Desegregation reduces the number of black administrators
One result of degregation is the diminishing number of black administrators, Logan believes, and because administrators are in charge of hiring, the problem could snowball. He describes this situation in area schools where black administrators leaving their jobs are replaced with white ones.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Robert Logan, December 28, 1990. Interview M-0027. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- GOLDIE F. WELLS:
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How did the desegregation of schools affect your role as a principal?
- ROBERT LOGAN:
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With that said, can anyone not see what could happen then primarily what
is already happening now. If we go to that type of system, where
principals are under contract, superintendents will have less authority
to hire principals. Boards will not only then be hiring superintendents
they will be hiring principals. Everyone is under contract with the
board but the way the law spells it out principals are to make
recommendations to the superintendent for employment of teachers and
superintendents are to make recommendation to the board for the
employment of principals and what will become the reality will be that
boards of education will not only employ the superintendent but then
they will employ the principals that they wish to work with that
superintendent. And one might say, well good, then you have a team
approach. The superintendent can come and he can bring his team. Yes,
maybe. And what you may have on the other approach is that old ugly
nepotism where you may have board members that will run on political
issues, get elected and then start to put their constituents in the
principalships because they either supported them or helped them get
elected to the Board of Education and the people may be good educators
and they may not be good educators. We don't know if they are
good politicians or bad politicians but the
process will become less objective, it would become less of a
professional process and it would become more of a political process and
where the racial breakdown comes there is even fewer Black
superintendents and fewer Black board members than there are principals
counting minority principals and you could see a severe, severe decline
in the number of minority administrators in the state due to the fact
that they would start to replace them with their buddies. Down east the
good boy is what is in effect now already and if you legally make it
okay--that's what happened to New Jersey. That is why the
state had to step in and take over segments of the school system in New
Jersey. It has already happened in California. The state has had to step
in and take over certain school districts out in California because the
Board Members were squandering away the money and putting their buddies
in positions--not only were some not qualified they didn't
have the experience, the background and hadn't earned the
positions. They definitely were not the best persons for the positions.
Some weren't even qualified for the position. Now something
else that I have noticed that obviously is taking place due to
declinement. Very seldom have we been able to maintain when a Black
principal retires or is promoted it is very difficult to find another
Black administrator to replace him with. In my four principalships I
have followed three Blacks and one White. I followed a Black at Central,
a Black at Cedar Grove, a White at Bedingfield, and I followed a Black
here. What some school systems will try to do and I was replaced by when
I left those schools, I was replaced by White, White, Black and I
haven't left here. After the whole thing shakes out we are
down one in the replacement process. I've been replaced by so
far two Whites and one Black and I replaced three Blacks and one White.
I'm not saying that that was done because of the good old boy
mentality. In one situation they honestly did have a Black candidate to
put into the job. They took the next best prepared candidate in this
system and it just happened to be a White female.
- GOLDIE F. WELLS:
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Were you sought after because you were Black for this job?
- ROBERT LOGAN:
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For this job, I think so. That was not the case in Wilson. I think it was
the case here because of this systems desire to keep a racial balance,
not to keep a racial balance but to keep some minority administrators.
There are only three of us here.