I'm just the new kid in town, so I hope all my readers will take this for the naive question it is, at the same time remembering the adage about there being no dumb questions.
The district's elected school superintendent oversees a public education system in which the sole high school is, year after year, graded either D or C (most recently, the lower of these two stellar grades). My dumb question: So why do voters keep re-electing the guy? Is he the only warm, willing body in town? If so, why don't outraged voters, parents, and real estate agents (people buy homes in "good" districts) put out a job-search notice? Where is the political will to find someone with experience and credentials to take on the failing school(s) and the decrepit district? I know, I know, that's more than one dumb question.
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OK, so it's too late for the current crop of young adults that we've sent to seek their fortunes in this world, unable to read at the 10th grade level. OK, so it will take an act of the state legislature to revise how we choose our school superintendent. But 24 other Florida counties have done it. It surely wouldn't be too hard to retype somebody's paperwork, cross out their name and write in DeSoto's. I can even suggest a plain-English version: "DeSoto County citizens want to stop electing a good-ol'-boy who goes to church with us, and instead, we want to seek out and hire qualified professionals capable of carrying out the most important task a county has to undertake."
We'll do more on this topic, so keep checking back. Meanwhile --->
One more dumb question: The news is School Superintendent Adrian Cline promises that 28 volunteer teachers will brainstorm over the summer how to tackle the problem of the high school's low achievement tests. Here is the dumb question: If these are the teachers who taught the kids who failed the test, why should anyone have a shred of confidence in their ability to figure out what the problem is? I'm sure they did their best last year. It wasn't good enough. If my soccer team loses games, I don't make the kids figure out what to do differently. I recruit a coach/leader who knows the game inside and out, and who can, well, coach.
You are asking some pretty good questions. I am enjoying reading some of the comments and observations. All of these questions and comments could be effectively negated by a bit of transparency on the part of the leadership of DeSoto County. I love this county and the school system and I care about its future. As long as the leadership remains, I am sad to say that I believe it will be more of the same unless the leadership opens up, even just a crack and lets some light shine in.
ReplyDeleteYour questions about an elected/appointed superintendent were asked in great detail a year ago. The process is not all that easy. It is my understanding (and this explanation may be a bit simplistic) that first the School Board has to WANT to change the system. A private citizen cannot do this. The Board, by majority vote of the Board, has to ask the County Commission to place the issue in front of the electorate. The County Commission has to pass the request or resolution. The issue then can be sent to the Supervisor of Elections to be placed on a ballot for a vote by the citizens of DeSoto County. The politics involved in an action like this are formidable to say the least.
Now, I have a question or two to pose myself. There are two positive examples of schools in DeSoto that are consistently "making the grade." West Elementary received its 6th consecutive A grade this year (and achieved AYP most of those years). The DeSoto Middle School has shown steady improvement since 2006 and achieved an A rating this year. Thus, we have in our district a successful model for both elementary and secondary education. My question is when was the last time the leadership of this district called for an "Educational Summit?" Obviously, these two schools have figured out what needs to be done to be CONSISTENTLY successful. Why hasn't the district's leadership called for the administrative and the teacher leaderships of these schools to share what they are doing that is "exportable" so the other schools can emulate their success?
Finally, and I promise I'll stop after this, does anyone know what the new "Differentiated Accountability" program is all about? Do yourself a favor and go to the Florida Department of Education home page and read about it. Each school in need of improvement is required to write an action plan addressing the root cause of their inability to raise achievement. It's a public document. I know I will be asking for a copy of the high school's plan. I am anxious to see what they identify as their root cause....
Keep the blog going!
I know that one way to CONSISTENTLY improve scores is to cut out the parties. When has anyone ever heard of an FCAT party -- before the marks are in?! Kids are given pats on the back and gold stars for blowing off the test, at least from what I saw before I retired from the HS. Teachers "teach to the test" and ignore the rest.
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