If you’ve met Herb Levine then you have had the pleasure of meeting a pleasant, easy-going guy with fond memories of growing up in Revere, who happens to be running the Peabody public schools.
Levine is interim Peabody school superintendent and it is a title it seems he has been carrying year to year lately even as he half-jokingly contemplates retirement. Peabody’s elected officials continue conferring the “interim” title on Levine because they can’t seem to pick someone they consider to be an ideal superintendent.
They zeroed in earlier this year on Lynn principal Debra Ruggiero only to pass on the highly-experienced and qualified educator in favor of going back to the drawing board on the superintendent selection process.
Public education consultants are assisting city educators on starting a new superintendent search. The search may or may not reach across Massachusetts, even the nation, for the ideal superintendent. But like a lot of searches, Peabody may find the definition of ideal in its backyard.
Levine personifies that ideal. He is an administrator’s administrator, a leader who knows his job revolves around making sure schools run efficiently. He understands the maintenance and capital expenditure needs schools face and he knows the bottom line, as defined in a public school district, is to give students more reasons to come to school and excel and to minimize, if not eliminate, the obstacles that bar them from learning.
Peabody will be doing well if it can find superintendent finalists who can match half the skills Levine has demonstrated on Peabody’s behalf. The most experienced elected officials in Peabody understand what Levine understands: School superintendent is one of those thankless jobs attracting men and women who know they must often serve competing interests.
The push for better schools often means spending more money. This dynamic puts pressure on politicians and taxpayers who have as many reasons not to open the piggy bank to pay for school improvements as reasons for doing so.
Parents love their kids and want them to excel in public schools. But they are the people who know the least about public education when all facets of running a public school are taken into consideration.
Politicians serve on school committees but they are beholden to taxpayers who are either parents who want school spending increased or seniors who are tired of paying for a public education system their own children graduated from years ago.
It’s a thankless juggling act and, sooner or later, every superintendent knows a proverbial ball drops to the floor and it’s on to the next job interview for superintendents. Levine gets credit for being loyal to Peabody and, in return, city officials should consider using him as a model as they embark on yet another quest for the perfect school leader.
