"Go back to India" Indian American school administrator told

NEW YORK: An Indian American school administrator is at the centre of a controversy that has acquired racial overtones.

Raj Manhas has announced that he would not seek an extension once his term as superintendent of Seattle Public Schools expires in August next.

Manhas's decision came at an acrimonious meeting when people hurled racial abuses at him and Chinese American school board member Cheryl Chow.

"Go back to India," one man had shouted at Manhas in that meeting.

Manhas had come under pressure following his decision to close down or consolidate some schools in Seattle. During his term, he managed to erase a $35 million deficit and the district education authority now has a $20 million reserve.
 
The Seattle public schools district has over 46,000 students on its rolls. It is the largest public schools district in the racially diverse state of Washington.

While Manhas's supporters said that his style of administration brought back the district from the brink of financial disaster, opponents described him as weak and inexperienced.

"I think Raj is one of the most courageous, sensitive and caring leaders I have ever encountered in 40 years of dealing with public and elected officials in Seattle," Ken Alhadeff, co-chair of the Community Advisory Committee on School Facilities and Programs, told the Seattle Times.

Manhas's decision to close down some schools as part of his financial restructuring plan had made him unpopular among many parents. The move, the first such in the district in 20 years, was initiated after approval from the schools board.

However, when school closures became unpopular, Alhadeff said, "They (the board) abandoned him and the closure process."

According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, the board had agreed to close seven school buildings this summer.

But another plan of Manhas to close three additional buildings never got off the ground. The proposal came in for heated arguments at the board meeting with community members and parents criticising him.

The son of a farmer, Manhas grew up in Saroya, a village in northern India. He had come to the US in 1973 as a graduate student at University of Washington. An engineer by profession, he had also worked in the banking sector.

He had never worked in the field of education before becoming the district's chief operating officer in 2001.

In 2003, when his predecessor stepped down after a budget crisis, he reluctantly took on the charge as interim superintendent.

After the schools board failed to find a suitable candidate for the post in the course of a national search, it gave Manhas a one-year contract and later extended it to three years.

Manhas says his announcement not to seek extension nearly a year in advance will help the schools board in its search for his successor.

Observers, however, say that getting a suitable successor to Manhas will be easier said than done.