New Superintendent Announced - Dr. Chip Zullinger

Last night the Bertie County Board of Education announced its new Superintendent, Dr. Sidney W. (Chip) Zullinger. The motion to offer the position to Dr. Zullinger was made by Gloria Lee and passed unanimously. Melinda Eure's comment on the vote, "I am just excited!" A unanimous decision was a good sign. Working together for unanimous decisions to serve our children is becoming a trademark of the new board and we welcome the improvement.



Dr. Zullinger (shown above) made a few comments at the meeting and his tone was very encouraging too:

"Critically Important issue is the Teacher-Child-Parent Relationship. A school system will not improve without support of parents."

"I want to make sure that our resources are allocated from the 'Classroom Out.' When teachers are not happy, the system does not work."

"Schools become better when the community is empowered to work closely with our schools."

This last, allowing parents more say in the running of the schools, is actually what some of his critics in the past were not happy with. However the article in the Washington Post that reflects these feelings is titled, "New Leader Known for Vision And Controversy".

That certainly sounds like the person we need. One achievement I really like is while he was serving as Superintendent in Denver, CO., they became the first district in the country to get the NEA to sign-off on teacher merit pay based upon the achievement of students.

Dr. Zullinger has a long term record of success. He is known as a leader and for doing things that don't reflect the conventional wisdom of the teachers unions and education bureaucrats. Like our interim Superintendent though he is known for good fiscal management and working for consensus . . . . while focusing on the most important people in our system, the children. I personally cannot imagine a more effective Superintendent than someone who actually cares about our children enough to get parents involved in their education. Why his critics think this is wrong is a mystery.



On a personal note, I want to thank interim Superintendent Dr. Michael Priddy for his service to Bertie County. His short tenure here was an extremely positive experience, and I wish him good luck in his return to retirement.