All In the Name: Protecting Your Professional Reputation

Within a culture of mistrust and declining confidence in the education system, the author draws on personal experience to lend guidance for upholding one’s credibility

Public school leaders are under fire as hostility toward public schools dominates mainstream discussions about the American education system. This increasing animosity has emboldened detractors to target school systems and system leaders with allegations of corruption, inadequacy, incompetence and complacency. As a result, school system leaders have been forced to justify their actions and the often-difficult decisions they make for students, staff and others in the school community.

For 26 years, I looked forward to September and the opportunities a new school year brought me as an educator and a school system leader to achieve the extraordinary by inspiring, modeling and motivating students and fellow educators to reach their full potential.

Unfortunately, the beginning of one particular school year not long ago was marred by reports from national news outlets that disparaged my name and called into question my professional integrity. False allegations cast implications of wrongdoing that damaged my professional and personal credibility and threatened my long-term career as an education leader.