Student/Teacher Confrontation at Southeast H.S.

This is the kind of incident that I’m really hoping this new “blue-ribbon task force” on school discipline will address.

A published report in the News & Record says an assault took place last Friday involving a teacher and student at Southeast Guilford H.S. According to reports, a teacher was initially struck in the face by a 15-year-old male student, and then was struck repeatedly. The student was arrested by the school resource officer (gee, can you imagine what would have happened if that SRO wasn’t there)  and was charged with assault inflicting serious injury, disorderly conduct and assault on a government official.

An excerpt:

Michael E. LaRocco, 55, was struck in the face by a 15-year-old male student shortly after 2 p.m., said Maj. Tom Sheppard. The blow caused LaRocco to fall to the concrete walkway. The student then struck LaRocco several more times in the face, Sheppard said.

We wish a speedy recovery to LaRocco. Again, this incident only heightens and stresses the urgency of the rampant discipline problems we have in some of our schools with some of our children.

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UPDATE 4/30/07, 1:17PM: The N&R updated the story and it is actually worse than originally reported. See this excerpt:

In an interview Monday, LaRocco said the student had been disruptive and sent to an assistant principal’s office, where school officials were unable to reach the student’s guardians. The student was then escorted by school personnel to LaRocco’s classroom for additional assistance. LaRocco’s classroom is the designated time-out room for students with emotional and behavioral problems and it is school procedure to bring a disruptive student to his classroom, LaRocco said.
After entering the mobile classroom, the student began beating on the walls. Several students were in the classroom and LaRocco escorted the student to take him to the in-school suspension office.“All of a sudden he jumped me,” he said.But Mr. LaRocco becomes very candid later in the article, look here:LaRocco, a 23-year teaching veteran, said he’s seen in increase in problems among students with behavioral and emotional problems as the school system has moved more of those students into the general population.”I’ve been saying for a while that there are some kids in a school setting that should not be,” he said. “The system knows it, but for whatever reason they let them back in.” LaRocco said the incident has made him want to take another position with the school system outside of the classroom.“I’d like to do something different,” he said.The system has failed this child, but it has also failed this teacher tremendously. Someone needs to step up and claim responsibility for this incident by day’s end if there’s any ounce of credibility left.

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UPDATE 4/30/07, 11:34PM: see Fox-8 story here and link to photo of Mr. LaRocco.

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 UPDATE 5/1/07, 7:58AM: The more I read about this incident, the more angrier I get. See today’s N&R story, LaRocco wants out. But I give him credit, for he’s talking…and willing to talk candidly about this incident and about the issues surrounding behavior and discipline.

An excerpt:

Michael E. “Rocky” LaRocco, a 23-year teaching veteran , works with disruptive students every day. But the 55-year-old educator is rethinking his job after a student knocked him unconscious and beat him Friday at Southeast High School , according to a sheriff’s department report.

On Monday, LaRocco said his eye was swollen and he was unable to walk. Several doctors’ appointments this week will determine the extent of the injuries to his knee and eye. He also said his ribs are sore on his right side.

This is also very interesting:

The district reported 71 assaults on school personnel last year, according to a state report. Thirteen of all assaults in the district resulted in serious injury, the report showed.

In the 2004-05 school year, the district reported 63 assaults on school personnel. There were 29 assaults that resulted in serious injury. Three principals trying to break up fights that year were injured within a span of about a month.

LaRocco said he’s seen an increase in problems among students with behavioral and emotional problems as the school system moves more of those students into the general population.

“I’ve been saying for a while that there are some kids in a school setting that should not be,” he said.

“The system knows it, but for whatever reason they let them back in.”
******************************************************************
Get well, Mr. LaRocco.

E.C. 🙂

DPI Officials Testify on Capitol Hill

From a State Department of Public Instruction (DPI) update:

On Monday, State Board Vice Chairman Dr. Jane Norwood testified before the
US House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor hearing on
NCLB: Preventing Dropouts and Enhancing School Safety. North Carolina New
Schools Project President Dr. Tony Habit testified the next day before the
US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on
NCLB Reauthorization: Modernizing Middle and High Schools for the 21st
Century. Both presentations highlighted successes, challenges, and future
directions for North Carolina public schools. Dr. Norwood’s closing remarks
included this statement, Effective, meaningful and rigorous high school
reform policies are needed at the local, state, and federal levels in order
to increase graduation rates, prevent dropouts and raise overall student
achievement.

E.C. 🙂

Top Teachers Issue Call for Revamped Pay Plans: Wash. Post

Teachers have their own ideas on how they should be paid.

Tired of reports by business executives and Cabinet officers on how to fix U.S. schools, several award-winning teachers produced their own recommendations this month, starting with a major overhaul of how teachers are paid, according to a Washington Post article today.

An excerpt:

The report, sponsored by the Hillsborough, N.C.-based Center for Teaching Quality, said teachers should be able to advance through three tiers — novice, professional and expert — and schools should stop paying teachers more just because they have more years on the job.

“If you don’t have a career ladder that encourages teachers to advance in their profession — and be paid accordingly as they advance — tinkering around the edges by providing $2,000 bonuses for a handful of teachers will not secure the stable, high-quality professional workforce we need,” the teachers said.

In particular, the group said, pay plans should “reward leadership, not seniority.” It said that “qualified teachers who take on additional responsibilities — mentoring novices and peers and preparing new teachers, creating family- and community-outreach programs, serving on advisory councils and the like — should be paid for their time outside the classroom.” And the jobs should go not to the oldest teachers but to the ones with the best classroom results, the group said.

Taking North Carolina as an example, the group suggested an annual pay scale that started at $30,000 for a novice and climbed to $70,000 for an expert. But an expert with extra school improvement responsibilities could make as much as $130,000.

The full report can be found here.

E.C. 🙂

Principal Shortage?

Did you know we had a shortage of qualified principals in North Carolina? News to me…and a consortium is trying to address this new shortage; take a look at this story from News 14 Carolina (watch the video too).

An excerpt:

Organizers say the program fills a critical need — there’s a shortage of principals in North Carolina and more than half of all principals will be eligible to retire this year.
“When you’re looking at 1100 principals can leave because they’ve completed 30 years or more of experience or work, we have a significant issue here,” said Brad Sneeden, director of the Principals’ Executive Program.

E.C. 🙂

Gradfest seeks funding: HP Enterprise

It’s time to start thinking about GradFest again. For those who don’t know, it’s the annual High Point extravaganza that brings together graduating seniors from Andrews, Central and Southwest H.S. See today’s HP Enterprise as the coordinators are seek­ing funding to ensure it’s still on this year.

An excerpt:

Graduating high school seniors from the three High Point high schools will get to party the night away June 9 as the 2007 Gradfest contin­ues an 18-year tradition.
But coordinators say they need additional funding to help pay for things like priz­es, food and entertainment that are a major attraction for the all-night, alcohol- and drug-free party.
Marchelle Fairley, a parent and coordinator of the event, said it takes about $17,000 to put the party on each year. Local businesses and organi­zations typically provide do­nations for the annual event. “We run off the donations we get and we put everything back into food, entertainment and prizes,” said Laura Vera, who is helping organize this year’s party.
Fairley said donations are “really low right now.”
Gradfest was started in 1989 and brings together seniors from T. Wingate Andrews, High Point Central and South­west Guilford high schools in a fun and safe environment on graduation night.

E.C. 🙂

2nd Bond Referendum Forum is Monday Evening

7pm in the auditorium at Penn-Griffin Middle School in High Point.

E.C. 🙂

Rookie teachers receive recognition: HP Enterprise

Finalists for the rookie teacher of the year for Guilford County have been named, according to an article in today’s High Point Enterprise.

An excerpt:

Eric Lyons, a rookie teacher at Florence Ele­mentary, says the most rewarding thing about teaching is when students accomplish some­thing they’ve set out to do. “When the kids are successful,and they seethey aresuccessful and they are happy, they are successful … that’s the most rewarding,” said Lyons, 31, a finalist for the Rookie Teacher of the Year award.
The honor is presented each year to a first­year teacher in Guilford County. Lyons, a University of North Carolina at Greensboro graduate, joins five other finalists for the honor, including Katherine Finch, a new teacher at Ferndale Middle School.
Building relationships with students, Finch said, makes her job worthwhile. “With the daily interaction …when you spend all day with a kid, you really get to know each other,” said Finch, 25, a graduate of the University of North Caro­lina at Wilmington and Campbell University.
Both rookie teachers say building trust and serving as role models for children are the best ways to connect with them. “Even with the ones that act up, I know deep down they really care. They are sweet kids and I tell them all the time I love them,” said Finch, who teaches middle school English.

Congratulations to you all.

E.C. 🙂

Teams tutor as state tests loom: N&R

I told you the test prep machine is gearing up for EOCs/EOGs in May/June. Here’s an example of that…remember those “go” teams assigned to all of those highly-impacted schools a couple of months ago? Here’s a rollup on what the teams have been doing and if they’re showing signs of effectiveness, via today’s News & Record.

An excerpt:

Across Guilford County, teams of top-level administrators spend at least two days a week at struggling schools such as Eastern [Middle] hoping to get more students to pass state tests. They’re tutoring students, advising principals and coaching teachers. They’ve been at 18 schools since February . An additional seven schools have received some extra help. Crunch time looms. A sign on a wall in Eastern’s commons area says it all: Days until test — 21.

In just a few more weeks students will take the state tests that determine whether they meet both state and federal standards for learning. Schools and districts get rated based on the tests.

At stake?

Federal funding. Pride.

And for some schools, their very future.

Three schools — Ferndale Middle and Wiley and Washington elementary schools — have missed federal Adequate Yearly Progress for five years.

Missing again this year would mean making major changes, anything from removing ineffective teachers to restructuring the school. They’d have to start planning that process next year. Superintendent Terry Grier included about $192,000 in his 2007-08 budget to cover those costs — just in case.

BTW, that means reconstitution. Has any school in Guilford County been reconstituted?

E.C. 🙂

High school reform plan unveiled: Wilmington, Del. News-Journal

I love stories like this and including stories like this on this blog because it gives us all an opportunity to see what other school districts are doing (and what they’re doing right).

Look at this story from the Wilmington, Delaware News-Journal.

Delaware leaders highlighted a brand new high school reform campaign, “Reaching Higher for Student Success,” during a daylong conference Friday in Dover, according to the News-Journal. The plan includes graduation standards better aligned with college entrance requirements, mandated one-on-one student advising, expanded college-level classes, more opportunities for real-world experiences, and improved technical education.

The article says that funding will come from state money, federal dollars and grants, including a two-year, $2 million National Governors Association grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

An excerpt:

Robert Barr, keynote speaker at Friday’s conference and emeritus senior analyst with the Boise State University Center for School Improvement, remembers touring a school where students were sleeping in the back of a room. When he asked what class it was, the principal said it was math for children “who couldn’t learn algebra.”

“I’ll tell you the reason these kids aren’t learning algebra,” Barr said. “It’s because we aren’t teaching them algebra.”

State Board of Education members passed new Delaware graduation requirements in August. The changes make the state’s standards among the most rigorous in the country, upping needed credits from 22 to 24. Four others mandate 24, with some requiring as few as 13. Delaware’s class of 2011 must take senior-year math, at least algebra II, and three lab science classes. The class of 2013 must earn two world language credits.

State leaders will promote more rigorous classes through the expansion of advanced placement programs. The state last year won an $871,595 federal grant to increase how many low-income students participate in the college-level classes and tests. The grant funds teacher training, tutoring and online learning for AP classes schools don’t offer.

E.C. 🙂

GCS Friday Spin for 4/27/07

Click here for the weekly GCS Friday Spin for 4/27/07. Apparently the gcsnc.com domain is on the fritz again so you need to get in through the original “back-way”, via guilford.k12.nc.us.

An item of interest:

 Conflict Resolution Training

Professional Development Trainers Reg Adkins and Traci Miller concluded a two-day training, “Increase the Peace: Conflict Resolution”, on Thursday April 26.  Participants experienced the highly interactive training session, which enhanced understanding of conflict and the essential stages of effective conflict resolution.  The class made a deep examination of the different components of the verbal escalation continuum including intervention techniques, and also learned how to deal with difficult people.  Look for the summer session to be posted on the GCS Professional Development Web site in the very near future.  For more information, please contact Reg Adkins at 317-1534 or Traci Miller at 312-4266.

E.C. 🙂

Funding from Title 1 helps Lindley flourish: N&R

From a letter to the editor in today’s News & Record:

Funding from Title 1 helps Lindley flourish

I am writing in response to the April 19 article, “Four schools may lose subsidies.”

As the parent of two Lindley Elementary School students, I have seen firsthand the effectiveness of the Title 1 program. Title 1 funding has allowed Lindley students to flourish in a strong, supportive learning environment with excellent teachers and staff. Low student-teacher ratios encourage learning across a student population that is diverse both economically and culturally.

Test scores have improved significantly in recent, successive years. Lindley was named one of Guilford County’s “Most Improved Schools” in 2006. Reducing funding now would defeat the purpose of the Title 1 program, slow student progress and possibly lower test scores.
With further funding, Lindley students can continue to thrive academically.

Joanna Phillips
Greensboro

E.C. 🙂

America’s oldest public high school faces new hurdles: AP

The nation’s oldest public high school in Boston is in trouble, according to an Associated Press wire story today.

Despite it being one of the oldest and most diverse in the city, it is also one of the lowest-performing in the city (and state). And Boston does something unique…it CLOSES low-performing schools.

But here’s an excerpt on what they’re doing:

English was founded in 1821 as America’s first public high school, and its distinguished graduates include J.P. Morgan and Korean War Maj. Gen. Matthew Ridgway. Today, its student body – dressed mostly in baggy jeans and do-rags – is one of the most diverse in the city, and one of its lowest-performing, too.

Most schools that scored as poorly on standardized tests as English High School would have been shuttered by now, Boston Superintendent Michael Contompasis said.

   “I would have closed English, if it wasn’t English,” he said.

    Instead, the state has moved to salvage English. The school will be placed under state supervision next year, enrollment will be reduced from about 1,200 to 800 students, and many union-negotiated work rules will be suspended to give more power to the headmaster and allow longer school days.

E.C. 🙂

Park Behind Montlieu Academy will be named for Garry Burnett: HP Enterprise

The small park behind Montlieu Math & Science Academy will be named in honor of the late Garry Burnett, former school board member and the late director of the High Point Parks & Recreation Department.

Burnett passed away in 2004 at the ripe young age of 57. See High Point Enterprise story here.

An excerpt:

The school board voted unanimously at the start of Thursday’s meeting to put the naming of the new park at Montlieu Elementary out for public comment. The High Point community is planning next month a special park opening in Burnett’s honor. His wife and son attended the school board meeting on Thursday along with High Point businessman Ed Price, who helped organize the pro­posal on behalf of the Burnett family.
“You’re talking to the Garry Burnett fan club here,” Chair­man Alan Duncan said as the family addressed the board.

E.C. 🙂

SMOD…or No SMOD

Turns out earlier speculation was wrong…all wrong.

School Board members heard testimony last night saying that the use of standard mode of dress (SMOD) has had little effect on suspension rates and students achievement. Both today’s News & Record and High Point Enterprise have full coverage.

News & Record excerpt:

“I have a feeling if my daughter watched these school board meetings, she would text me and say: ‘I told you so,’ ” said Amos Quick, whose daughter Jasmine attends Dudley High School and must wear a uniform. John Wright, chief auxiliary officer for the district, reviewed suspensions, office referrals and state exam scores before and after schools implemented standard mode of dress.

“You do not find one significant trend one way or another,” Wright said.

For example, Bluford Elementary saw its out-of-school suspensions increase from 21 to 43 after standard mode of dress was implemented during the 2004-05 school year. Cone Elementary saws its suspensions drop from 53 to 26 after ordering uniforms three years ago.

Nine schools studied saw both rises and declines in end-of-grade test scores.
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HP Enterprise excerpt:

“There was no significant difference when we looked at how it impacts those areas in any of the schools where it’s used,” Superintendent Terry Grier said.
“I have long said wearing uniforms or students using a standard mode of dress, in and of itself, I do not believe it’s enough to make a posi­tive impact on those crite­ria,” Grier added.
The study, however, re­vealed that SMOD guide­lines do boost self-esteem among students and lessen the focus on “faddish,” “pricey” clothing.
A handful of students from Dudley High School in Greensboro spoke out Thursday against the dress code policy, citing penalties for not wearing the appro­priate attire and the hassle of maintaining clothing on a daily basis.
“You say you want to help students, how about getting rid of some of the unneces­sary (dress code) rules,” one student said, adding that students miss instructional time or are counted absent when they are not allowed in a class for violating SMOD.

E.C. 🙂

GCS Average Elementary School Class Sizes

See this e-mail Grier sent out, via DPI (and the N&R), that shows average class sizes for GCS elementary schools. Interesting, huh?

E.C. 🙂

School Discipline Task Force Convened

I must commend Amos Quick.

During tonight’s Board meeting at the 10pm hour, Quick proposed to convene a “blue ribbon” task force to address school discipline as a whole, despite other Board members having hesitations about the proposal, which I found perplexing.

I fully support Mr. Quick and this proposal, which passed unanimously by a board vote. In my opinion, this is part of the solution, not the problem. And the solution is to address school discipline on an umbrella perspective, rather than simply examine the issue of the effectiveness of school resource officers in middle and high schools solely in isolation.

The task force will include 24 members, made up of law enforcement representatives, teachers and school administrators, community representatives, students from the classes of 2008 & 09, three parents, and one member of the Guilford County Association of PTSAs, along with a non-voting school board member. The group will be charged with reviewing systemwide student misbehavior, improve relationships with SROs and the examine the SRO program as a whole, and meeting with teachers and community stakeholders to discuss these issues on a schoolwide level. This group would meet regularly, and would report back to the school board no later than January, 2008 with a list of recommendations and concrete steps that the board may adopt.

Many Board members assured Quick that this would fail, including Dr. Grier (who claimed to be an expert on this issue). They repeatedly referred to the task force as “a mob.” But in the end, there were no dissenting votes. Interesting…

 The Board is there to fight for ALL of these schools and that is what Mr. Quick did this evening. Bravo to you, sir.

If I can help with this task force in any way, since this is a campaign issue for me, please call me.

E.C. 🙂

2007 is Becoming the Year of “Why”

Commentary…

Why is it in 2007, in modern-day Guilford County, North Carolina, that children go to class in closets?

Why are children allowed to browse books in libraries/media centers that have mold? (Northwest Middle School)

Why does it take a nearly half-a-billion-dollar school bond to build or fix these facilities for our children?

Why do we have school board members, who are in charge of doling out this money, who make outrageous statements involving race?

Why are our schools, the ones GCS says are “striving-achieving-excelling,” continuing to do the exact opposite? This even constituted a “GCS News Alert” to blow their own horn touting their mural at PTI Airport.

Why do we even have a debate about where our children attend school?

Why do we have high-impact schools that are supposed to get more help, and yet teachers can’t get the supplies they need to do the job?

Why are language interpreters getting ready to not be paid because someone was asleep at the wheel?

Why is it that we’re okay with a system that builds $81 million high schools and we have homeless students in the same system?

Why isn’t there more public outrage at all of this? (maybe the outrage is being saved until the bond vote this fall or the elections next year)

Why…oh why…oh why…

E.C. 🙂

GCS Domain is Down

Hey GCS, I guess your Web guys are asleep at the wheel too…here’s the message I just got at 1:40pm 4/26/07 today, minutes ago when I tried to go to www.gcsnc.com:

gcsnc.com expired on 04/20/2007 and is pending renewal or deletion.

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Trademark Free Zone, Review our Privacy Policy, Service Agreement, Legal Notice
Copyright 2007 Network Solutions. All rights reserved.

The old domain, www.guilford.k12.nc.us is still working, if anyone needs to access it.

Someone not pay the Network Solutions bill?

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UPDATE 4/26/07, 8:11PM: Guess someone paid the bill, it’s working now!

E.C. 🙂

Standards urged for school snacks: AP

Thank your federal government, who are trying to pry into your child’s lunch once again. They’ve helped to destroy public education. Now, they want to change standards involving what’s served in the school cafeteria. See this AP wire story.

An excerpt:

The Institute of Medicine on Wednesday recommended new standards for school snacks and foods that sharply would limit calories, fat and sugar while encouraging more nutritious eating.

Concerned about the rise of obesity in young people, Congress asked the institute to develop the standards. Lawmakers now will consider them, as will state and local school officials.

“Making sure that all foods and drinks available in schools meet nutrition standards is one more way schools can help children establish lifelong healthy eating habits,” said Virginia A. Stallings, head of the committee that prepared the report.

“Foods and beverages should not be used to reward or to discipline for academic activities or behavior,” said Stallings, director of the nutrition center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Food sold in school cafeterias under federally assisted lunch programs already must meet nutritional standards. The institute’s recommendations cover items considered competitive with those foods. Examples include snacks in vending machines and other food and drinks sold at school but not under the federal program.

E.C. 🙂

Another Pitch for Vocational Education

Today’s LA Times has an interesting column from one of its Sacramento reporters. I’m not a big LA Times fan, but I included this as another perspective in the larger discussion for vocational education.

An excerpt:

In California, roughly a third of ninth-graders eventually drop out of high school. In L.A., it’s around one-half of blacks and Latinos. A Gates Foundation survey of high school dropouts nationwide found that 88% were getting passing grades. So most must have left school because they were bored.

One major reason they’re bored in California is that classwork doesn’t seem to bear any relationship to whatever they envision as their life’s work. It relates primarily to getting them qualified to enter the state university system, which many either aren’t interested in or consider a pipedream. Only around 20% of ninth-graders ever will graduate from a four-year college.

Meanwhile, there are hundreds of thousands of students each year who could be learning middle-class job skills — as future nurses, auto mechanics, computer programmers, home builders. Name it. There are some successful school-business training partnerships, but not nearly enough. There’s a shortage of skilled workers in California, business groups contend.

Our public schools used to offer many vocational education courses — metal shop, drafting, etc. — that have been drastically reduced in recent decades. In 1987, three-fourths of high school students took at least one voc ed class. By 2005, only one-third did.

“Those great shop classes have disappeared,” says state Sen. Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch), a former teacher who intends to run for state superintendent of public instruction in 2010. “That’s a tragedy. Because those classes motivated students to stay in school.”

E.C. 🙂

Bond Forum: Classes Being Conducted in Closets

Full coverage of last night’s Bond Referendum forum where about 60 parents and concerned citizens showed up, about half of them were from the rapidly-growing southeast quadrant of Guilford County. See News & Record story. And both the Board and Dr. Grier got an earful. One parent testifed that classes are being conducted in former CLOSETS.

An excerpt:

The size of the bond, along with some “missteps” from the board in recent years that angered parents, will make this bond a tough sell, said Frank Kendall, who led the successful grass-roots effort to pass the 2003 bond.
“We have a little bit of a hill to climb,” he said. But considering the district’s rapid enrollment growth, “It’s a no-brainer that this thing is needed.”

The board wants input on its list of 26 projects. Residents will get another chance to have their say at 7 p.m. Monday at Penn-Griffin School of the Arts in High Point.Board members want to know what should stay or go or what is missing from the list. The resounding response Wednesday from the southeast area: Don’t neglect us anymore.

“Our school just needs attention,” parent Jackie Noles said. “And we cannot afford to be ignored.”

Parents told the board that students in southeast schools eat lunches too early or too late in the day because the schools are too crowded for their cafeterias.

Teachers conduct classes in former closets, said Noles, who has an eighth-grader at Southeast Middle and a junior at the high school.

Classes…being conducted in CLOSETS. This truly is a crinimal act. Why is this allowed in the third largest school district in North Carolina in 2007? 1,000 extra credit points to the first person that can successfully answer that question.

E.C. 🙂

“Let Sleeping Dogs Lie”: cartoon

From www.weaponsofmathdestruction.com; what Dr. Grier likely thinks of some of the citizens sometimes…

E.C. 🙂

GCS Interpreter Grant Allowed to Expire

Developing…

A Fox-8 story that led this evening’s newscast said that a federal grant that GCS has had that paid district language interpreters was allowed to expire without warning, and Board chairman Alan Duncan admitted this evening to a Fox-8 reporter that the problem was discovered JUST YESTERDAY!

Okay, someone was asleep at the wheel and the grant that you have to pay language interpreters expires.

This blog continues to write itself, folks.

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UPDATE 4/26/07, 10:58AM: Here’s the FOX-8 story, just uploaded. Watch the video to it also and see Alan Duncan attempt to spin this thing around…it fails miserably.

E.C. 🙂

Community Dialogue on Education wants community involvement in the schools: Carolina Peacemaker

From time to time, the Carolina Peacemaker has some good non-biased articles with regards to public education in Guilford County. Here’s an example. A group known as the “Community Dialogue on Education” would like to see a greater amount of community dialogue in our schools.

An excerpt:

For the past six years a group of Greensboro residents have met each Tuesday to discuss their views on how they can improve education. The Community Dialogue on Education seeks to create a school system that contains a greater amount of community involvement from those who have children in the school system and those who do not.
“The Community has a responsibility to the children,” Ed Whitfield said. Whitfield has been a member of the Community Dialogue on Education since its inception and sees the group as, “a place where people with different views on education can come together.” One of their major efforts involves finding ways to bring parents back into their child’s education. The Community Dialogue hopes to improve public schools by working with schools to ensure that principals and teachers are treated with respect. The group is convinced that creating an environment of meaningful involvement of parents and community within public schools is the best way to improve education; however their recent focus has been the No Child Left behind Act.

The group also promotes the scrapping of No Child Left Behind-Leaves Many Children Behind and its constant focus on state testing; something we can all agree on.

E.C. 🙂

“One Guilford: A Leadership Symposium”

In my opinion, anything (or any symposium) to do with the terms “leadership” and “Guilford County” should include the discussion of our inept public schools. Therefore, I would urge you to go to the News & Record’s website and register for the upcoming “One Guilford: A Leadership Symposium” on Wednesday, May 16 from 8:15am-Noon at High Point University.

Here’s how the N&R plugs the upcoming discussion:

What is Guilford County doing right? After landing Honda Jet, how can local leaders build on that success? How can our cities, our governing boards, our business leaders better communicate and collaborate in a competitive world? How does Guilford County build social capital and trust among different constituencies?

As you know, there is a disconnect among local boards in this county and there does need to be a greater sense of unity, as Guilford County is growing by leaps and bounds. It is past time to get out of this small-town mentality, come together for the greater good, stop acting silly (some of us) and do what we need to do to grow ourselves and our county.

E.C. 🙂

Even More on that BOE/SRO Meeting Last Week

See local columnist/blogger David Hoggard’s take on that meeting, via an excerpt below from his column in today’s News & Record.

School safety coordinator Anthony Scales says, “There’s a disconnect.  We’re not getting the message to our African American males that this type of behavior is not acceptable in our school system.”

Any student – rich or poor, black or white – who hears “the message” only from teachers and administrators, and who lacks constant reinforcement from home that there are high expectations of good behavior at school, is going to run afoul of rules that necessarily apply to everyone.  When the foundation for a successful education is not firmly established at home, our schools will never be able to close the many gaps that uninvolved or plain bad parenting creates. 

I am convinced that the discipline disparities showing up in school have a lot more to do with wealth than race.  I am just as convinced that, on the whole, black parents want their children to be just as successful as any other student.  But the difficult-to-tackle reality is that there are many more poor black families in our community than other ethnicities.  Until that changes, progress on improving overall school behavior will be difficult.

While it is painful for our police to confirm Amos Quick’s fears of “a crisis among our African American students”, at least we now know where to target our resources with pinpoint accuracy.

Working together, this community can solve any problem that it sets its collective mind to.  Few problems are more worth solving than impediments to safe and excellent schools.

Let’s get to work.

E.C. 🙂

Update on the Dropout Scandal at Myers Park H.S.: CLT Observer

Remember this post a month ago where Time Magazine did a story about the EOC-high-performing Myers Park H.S. in Charlotte attempting to force out low-performing students?

Here’s an update in today’s CLT Observer:

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools won’t report on an investigation into allegations of dropout coercion at Myers Park High until May, school board Chair Joe White said Tuesday. The board didn’t finish reviewing a lawyer’s report, more than 100 pages long, during Tuesday’s closed session. The board will resume its review at its May 8 meeting. White said he hopes to release a public report afterward.

An August article in the Charlotte Post, based partly on confidential student records, reported that some students who dropped out in 2004-05 were incorrectly coded as having moved or transferred, and that some students with attendance and discipline problems said they’d been pushed out of the high-performing school. The Observer confirmed coding errors and similar complaints, but also found families who said Myers Park leaders tried to keep their children in school.

Landis Wade, an attorney with Helms, Mulliss & Wicker, has been investigating since March 2. CMS invited families to report problems and tried to contact more than 300 students who left Myers Park in 2004-05. District investigators were able to interview families of 47 of them.

N.C. law allows elected officials to hold closed meetings to discuss personnel actions and to consult with their attorney.

E.C. 🙂

Billionaire Bill Gates Admits He’s Wasted His Money

This story has North Carolina ties because the Microsoft founder has pumped grant dollars into North Carolina schools. And now, he feels as though not much is being done.

Duh…

See this NY Times story. He wants to begin getting more politically active as the 2008 elections get closer.

See this excerpt:

Eli Broad and Bill Gates, two of the most important philanthropists in American public education, have pumped more than $2 billion into improving schools. But now, dissatisfied with the pace of change, they are joining forces for a $60 million foray into politics in an effort to vault education high onto the agenda of the 2008 presidential race.

Experts on campaign spending said the project would rank as one of the most expensive single-issue initiatives ever in a presidential race, dwarfing, for example, the $22.4 million that the Swift Vets and P.O.W.s for Truth group spent against Senator John Kerry in 2004, and the $7.8 million spent on advocacy that year by AARP, the lobby for older Americans.

Under the slogan “Ed in ’08,” the project, called Strong American Schools, will include television and radio advertising in battleground states, an Internet-driven appeal for volunteers and a national network of operatives in both parties.

“I have reached the conclusion as has the Gates foundation, which has done good things also, that all we’re doing is incremental,” said Mr. Broad, the billionaire who founded SunAmerica Inc. and KB Home and who has long been a prodigious donor to Democrats. “If we really want to get the job done, we have got to wake up the American people that we have got a real problem and we need real reform.”

Mr. Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, responding to questions by e-mail, wrote, “The lack of political and public will is a significant barrier to making dramatic improvements in school and student performance.”

E.C. 🙂

Grade-changing is raising questions: Philly Inquirer

There are way too many of these kinds of stories. And this one is no different.

Yet, another case of grade-changing and the whole dumbing-down of our schools, raising the ire of teachers in the name of “standards.” See this Philadelphia Inquirer story.

An excerpt:

A North Philadelphia principal overturned the failing grades of dozens of students, angering some faculty members at the school, who said the practice eroded student accountability, the district confirmed yesterday.

The district launched an investigation into the practice at William Penn High School, at Broad and Master Streets, after The Inquirer asked about reports from three teachers who complained that their students’ grades, ranging from a handful to more than a dozen, were altered.

The principal violated district policy that requires grade changes to be reported to a superior, said Al Bichner, the district’s deputy chief academic officer. The principal should have reported and justified the grade changes to her regional superintendent, he said.

“There was a breach of protocol and it has to be corrected,” Bichner said. “. . . We want to make this right.”

The principal, Patricia Randzo, acknowledged changing the grades of 90 of the school’s 1,016 students but said some of those occurred because teachers failed to follow district policy and document the reasons for the failure or show that they had contacted parents and provided support.

E.C. 🙂

First Bond Referendum Forum Tonight

The first forum to ask the school board questions on the proposed nearly-half-a-billion dollar bond referendum is at 7 p.m. tonight at Smith High School auditorium, 2407 S. Holden Road, Greensboro. The next one is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at the Penn-Griffin School of the Arts auditorium, 825 E. Washington Drive, High Point.

Nearly half-a-billion dollars. I’m sure someone has something to tell the board about this.

E.C. 🙂