Education chief`s tarnished legacy

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court’s decision to sentence Kwak No-hyun, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, to one year in prison for paying a bribe of 200 million won (180,000 U.S. dollars) to Park Myeong-gi, who withdrew his candidacy ahead of the 2010 election for superintendent. Kwak had filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court, saying, “Paying bribes after an event (election)” is not a violation of the Constitution. But the Supreme Court said in its ruling, “Item 2, Clause 1 of Article 232 of the Public Post Election Act, which is meant to punish the act of paying valuables as compensation after withdrawal of candidacy, cannot be construed as being incompatible with the principle of apparentness under the principle of legality, and the principle banning excessive enforcement under the Constitution.”

The verdict nullified Kwak`s election, so he was immediately forced out from his post. His deputy Lee Dae-yeong will serve as acting superintendent until the December by-election. A so-called progressive superintendent, Kwak has left a legacy of confusion over his term. He sparked a trend of disregarding the value of educational background by removing the item “academic performance improvement” from indicators in the assessment of a principal’s management capacity. Seoul received the lowest grade in consecutive evaluations of student academic performance among 16 metropolitan cities and provinces.

As for Korea’s high ranking in the results of the Program for International Student Assessment conducted on 15-year-old students by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, Kwak blasted the country`s standing. “Eighty percent of the high scores resulted from accumulation of forced study and extended study hours backed up by private tutoring expenses,” he said.

The Student Human Rights Ordinance has dismantled the authority of teachers to guide students. Kwak effectively blocked teachers from guiding and coaching students through this ordinance, which he proclaimed immediately after his release from custody following the initial verdict by a lower court Jan. 26. The ordinance has accelerated the collapse of teacher authority so seriously that teachers have had no choice but to remain inattentive even in the wake of school violence. They also had to hold back when a female teacher was sexually harassed by students.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, Kwak must repay 3.52 billion won (3.2 million dollars) in election expenses that he was reimbursed from the National Election Commission. The progressive camp has pledged to foot the bill if Kwak was found guilty but whether it will keep this promise is uncertain. Such an expedient method to get reimbursement for election expenses could spark another legal dispute.

To avoid electing another unqualified education superintendent, the government should correct the contradiction of direct election of superintendents. The election structure requiring high expenses could spark controversy over money-based elections and bribes in return for votes or a candidacy. Jang Man-chae, superintendent of the South Jeolla Provincial Office of Education, is awaiting trial on bribery charges. Another problem is that public education is biased toward a certain ideology due to the political orientation of the superintendent. Korea must consider alternative measures such as public registration of candidates for superintendents and autonomous government posts.