Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 3, 1991 TAG: 9102030193
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Neal Thompson/Education Writer
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Conditions are poor and service stinks. But sadly, there's no other building in town.
What do you do with such a building - also known as the state Department of Education? Ask Joseph "The Wrecking Ball" Spagnolo Jr.
"We literally have to tear it down and build it all over again," he says. And if all goes as planned, the new version will be a slick, modern condominium complex - so to speak.
OK. So no one calls the new superintendent of state schools "The Wrecking Ball." But that's the gist of Spagnolo's department reorganization.
Spagnolo has been wielding his wrecking ball on his own department, which he says had become top heavy with administrators and had burdened school districts with costly, nit-picking requirements and reams of paperwork.
The demolition includes dumping old priorities and replacing them with an emphasis on research. The old department monitored schools, trained teachers and set policies on such things as class size and school lunches. The new department will set broader goals and leave the details of achieving them to local school boards.
School boards will have more leeway to do things their own way, he says, "because what'll work in Roanoke may not work in Richmond or Norfolk."
But all that requires drastic measures. And dismantling and rebuilding such a large agency has proven to be more of a chore than anticipated.
Reorganization began in September, three months after Gov. Douglas Wilder appointed Spagnolo to the $105,000-a-year job. All the phases of the reorganization - the firings, hirings and transfers - were scheduled to be complete Jan. 1.
That deadline was moved back a month to last Friday, then to Feb. 19. Some educators think the changes will come just in time to save schools from being choked by an overstaffed, bureaucratic department.
"Until we break the bureaucratic mold here, until we break out of the box, there's no way that we're going to be able to change," Spagnolo said recently at his Richmond office.
Few dispute that contention, especially educators who have complained for years about too many time-consuming and costly state regulations.
At first, most were giddy with the thought of change: The state Board of Education, Virginia Education Association, Virginia School Boards Association and Virginia Association of School Superintendents all supported Spagnolo's plans.
Maybe it was inevitable with such drastic moves, but early ripples of discontent have turned into a high tide as more information flows out and complaints come back.
Some say Spagnolo's changes have been too much, too fast and too inhumane, especially to scores of department employees who are being canned.
"It's been a real difficult time for these employees. Some of them are quite devastated," said Joan Dent of the state Government Employees Association, which represents 16,000 state workers.
Whatever the opinions, there is no disputing that Spagnolo has begun the most radical upheaval of the 72-year-old department. Part of that upheaval means 60 to 100 of the department's 500 employees have lost or will lose their jobs by this month.
Thirty-five employees were laid off Friday.
Most remaining jobs are "redefined." That means positions will be abolished as of Feb. 19 and replaced with new positions that employees have had to reapply for, regardless of seniority.
That has been the most controversial part of Spagnolo's efforts.
"I think we're being treated unfairly," said Doris Goad, a home economics supervisor in the department's Roanoke office, which closes Feb. 15.
Goad applied for a new department job in Richmond but had not been called for an interview. Alternatives are slim because it's the middle of the school year, and jobs are scarce because school districts are even more financially strapped than usual. If the department doesn't offer her a job soon, "I guess I'll head for the unemployment line," she said.
Goad added that unfair treatment of employees translates to unfair treatment of students and teachers who benefited from their services. "Our students out there and our teachers are the ones who are going to suffer the most. That's the sad part," she said.
Most layoffs will be in Richmond. Others will be at regional offices, such as Goad's, and others in Staunton, Abingdon, Appomattox and Radford.
Emmett Shufflebarger, a 30-year department veteran, is another who could be fired this month when his 12-person Radford office - the state's largest regional office - is disbanded and replaced by a "field representative."
Shufflebarger and his colleagues are competing for 10 field representative positions that will replace regional offices at 10 locations around the state. Some colleagues have applied for Richmond jobs, and he plans to do the same if he's turned down for a field representative job, even though it would force him and his family to move.
"There just has to be a better way to do this," said Shufflebarger, who had hoped to retire in Radford. "It's a sad situation . . .. Many of our people have been here 15 to 20 years - 30 years, in my case - so it's been very traumatic."
Southwest Virginia school districts, which relied on regional offices because they are so far from Richmond, also will be hurt. Regional offices dispatched consultants to schools to help them with problems or to carry out new policies.
"We are very concerned that relationship will be hurt," said Lee County Superintendent Jerry Bishop.
Franklin County Superintendent Leonard Gereau said Shufflebarger's office was "a tremendous resource to local schools. We'll miss that kind of immediate, hands-on assistance. It really is going to hurt our area."
Shufflebarger is "one of the best educators I've ever come across," he said, and one person will not make up for the loss of Shufflebarger and his team.
There have been other construction delays along the road to reorganization:
A December report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission said Spagnolo made proposals - such as changing the department name to the Center for Educational Leadership - without the General Assembly's authorization. The report also questioned whether redefining some job positions was consistent with state policy guidelines.
It also said that six months was too quick for such a large endeavor and that the money saved through reorganization "is less than might be expected," because few high-paid employees were being laid off.
Last month, seven employees tried to stop reorganization by suing Spagnolo, Wilder, Education Secretary James Dyke and department personnel director Jo Bunce. The suit claimed that the reorganization was illegal and violated employees' rights.
A Richmond judge dismissed the case, ruling that Spagnolo's efforts were legal.
Some members of the General Assembly - with whom Spagnolo needs to work to get approval for some of his proposals - also have complained.
Sen. Dudley Emick, D-Fincastle, said Spagnolo hasn't gone far enough and that Education Secretary Dyke's position and staff should be abolished. He introduced a bill asking legislators to approve such action.
"I have been watching it [the reorganization] real closely," said Emick, a frequent critic of the state education establishment. "My analysis of what he has done is basically a lot of rhetoric but very little change . . .. I can see nothing that has changed down there, nothing."
Blacksburg Democratic Del. Joan Munford said: "I'm concerned about just a complete change overnight. Sometimes you have to take baby steps. You can't just turn a department around overnight."
Virginia Education Association President Madeline Wade said the teachers' organization originally supported the "concept" of reorganization but now is concerned about the layoffs and the reclassifying of employees regardless of seniority.
"It was unfortunate that he chose that style. It was not the humane way," Wade said.
Spagnolo said he realizes people are unhappy about the layoffs. "Morale has gone to the basement because basically what we have told people is that you don't have these jobs anymore," he said.
To most complainers, Spagnolo responds: Too bad. He feels he's been given a tough chore that calls for tough decisions.
Spagnolo defended himself this way in a December speech to superintendents and school board members: "One alternative was to study it for a year and a half and listen to all the reasons why we shouldn't be doing what we're doing. The other was to dive in."
There are plenty - including Wilder - who are defending the dive.
"I realize it has caused a lot of unrest. But it had to be done," said state Board of Education member Lewis Nelson Jr. of Roanoke.
Del. Alan Diamonstein, D-Newport News, who serves on the House Education Committee, said he has heard the vocal doubts of other delegates about whether Spagnolo has treated employees fairly. "I'm satisfied that he has been."
Spagnolo said recent efforts may be just the beginning of a lengthy rebuilding process. The final product may be five to 10 years away. He admits: "It's a little scary."
"It has the potential to be terrific. Whether or not it will remains to be seen," he said. "It can't be any worse than what we're doing now."
by CNB