Wednesday, 8/13/08 (a)

As he put down the phone, Principal Tierney observed to an empty office, "He seems like a decent enough guy, but you just can't tell from an application package and a couple of five minute phone calls."

As he entered "Matthew Adamson" into the previously empty spaces for Algebra and Algebra II in the DOE-issued staffing software, he remembered what had initially separated Adamson's application from the rest. It was the fact that all three of his letters of recommendation had mentioned that he was a young man of character. Beyond that ... the cover letter in the application listed a jumbled mess of internships, math coursework, and starry ambitions for Clover Valley's basketball team. And the resume was an even emptier canvas than most kids straight out of college. He knew Adamson wouldn't have been the school board's first choice.

"Ahhh, Lord knows we can't do any worse than the last few hires."

Under increasing pressure from the Board, Tierney had felt forced to fill his vacancies over the past few years with "professionals". The board felt "new blood" was needed to raise test scores up to the level of surrounding counties. Over the last two years, he'd hired the editor of a failed local weekly, a self-employed accountant, and a 20-year Forest Service employee with an interest in plants. Sitting at his desk, he bristled at the notion that the Board defined these people as "professionals" while anybody actually knowledgeable about educating students was placed outside that categorization. Tierney felt that anyone with a halfway-decent education themselves could see the built-in advantages that the surrounding counties had when it came to test scores.

Pushing his chair away from the keyboard and turning to face out the window, Dr. Eugene Tierney worked to calm down.

"This is supposed to be my relaxing time of the year. Shoot, if I can get past this 11 o'clock, the rest of the week should be reasonable enough."