Does position equal power?

I have often complained about the security figurehead, which is the person who holds a high-level security position within a company but who has no effective power to enact security policies. And this article has me wondering if another one has been created.

The story is that the Downingtown West High School (located in the northwest outskirts of Philidelphia) got hacked by a freshman in May of this year, and he stole a file containing more than 41,000 SSN's. The school district brought in Sungard to do some security assessment work, and after almost $45k worth of work the school district received some recommendations. One of those was to create this CTO position that would allow the person filling the role to "focus completely on technology". Uh huh. Right.

First of all, a "C"-level person is typically not able to concentrate on any one thing for very long at all. The nature of that position is political. That person will be attending all kinds of stupid meetings that have nothing to do with what he or she is supposed to be working on.

Second, when you create a position with a "C"-level title, you are typically either creating a person who is solely management and has power (CEO, CFO, etc.), or you are creating a person who APPEARS to be powerful because of title but really has to go to someone else to get authority before they can make a decision of any importance. Guess which one I think this is...

Third, this ISD just finished spending over $40k for security, and that was just the consulting side of the house. Think about what the products are going to cost to fill the gaps. The administrators are going to have puppies when this CTO comes back with the first estimates. Can you say "school bond issue"? Or it may be as simple as "maybe next year, or the next."

I know I am being cynical here. But I really just can't help but being so when I see this kind of thing happen. I have become so jaded over the years that I start out on the "whatever" side until proven otherwise. I hope it proves otherwise for whoever gets this spot.