We have a great opportunity in Federal Way to influence the direction of our school district, and from what I hear, not many people are chiming in. Tom Murphy, our school superintendent, is retiring. The school board is asking for community input as the search begins for a new one. You have until Tuesday to give your input. Please go on fwps.org and let your voice be heard.

At first, I was at a loss to give input. What does the superintendent do, anyway? Tom Murphy has been a faithful public servant, but his style has been laissez-faire, if you will. He was the right man for the job in the wake of his predecessor, Tom Vander Ark, who shook things up a bit with a lot of energy. During the Vander Ark administration, we got Federal Way Public Academy and the Internet option for K-12. Both of these drew a lot of people from private and homeschooling.

I have the distinction of having used public, private and homeschooling for my three kids. I have found all three options very helpful at different stages in our family life and in response to different learning styles and abilities of my children. So here is my input for the search team and the school board, and what I would like to see in a new superintendent, followed by a brief explanation of each request: Leadership, civics, community involvement.

1. Leadership. It sounds obvious enough, but it isn’t. We have a mood in our schools that anything goes. There is no cohesive, well understood standard across the district. There are waiting lists for some schools who enjoy a sense of community and high standards from the faculty, while other schools feel almost like orphanages. A leader is someone who has a vision and can lay out a concrete plan for improvement so that every member of the learning community knows those standards and values. With only 36 percent of our African-American students passing all four sections of the WASL, we need direction. A leader is someone who doesn’t let the special interests (teachers union) dictate his or her direction, but forges ahead with a plan that serves the goal of better schools. For this reason, it might be good to consider someone who has not been too narrowly formed by the education establishment. The establishment got us into our problems and seems hell bent on perpetuating them. The education establishment is also the reason so many taxpayers have soured on saying “yes” to levies and other funding mechanisms.

2. Civics. I just started teaching a civics course to a group of homeschool kids ages 10-14. They are learning the importance of civic duty, which involves their rights and responsibilities as citizens. From my experience, kids are eager to be involved with their local community. The culture is desperately trying to seduce them into the shallow world of early sexual activity, constant entertainment and materialism. They deserve better. Teaching our kids about the great American experiment, the founding documents of our country, and brilliant notions such as the separation of powers and simple economic principles of capitalism is a great way to invite them to participate in the democratic process. We show respect to our children when we engage them in noble pursuits. Narrowly focused pursuits such as the gay rights “Day of Silence” and other ideologically driven activities do nothing but shut down and intimidate conversation. Why not spend that effort on creating awareness around city council issues, volunteering at the library or animal shelters, tutoring clubs, mock trials and debates about current events?

3. Community involvement. Every real estate agent knows that good schools are the secret to attracting homeowners and businesses to our community. When local businesses and civic organizations get involved in sponsoring school initiatives, scholarship programs, volunteer opportunities and internships, everybody wins. Our next superintendent should be someone who can reach out and earn credibility among local businesses and organizations. Once again, this probably means looking outside the box of the education establishment and perhaps finding someone with a business or military background (such as former Seattle school superintendent John Stanford).

Our school board needs your input. Go to fwps.org and click on “Superintendent Search.”