jackiedoherty.org

Sorry if I seem ungrateful, but I wasn’t thrilled with yesterday’s editorial even though I got endorsed.  Instead, I’m disappointed because once again the paper has belittled student progress while unfairly whacking the schools: “The district has made some progress in its MCAS scores, but still has too many schools on the state’s ‘needs improvement’ lists and too many students struggling. The pace of progress must be stepped up.”  So, double the state improvement average is no big deal. Apparently, so is seeing 29% more students achieve advanced or proficient while moving 18% more out of failing since 2005. How about the fact that it takes two consecutive years of meeting AYP in all subgroups to get off needs improvement?  (AYP is a moving target based on 100% proficiency by 2014: for details, check here.)

My point is not that the progress is enough—we are clearly not done. But we are moving in the right direction, and we are now seeing the fruits of seven years of intense focus on curriculum and instruction. Yet, all the schools get for their hard work (the hard work of students and teachers led by an administrative vision that made it happen) is a nod and several whacks about pacing etc. Speaking of the pace: How much time is allowed to turn around 23 schools, 1,200 teachers, 14,000 students, and countless support staff with shrinking resources?  How long should it take to develop consistent, standards-based curriculum from kindergarten to eighth grade, get all staff onboard and using it effectively, and inform parents of the standards their students will learn each year? Not to mention changing the culture so that teachers, students, administrators, and parents expect more from themselves and each other. And one last question: Why give credence to unsubstantiated claims of a hiring conspiracy (as opposed to simply trying to choose the best, most qualified candidates) when those choices are leading to student success?

Student learning is the single most important purpose of our schools, and it is the standard from which I base all my decisions. Perhaps I have the bar too high, but it is also the standard I expect our business, political, and media leaders to set for themselves regarding our schools. So dear editors, thanks again for the endorsement, but your pace joining the movement for excellent schools is a bit slow.