Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

School Superintendent Balow a Casualty of the Culture Wars?

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James A. Bacon
in ,

Jillian Balow

by James A. Bacon

Jillian Balow, Virginia’s top K-12 school official, has submitted her resignation effective March 9. She gave no reason but appears to depart on good terms with the Youngkin administration.

In a press release, Balow thanked Governor Glenn Youngkin for the opportunity to serve, and pledged her support for the governor’s agenda of “raising standards and promoting excellence and expanding educational choice and opportunities for all students.”

Balow expressed particular satisfaction in the Virginia Literacy Act, which she said will become a model for other states, and the release of “Our Commitment to Virginians,” a roadmap for student success that empowers parents.

She said she and her family had “quickly developed roots in Virginia,” and, despite having family in the West — she had previously served as state school superintendent of Wyoming — “will continue to reside here in the commonwealth for the foreseeable future.”
I have no special insight into Balow’s unexpected decision. But I would not be surprised if she was burned out. As school superintendent, she has been immersed in the most intense controversies of the Youngkin administration — the bitter culture wars over Virginia’s public school system.

I cannot imagine that she experienced in Wyoming anything like the trench warfare over parental rights, the serial misrepresentations about history standards, the vicious attacks on Board of Education appointee Suparna Dutta, the denial of reality about the collapse in K-12 learning, or the loose accusations of racism and bigotry.

Balow may have had other reasons. Whatever else might have motivated her, I expect she feels like she’s been run through the wood-chipper, Fargo-style. I wouldn’t blame her.

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20 responses to “School Superintendent Balow a Casualty of the Culture Wars?”

  1. Kathleen Smith Avatar
    Kathleen Smith

    Fargo style indeed.

  2. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead

    Ballow’s time as Wyoming’s Super was an elected position. Too bad. I had high hopes for her leadership. Appointing Suparna Dutta would make a nice revenge dish.

    1. Stephen Haner Avatar
      Stephen Haner

      Not even close to qualified. This is one of the bigger agency gigs in state government. A real management job, not some showy cabinet post.

      1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
        James Wyatt Whitehead

        Matt Hurt might satisfy the qualified characteristic.

        1. WayneS Avatar
          WayneS

          I do not know Matt Hurt, but based on what I have learned about him from his postings here, I agree with you 100%.

    2. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      You have a bit of an evil, streak, don’t you?

      😉

  3. James McCarthy Avatar
    James McCarthy

    Interesting!!! Wyoming, in the person of Liz Cheney, comes to VA as a lecturer at UVA’s Institute of Politics.

    1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
      James Wyatt Whitehead

      Makes sense. A true beltway brat from the beginning.

  4. James C. Sherlock Avatar
    James C. Sherlock

    Whatever caused the resignation, I actually see it as a good sign in one regard.

    It appears to represent a government official taking responsibility for things that went awry on her watch and stepping down.

    The governor may have asked her to do so, but it does not matter, really.

    We spend a lot of time asking for accountability, and this appears to be an example of it.

    We all wish it happened more often. We owe her thanks.

    1. Stephen Haner Avatar
      Stephen Haner

      The RTD report seems to link it in part to the embarrassing accounting error in calculating local school disbursements, which represented something like 1% of the state’s 2-year, $18 billion plus K-12 budget. I doubt she ran the spreadsheets. It would not be surprising that in her first year in the position, she didn’t catch the error when it crossed her desk. It is probably more fair to hold her to account for the problems with the early draft on the history standards.

      1. James A. Bacon Avatar
        James A. Bacon

        The giant accounting error undoubtedly was a factor. How could it not be?

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          but the actually work/effort would have been done by folks who reported to her (as opposed to her doing the work).

          How did she NOT know?

          Did she not get told or did she get told and didn’t act?

    2. M. Purdy Avatar
      M. Purdy

      “It appears to represent a government official taking responsibility for things that went awry on her watch and stepping down.” Sherlock, we actually agree on something!!! Sound the trumpets, hosannah in the highest!

  5. Matt Hurt Avatar
    Matt Hurt

    The State Superintendent of Public Education is very much a position of leadership. I’m not entirely sure of Mrs. Balow’s objectives in Virginia, but it appears that leading the state’s educators was not one of them.

    First, I don’t think that I know of anyone who had a real conversation with Mrs. Balow, and I know a bunch of folks. How can you lead folks if you don’t talk to them? She is widely known for not showing up to many events in which she would be presented with opportunities to engage with Virginia educators, and when she does, leaves quickly before anyone can engage with her.

    Second, some of the facts in the Commitment to Virginia document were right on the money, some were hyperbole to promote a political agenda, and some were outright incorrect. A true leader ensures that only objective facts are presented to ensure the best possible outcomes for the organization.

    Third, effective leaders build up their folks, not tear them down. Much of the rhetoric coming from Mrs. Balow’s office lamented the poor performance of public schools in Virginia, which is somewhat accurate. It seems that the target of the comments was the previous administration, but that’s not how our educators read that. Our superintendents, principals, and teachers took those words personally, and the lack of understanding about how these words would be heard by Virginia educators has certainly added to the decline in moral across the state.

    Forth, effective leaders do make mistakes, but when they do, they own them. It’s not whether or not they’re flawless, it’s what they do to make things right when they inevitably err. I’ve seen no evidence of this.

    1. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      Thank you for your analysis and insight

      How do we go about nominating you to replace her?

    2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      Thank you, Matt, for the perspective of someone who is actively engaged in a public school leadership position, which is a unique perspective on this blog.

    3. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!

      Mr. Hurt has said a bunch here.

      1. Matt Hurt Avatar
        Matt Hurt

        Hopefully those who are tasked with finding the next superintendent will consider these issues.

    4. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      “A true leader ensures that only objective facts are presented to ensure the best possible outcomes for the organization.”

      “Third, effective leaders build up their folks, not tear them down. Much of the rhetoric coming from Mrs. Balow’s office lamented the poor performance of public schools in Virginia, which is somewhat accurate.”

      So, objective facts are important until they hurt somebody’s feelings?

      1. Matt Hurt Avatar
        Matt Hurt

        Not quite. Please consider the following.

        The poor performance over the last two years is directly related to the decisions made to tell students not to come to school. These decisions were made by the previous governor and local school boards (in conjunction with local health departments). While students were at school, they were not in large part participating in their school work. Therefore, there was tons of “learning loss”.

        If this decline in student outcomes were due to teacher or administrator shortcomings, the poor results would not be across the entire state. Some schools would have displayed declines and others would not. Out of 132 public school divisions, 131 posted declines in scores from 2019 to 2022.

        Therefore, this cannot be laid at the feet of our educators. This decline in student outcomes was systemic and derived from the decisions of those who do not work with our students.

        I am not aware of any encouraging statement that Mrs. Balow has uttered to the folks who are tasked with working with our students. Our teachers and administrators are distraught enough that they cannot help their kids to be any more successful than they did over the last two years. It would have been a good idea to have stated that teachers did at least as well as could have been expected given their students pretty much chose not to participate in the instruction they delivered during virtual lessons.

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