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

[Jan Turbill]

Ken
Thanks for this information. Being President of a national association  
(albeit a lot smaller than IRA) I think it very important that the IRA  
Board take up the action that you are recommending. So I strongly  
support your recommendations. Even without knowing all the  
circumstances, it certainly seems to me that due process has not  
occurred and the name of the association will be tainted because of  
this. Mediation I believe is now the only option.

Jan
President,
Australian Literacy Educators' Association
On 26/02/2009, at 10:22 AM, Robert Calfee wrote:

> Curiouser and curiouser -- while I'm not sure what role HOF should  
> play, Ken's comments seem sensible, and I support his suggestions  
> for a course of action.  Bob Calfee
>
> Robert Calfee
> 1207 Sproul Hall
> Graduate School of Education
> University of California
> Riverside CA 92521 Fax 951-827-3942
> Stanford School of Education
> Stanford CA 94305
> Home P/F 650-561-4665 Cell 650-833-9434
> 995 Wing Pl Stanford 94305
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
>> Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:25:05 -0700
>> From: reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk (on  
>> behalf of Ken Goodman <Kgoodman at u.arizona.edu>)
>> Subject: [Reading-hall-of-fame] Events at IRA headquarters
>> To: Reading Hall of Fame <reading-hall-of-fame at nottingham.ac.uk>,  
>> Maryann Manning <mmanning at uab.edu>, Robert Ruddell <rruddell at uclink4.berkeley.edu 
>> >, Rob Tierney <rob.tierney at ubc.ca>, "Altwerger, Bess" <BAltwerger at towson.edu 
>> >
>>
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Reading-hall-of-fame mailing list
>> Reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
>> http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/reading-hall-of-fame
> _______________________________________________
> Reading-hall-of-fame mailing list
> Reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
> http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/reading-hall-of-fame