The non-local marketing firm of Adams & Knight is fast approaching the million-dollar mark in revenue received from Hartford Public Schools after the Board of Education’s most recent approval of Adams & Knight’s third HPS contract for the recruitment of teachers to the district.

Three contracts and this professional marketing firm, together with the folks in HPS’ human resources division, the Office of Talent Management (OTM), have yet to tell us how many teachers have applied and were hired at HPS as a result of the Adams & Knight marketing campaign (see last year’s story, “Hartford Schools Go Vegan” for more on this data-less “success” story).

At the approval of their second contract in November of 2022, the district was taking the line that the website software being used to accept teacher applications did not allow for tracking of how applicants learned of HPS’ “Help Wanted” sign in the first place.  HPS’ Chief Propaganda Officer Jesse Sugarman informed the BOE at the meeting that “I don’t think we’ll ever get to the point where we can say that an ad caused a person to apply.”  Apparently the marketing industries use of UTM codes (Urchin Tracking Modules),  which tells you where your website traffic is coming from, has yet to make its way over Avon Mountain to the folks at Adams & Knight.

During a BOE meeting on October 5th of this year, where Board Member Escribano and the Chief Operating Officer Sherri Davis-Googe disrespected the request for Adams & Knight data by other board members while Ms. Davis-Googe also wove a tale of Adams & Knight being selected by an HPS “selection committee” after a lengthy city-run RFP process (information not shared over many meetings on Adams & Knight since May of 2022), an Adams & Knight representative appeared to contradict the district’s November 2022 no-data-because stance.

At the meeting, Adams & Knight Chief Strategy Officer Reem Nouh, who was “beyond excited” (I’d be excited as well if I received a million dollars without having to prove success), stated that the current marketing campaign “plan” is based on results from the previous campaign (you know, the one where they have no results on the number of teacher applications they are responsible for).  Ms. Nouh stated that “we are not just putting stuff (stuff?) into market and praying that it works, we’re monitoring it.”  And finally, to contradict Mr. Sugarman’s 2022 official district stance, Ms. Nouh stated that they will be able to show the “number of applications submitted” and the “number of positions filled.”  They will have the meats!

As part of the current contract, Ms. Nouh stated that there will be a May 2024 “Quarterly Review” where their performance would be analyzed.  At the October BOE Regular meeting, where the Superintendent rightfully assumes her contract proposals will be approved, the question of performance measures for the Adams & Knight contract rose once again.  OTM lead person Tiffany Davis, with dutiful incompetence, stated, “we have that data, we will get it to you.”  Ah, but we’re looking to approve the contract now, this should have been something you provided now.  So, don’t hold your breath for a very informed May of 2024 Adams & Knight quarterly review.

The latest contract handed out to Adams & Knight calls for them to expand their marketing focus to attracting students to HPS magnet schools.  During the most recent meetings on this contract, it was stated by HPS that this focus was a continuation of the student recruitment work Adams & Knight has been doing since last year.  If so, no student recruiting data was ever presented, discussed, or asked for by the members of the board (go figure).  However, the recruiting of students was not a part of any previous proposal and contract award brought before and approved by the BOE.  Yet this didn’t stop Sugarman from including this falsity to the little Hartford Courant as he was delivering his propaganda story to  his pals at that blemish on the media landscape.

Nobody reports the truth, the parties contradict each other, and nobody is held accountable.  Ineffective, untrustworthy school leadership proves itself with costly, failing academics.  I don’t have the data to show this, but I will get it to you.