I am talking about Dr. Eugene White, Superintendent of the school district that hopefully will one day formerly be known as Indianapolis Public Schools.
Like the character portrayed by Forrest Whittaker, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Dr. White has, as my grandfather would say, “has lost his natural mind”. I’m not sure when it all began or what exactly it was that did it. Was it was taking a raise for suspect graduation rates? Was it calling the Governor a liar a few years back? It could have been only giving school board members a summary of the budget and refusing to provide them with a list of line-by-line expenditures? Or maybe it was his latest foray into the realm of educational insanity by moving staff from one failing school in hopes to avoid a state takeover of another failing school and in the process giving his son a $14,000 raise? And when he was questioned about it by the school board, he threatened to quit. I really wish Dr. White wouldn’t make threats that he doesn’t intend to keep.
The sad part about Dr. White is when he originally came to IPS, there were high hopes that he would help move the school district into the 21st century. Dr. White is moving the district into the 21st Century; unfortunately it’s a century that ends in B.C. I’m not sure whether he hit his head on something or if it was the toxic chemicals in his jewelry that impacted his brain. But Dr. White is the poster child for what is wrong with traditional public education in this state.
I honestly wish he would quit and the IPS school board would look at hiring someone from outside the District to take it over. However, at the rate IPS is going, the board won’t need to hire a new Superintendent because there won’t be any school district left because the schools will have been taken over by the State of Indiana.
By the way, Idi Amin eventually had to flee Uganda after the natives got tired of his nonsense. He eventually fled to Libya and Saudi Arabia. Dr. White, I hear Tripoli is lovely this time of year.
