At last night's FWCS board meeting, Wendy Robinson gave a presentation about jumping on Obama's "Race to the Top" bandwagon. She repeatedly emphasized that she was finally going to reform the system instead of just talking about reforming it, not because of the threat of closing failing schools, turning them into charters, or mandated "turnarounds"/ "transformations" of those schools by the state if they can't get their test scores up. It's not even about getting a cut of Arne Duncan's $4.3 billion handout to states and schools who go along with the program. We're doing it because "IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO" for the students, their parents and a community footing the bill that deserves to see improved results.
Seven years ago at a town hall meeting at SSHS I asked Wendy what her plans were for raising test scores to comply with NCLB. She didn't have a plan. She and everybody else running our district blew it off. Apparently back then it wasn't "THE RIGHT THING TO DO". The demographics were too tough. Now seven years later, with the demographics even tougher, it is "THE RIGHT THING TO DO" but not for any of the reason above. School board president Mark GiaQuinta did offer up a valid reason, saying that having schools in our district designated as "failing" could prompt parents who didn't know better to send their kids elsewhere. Parents like, oh..., for example, school board president Mark GiaQuinta who sent his three kids to Canterbury although they live within walking distance of South Side HS.
Whether anything happens is now is up to the teachers who have to agree to a change in their contract to allow their evaluations to be linked to standardized test scores. So now Wendy and Steve Brace and company have to come up with a way to do that that's palatable to the state, the feds and the teachers. But I'm sure they'll go along with the program because the teachers also believe "IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO".
Hey, Steve, if you're out there, I did pat several teachers on the back today like you suggested. But if they're going to go have to go along with merit based pay, you should at least see to it that they don't have to put up with social promotion. If you don't, every high school except Snyder will soon be at the mercy of the state. And you know it!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Where's the merit based pay?
That doesn't appear to be in the plan as far as I can tell. This is all about Wendy passing the buck to avoid taking responsibility for her failure of leadership.
Blaming teachers at these schools is NOT going to solve the problem. It will only serve to make the schools worse and drive more teachers away.
Wake me up when Wendy starts to discuss real merit pay solutions...
The FWEA contract forbids tying teacher evaluations to standardized test scores, which would have to be the basis for merit pay. They may change the contract to allow such evaluations but whether they end up being tied to pay remains to be seen. Although that's the intent of the legislation, FWCS will probably be able to get around that and still satisfy the feds and get their money.
Wendy has ZERO chance of meeting the Balanced Scorecard targets and she knows it. Thus, the board will be forced to deal with her failure at the end of her 5 year contract.
This latest move has everything to do with saving her job. She'll beat up on teachers to try and prove that she's working to turn the failing schools around.
Meanwhile her policies will not help these schools one iota and will only serve to make them worse...
Jeff - You're right, she'll never meet the balanced scorecard targets and there was no reason to think she would before they gave her the new contract. As long as she's been around, she could retire without taking much of a hit in pay so why is she staying? It must be because GiaQuinta thinks keeping her is the politically expedient course.
As far as beating up on teachers, she's limited in what she can do by the contract. So what's the point in that except to make noise for show (and piss them off)?
Some time a me shoe his attitude to the peoples for the sack of the trouble should be created.
Thanks....
regards, saad from
GITAM University
Whether anything happens is now is up to the teachers who have to agree to a change in their contract to allow their evaluations to be linked to standardized test scores. here
To conceive with the prime line of my remark – I do specifically would love to gift associate outsize as a results of the journal admiration. very it's an enormous work by him that i found a high-quality facilitate by his/her pleasant information auto title loans in richmond. I directly have to be compelled to be compelled to be compelled to be compelled to tell, delight hold it up your employment. usually I’ll build positive in conjunction at the side of your posting and alter. feeling forward to your any mails.
Post a Comment