Is Seoul`s education office a private fiefdom?

A teacher who wants to transfer from a private to a public school in Korea must work for years to qualify for a test. For this, he or she often prepares essays or earns a Ph.D., a double degree or even a research award. Unfortunately, nobody has been able to take the test in Seoul since 2009 even after such efforts. Seoul educational superintendent Kwak No-hyun hired three teachers for public schools without making them take the test. The three included two secretaries from his election camp. He granted favors to those who helped him while denying equal opportunity to other teachers who waited to take the test.

Kwak promoted the two secretaries to Level 5 and ordered the education office to extend the contracts of eight teachers (six from the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union, and two from the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Association) dispatched to the education office for one year from March last year. Most of them helped his election or are involved in his key policies. The decision ignores public practices and opinions. Kwak cannot do such things unless he considers the education office as his own personal organization.

Kwak stressed his innocence of bribery charges at a monthly meeting at the office early this month, saying, “What prosecutors claimed all collapsed like a sandcastle on the beach.” He was released in his first trial with a fine of just 30 million won (26,560 U.S. dollars) for bribing his competitor in the superintendent race. His election will be voided if an appellate court imposes a fine of more than 1 million won (885.35 dollars), which is a violation of the Public Official Election Act. Kwak admitted to giving his competitor money but his verdict is unlikely to be overturned by a higher court. Even given the benefit of the doubt until the ruling by the Supreme Court, he should be ashamed of himself and be careful what he has done. To the contrary, he is stubborn and voices in the main opposition party have urged his resignation from the party.

Kwak seems to have ignored academic performance exams and teacher assessment programs, which they claim encourage competition. New York recently released the rankings of around 18,000 public school teachers in the Big Apple. That no one can stop the competitiveness of Seoul schools from plummeting is pathetic. When Kwak introduced the ordinance on student human rights, 1,000 former and incumbent principals criticized him, with one saying, “The culprit of chaos and conflict is Kwak.” To stop the unqualified superintendent’s disruption of Seoul`s education system, the appellate court must make a ruling on his bribery as soon as possible.