Bellevue narrows search for schools chief

The next superintendent of Bellevue schools may need to be a student of history — of Bellevue's own school history, that is.

The district's schools annually rocket to the top of Newsweek's list of top 100 high schools; it's considered one of the state's best districts; and its former superintendent made his mark nationally as a visionary educator. Yet six months ago, Bellevue's 1,200 teachers walked the picket line for two weeks, demanding change.

Now, after more than a year without a permanent superintendent at the helm, the School Board is taking a first look at job candidates. The board says the most important qualities of the new superintendent will be the ability to listen and understand the district's complex history.

"We need somebody who understands what Bellevue has done and accomplished, but can take that to the next level," said School Board member Judy Bushnell.

Union leaders say the district needs a problem-solver who can have a good relationship with all groups, but also understands why things fell apart last fall.

"We need to keep looking back and talking about what caused us to get to a strike in the first place," said Michele Miller, president of the Bellevue Education Association.

Thirty-two people have applied for the job, and a consultant has recommended six top picks, half of whom are from the Pacific Northwest, said Chris Marks, president of the board.

The board expects to interview candidates this weekend and come up with two or three finalists. A candidate could be offered the job by the end of this month.

The district's former superintendent, Mike Riley, led Bellevue for 11 years and was widely praised for improving the quality of teaching and preparing students to be ready for college-level work when they graduated. But many teachers said his policies also fueled the teachers' strike.

Riley took a job with the College Board in Virginia in November 2007, and less than a year later died suddenly of a heart attack. He was 58.

"Mike Riley took us down an incredible road," Marks said. "But we can use some fresh ideas. We're not looking for somebody who wants to be Mike Riley."

Board members say they want a superintendent who is an instructional leader, not just a good manager. They want a candidate who's tech-savvy. And they want somebody who can build bridges with the community and teachers.

Bellevue teachers went on strike in part because many believed the district's "common curriculum" — an Internet-based curriculum that outlines lesson plans for every grade level — hobbled their creativity.

The common curriculum was a central component of Riley's philosophy of making sure all students learned the same thing, no matter which school they attended.

But many teachers said the standardized approach went too far.

As part of the strike settlement, the district agreed to a process that would allow teachers to challenge the common curriculum if they had a better way to teach the same material.

Lance Balla, an English and language-arts curriculum developer, believes teachers always had the power to challenge and change the curriculum, although Miller, with the teachers union, said teachers believed they did not have a guaranteed voice in that process.

As part of the strike settlement, the district put that process in writing.

How does it work? Balla gives this example: Several language-arts teachers thought that an essay question all ninth-grade students had to answer about the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee, was too narrowly focused on the book's characters. Some teachers wanted to give students a chance to write about their own personal experience of courage.

After a back-and-forth discussion by e-mail, Balla said, the teachers rewrote the question.

That continual refinement of the curriculum marks an important advance in Bellevue's ongoing work, Marks said.

"The new superintendent will come into a district that has really gotten itself over a major hurdle," she said.

Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or klong@seattletimes.com