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More than 30 years ago, in 1992, Walter Featherly demonstrated that he is a fighter for kids, schools and the superior education that we all want for our children. I know, because I was there. I was the Anchorage School District’s executive director of elementary education. Thomas O’Rourke was the superintendent, having been hired before Featherly came on to the Anchorage School Board.
As ASD’s superintendent, Thomas O’Rourke was a disaster. We in the ASD administration who worked most closely with him knew it. Many others knew it too, including principals, assistant principals, teachers and even support staff. The parents and students all suffered from the chaos O’Rourke engendered. Many of us in the district were on the verge of resigning. It was not just that O’Rourke’s administrative and managerial skills were woefully deficient. He often relied on personal favoritism to compensate for his challenges.
The impact of O’Rourke’s actions on the workplace could not be ignored. His lack of understanding of pedagogy and the unique needs of Anchorage’s diverse schools and communities was evident in the missteps and inconsistencies in his communications and decision-making. Of greatest concern was that O’Rourke was easily manipulated by those who did not support public schools.
When Walter Featherly and most other members of the Anchorage School Board became aware of the problems with O’Rourke and the threat he posed to the Anchorage schools, and therefore, to Anchorage’s students, Walter led the effort by the board majority to rid the district of O’Rourke. It was not an easy task, but by the end of 1992, the majority was successful in terminating O’Rourke’s employment as the ASD superintendent.
It was not without personal cost to the board members. An O’Rourke supporter mounted a $100,000 revenge campaign to recall Featherly and other School Board members who took this brave stand. Regrettably, the recall effort, thanks to the large amount spent and historically low turnout, was successful. As a Jan. 17, 1993, editorial of the Voice of the Times put it: “The four (Featherly, Cabot Christianson, Dorothy Cox and Carol Stolpe) demonstrated the courage of their convictions eventually to dismiss a superintendent they believed incapable of doing his job. They knew the risks but proceeded, nonetheless.”
Walter Featherly demonstrated long ago that he is a fighter for our schools and our kids. As a member of the Alaska House of Representatives, Featherly will fight to ensure that Alaska meets its constitutional obligation to adequately and equitably fund public schools across Alaska so that all of our children can receive the education and training they deserve, that our parents fervently want for them, and that our communities desperately need.
Carol Comeau served 38 years with the Anchorage School District and served as Anchorage’s superintendent in 2000-2012.
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