News flash to Andrew King: We don't think that race was the reason you weren't interviewed for the job of Pittsburgh school superintendent. The fact that you were caught by police in 1999 having sex with a homeless woman in the back of a truck seems more likely.

For Mr. King to blame racial discrimination for his failure to get an interview is ludicrous, and by threatening to sue over the hiring process, he tarnishes the good reputation that he has built back up after his disorderly conduct plea five years ago.

The school system has been more than fair to Mr. King, who joined the district in 1974 as a teacher, served as a principal and became an assistant superintendent in 1998. He was demoted following his arrest, but began to work his way up the ladder again, finally becoming interim superintendent after the departure of John Thompson this year. But that does not mean that he is fit for the job of permanent superintendent, and it's a shame that he convinced himself otherwise.

Superintendents are the public face of the school system and should serve as role models. In other words, image matters. And it isn't Mr. King's skin color that hurts his image; it's his record.

Throwing race into the equation not only demeans the search committee, but insults those who actually do suffer racial discrimination.

The charge is particularly ridiculous given that Helen Faison, one of the two members of the search committee, is black and that four of the 10 finalists the committee selected to interview were black.

By crying race over the hiring process, Mr. King has shown one thing: The search committee made the right choice in hiring Mark Roosevelt.