June 4, 1999

Well, the Fairfield-Suisun School Board made it official and hired Sharon Tucker as superintendent. By the time this column appears, the board probably will have settled the details of her contract, including pay. Let's hope they've ironed out every wrinkle in the document or it could haunt us for years after Ms. Tucker is but an embarrassing footnote to this board's legacy.

Much has been said and commented upon throughout the entire fiasco of Tucker v. Visalia Unified School District, but there's no way around the obvious: Sharon Tucker wanted two paychecks for one job's work and she was willing to put our district into limbo to do it. What's more, following her greedy legal fight, she is again invoking one of the last refuges of a scoundrel--the children--by declaring that we need a supervisor who "makes students a priority." Apparently she sees herself that way.

This contrasts with Bob Pattillo, the lone dissenting voice, who cut through the rationalizations and forthrightly said it seemed that Tucker's focus has been on the lawsuit against Visalia instead of our district, which paid her for a nonexistent job. (Note to self: Re-elect Pattillo this fall, dump Kathleen LaPlante and the abstaining Compton Harris.)

But the lingering question is why the Fairfield-Suisun board decided to stick with Ms. Tucker even after being subpoenaed in her court case. Part of the answer may lie in the personalities of Kathleen LaPlante and Mike Helms, neither of whom has been known to back down from a decision and both of whom alternate between being immovable objects and irresistible forces.

Another factor may have been political aspirations kindled by Tucker's high-profile personal reference from California's State Superintendent Delaine Eastin, which listed her home phone number. (I wonder if any of the board members gave her a jingle on the household line.)

Regardless, Fairfield and Suisun City schools now have a leader with similarities to America's leader. They both have been characterized as competent persons tainted with "the ethical baggage and the shadows," as parent John Boyle put it. So when Ms. Tucker takes her paycheck home to Benicia, district students will have yet another authority figure whose actions speak much louder than her words. I guess character really isn't important anymore.

© 1999 Cynthia Hahn