Susan Enfield Mystery Now Less Murky; Supe on the Inside Track for Bellevue Job

• "Bellevue has long been far more diverse than many Seattleites realize. Nearly a quarter of its students receive free or reduced-price lunches (although admittedly Seattle has far more in this camp)." So being low-income is synonymous with being a minority? Or is "diversity" all about money nowadays?

• That's a neat and snug theory, but I don't think any of the dots that Nina Shapiro has connected paint the picture she avers.  Enfield is a thorough professional, and is a significant personality in the educational network throughout the U.S.  She surely took stock of other potential opportunities already well known within that network, of districts embarking on a search for a new superintendent, before arriving at her decision to leave Seattle. Evidently there are many, including Dallas, Omaha, Baltimore, and our own nearby Highline district.  Given the miniscule labor pool for such positions, I would be astonished if Enfield wasn't aware of all of these, and more.  Suggesting that Bellevue was the reason for her decision to get out of Dodge is rationalizing the point.  She certainly knew that, given her significant track record here and elsewhere, she would very likely land one of the openings around the country. But that could not have been the reason for her to "dump" Seattle Public Schools.  Since her surprise Sherman-esque public announcement lat last year, the klieg lights of scrutiny have slowly, but inexorably, focused on the now obvious reason for her decision: a school board that would increasingly meddle with management to the point that nobody could possibly succeed in the superintendent's job. The Shapiro "theory" suggests that Enfield was wood by opportunity, rather than repelled by a school board becoming increasinly controlled by people who are woefully out of their depth.Shapiro is probably right that Bellevue has a keen interest in Enfield, given that she was one of the two finalists for their superintendency immediately before accepting the Chief Academic Officer role in Seattle.  It is also evident that Enfield retains an interest in that job, since she evidently invested a great deal of effort to secure it a couple of years ago. Based on her substantial approval rating in the Seattle community (other than the incessantly vocal  bloggers in the area who appear to have appointed themselves as a sort of "shadow superintendent" for Seattle, but without any relevant training or qualification) I would expect that Bellevue will make a full court press to get Enfield. And since she and her husband have roots in the Pacific Northwest, there would be much to attract her to that opportunity. From my perspective, keeping her in the greater educational community would be a win for everyone concerned. Meanwhile, the debacle of Seattle Public Schools elected governance remains, like a festering cancer sore. 

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