Candidate Urges Mcpherson Quit

A statement calling fof the resignation of School Supt. R. Bruce McPherson has been issued by school board candidate Terry Martin, who says the recent events in the schools raise serious questions about the leadership of the superintendent. Mrs. Martin said: "The bizarre incidents related to the investigation of a school employé are a culmination of events w h i c h have shaken the confidence of the public. The supërfritèncF ent, in less than a year, has shattered the morale of both staff and teachers and polarized the community." "The question of competency was brought to a head as a result of the allegations regarding the credentials of the assistant to the superintendent," said Mrs. Martin. "The real issue should be the hiring of inexperienced and unqualified personnel at the highest administrative level at a time when trained educators, with both degrees and expertise and long years of service within the school system were readily available." "Grave doubt arises as to the propriety of the board's response, regarding the assistant to the superintendent," Mrs. Martin said. "One must assume that the board does not suspect collusion within the administrative hierarchy, when it gave authorization of public monies and ordered an 'after-the-fact' investigation of credentials." Mrs. Martin said that "the judgment of the board itself must be questioned when it promotes an expensive trip to investígate problems which could have been solved by phone calis and letters to the appropriate authorities." A resignation from Mildred Bautista, assistant to the superintendent and secretary to the board, was accepted by the board at a meeting Friday. Miss Bautista's credentials had been under investigation after charges by The Ann Arbor News that she had falsified data on her employment resume. According to Mrs. Martin, the public has become aware of certain erratic behavior on the part of the superintendent. She said his overreaction to the board decisions which do not concur with his recommendations "verge on tantrums." "He had failed to bring diverse points of view together, believing instead that I tations alone will effect I change and his mode of I ership does not encourage I cooperation and coordination 1 of efforts toward a common goal," said Mrs. Martin. "Nobody appears happy w i t h the situatioh in the schools and the superintendent has not established harmony with any element of the school community; parent, student or teacher. A strong sense of responsibility must be encouraged to b r i n g together o u r society, not headstrong confrontation. We have not had concerned leadership," she said. Mrs. Martin said there is sufficient reason "to recommend that the board request the resignation of the superintendent of the schools." mm