ADMIN: 5,000 And Counting…

We just hit a milestone here at hueyforguilfordschoolboard.org. We just logged our 5,000th visitor to this site’s weblog. Thank you.
It’s a testament to the public to know what’s happening in our schools and what we can do to promote change in our schools. Change is inevitable, but it only takes one person.
My campaign is not [...]

Public Schools? (cartoon)

Some would say this cartoon describes public schools…in name only. Take a look from our friends at “Weapons of Math Destruction.com“:

E.C.

AP Testing Problems at Central

UPDATE BELOW
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This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Massive problems with the administering of the College Board’s Advanced Placement exams at High Point Central H.S. in recent days have prompted an investigation by school officials.
Today’s High Point Enterprise is reporting that missed testing windows and a mysterious disappearance of testing materials have put AP testing on hold. See [...]

$3,000 Could Buy a Lot of Supplies

…it really can.
$3,000 could buy a lot of printer ink cartridges for our high-impact schools. It could buy a lot of soap of school bathrooms. It could buy a lot of paper. $3,000 can help to fund High Point’s Gradfest, which is in doubt right now because of a lack of funding.
But it is the [...]

Blue Ribbon Commission Meets Today to Review State Public School Testing

This is interesting….
From DPI:
The State Board of Education has convened an independent Blue Ribbon
Commission on Testing and Accountability to provide a comprehensive review
of the state’s accountability system ­ including student testing. Dr. Sam
Houston, chief executive officer and president of the Science, Math and
Technology Center and a former local school superintendent, chairs the
Commission. The Commission will [...]

Alston Constructively Criticizes…then Experiences an Epiphany

The eldest son of Guilford County Commissioner Skip Alston responded last week to a blog entryI made regarding Deena Hayes’ latest comments at the last Guilford County School Board meeting. DeSean Alston initially called me and this campaign “pathetic” and “a puppet.”
Then the younger Alston proceeded to constructively criticize me on the Conservative Alternative’s blog site [...]

Grier Defends Mission (im)Possible

Today’s High Point Enterprise reports Dr. Grier defended the embattled Mission (im)Possible program last night at a joint GCS Board/County Board work session, despite question from several county commissioners.
An excerpt:
Grier responded to questions from commissioners who had been talking with teacher and other constituents about the program.
“The other teachers at these same schools work with [...]

Parents Speak Out for Andrews

UPDATE BELOW
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During last night’s school board meeting, many parents spoke out in favor of more resources for Andrews and pleaded for the Board for more support for the school. Enrollment is projected to decline further because of the recent redistricting move, along with proposed budget cuts threatening the loss of an assistant principal and possible cuts [...]

Deena Has Some Serious [Hate] Issues

DEVELOPING STORY…UPDATES BELOW 
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GC School Board member Deena Hayes was in rare form this evening.
At least twice during this evening’s meeting, she brought up race, and once again, it had very little meaning on the discussion(s) at hand.
During a discussion of the Advanced Learner program this evening, Hayes said publicly that she will “reserve her vote” [...]

NCLB Exams: Testing Irregularities in Florida

Tis the season to be jolly…seems to be some major testing and scoring anomalies reported in Florida, where according to the Miami Herald, the errors on third grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests (FCATs) are raising major questions. And lawmakers, school officials, unions and parents are all crying foul…gotta love that No Child Left Behind act!
See [...]

Andrews May Lose its Band: HP Enterprise

The Marching Red Raiders is T. Wingate Andrews H.S.
But can you imagine that school without its prized band program? That’s the issue school administrators are struggling with as they ponder over projected enrollment figures for next year. They tell the High Point Enterprise that unless enrollment begins to trickle up next year, the marching band [...]

Sample EOG/EOC Questions from DPI

Here’s something to break up the day…go to the state’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) website and take some of these sample elementary/middle school end-of-grade and high school end-of-course exam questions. See how you do and report in…
E.C.

Davidson Co. Systems WANT to Merge: W-S Journal

System officials in both Thomasville and Lexington are backing the proposed merger of Lexington City Schools and Thomasville City Schools with Davidson County Schools. They say test scores and student achievement are the primary reasons, according to a recent Winston-Salem Journal article. With test scores tanking all over the area, I think you will see [...]

The Fake Newsweek Rankings

It’s that time of year again folks…it’s time for the annual “fake” Newsweek rankings of top schools in America (solely by the numbers of students taking AP or IB classes). Today’s News & Record has a disclaimer this time around: “The rating is not meant to measure overall quality of a school.” Keep in mind [...]

Elem. Teachers Threatened Statewide: HP Enterprise

Guess that lootery money isn’t coming in as expected, many school systems have be losing elementary teaching positions, this as EOGs are beginning today, according to today’s High Point Enterprise. GCS finance chief Sharon Ozment says 20 positions could be cut next school year. other systems may lose out on positions also.
See this excerpt:
Elementary class­rooms [...]

Andrews High School Goes SMOD: HP Enterprise

Andrews H.S. will adopt a standard mode of dress (SMOD) beginning next year, according to today’s High Point Enterprise. I think it is a good idea and a step in the right direction if it is complemented with a strict enforcement of rules and regulations (which is currently and obviously a big problem in many [...]

We Wish Dr. Cooke Well

Dr. Lisa Cooke helped to save the lives of Eastern Guilford H.S. staff and students when their building burned to the ground. She’s a hero. After taking a medical leave over the winter, Dr. Cook has submitted her resignation to Guilford Co. Schools. This campaign wishes her the best as she continues getting some well-deserved [...]

Later Start Time = Better Grades?

This is an interesting article from the Associated Press. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania suggest that a later school start time for high school students will yield better grades and more attentiveness from American teenagers (let me not talk too loud–Grier might take this idea and run with it)…let me digress, for I report, [...]

Grier vs. Yow: Rhino Times

Last Week’s Rhino Times included this fairly intense exchange between County Commissioner Billy Yow and Supt. Terry Grier in a story on the funding feud with Eastern Guilford H.S. as it related to certificates of participation (COPs):
Commissioner Billy Yow tried to explain everything to the school officials.“Everybody’s not far apart,” Yow said. “We’ve got $121 [...]

Discipline Task Force: Rhino Times

From a “Beep” in last week’s Rhino Times:
Yes, this is for Amos Quick and Deena Hayes regarding the committee they just formed to study why students of minorities get suspended more. Why don’t you guys get away from the committees? Go spend some time in the school. Not an hour a day, but a whole [...]

Grier & the CoCo’s: cartoon

In case you missed this from last week’s Rhino Times, and I thought this was funny:
 
E.C.

EOGs This Week/Test Factories in High Gear

Elementary and middle school students across the state are feeling the stress this week as No Child Left Behind-required end-of-grade testing begins for elementary and middle schools. We wish every one of them much success this week. News 14 Carolina has a story (with video) on how Kiser Middle School, a school that has had [...]

Public Schools Ill-Prepared to Handle Emergencies Within School Buildings: GAO

Considering many of the lockdowns Guilford County Schools had recently, many of the nation’s public schools still need to address emergency preparedness and countermeasures, according to a new GAO report released last week.
Click here for the report’s abstract.
Click here for the actual report
Click here for a USA Today story on the report.
View this excerpt from [...]

Eastern Guilford: The Battle to Save the Building: N&R

Sunday’s News & Record ran a pretty good rollup on how efforts to save Eastern Guilford H.S. were futile. Published reports say a bad roof design, which may have been appropriate by 1970s standards, failed the firefighters immensely. See this excerpt:
The fire burned in the back of an empty chemistry lab during the final lunch [...]

PTA debates how much to give to new school: N&R

Hope everyone had a good weekend.
This is an interesting debate. The PTA at Colfax Elementary is embroiled in a battle whether to donate $10,000 to the new PTA at the new Pearce Elementary, since many students from Colfax will be heading there in the fall, or to keep the money at Colfax. See today’s News [...]

GCS Friday Spin, 5/18/07

Click here for the weekly Friday Spin from GCS. As expected, no mention at all of the sorry EOC scores just released.
E.C.

GCS Board Meeting Agenda, 5/24/07

Click here for the GCS Board Meeting agenda for next Thursday, 5/24/07, 6pm.
E.C.

Jackson Middle Needs Proctors for EOGs Next Week

From GCS:
Jackson Middle School Needs Proctors for EOG testing. The volunteers basically just have to be in the room and observe the students to make sure that cheating, talking, etc. does not occur.The days are next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (May 22, 23 and 24).  Hours are   8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. 
Just a few hours of [...]

S.C. superintendent calls for less testing: CLT Observer

The state public schools superintendent in South Carolina is calling for…LESS TESTING!
Stop the presses.
See this short Charlotte Observer piece from today, this guy is progressive:
S.C. students should spend less time taking tests and more time learning, Education Superintendent Jim Rex said Thursday in unveiling a sweeping proposal to reform the state’s standardized testing system. Rex [...]

Meeting to discuss Guilford schools’ budget: N&R

This from the News & Record:
The Guilford Education Alliance will host a community forum breakfast May 25 to discuss the Guilford County Schools’ proposed budget for next year. Superintendent Terry Grier and chief financial officer Sharon Ozment will present the budget and answer questions.
The Board of Education has approved a request for a 10 percent [...]