School Board Hosts “Dog & Pony” Show With State Reps

GCS school leaders hobbed-nobbed with Guilford County’s elected state delegation at the new Northern Middle School yesterday in an effort to lobby for more money on the eve of GCS’ annual budget crunch. See HP Enterprise story for more coverage.

“There are a lot of needs … and we need more resources,” board member Darlene Garrett told legislators, as quoted by the article.

Interestingly enough, and here’s the real story…mission possible may be slowly becoming Mission Impossible.

An excerpt from the article:

Several lawmakers asked what kind of impact so far this year the teacher incen­tive program has had in the classroom. Peggy Thompson, the district’s hu­man resources officer, said more teach­ing candidates are showing interest in schools identified under Mission Pos­sible. However, Mack Mc Cary, chief aca­demic officer for the district, said the program has helped but hasn’t solved a lot of the issues facing low-performing schools. In terms of student performance, it’s “too early to tell if Mission Possible is working,” Mc Cary added.

Wow…

E.C. 🙂

Troubled Schools Get Unique Attention: Boston Globe

This is one way to fix troubled schools that are a nano-second shy of a state takeover: longer school days and smaller classes. It’s happening right now in Boston. See this Boston Globe article.

An excerpt: Nine Boston Public schools at risk of being taken over by the state will have smaller classes and longer hours during the next school year under an improvement plan announced yesterday by Superintendent Michael G. Contompasis.

    The $10 million initiative calls for each of the schools to have an extra hour of instruction every day beginning in September, a full-time “family and community outrach coordinator” and a maximum class size of two fewer students, officials said.

    Seventy-five percent of the schools’ vacancies will be filled at the sole discretion of their principals, Contompasis said. Teachers currently in those schools may request transfers to other schools for the 2007-2008 academic year, he said. But those who choose to stay will receive salary incentives of up to 5 percent and 20 additional hours of professional development.

E.C. 🙂