It takes more than a bureaucrat to manage a crisis. Just ask Mike Brown, the former Federal Emergency Management Agency leader who spent the early days after Hurricane Katrina stressing about how his shirts looked on camera.

Knowledge is key. In public health jobs, that means scientific knowledge.

Clearly Marcia Fernholz is no Mike Brown. The interim director of the Racine Health Department has shown many of the attributes needed to lead the department permanently. She has years of experience in the environmental health section of the department, overseeing restaurant inspections and pet-borne illnesses like West Nile virus.

Since taking over the full Health Department, she has had the unenviable task of rebuilding staff morale after a difficult period when employees spoke out publicly against suspended Public Health Administrator Janelle Grammer. At Grammer's dismissal hearing - she was eventually fired - exasperated staff members said their efforts have finally begun to

gain momentum.

At minimal staffing levels, the Health Department has managed to juggle both the dozens of local swine flu cases and an outbreak of the bacterial disease shigella. The roadblock for Fernholz? She lacks one critical piece of her resume: a master's degree.

The state requires the director of a department like Racine's to have that advanced education. She hasn't asked anyone to find a loophole to circumvent the rule, and that should not be a temptation for the city's Board of Health.

If Fernholz is truly interested in the job and is still deemed the best candidate after a broader search, city leaders should work to help her obtain the necessary education. That doesn't have to come in the form of subsidized tuition, but simply by allowing her the flexibility to attend classes.

That's true for any employee who shows promise to move up the chain of command. It's called grooming from within and, when done right, it looks as impressive as the calligraphy on a diploma.