[Reading-hall-of-fame] Events at IRA headquarters

[Ken Goodman]

Dear colleague:
I want to share my impressions of what has happened in IRA recently and 
also some communication I've had with Alan Farstrup.  I talked to 
President Barbara Walkers and ome of the board members in Phoenix at the 
IRA conference, . I also talked with some of the staff members. In 
summary here is what I learned: Since there has been no official 
statement from the board I cannot vouch for the accuracy of all of my 
summary though I have restrained from repeating rumors which were 
rampant  in Phoenix.

This is what happened as nearly as I can determine.

The Executive committee composed of President Barbara Walker, Vice 
President Kathy Au, and VP-Elect Pat Edwards. made the decision to 
terminate Alan Farstrup. They then polled the board who voted to support 
their action, An official vote was then held in Phoenix at a board 
meeting prior to the conference there.

According to Alan  there was no discussion with him prior to his receipt 
of a terse letter from a Chicago attorney employed by  the Board 
dismissing him.
The staff, to date, has received no notice of what has taken place other 
than a memo that there was a new acting executive director. One staff 
member indicated that he had not heard the word "fired" until he got to 
Phoenix.

There was an outside audit of the IRA conferences since 2002 which 
indicated some concerns which troubled the Executive Committee and the 
Board. The director of conferences subsequently resigned.

The board members were strongly cautioned not to discuss the entire 
matter. In the last week however they were permitted to discuss it and a 
number of people active in IRA were called personally by Executive 
Committee members. Barbara Walker called Yetta and me.

Alan told  me that he would welcome, for his sake and for IRA's  an 
unbiased mediation and would prefer that to litigation over his contract 
which runs through June 2010. Unless there is mediation there will 
certainly be a court suit.

My own view:

There may well be charges against Alan which may or may not have 
warranted terminating him as Executive Director.However it is impossible 
for any of us who care about the Association to evaluate such possible 
charges since they have not been made publicly. "If you knew what I 
knew" is certainly not an adequate statement of causes for such an 
abrupt and extreme action. It is hard to understand why his dismissal 
needed to take place so rapidly just before the Phoenix conference, why 
it had to involve a Chicago attorney, and why such secrecy was and still 
is necessary. This certainly will cast a pall over the selection of  a 
new Executive Director which is coincidentally drawing to a conclusion.

I suggest two courses of action:

As many active members of IRA as possible including past presidents and 
past board members should ask the Board to offer to mediate the terms of 
Alan's separation from his position. I believe that such mediation is 
warranted regardless of the adequacy of the charges against Alan. I 
didn't ask him whether he wants to serve out his contract. In view of 
what has happened however I would suspect that he would be willing to 
accept a fair settlement.

There are many reasons why mediation would be better than litigation. 
One is the expense of court and lawyers fees. Another is the negative 
publicity that IRA would suffer and the impact  that would have on its 
reputation and the possible loss of membership. Perhaps the best reason 
for mediation is that it is the fair way to proceed and that courts 
always want to see that internal alternatives have been exhausted before 
bringing the case to the courts.

 I think that it is important that this be a decision of the full board 
and not just of the Executive committee. I do not believe that the IRA 
by-laws permit the Executive Committee to make this kind of decision in 
the name of the board. And I believe that the members of the executive 
committee themselves appear to be unwilling to reconsider the decisions 
they made and the manner in which they were made.

I would also suggest that the board be asked to appoint an extraordinary 
committee to investigate the issues surrounding  Alan Farstrup's 
dismissal and the causes which led up to it.
I suggest that such a committee might include: A retired past president 
from ten more years in the past. A retired president from the last five 
years who did not serve at the same time as current officers and the 
Executive Director of a sister professional educational organization 
such as NCTE, ASCD, AERA etc. There should have been such a committee 
before the Board acted but it is not too late. If there is substance to 
the issues which caused the executive committee to act then it is likely 
that there are further actions which are necessary  for the board to 
take to prevent repetitions. And a new Executive Director will be 
reassured if the air is cleared before he or she takes control.

Please respond if you agree or disagree with  my summation and my 
recommendations. And please make your feelings known to the Board. Feel 
free to pass this message on.

Ken Goodman