By Fritz Edelstein
April 25, 2005

The list of vacancies for urban school superintendents grew during the past week. Some estimates say it now stands at 15, which is not a record for one time but is getting close to it for major urban districts. The cities include Bridgeport, Buffalo, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, Fresno, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Providence, San Diego, and Tampa.

In some instances, mayors are involved in the selection process, or at least working with the school system to help recruit a candidate. With a shortage of candidates in this pool, cities are taking from each other; for example the Providence superintendent took the Fort Worth vacancy. And in some of these situations, the vacancy is due to retirement. In each situation, mayors should be taking part in the process in someway shape or form, because education is one of the key building blocks for the economic stability of a city.