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In 1991 the Soviet Union was collapsing under its own weight. As the geography of the communist empire retreated toward mother Russia, intelligence analysts in the United States and nuclear non-proliferation experts around the world voiced a new fear at this conclusion of the cold war. The fear was given a nickname: the Soviet brain drain.

Since many thousands of scientists and technical specialists in the collapsing empire had intimate knowledge of nuclear weapons design or uranium enrichment, the very real possibility was that other countries or organizations would draw away these former Soviet experts to work for them. The problem was twofold: Russia and whatever republics that remained would no longer have the expertise to safeguard existing nuclear weapons, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons in other countries or organizations would greatly expand. With thousands of former Soviet scientists and specialists no longer supported by the empire, all it might take was some money and a promise of greener pastures to lure them away. The fear was so great that in 1994 a US led program was launched to stop the brain drain by providing alternatives to the black market for these former weapons scientists and their expertise in the form of commercial work.

During the last school year, an article on this website considered the idea that Readington Schools would be facing its own brain drain of highly qualified teachers due to the poor way that our teachers have recently been managed and compensated. Unfortunately this idea of a Readington brain drain has become as real as a nuclear weapon being launched. And it isn’t limited to teachers, either.

As the resignations continue to pour in over this summer, our administration will be so busy trying to hire new staff and rearrange existing staff that it will be impossible to plan on any solid structure for the students in 2005-2006. Much of the expertise that has thus far prevented serious damage is now gone, and more will disappear before September 2005. And who or what is to blame for this brain drain? Is it the negative press and this website that is the cause? Is it the outspoken parents and citizens at board meetings who are the cause? Is it the members of the Town Committee who are the cause? It may be traditional in some parts to shoot the messenger, but rational people save their ammunition for better aimed shots.

The Readington employees leaving for other school districts are not tired of employment in the educational arena; they are tired of fighting for their lives in our district. They are tired of working for a district where the whims of an administration come before the needs of the children. They are tired of the political maneuvering, the lack of support, and, as one person wrote in their resignation, they are tired of “not being treated fairly.” Another person wrote in their resignation letter that “if the time ever came that an administration was in place for the good of the school, faculty and students” a return to employment in the district would be welcome. Yet, most of those resigning will never be back. They have found other school systems in which employees are treated as professionals and intellectuals rather than as instruments for political control by district apparatchiks.

Our Readington brain-drain is no longer speculative, it is real. The consequences for the next school year will be real. While the new hires could be well-meaning, skilled and experienced, it is too much to expect them to coagulate together all at once and stop the bleeding from our wounded district. What is desperately needed now is leadership that will seek the cause of these wounds and prevent further cuts. That leadership must start at the board level.

We still have good people left in our district, but we do not have the numbers of experienced and knowledgeable employees we once had. Not unlike the former Soviet empire, our danger is that the brain drain could take away the expertise we need to maintain the working systems and curriculum that once served us well. The analogy is not complete, of course, but the consequences are similar.