CARTER POSITIVE DESPITE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT FLAP

By Roxanne Jones

Newlondonspeaks.org Publisher

There are good days and bad days for all of us. We get knocked down, pick ourselves up and if we're blessed, move on to face another day. 

For Terrence Pernell Carter, who was widely-celebrated as New London's next Superintendent of Public Schools just two weeks ago, it seems lately the bad days just keep piling up. Pounded daily by media accounts that suggest Carter may have exaggerated his academic credentials in some circles - or at least allowed others around him to do so - the former education executive from Chicago says he refuses to be knocked down. 

"My story hasn't changed from Day One of the interview process," said Carter, who recently relocated to New London from Chicago as part of his contractual obligations. "I have been honest about my credentials with the Board of Education and the State of Connecticut. I have never misrepresented myself to anyone professionally. And I feel that I'm just as qualified for this job as the day they called to offer me the position on May 19th,” he said.

Carter, 49, like many professionals today has had a career that transitioned across two different industries. And he has earned several academic degrees across multiple fields. 

After graduating from Rutgers University with a B.A., he entered the corporate world and became an executive in Human Resources.  And while working in corporate, he went on to earn a Masters of Public Health and Social Work from the University of California at Berkley.

Seventeen years in the business world was enough, Carter said, he eventually began to feel like it was time to give something back to his community. He'd grown up in the Pentacostal Church where he remained active as an adult teaching Bible study and other instruction. But he wanted to do more and find a way to focus on educating children in urban communities. So in 2001, Carter left the corporate world to become an educator landing his first job in New Jersey’s second largest public school district, the City of Patterson.

Next month, Carter will officially have his Ph.D., in Adult Learning and Development from Lesley University. While all of the requirements for that degree were satisfied in May, it will not be officially conferred until August 25.

Carter is clear about his credentials.

“Those are the only academic credentials I provided to the board,” he said. However, Carter does acknowledge that he also earned an earlier Ph.D. from a school that lost its accreditation and has since closed down. He said that he does not include that degree on his resume. And that he removed any reference of that degree from his resume more than 10 years ago as soon as he was notified that the school was no longer accredited.

The central question in this media frenzy is whether Carter, ever fibbed about his Ph.D. credentials, or used the title before he completed his coursework. (Though, it should be noted that a Ph.D. was not a requirement for the Superintendent’s position.) And further, none of the stories have provided any documents to prove beyond question that Carter himself has ever falsified his resume, any professional documents or misrepresented his credentials during job interviews. Still, after a week’s worth of bad press with little or no response from Carter, for the first time in his stellar career he’s surrounded doubters.  

And he says it’s time to set the record straight. He will attend tonight’s New London School Board meeting, which begins at 5:00 p.m. at New London High School of Science and Technology, where he will finally speak for himself and address concerns about his qualifications.

So why has it taken so long to hear from Carter? Previously, he said, had been asked by the Board Chair Peg Curtain and others involved in his hiring process to not speak to the media or try to contact board members in any way to defend his qualifications. And, initially he wanted to play by the rules.  

“But I feel like I just keep getting punched, and I’m staying silent. How many hits can I be asked to take before I start fighting back? This is my professional integrity, my career we are talking about here. I take that very seriously,” said Carter, who describes himself as a gym junkie and is an avid kickboxer.

You could say Carter is used to chaos. And that may explain why he’s somehow managed to remain calm and stay positive while under pressure. He’s the youngest of ten children, five boys and five girls. “Life in our house was always crazy. Imagine, we only had one bathroom. But it was always fun,” said Carter, smiling as he recalled how his parents had to rule with an iron fist to keep things in order.

And it was in this crowded, loving, multicultural extended family that the Carter clan learned to work and play  together. His maternal grandmother Willimena Corterez was Dominican and lived with the family after her husband died. She taught them to respect one another’s differences.

“My grandmother spoke only Spanish, so even though my dad wanted us to speak only English, my grandmother didn’t bend,” he said.  So Carter quickly learned to understand both languages and to appreciate the diversity in his family. 

In order to keep things running smoothly, his father  –  armed with a 6th-grade education – worked the day shift as a landscaper at a golf course to keep his brood fed, clothed and sheltered. While his mother worked nights 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. as an accountant, before going on to start her own accounting firm. When his mother got home from work, all ten kids would have their homework neatly laid out on the kitchen table for her review. And no one dared tried to skip an assignment, or there would be serious trouble. 

"We were a poor family by national income statistics but rich in so many ways. We wanted for nothing,” Carter said. And he sees so many similarities between his family and the values and determination he knew growing up and the families who make up the New London community. 

"I love it here, said Carter, it was not only the challenge of the job but the rich diversity of the city that inspired me to apply for the Superintendent’s position. When I saw the demographics and all the children of color, I was excited about the possibilities of what I know these students can achieve academically,” said Carter, who has raised two successful sons: Reggie, 28, and Andre 26.

"New London is not metropolitan but it is cosmopolitan. There's a lively arts community, a music scene, theatre, restaurants, the beach, you name it. I've never seen so many galleries and boutiques in such a small geographic area. It's unique," said Carter.

For Carter, the story is not about how many hits he can take from detractors. It’s about the children. And he’s staying optimistic.

“Yes, I want this job. I know I can use my experience to help turn around New London public schools, and close the achievement gap between students of color and their peers. I have a long, successful track record of turning around schools in large cities. And I have the right experience to usher in the new regional high-performing magnet school system,” said Carter.

Carter’s asking the board to look beyond the headlines and the noise and judge him by his history of successes, his passion for education and his ability to get the job done.

And as always, he's trusting today will be a blessed day.

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