Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Joseph Olchefske announced his resignation earlier this week, saying that a $34 million financial crisis that has unfolded in the district on his watch has made it impossible for him to lead effectively. Last October, Olchefske announced that the district had overspent this year's and last year's budgets by a total of $34 million, a problem blamed on poor accounting practices and communication breakdowns. While the superintendent still had the support of a majority of school board members, the financial crisis had turned Olchefske into a lightning rod for a broad range of complaints about his leadership style and policy goals, which included firing incompetent principals and shifting budget authority to schools. The Seattle teachers union had also made plain that it didn't care for his reforms at all. Former superintendent John Stanford had hired Olchefske from a private sector job (investment banking) to become the district's CFO, and Olchefske's determination to push ahead on tough issues despite criticism, not to mention his lack of an education background, troubled many principals and teachers.
