By Michael Birnbaum
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Leaders of the Loudoun County branch of the NAACP called for School Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III to resign yesterday, criticizing his minority hiring record. But the School Board chairman and others said he has their full support.
In a letter to Hatrick, the executive committee of the county's branch of the NAACP charged that he has known about "discriminatory hiring practices" in the school system he has led for almost 18 years. The letter cited the likelihood of a "significant disproportionality" between the percentages of minority students and minority teachers in county schools.
"You have been given every opportunity to respond by addressing these problems comprehensively and effectively," the committee wrote. "Yet you have not."
Eighteen people were listed as signers, including the Rev. Reginald Early, president of the chapter. Leaders of the chapter have clashed with school officials frequently in recent years.
In October, the school system reported that 18 percent of new hires for this school year were racial or ethnic minorities, up from 6 percent in 2004-05. About 63 percent of the county's 56,900 students are non-Hispanic white.
Hatrick, superintendent since 1991, declined through a spokesman to comment. He is also president-elect of the 13,000-member American Association of School Administrators.
"I do not want him to resign and I do not expect him to resign," said board Chairman Robert F. DuPree Jr. (Dulles), who said minority hiring is a priority.
Phyllis Randall, leader of a minority student achievement advisory committee, said that more progress is needed on minority hiring but that she did not believe that Hatrick should resign. She said she felt "very supported by the administration."
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