Oh, it'll be portrayed differently, but you know what they say: If it looks, walks and talks like a duck, it's a duck!

Listen carefully and you can almost hear the quacking coming out of Marysville.

Three outgoing members of the school board there are poised to extend the contract of district superintendent Linda Whitehead (Quack Quack).

That would be the same superintendent who's already received a vote of "no confidence" from teachers (Quack Quack).

The same superintendent that newly elected board members have talked about firing.

But the new board members won't take office until Dec. 1, and the old members are ready to act now (Quack Quack).

After the state's longest teacher's strike, Marysville is still trying to negotiate a new teacher's contract.

Enrollment has fallen, putting the district in an even deeper financial hole.

And there is all that acrimony and mistrust to overcome.

There is absolutely no justification for the outgoing board members to tack another year on Linda Whitehead's contract.

Call it what they will, it will be seen for what it really is.

(Quack Quack)

Spite.

Want to share your thoughts with Ken Schram? You can e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com