Some say don't change horses in midstream. Others say if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. One of those idioms will likely describe the conclusion reached by our state board of education during today's controversial meeting to evaluate superintendent Michael Sentance. The only question is, which will it be? Mere months after accepting his own form of mission impossible - trying to improve Alabama's government-run schools - our superintendent found himself on the hot seat. And it hasn't gotten any cooler. Sentance sat through a difficult board meeting last March and received a scolding from members for not keeping them informed about changes he was considering. He had created committees to consider restructuring math, science, and reading standards and instruction, taken over Montgomery's government-run schools, and proposed restructuring the state's reading, math, and science initiatives. Rumors of proposed changes began leaking from the education department and constituents began asking board members questions they couldn't answer. "You don't let your board members be blindsided," said board member Jeff Newman, R-Millport, and Stephanie Bell, R-Montgomery, agreed. "There is an extreme lack of communication," she said. And it went on and on. Sentance promised to do better and control the leaks. In fact, he's managed a few major victories. After the board unanimously voted to ditch the ACT Aspire test, it was Sentance who personally convinced bureaucrats at the U.S. Department of Education to grant a waiver for Alabama to use a temporary test while long-term solutions were sought. Without his…
