More forward thinking out of Wake County

Just stumbled onto this, courtesy of the WakeEd blog at the Raleigh News & Observer…Wake County is moving closing to a true public-private partnership to build a school.

Folks, this is something we need to watch very carefully, because I support more public-private partnerships such as this.

See the following:

Moving toward public-private partnerships

Wake is moving closer toward using a public-private partnership to build a school.

School administrators said at yesterday’s school board facilities committee meeting that they’ve narrowed it down to three groups that they’re considering for a public-private partnership. If things proceed to fruition, one of those groups will be hired to build a school and then lease it back to the school district.

Six groups had submitted proposals, but administrators say their shortlist consists of teams led by Balfour Beatty Capital, First Choice Public-Private Partners, LLC and Place Enterprise, LLC. Administrators will ask the school board to officially approve this shortlist on Tuesday.

The school district wants to test the concept at one school first. In this case, the pilot project is a new elementary school slated to open in Wake Forest in 2010.

The three companies will be asked to provide more detailed plans, including cost estimates for building the school and the lease payments. In theory, private developers can build schools cheaper and quicker than school districts.

Here’s where the deal could still fall through.

Administrators say they’ll recommend to the school board on April 22 whether or not to continue with the pilot project. Factors that will be considered include whether the proposals will actually save money.

Some school board members, such as Beverley Clark, are skeptical of using this approach to build new schools. Other board members, such as Ron Margiotta, feel the conditions being put on the teams are too strict and will negate meaningful savings.

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E.C. 🙂

Forward thinking versus “stuck in the 90s”

It’s case study time.

Courtesy of our friends at North Carolina’s premier news network, News 14 Carolina, we have two separate stories that deal with land acquisition…in preparation for future growth.

1. Wake County Public Schools…and credit this to the Wake County village of Cary, where  village council leaders voted last week to set aside $23 million for future land use, more than likely to be used for school construction. Town leaders estimate they will need as many as six new schools within the next 15-20 years, according to the News 14 report. Click here to read the story and watch the video.

2. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools…our progressive friends just a few miles to the west of us are already putting their 2006 bond money to use…by acquiring land for future school construction. The system plans to build about $250 million worth of school buildings over the next few years and school leaders have already begun the process of bidding out proposed projects. Click here to read this story and watch the video.

Required reading/viewing for Leo & Joe.

E.C. 🙂

Tonight’s BOE Meeting–Revised Agenda

The revised agenda has hit the streets…tonight’s GCS Board meeting will be lengthy.

Of interest:

1. The “Super.” Search. This is an item, according to the agenda, that is slated for late in the meeting (this should have been the top item). I can’t wait to watch this discussion.

2. The following two items, in my opinion, are related, and should be combined. Click on the details for item “C” (this item is intriguing and I look forward to hearing and learning more):

C. Minority Male Initiative Report
At the meeting of January 31, 2008, Dr. Eric Becoats, chief of staff, will present to the board a report on the minority male initiative. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Dr. Becoats at 378-8838, prior to the meeting.

D. Middle School Character Education Program Update
At the meeting of January 31, 2008, Dr. John Morris, chief student services officer, will present to the board an update on the middle school character education program. The presentation will focus on implementation of the goals, curriculum integration and collaboration with the Diversity Office and National Conference of Community and Justice (NCCJ). Highlighting school efforts and the next steps of implementation will also be discussed. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Dr. Morris at 370-8380, prior to the meeting.

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B. After-School Shared Use Libraries
At the meeting of January 31, 2008, Dr. Eric Becoats, chief of staff, will lead the board in a continued discussion regarding the after-school shared use libraries. If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Dr. Becoats at 378-8838, prior to the meeting.

Note…today’s N&R has a pretty good article on this. I’m for shared facilities. These are public buildings. These are the people’s buildings. If we can continue to identify shared uses for these buildings while they are sitting idle, it can only be a good thing.

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If any of you Board members are reading this today, it would also be nice for you to make some sort of announcement during your closing comments as to who’s running and who’s not (reference my comments from yesterday).

It’s going to be a late night! You bring the soda, I’ll bring the popcorn.

E.C. 🙂

Grier on Grier…on FOX-8

FOX-8’s Neill McNeill did a candid one-on-one interview with Terry Grier on the 10:00 news last night. And ole’ Terry did not hold back, especially when questioned about the ongoing “feud” between the school board and the county commissioners.

Click here, sit back…and enjoy.

After you’re done, click here for the “stuff they didn’t show on TV.”

E.C. 🙂

Time to hold their feet to the fire

With less than two weeks to go before the February filing period begins, we still do not have definitive, on-the-record declarations from existing GCS Board members as to who will enter the race, who won’t, and who will retire off the Board.

As the tension mounts, it is way past-time for these individuals to start publicly making their intentions known.

One new possible rumor, according to a poster on the Chalkboard, is that board member Dr. Walter Childs may retire off the board. Without confirmation, nor an official announcement, it is speculative.

We’re still waiting to hear about Kris Cooke.

Darlene and Amos continue to hint of their running for reelection but no official announcements from them have been made yet.

And yes, we’re still waiting on Dot…well, I’m not waiting.

I’d say, let’s start sending e-mails and making phone calls…start finding out who’s in and who’s not.

I know, I know, we’re also waiting on Anita Sharpe. Rumors continue to swirl about her possible retirement off the board, but I will not comment about that until her intentions are officially made known. It would neither be fair, nor professional.

I mentioned Ms. Sharpe last because I’ve received a number of inquiries yesterday alone asking me if I would forgo running for the at-large seat, and instead consider running for the District 5 seat if Anita Sharpe decides to retire and step down after this year.

I appreciate the ongoing confidence you have in me. In terms of expense, a district race is much cheaper than an at-large race. The vote is the same, though.

My response is this…I’m examining all of the possible scenarios out there, including the one involving the District 5 seat should Ms. Sharpe decide to step down. Everything is purely speculative at this point, but some announcements from folks on the Board need to start coming. The clock is ticking.

I welcome your comments, as always.

E.C. 🙂

First day in new Guilford high school (N&R)

Northern’s open.

And let me wish them the very best. We will keep our eyes out on them, for if things begin to deteriorate there, we will certainly bring this to our school board’s attention, as we’ve been doing for the past year. A brand new school has high hopes, and should not be permitted to fail.

An excerpt from today’s N&R:

That feeling of belonging and school spirit will come, principal Joe Yeager said. “One day is not going to make a community, but you have to start somewhere and that’s what we’re trying to do,” he said.

For most of Tuesday, students from both high schools seemed awkward around each other while workers busied themselves painting walls and unfurling rolls of grass. At lunch, Northwest students ate on one side of the atrium, Northeast kids on the other.

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E.C. 🙂

Duncan “thanks” Grier for years of service

GCS Board chairman Alan “pass the buck” Duncan publicly thanks San Diego Superintendent Terry Grier on behalf of the school board for his “years of service” to the Peoples Republic of Guilford County, this in today’s News & Record:

School board appreciates Grier’s work

The following is a Counterpoint.

 By Alan Duncan

The Guilford County Board of Education would like to wish Superintendent Terry Grier well in his move to lead the San Diego Unified Schools and thank him for his efforts here. We have made great progress with Dr. Grier as superintendent during the past eight years, and we appreciate his efforts to improve the lives of our students.

Dr. Grier is an energetic and dynamic leader. His innovations related to creating schools and programs to serve the diverse needs of our students, his work to reduce the dropout rate and to increase our graduation rate, and his development and execution of the Home Field Advantage and Mission Possible programs are particularly noteworthy.

As Dr. Grier departs, we are extremely confident in, and most grateful for, the excellent staff currently serving the students of Guilford County and look forward to the future with assurance that the district is well poised to continue to strive, achieve and excel.

We will assemble leadership to carry us through the process of finding the next superintendent and will work with the community, parents and staff so that we involve all citizens in the process of finding a leader for the next chapter in the Guilford County Schools.

Meanwhile, we rest assured in knowing that students will be well cared for by our many outstanding employees, volunteers and supporters, who remain completely committed to making Guilford County Schools a district of excellence.

Alan Duncan is chairman of the Guilford County Board of Education. He wrote this column on behalf of the entire board.

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E.C. 🙂

Two views on the Super search: Candidate Huey and Jeri Rowe

The News & Record’s Jeri Rowe has a column today on the upcoming GCS superintendent search…and so do I.

I have a Counterpoint that was printed in today’s issue as well…and look who just called me “another version of Vernon Robinson.” We’ll deal with that in a moment.

First, Jeri Rowe’s column:

Wanted: Guilford’s next superintendent

Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008

Dear school board:

I wouldn’t want to be you.

You need to pick someone — man or woman — who can step into Guilford County’s top education job and run one of the largest school systems in North Carolina without getting burned on the local political griddle.

It won’t be easy. You all know that. But as you bring people in, here are a few tips to think about from parents, teachers, principals and education advocates. It’s something they want you to keep close as you search for the right person to replace Terry Grier before he goes coast-to-coast this summer to San Diego.

Call them the three Cs.

Creativity.

Community involvement.

And our kids aren’t corporations.

You say that you want everyone who’s interested to be involved in picking our next superintendent. Well, here’s your chance to bring Guilford County together and find some common ground on a constantly divisive topic: education.

Despite recent academic gains, our school system is still smarting from its merger 15 years ago. So, public input is crucial. It worked in Charlotte. It can work here.

Remember those yellow “Get Terry Grier Outta Here” bumper stickers from a few years back? They arose from your plan to reassign students in High Point. That discussion led to months of rants about race and geography that often infect our sprawling school system like a virus.

Grier wore a bull’s eye on his back for that. To many, he became the most hated person in Guilford County. He could walk in a room crowded with parents and teachers and you could hear nary a whisper.

If Grier reeked, it would be one thing. But he did a good job earning $372,000 a year, with salary and benefits.

During his eight-year tenure here, Grier saw dropout rates go down, graduation rates go up and local student scores beat out our state’s averages on federal and state tests.

Plus, he did a slew of innovative things that earned him School Superintendent of the Year in North Carolina. And we all know that work snagged him his big-time gig in San Diego.

But he also had this my-way-or-no-way mentality that created insecurity — even fear — among teachers, principals and parents.

He followed a test-to-death edict that some say sapped creativity from the classroom and sent teachers scurrying.

It’s no wonder Guilford County has a 13 percent turnover rate.

Too many standardized tests. Too many worksheets. Too many requirements in which teachers had to be on the same line of every education page.

I followed Kate Finch during her first year of teaching. She was voted as one of Guilford County’s best new teachers last year. And she was making some great headway in one tough school, High Point’s Ferndale Middle.

But those end-of-grade tests — our state’s way of keeping students and teachers accountable — broke her down. When she had to ask all those boring, lecture-style questions, her students would give looks that screamed, “Oh, my God!”

Of course, teachers and students need to be held accountable. We live in a numbers-happy world. But teachers need the freedom to be creative to keep their students engaged.

And we need a leader to encourage that. We need someone teachers will see in the classroom and chalk up as an ally — not some wonky educator who sees Guilford County as a line on a growing resume.

Sure, it would be cool if our new superintendent could step into a classroom — and team-teach. What a novel concept.

But remember, it’s our kids — and their education — we’re talking about. Our school system is not a job mill. It should be a place where our kids can believe they can reach the moon.

So, here’s your chance, school board. The three Cs. Don’t blow it.
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Now, to my Counterpoint:

New board should choose superintendent

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Erik Huey

While some are dwelling on the legacy of outgoing Guilford County Schools Superintendent Terry Grier, it’s more important to look ahead because the task ahead is far more significant.We’re now faced with the mission of selecting someone who will run the school system and, while this will be a colossal task, there’s a smart way to go about it. With six school board seats up for election this year, it’s essential to consider two things: timing and quality.On timing, an interim superintendent should be named as soon as possible. Also, I’d suggest delaying the start of any search until after school board elections this year because it’s unfair to launch a search when it’s possible a lame-duck board will oversee the process.On quality, we must acquire someone who has these traits: a proactive management style; effective leadership and communication skills; the courage to tackle the big issues; an interest in supporting the cultural arts; a commitment to a safe school environment by punishing wrongdoers and enforcing rules and policies; the belief that a teacher’s voice is important; and the willingness not to seek retribution if employees report complaints.

He or she should be someone who will turn employee morale around; who believes a well-rounded education has more value than a test score; who will take responsibility and not pass the buck; who won’t recklessly spend money; and who believes that children of any color can succeed.

This person either should come from within GCS or somewhere locally, as there is a wealth of talent from within the Triad, and no need to hire a search firm.

We must involve the community in the search process through direct forums with any potential candidates, and appoint community members and teachers as part of the search committee.

We’ve reached a golden moment in Guilford County Schools history where we can begin putting our county’s children first before all else. This is an opportunity to turn things around, an opportunity for our schools to grow and shine.

Let’s not blow it.

The writer lives in Jamestown and is a 2008 Guilford County Board of Education candidate.

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Did you notice how both my op-ed and Rowe’s ended? “Don’t blow it…Let’s not blow it.”

And I see I have another “detractor” out there who won’t be voting for me…notice this comment from “The Liberal Conservative:”

THE LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE said:

God help us, if this fellow gets elected. He’s nothing short of a Vernon Robinson.

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Vernon, eh?

Hmm…It’s okay, I’ll take that as a compliment.

Because I dare speak the truth of what’s happening in our schools and the constant politicking among our “elected officials” here in the Peoples Republic of Guilford County, I’m the next Vernon Robinson, according to “Liberal Conservative.”

It reminds me of some of the hate-mail I received right after I publicly announced my intentions to run in late 2006.

It’s sad that some use name-calling when they can’t win an argument, it takes political discourse to a whole new low. I actually would love to discuss the issues with “L.C.” over coffee if he/she so desires. “L.C.” can e-mail me and we’ll set it up. I’m a very nice guy in person 🙂

I have thick skin, and I know my progressive message of change and reform won’t resonate with everyone…and I’m okay with that.

I may not win this election, but in the end, I will sleep at night knowing that I tried to lead a grass-roots effort to make a change for all of the children of Guilford County. Some of our citizens (such as the Liberal Conservative) continue to worship the establishment and the status quo. That’s okay if they think the establishment can do something better. But remember that our incumbents have a record, spotty and paltry at best. Look at how the Board acted this past weekend at their retreat.

Onward…we march!

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Joint coverage today from my friend Sam Hieb at Piedmont Publius.

E.C. 🙂

Northern Guilford H.S. Opens for Business (GCS)

From GCS:

Northern High will open the doors of its new campus to students on January 29, 2008. An open house/ribbon cutting event is scheduled for February 17, 2008 at 3 p.m.

The only new high school included in the 2003 bond, Northern features a rainwater runoff system and natural daylighting. Although the facility is mostly complete, there are a few details and operational logistics still to be completed. Students, parents and staff should be aware of the following on the first day:

Athletics/Landscaping: All areas around the football stadium are off limits, including the track, due to the continuing construction of the grandstands and future continued construction of the track surface. Additionally, the tennis courts are not yet complete. Fencing will be installed around the courts in the next couple of weeks and the new rubberized surface for the courts will not be installed until warmer weather returns. The ground around the school has yet to be seeded or landscaped due to the cold weather; therefore, staff and students are asked to refrain from walking through these areas until at least next spring.

Traffic: Roadwork will continue at the corners of Spencer-Dixon Road and Hwy. 150 during the rest of the school year as the Department of Transportation and the contractor continue to install the turning lanes. Staff and students need to be alert around these areas.

Technology: Further technology enhancements are in review and being coordinated by both the GCS technology and facilities departments. In the interim, television monitors will not be tied into the network system, but all computers and telephones will be working.

Other: Contractors will continue to finish the flooring in many areas installing the final heat welding seams. In the interim, all sheet flooring will need to remain dry. No damp mopping or other liquids are to be on the linoleum floor until release by the contractor.

Construction personnel will continue to work in and around the school for the next few weeks completing a lot of “touch up” (painting, installation of the rubber base, etc.) in various areas. Most of the work will be done after regular school hours; however, should anyone be on site other than staff or students, they will have identification prominently displayed.

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E.C. 🙂

On Education, Asking The Wrong Questions (CJ)

Another good column today from the John Locke Foundation’s John Hood over at the Carolina Journal. Hood discusses why familiar questions continue to be asked every election cycle with respect to education, and why we continue to be disappointed when we throw up our hands when we don’t know how to fix the problems:

On Education, Asking The Wrong Questions
By John Hood

January 29, 2008

RALEIGH – We are about to see nomination battles heat up for several state offices, including North Carolina’s governor, lieutenant governor, state treasurer, and state legislature. In all of these cases, look for education to be at or near the top of the list of debated issues – and for the candidates to assert with great passion answers to the usual, wrong questions.

Listening to the political rhetoric, North Carolina voters could be forgiven for believing that the state’s mediocre educational performance is caused by teacher pay that is lower than the national average, school funding that is too inequitable, a school year that is too short, and school leadership that is too diffuse. What are we to do about these problems?

The truth is that it doesn’t much matter, as these are really not pressing problems.

North Carolina’s teacher pay, for instance, is hardly low by national standards. The teacher union claims otherwise, but it fails to adjust nominal teacher salaries for differences in living costs, experience, and non-wage benefits. If you were making $40,000 in Lexington, North Carolina and someone offered you $45,000 to move to Lexington, Massachusetts, would you simply assume that you would be getting a $5,000 raise, or would you check to see how much more it would cost you to buy a home, drive a car, or purchase goods and services? Of course you would do the latter.

As my John Locke Foundation colleague Terry Stoops has demonstrated in a new report, accurate reporting of average teacher pay puts North Carolina 10th in the nation. That doesn’t necessarily mean that North Carolina policymakers ought not to raise pay in the future, especially if they do so in ways heavily weighted to retaining the best teachers and giving them incentives to take on difficult challenges. But it does argue for halting our fruitless fixation with across-the-board raises “to the national average.”

Another commonly held misconception is that school funding differs dramatically across North Carolina school districts. It’s just not true. Unlike most other states, North Carolina primarily funds public schools with state income and sales taxes, not with local property taxes. Furthermore, to some extent the quarter or so of school funding that comes from property taxes serves to equalize real investment by accounting for local differences in hiring and building costs.

Still another theme in our all-too-superficial education debate is that our schools are hampered by a calendar that is too wedded to our old agrarian culture and too short to impart core academic content to distracted kids. The real distraction is this debate about the school year. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with adjusting the calendar, either to eliminate the lengthy summer vacation or to add instructional days, the best-available data suggests that the educational benefits are likely to be scant, at least for most students. Schools in other countries don’t outperform ours because they are open longer.

Finally, one of the old standbys of North Carolina political talk about education has returned recently: the notion that governors should appoint the state superintendent of public instruction, rather than keeping the post elective. I’ve always favored the change, let me first say, but to be frank it doesn’t matter much anymore. Years ago, governors and state lawmakers took over education policy from superintendents, who now lack much in the way of formal power. The State Board of Education, appointed by the governor, makes most of the policy decisions. It even hires someone to run the Department of Public Instruction, though without the proper title. The General Assembly sets funding levels, mandates teacher pay scales and class sizes, and legislates major changes in accountability mechanisms.

Local school superintendents matter a great deal, but they are hired by local school boards, not DPI. Sure, let’s clean up the state’s organizational chart and shorten the state’s ballot, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that the change will have much of an effect on educational outcomes.

North Carolina politicians ought to be asking different questions. Why have massive increases in taxpayer funding for public schools resulted in modest improvements, at best, in student achievement? Why do the state’s best teachers make little more than the state’s worst teachers? Why is it so hard to shove the latter group of teachers into professions for which they are better suited? Why does North Carolina continue to administer tests that are unreliable, too easy to pass, and impossible to compare across state boundaries? Why should bureaucrats, rather than parents, decide where children attend school?

And most of all, why do we continue to waste our time talking about the wrong things?

Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation.

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E.C. 🙂

Failing Schools? Fire the teachers…

We haven’t had a No Child Left Behind-Leaves Many Children Behind story in a while.

I was shocked and saddened when I saw this story on CNN Newsroom last night…but I can’t say I was surprised. Because it’s happening all over, including right here in North Carolina, and right here in Guilford County.

CNN’s Tony Harris reported on a swift new plan by Chicago Public Schools to fire teachers in failing schools. You guessed it…NCLB-test scores are dictating this.

A “fair and balanced” debate from school supt. Arne Duncan and Chicago Teachers Union chief Marilyn Stewart…click here.

E.C. 🙂

Belton Denies Secret Deals

GCS Board member Jeff Belton denied today that he’s part of any “backroom, secret deal” to sweeten outgoing superintendent Terry Grier’s exit package. Furthermore, he denied “getting into any bidding war with other districts” in an attempt to keep Grier.

This from the N&R ChalkBoard.

Here’s the full text of what he said:

 Jeff Belton said:

In regards to closed session, BOE members in other school districts have been and are currently being sued as individuals for revealing information from closed session. While I signed up for the criticism that comes with this position, I did not sign up to be personally sued.
I can not stop anyone from revealing what ever they want to from closed session, even if it is factually incorrect. Or pure speculation by a BOE member who was absent at the time of the session.
My recollection thus far is that we have only discussed personnel and legal/real estate issues in closed session. I am sure everyone(taxpayers) understands that if a property owner knows the school system is interested in their property they are going to raise the price. Personnel issues concerning state employees are protected by state law, it is that simple. I can not stop, nor will I try to prevent others from saying what they will, even it is factually incorrect, or pure speculation by an absent BOE member. For me it is a principle, one I put my hand on the Bible and stood before the public with my family at my side and swore an oath to. I do not vote to go into closed session to hide information from the public, but rather because that is my understanding of the law. If I misinterpret the law then please correct my interpretetion.
I have not given anyone true cause to believe that I am secretly crafting some golden parachute package to further enrich Terry Grier. I think he is more than well compensated.
I did not support getting in a bidding war with another district, and simply thank him for his service and say goodbye. I fully expected that when he received the NC Superintendent of the year Award that he would receive offers for better paying jobs. That is what happened, and the Grier era is over. I, and the district have nothing to gain by throwing the taxpayers money at Terry Grier. I most certainly will not vote to hire any new superintendent until everyone with input on the subject has had an opportunity to speak their opinion.
As for foreign language time, we understand that language peaks in childhood. So that elementary and middle school is the optimal age for learning a foreign language. However, I do not yet see how to give art,music, and foreign language equal time in our current schedule. This community has stated clearly and repeatedly that it favors art and music over foreign language. That is the position I plan to support. The staff not presenting alternate proposals at least one of which reflected a full return of time for art and music surprised me as well. I have asked staff to present a schedule proposal reflecting a full return of art and music time as well for Board consideration.
For those who wish to think the worst of me without attempting to communicate with me about their position on an issue, I honor their right to their opinion.

Yours,
Jeff

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I don’t know what’s more interesting…Belton’s words or the comments that followed Belton’s denials:

*THEN DON’T HAVE “SECRET SESSIONS”!! You can’t get sued if they don’t exist! It’s so simple!–Talk open and honestly IN FRONT OF THE PUBLIC YOU SERVE and then there’s no debating what really happened!

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*Jeff,

You said, “I think he is more than well compensated.” with respect to Terry Grier.

Didn’t you vote a raise for him?

If he is “more than well compensated” then you wasted tax payer money.

Quite simply – the superintendent should be compensated as appropriate to the work he’s performing – never more than well compensated.

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Ouch! Is it me or is this Board starting to feel the heat?

E.C. 🙂

Grier…on Grier

News & Record did a one-on-one with San Diego Superintendent Terry Grier yesterday…and he admitted (somewhat) that he reads the blogs (I wonder if this one is one of the ones he reads).

Grier on the blogs:

“You look at the good, and you look to the rewards of the position,” he said. “For all the critics and sometimes a few blogs and letters to the editor, they are dwarfed by the number of people in this community who have been supportive.”

Grier on the increasingly-dysfunctional relationship between the School Board and the County Board:

The battle between the school board and the county commissioners on school funding is a long-standing problem that Grier inherited — and will pass on.

He said the boards will have to learn to trust each other because the needs of the district will only increase as a projected 1,500 to 1, 700 new students move to Guilford County each year.

“Seventeen-hundred new students is another high school. It’s two middle schools. It’s three elementary schools,” Grier said. “You think about, who is going to hire the custodians to clean those schools? Who is going to pay for the heating and air conditioning for those schools? Who is going to purchase the textbooks for those 1,700 students?”

Grier on taxing authority:

Grier also supports the movement to allow North Carolina school boards to raise their own tax revenue — a way around the school board having to ask the county commissioners for money.

“I really believe that the time has come in North Carolina for school boards to have the authority to raise taxes and to establish revenues for schools,” Grier said. “We are one of three states in America where boards cannot exercise those options.”

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E.C. 🙂

25,000!

…as in 25,000 visitors to this site, logged last night. It’s another milestone.

Thank you once again.

Thank you for visiting, for lurking, for supporting and cheering on this grass-roots effort. I sincerely and wholeheartedly appreciate it.

In between sending out some resumes, I’m hunkered down in strategy-mode today. While filing begins two weeks from today, I’m sitting here looking at every available option possible. I’ll certainly keep you posted.

E.C. 🙂

Pathetic

The GCS Board ought to be ashamed of themselves for how they acted today at their so-called Board retreat. The word ‘pathetic’ doesn’t even describe them…more like ‘disgusting.’

Where do I start?

1. The Mega-Bond…which, after today, has no chance in passing. This Board needs to start talking about a plan B right now.

Today, your school board voted in the affirmative to strip Eastern Guilford H.S. off the original Bond issue and decided to let the County Board come up with the funds to rebuild the school, which is already under construction.

N&R excerpt:

In a surprise vote, school board members agreed to resubmit their bond package to county commissioners — this time without $45 million to rebuild burned Eastern Guilford High School.
Angered by the accusation that they put Eastern in their 2008 bond package to win a sympathy vote from the community, school board members voted 7-4 to take the school out of their construction bond package and let the commissioners come up with a way to fund the rebuilding effort.
Although the issue was not on the agenda, the bond issue came up during a discussion of the 2008 budget process at the board’s semi-annual retreat.
On Jan. 17, county commissioners split the board’s $457 million bond request into two pieces, a $45 million for Eastern and $412 million for a series of new buildings and other projects.
Commissioners accused the school board of using Eastern to get the sympathy vote to help pass a controversial bond.

Ladies and gentlemen, there’s money to rebuild this school. It’s the politics I can’t stand. And there was plenty of it today.

More:

  School board chairman Alan Duncan said the board only included Eastern in the bond at the county’s request.
“We did that only after they played politics for months and didn’t do anything,” Duncan said.

There goes Duncan, passing that buck again…so it’s their fault. It’s always the county commissioner’s fault. Then they’ll come back and say, it’s your fault.

Gee, Alan, look who’s playing politics today? Who the hell is playing politics now?

Folks, remember…the only ones being hurt here are your children. Please remember this on election day when you cast your ballot.

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2. More cuts to arts/music? Yes, the whole meeting apparently went downhill, and just crashed and burned.

Now the gang of 11 is calling for…get this…MORE cuts to arts and music. Now, it’s not going to be sold to us this way…it’s being sold to us as adding foreign language instruction 2x weekly at about 2/3 of the elementary schools in the county. But doing so would come as a result of cuts in art, music and PE.

San Diego Supt. Terry Grier is recommending the restoration of some of the lost instructional time at about 1/3 of the county’s elementary schools that already suffered reductions this year, but the recommended time is only paltry, at best…it’s not the full time, as has been advocated since September.

This, despite new on-the-record support for full restoration of art/music elective time from Board members Darlene Garrett, Garth Hebert and Jeff Belton.

They still don’t get it. They don’t want to get it.

And now, like it or not, it’s a campaign issue. It’s an election issue. This year’s elections will be decided on school safety, the arts/music, and the Bonds…among other issues.

I suppose no announcements were made today in terms of which incumbent was running for reelection.

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What else happened today?

N&R:

— Achievement Alphabet soup
  This school year it will be especially hard for schools to met AYP, or “adequate yearly progress, ” a No Child Left Behind Act measure of student achievement, says district numbers guru Gongshu Zhang. It’s not that students aren’t improving, he says. It’s that the state has increased the standards so much this year, they will be tough to meet.

— School Climate Task Force
This coming weekend, the group looking at school violence and discipline issues will have its own retreat. Keep your ears open for a February date when the school board will hear back on its full report.

— New superintendent
The board closed the meeting at around 5 p.m. to go into private session to discuss a “personnel issue.” It is likely about the new superintendent search, but the board did not plan to go back into public session with any news.

This other nugget from the N&R’s Amanda Lehmert:

Interestingly enough, before the meeting closed, board member Jeff Belton criticized unnamed board members he said have been openly discussing information that was debated in closed session. If his fellow board members could not understand the need to keep those discussions private, he asked that they excuse themselves.

This was likely directed toward Garth Hebert, who was quoted in this week’s Rhino about an alleged “straw-poll’ conducted last month in which Board members may have debated giving the new San Diego superintendent an incentives package (raise/contract extension) to stay here.

But we the people are left to wonder if something’s being hidden and what else is not being told to us.

Folks, GCS’ behavior today was outrageous and should be a call to action to prepare us troops for the battlefield. 2008 will not be an easy year for our children.  We know the cause, and we know what’s right. Their actions today were not right.

The troops are listening…and they’re ready.

These excerpts from comments on the N&R Chalkboard:

The County Commisioners and the School Board’s behaviour is really concerning. I am really thinking about a no vote for the bonds.

It will be the citizens of Guilford County’s pleasure to turn down any and all bonds in May. We have had it with this type of gamesmanship.

Frankly, this kind of game playing by the school board doesn’t do much to repair their image with the public and to build trust that they are a serious group that is competent as the education leaders of the community.

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E.C. 🙂

Another “potential” ad

 She still doesn’t get it.

Dorothy “Dot” Kearns, in her own words…in a Voices of San Diego.org article on January 25, 2008:

Kearns [who describes Guilford County Schools right after the merger as  “the ethos of slavery”] lauded the move [of High Point’s reassignment/redistricting/busing plan], saying it equalized opportunities for Guilford County kids, and drew together the far-flung, segregated district.

The costs — moving kids — were far outweighed by the gains, she said.

“It was certainly understandable that people who lived closer to an outlying school were more comfortable there,” Kearns said. “But it was more a matter of … resistance to the change in the school population.”

Dot Kearns. It’s been almost a year since High Point’s reassignment scheme came to an abrupt halt, and she still doesn’t get it.

Kearns will not admit that the scheme failed.

Kearns will not admit that pouring extra resources into ALL of High Point’s neighborhood schools would have been better and would have made more sense in the long run than cross-town busing.

  Kearns will not admit that many neighborhoods are built around schools, which tend to be anchors for residential development. As a real estate agent, she should know that.

Kearns will not admit that as a result of the failed busing scheme, many High Point schools are now treated like “stepchildren” to the rest of Guilford County’s schools.

Kearns will not admit that it would have been better for her, as a previous member of the former High Point City Schools Board (and former chair of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners), to lobby for new schools to be built in High Point before the merger in the early 1990s.

Dot Kearns. Still wrong on redistricting. Wrong for our school board. Wrong for Guilford County’s children.

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I’m E.C. Huey, your 2008 candidate for the Guilford County Board of Education’s at-large seat, and I approved this message because our schools are a mess, and it’s time to fix the mess downtown.

Thank you for your support.

E.C. 🙂

All Politics is Local

Former U.S. House speaker Tip O’Neill once said that “all politics is local.”

For this grass-roots campaign, that certainly is the case.

We just placed a free ad on NC-Politics.com, click here to go see it. Within the first few minutes of the ad being placed, we just got 13 page views. So far, we’re the only campaign that has placed an ad from all of Guilford County.

Spread the word, tell three of your friends. The momentum is growing!

E.C. 🙂

Grier’s Gone: GCS Board playing cat-and-mouse

It’s not often that you’ll see me visibly angry, but yesterday was one of those times. And it was right after I picked up the latest copy of the Rhino Times and read this article on “the inside story” behind Dr. Grier’s imminent departure from GCS.

As I said earlier, the comments pouring into this Web site this week discussing Dr. Grier have been stellar and plentiful. And as of late, I share your concerns about what the GCS Board should do about releasing Grier from his GCS contract.

As it was discussed yesterday, Grier is apparently now serving a dual role as both the superintendent of schools for Guilford County and the city of San Diego. He’s still on contract with GCS. But San Diego is apparently paying him a “per diem” daily salary for any work he does for San Diego prior to his contract starting out there, which will be July 1.

Therein lies the problem. Who is he working for? Guilford County or San Diego? Who will Grier be working for tomorrow?

And then I read this well-written article yesterday by Paul Clark, the Rhino’s new education reporter…and I’m even more livid:

Rhino:

Grier Leaving Children Behind
by Paul Clark
Staff Writer

Now that will-he-or-won’t-he speculation about Guilford County School Superintendent Terry Grier is over, the Board of Education must decide when it can spare him, and negotiate an end to his employment contract, which the board last year extended to run through June 30, 2010.

The Guilford County School Board announced on Saturday that Grier will take the superintendent job in San Diego on July 1, and the San Diego Unified School District board has agreed to pay Grier a daily salary for any days he can work before that date.

The Guilford County board has not yet met to consider Grier’s exit. The board’s winter retreat this weekend will be its first meeting since Grier’s announcement.

An exit from a superintendent’s contract is usually negotiated gracefully – board member Nancy Routh calls it “something of a formality” – yet he is not an at-will employee. Board member Anita Sharpe said Grier remains under contract, but that the normal procedure is to release him. Sharpe, a veteran of the board, has been through the procedure twice with previous superintendents.

Grier’s contract is silent on how it would be terminated in the case of his resignation. It contains provisions for termination for cause and termination by the board, neither of which would apply to a resignation, according to school board attorney Jill Wilson, of Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard.

The North Carolina education statute has provisions for buying out a superintendent’s contract in the case of termination by the board, but is also silent on resignation. In some cases, boards deal with resignations by simply not enforcing the contract, Wilson said.

The San Diego board could stick with its offer of a daily salary for any work Grier does before July 1, Wilson said. It could also negotiate an interim contract if he leaves Guilford County well before July 1, she said.

“What if he showed up Feb. 1?” Wilson said. “They might go for an interim contract.”

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Stop the tape. There’s mistake number one…how his contract was written when he came on board. NOTICE TO GCS BOARD (and potential new Board members…and paid-by-the-hour attorney Jill Wilson): when you negotiate the new superintendent’s contract, make sure there are provisions in the new contract so something like this doesn’t happen again.

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More:

Grier has not yet given school board members an indication of when he will leave, and the board has not yet contacted Wilson for advice about the contract.

“In no event has he said, ‘I’m not going to be here in the next month,’ so in no way is there an imminent need,” Wilson said.

Board member Garth Hebert said the board, in its Dec. 10 closed session to consider Grier’s possible exit for San Diego, took a “straw poll” and agreed to offer him a contract extension and an increase in compensation in effort to get him to stay. “This was conveyed to Terry by the board, and Terry still chose to leave,” Hebert said.

No other board members would confirm Hebert’s statement. Sharpe said it did not happen. “I have no recall of this board offering him one penny more to stay here,” she said.

Board member Walter Childs said he remembered no such discussion, and Routh said she does not, as a matter of policy, discuss personnel actions taken in closed session.

Board member Amos Quick said he does not remember any such discussion clearly, and that, in any case, no formal offer was conveyed to Grier. “If it was a straw poll, that’s all it was,” he said.

Hebert acknowledged that he arrived at the meeting late, and said the action was described to him as having happened before his arrival.

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By now folks, my blood pressure is reaching 300. Our school board has the gall to play cat-and-mouse with your children and it is disgusting. I was hot when I read this!

I said back on December 12 that if Grier is offered the job, and if the GCS Board is smart (which now we know they’re not), they should not make any attempt to keep him. Let him go. Offer him no more money; offer him no more contract extensions…that’s it. Just let him go.

Obviously, that went in one ear and out the other, if this report in the Rhino is correct. I’m so angry right now, I can spit fire.

Of course, no one will go on record in admitting that such a straw-poll took place. But this report wasn’t made-up, this is too detailed.

There are at least four GCS Board members who read this blog regularly. I hope you’re sensing my anger, and the anger of these citizens.

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More:

Grier’s acceptance of the San Diego job, despite “significant” pay raises and contract extensions, should be considered a violation of his contract, Hebert argued.

“Evidently that’s not enough,” Hebert said. “I believe he has an obligation to stick it out, but he’s chosen not to.” Nonetheless, the board should not encourage Grier to linger, he said.

The timing of Grier’s exit may depend largely on whether the board views Grier as an asset out of which they need to get the most value before July 1, or as a lame duck, whose attention is already on the challenges of San Diego.

“If we have to deal with the change, we deal with it now,” Hebert said. “Don’t fool around. His mind and his heart will no longer be there.”

Board member Darlene Garrett said she feels the same way. “I think his mind and his heart are elsewhere,” she said. Other board members said they have not yet made up their minds on the issue.

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Stop the tape…I’ve been saying all week that I’m also livid that this was NOT an agenda item for tomorrow’s Board retreat.

But now, in a “revised” agenda, I see where a closed session is now scheduled for close to 7pm tomorrow evening. Maybe it will be discussed in that closed session…I hope it will be. And I hope it is discussed in open session at the Jan. 31 Board meeting (even though it is not on the current agenda).

Darlene and Garth are correct…this MUST be dealt with, in an open session, with politics put aside. Why haven’t the other Board members made up their minds?

Every single Board member should be on notice…they should in open session express their on-the-record feelings and sentiments on what to do about Grier’s remaining time here and what their alleged “straw-poll” vote was (I would have loved to have been a fly on that wall that night).

Separately, I feel the six GCS board members who are up for reelection should immediately and publicly declare their intentions as to whether they will seek reelection or not. The public has the right to know what kind of Board we will be dealing with in terms of this search going forward. Let’s not wait until two weeks from Monday (Feb. 11–when the ballot filing period starts) for announcements to come. It’s only fair.

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Last excerpt:

Aside from Hebert, who describes himself as “Terry’s greatest critic,” Grier generally drew plaudits from the board for his eight-year tenure. Childs cited Grier’s work on the early- and middle college programs and his “amazing” work with the community.

“Although a lot of people didn’t like him, I think he was innovative and did a lot for the system,” Childs said.

Grier was recently named North Carolina’s superintendent of the year for 2007.

Grier, in a press release, cited lowering the district’s dropout rate, increasing its graduation rate and increasing scholarships offered to graduating seniors as proud achievements.

Except for the press release, Grier isn’t talking about his upcoming move. At a press conference Tuesday to discuss the district’s winter school-cancellation policy, Sonya Conway, the schools’ executive director for district relations, warned reporters not to bother asking Grier questions about his departure.

Sources familiar with the San Diego schools said that district will want Grier as quickly as possible. Its acting superintendent since Jan. 1, William Kowba, is also chief financial officer and acting chief administrative officer, and will continue to wear all three hats until Grier’s arrival. The previous superintendent, Carl Cohn, resigned at year’s end after a two-year tenure.

Grier, during his visit to San Diego, appeared to be already actively working and planning with San Diego school officials, sources there said.

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Childs’ cheerleading for Grier thankfully, is coming to an end…which hopefully will also lead to the end of Childs’ term.

And what’s up with Sonya Conway’s threat: Sonya Conway, the schools’ executive director for district relations, warned reporters not to bother asking Grier questions about his departure.

Or else…what? Is this some sort of thinly-veiled threat?

These are the people in charge of running your schools. These are the people in charge of setting policy for your child’s (and my child’s) schools.

In my opinion, I don’t want any of these clowns having anything to do with my daughter’s education. It’s frightening. This award-winning article is truly frightening. And it should be a pure wake-up call for all of us to get involved.

Stellar work, as usual, from Paul Clark and the Rhino; you won’t get this kind of stuff in our local drive-by media.

As our friend “Stormy” said here last night, let’s give Garth and Darlene a pass to see if they can wrestle control. But like Stormy, I currently have no faith in the others to do the right thing. Even Amos. Prove me wrong, if so.

E.C. 🙂

Safe at School? (NCEA)

The North Carolina Education Alliance (the education arm of the John Locke Foundation) has this column on school safety, inked by the Alliance’s Kristen Blair. On the heels of my six-step plan for attacking school violence in GCS, this column is timely.

Safe at School?

By Kristen Blair

January 24, 2008

Recent news reports are likely to arouse parental concern about school safety. On Tuesday, four students were shot just after their dismissal from Ballou High in Washington, D.C. Closer to home, a fifth-grader in Charlotte, North Carolina brought a loaded .32-caliber revolver to Sterling Elementary last week, ostensibly to impress classmates. According to the Charlotte Observer, this is the 11th time this year that a gun has been found on a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school (CMS) campus.

Fortunately, D.C.’s shooting was not fatal, and the CMS incident was quickly resolved. But school-based violence does, at times, exact crushing casualties. Horrific school shootings, including those at Columbine High in 1999 and Virginia Tech last April, have seared our national consciousness, awakening a palpable awareness of the vulnerability of students, teachers, and other school personnel.

Across the nation, officials have responded quickly to secure school campuses and reassure parents. And in spite of high-profile shootings, most students don’t put their lives in jeopardy when they walk through school doors. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control released findings from a new study, revealing a decline in “single-victim school-associated violent deaths.” Rates for multiple-victim homicides remain stable.

But while homicides on school grounds are rare, lesser crimes are not. According to the national Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2007, roughly one out of every 12 high school students was threatened or injured with a weapon in 2005. Nationally, 86 percent of public schools reported “at least one violent crime, theft, or other crime” during the 2005-06 school year.

Based on state data, North Carolina schools fare considerably better. According to the 2006-07 Annual Report on School Crime and Violence (PDF), released last month, 40 percent of state schools reported no acts of crime or violence last year. While the total number of criminal or violent acts statewide did increase slightly (0.5 percent), higher student enrollments caused the overall rate to go down 1.6 percent.

Are national and state statistics always accurate? Not necessarily: underreporting of violent events remains a real problem, particularly when it comes to designating schools as “persistently dangerous.” Since passage of the federal No Child Left Behind law, states have been required to report consistently unsafe schools. But many states have balked at applying the label. According to a recent Washington Post article, of 94,000 schools nationwide, only 46 were deemed persistently dangerous last year. The Post highlights one Los Angeles high school with 289 cases of battery, two sex offenses, one robbery, and two assaults with a deadly weapon, all in one year. Amazingly, the school did not meet the state’s persistently dangerous definition. In fact, not a single California school did. Neither did any North Carolina schools.

How can we crack down on school violence? Straightforward, candid reporting is a must. After all, when it comes to school violence, what we don’t know can hurt us. Tough sanctions for student offenders are also in order. CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman is taking steps to crack down on wayward pupils, by pushing for more student expulsions.

School officials also need to encourage a culture of civility and enforce a zero-tolerance attitude toward bullying, discrimination, and harassment. But let’s be clear: bullying policies should not be used as a Trojan horse for the incursion of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression” issues into classrooms. Bullying policies that explicitly grant legal protections based on sexual orientation virtually guarantee that instructive discussions on these issues will become commonplace in schools, even with very young children.

In the end, there’s a lot schools can and must do to prevent violence. Ultimately, though, the proverbial buck stops with parents when it comes to monitoring warning signs in troubled children. Vigilance, coupled with a warm, close parent-child connection, is the best insurance policy against future acts of aggression. Are we up to the task?

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E.C. 🙂

A Bold New School Chief, Unafraid of Clashes (Voice of San Diego)

In a very well-written Voice of San Diego.org article posted today, the San Diego community is “really” introduced to outgoing GCS chief Terry Grier.

Yours truly is quoted in the article, by the way. Reporter Emily Alpert interviewed me by phone for this piece earlier this week.
Voice of San Diego is the online equivalent of our Rhino Times, where they tend to report the whole story instead of the “drive-by filtered-media” version of events. Their reports are comprehensive and they give the whole story.

Here’s the piece, in its entirety:

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A Bold New School Chief, Unafraid of Clashes

By EMILY ALPERT Voice Staff Writer

Friday, Jan. 25, 2008 | An unlikely firebrand with a Southern drawl is slated to take over San Diego schools this year, marking a shift from the subdued tenure of past superintendent Carl Cohn.

In a roller-coaster career, Terry Grier, 57, has been hailed as North Carolina’s best superintendent, ousted by a Sacramento school board after only 18 months, mocked on North Carolina bumper stickers, and now, tapped to lead California’s second-largest school district. He’s known nationally as a mover who wants change — and wants it now.

“He’s not going to let the status quo reign, for sure,” said Jay Goldman, editor of the American Association of School Administrators monthly magazine, who profiled Grier last year. And “it’s not unusual for a superintendent who takes on difficult issues to face very public opposition.”

Grier is the third superintendent to oversee San Diego Unified in a turbulent decade. In that time, schools have ricocheted between the aggressive, abrasive style of former border czar Alan Bersin and the quiet peacemaking of Cohn. The latter arrived in San Diego after a successful decade-long tenure in Long Beach schools, but left only two years into his term after clashes with the school board, saying he lacked enough passion to persist.

In Grier, the school system seems to have found an unusual alloy of Bersin’s drive and Cohn’s calm. No stranger to conflict, Grier has seen bumper stickers proclaiming “Honk If You’ve Been Grier-Ended” and lawn signs reading “Get Grier Outta Here.” Yet even his bitterest foes in Guilford County, where he’s served as superintendent for eight years, describe Grier as demure and cordial, despite the harsh controversy over his plans — including merit pay for teachers and bussing students to integrate schools.

In San Diego, he faces new challenges in a school district nearly twice as large as Guilford County’s. In North Carolina, teachers lack the right to strike; in San Diego, unionized teachers have vowed to “go to the wall” if Grier replicates controversial pay system he installed in Guilford County. The needs of English-learning students loom larger here, where a far greater proportion of students are Hispanic. Guilford County’s enrollment is growing; San Diego’s has shrunk, with enrollment expected to level or drop slightly next year. And California’s schools are threatened by a statewide budget crisis, expected to drain $70 million from San Diego Unified schools this year.

Success will pay — literally. Grier agreed to a performance pay plan, which gives him a bonus for each goal he meets. Failing those goals is a cause for dismissal. Grier could not be reached for an interview this week, after returning to North Carolina from San Diego. But his backers in Guilford County say he’s up to the task.

“Dr. Grier can go through an intense struggle,” said Dorothy Kearns, who has spent 16 years on the Guilford County school board. “People can knock him down, but the next morning he’s up, ready to meet the next challenge. With joy.”

Aggressive Moves Won Acclaim and Enemies
Grier is bold, and he moves fast. Under Grier’s direction, Guilford County started a dizzying array of initiatives, few without their critics. He’s piloted middle colleges, where at-risk high school students study on college campuses, expanded pre-kindergarten, and pushed more students to take Advanced Placement classes.

“He’s not afraid to try bold new programs. He’s a fan of programs,” said high school teacher Erik Huey, a Grier critic who is running for the Guilford County school board. “The word program itself is probably his middle name.”

One such program is Mission Possible, which pays teachers more to work in tough schools where staff turnover is often high. Teachers also earn more if they boost test scores, a plan commonly known as merit pay. Supporters say the plan, now in its infancy, will stabilize low-income, underperforming schools by retaining and rewarding teachers.

Grier has cautioned that he won’t automatically replicate his Guilford County programs in San Diego, stating that each community’s needs are unique. But the mere suggestion of merit pay has provoked sharp words from the teacher’s union, whose president calls it “offensive and divisive.”

In Guilford, a major redistricting plan sparked some parents’ ire, as students were bussed to schools far from home. When Grier arrived in Guilford County in 2000, the school district, cobbled together from three smaller school systems in 1993, was deeply divided along race and class lines, Kearns said. She called it “the ethos of slavery.” When the school board created a plan to reshuffle students, diversifying the schools, parents complained about the change, and took Grier to task.

“You buy a house close to school so you can walk to it, and all of a sudden, that right is taken from you,” said Martin Phillips, whose three children attend Guilford County Schools. “You don’t live in a free country anymore.”

Kearns lauded the move, saying it equalized opportunities for Guilford County kids, and drew together the far-flung, segregated district. The costs — moving kids — were far outweighed by the gains, she said.

“It was certainly understandable that people who lived closer to an outlying school were more comfortable there,” Kearns said. “But it was more a matter of … resistance to the change in the school population.”

He has said his proudest feat is halving the dropout rate, which declined from 6 percent to 3 percent during his tenure. But Grier’s critics have vocally questioned that success, claiming that the data don’t match the graduation rates.

In general, data has been a bone of contention. Gauging the overall progress of Guilford County schools can be difficult: North Carolina schools are rated in two ways, both of which rely on standards that have changed year to year. By one standard, Guilford County schools appear to be progressing; by another, they seem to have declined. That paradox has fed speculation among Grier’s critics, despite the data’s fuzziness.

Grier is also known for vastly expanding tough Advanced Placement classes, which can translate into college credit. Under his leadership, Guilford County schools have nearly tripled the number of students taking AP courses, and encouraged more disadvantaged kids to sign up. The sheer volume of AP classes catapulted 13 Guilford County schools onto a Newsweek list of Top Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate Schools last year.

“There was some resistance from teachers saying [students were] not prepared for this advanced math — and there was some truth to that,” Kearns said. “But it’s still unbelievable how many of our poor and minority students take those classes.”

Less than half of students actually pass the AP exam, which is required for all students who take the classes; among black students, passage rates are lower, with less than one quarter passing. Still, the net result is more students earning Advanced Placement credits, with more than twice as many Guilford students passing the test in 2007 than in 2000.

The firestorm that attended Grier in Guilford County isn’t unique in a decades-long career that has crisscrossed the nation. He began his career as a classroom teacher in North Carolina, specializing in biology and health, and ascended to his first superintendency in McDowell County. In 1988, a year-long superintendent stint in Amarillo, Texas reportedly ended with his resignation; in 1995, he was fired by the Sacramento City Unified School District after only 17 months. Grier later chalked up the firing to his refusal to hire a board member’s longtime friend. Former Sacramento school board members declined to comment.

Grier has also worked in Tennessee, South Carolina and Ohio. As he takes over in San Diego — a city that “thrives on conflict,” Cohn has said — more battles are likely on the horizon.

“If we’ve had a person [like Cohn] who brings about change gradually, over time, and San Diego has difficulty with that, how are they going to deal with someone who brings about change a lot quicker?” school board member Shelia Jackson asked hypothetically. But Grier’s rocky past may also better equip him to weather the sparring, she said. “We’ll see.”

For Grier, Success Pays — Literally
Grier’s contract, which allows him extra pay for meeting goals, breaks new ground for San Diego Unified. Cohn had no such provision in his contract, and a similar scheme for Bersin relied on broad goals. In contrast, Grier’s bonuses will hinge on three specific, measurable yearly goals that have yet to be set. For each goal he meets, Grier will earn $3,500. If he fails, the board can fire him.

Nationwide, such incentives are increasingly common, with most superintendents offered far higher bonuses than Grier, said Ron Wilson, executive director of the North American Association of Educational Negotiators. Typically, a superintendent can expect to earn between $5,000 and $7,500 per goal, with the potential to boost their base salary between 10 and 20 percent. Grier can earn a maximum of $10,500 extra each year — less than 4 percent of his $269,000 salary.

A quirk in the contract allows Grier to earn $10,500 even if the goals aren’t met, provided that “the delay is not due to the superintendent’s lack of concurrence with the goals.” Wilson called the provision “a worst-case scenario,” to prevent the superintendent from losing if board members “got into loggerheads” over already-set goals. If he simply disagrees with the goals, however, the superintendent loses.

School board member Mitz Lee touted Grier’s bonuses as an accountability tool. Wilson, a backer of superintendent performance pay, said the measures help set clear, reasonable expectations for school superintendents.

“When superintendents go into the job, they’re expected to walk on water,” Wilson said. “This is a little bit more realistic, as to what can be done.”

Superintendent bonuses have sometimes stirred up opposition among principals and teachers, who feel superintendents get all the credit for system-wide reforms. Jackson raised that concern, asking, “What about the principals … who have to reach these goals? Are we giving them extra compensation too?”

Grier’s salary is slightly higher than the $250,000 salary paid to Cohn. Bersin’s salary was renegotiated over his seven-year tenure, from $165,000 in 1998 to $240,000 in 2005. Two years ago, the average salary afforded to oversee a district of San Diego Unified’s size was $228,000, according to a study by the Council for Great City Schools. Grier’s pay is comparable to other school chiefs in the San Diego region: In nearby Grossmont, a new superintendent recently negotiated a $240,000 contract to lead a significantly smaller district.

At any price, Grier is saddled with a tough job, in a school district that’s been tough on its superintendents. But Grier is well-acquainted with controversy. For him, it’s been a side effect of getting unpopular things done.

“I know that board members don’t always agree,” Grier said Saturday, in his first public appearance in San Diego. “… But you can’t be around this group of people without really sensing their passion and commitment.”

Related Links

AASA’s Profile of Terry Grier

Study: Urban Superintendent Pay (pdf)

Guilford County School Data

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E.C. 🙂

Mission Possible is impossible in Charlotte (CLT Observer)

A “mission possible”-like incentive program that’s similar to GCS in attempting to lure experienced veteran teachers into high-impact schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system is not working, according to school chief Dr. Peter Gorman.

A Charlotte Observer story from two days ago chronicles the dicey situation.

Apparently, since the voluntary program is not working, according to Gorman, he said this week he may use his authority to force-transfer experienced teachers into these schools to fill vacancies.

Want to take bets to see how this will go over in Char-Meck? We do get the occasional reader or two from the Charlotte area.

CLT Observer:

“It is very clear to me that trying to pull people in with incentives will not completely close the gap,” he [Gorman] said. “We will have to push some people to move to certain sites against their will.”

His comments came after a report presented at Tuesday night’s school board meeting showed high-poverty schools losing ground in the competition for experienced teachers with expertise. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools offers various incentives to teach in those schools, including 15-percent pay bumps and signing bonuses of up to $15,000 for four high schools.

CMS couldn’t get takers for all the bonuses, Gorman said.

Experience doesn’t guarantee good teaching, Gorman said. In fact, the district has recruited rookies for high-poverty schools through programs such as Teach For America.

Those newcomers do very well, Gorman said, but need veterans to support them.

A detailed CMS analysis, presented in part at Tuesday’s meeting, shows some of the district’s highest-performing schools have relatively low levels of faculty experience, while some low-scorers have large numbers of experienced teachers. The biggest link to high achievement, Gorman noted today, is low poverty levels.

Gorman and the board will discuss teacher assignments at a planning retreat in Greensboro Friday and Saturday. They’re also gearing up to craft a 2008-09 budget, which is expected to include a pilot program of teacher pay based partly on student achievement.

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By the way, allow me to share this with you…Teach for America is a very noble group. I once had some interest in it a couple of years ago and once attempted to pursue something through them. After failing to hear back from them, I went my own way.

But all of a sudden, I received an unsolicited e-mail message from them before the Holidays that went something like this:

Hi erik,

I’m reaching out to you because you have been identified as a candidate for Teach For America. As a participant in the program, and as a fellow African-American, please allow me to offer my perspective on why my experience teaching in one of the most underperforming schools in Texas has been such a worthwhile and rewarding experience.

After graduating from Howard University, working for Bain Consulting, and then pursuing my MBA at Stanford, I decided to join Teach For America because I realized how fortunate I was and wanted to ensure that all students – regardless of their race, income or zip code – could have access to the same opportunities that I had. The fact is, only 52% of African-American students graduate from high school. Clearly this isn’t for lack of potential but for lack of opportunity. I knew that as an African-American woman I was in a position to be a positive role model and to help motivate students to excel academically. To defy the odds, I suppose. Last year, my students made significant academic advances. I know that my presence in their classroom is truly making a difference.

I urge you to consider joining this extraordinary movement. By committing two years to teach in a low-income urban or rural community and applying the skills you’ve developed in your professional career, you too can help ensure that all children, no matter what their background, have the opportunity to attain an excellent education. Teach For America is focused on recruiting leaders from a variety of professions and places a particular focus on attracting individuals who share similar racial backgrounds to the students underserved by public schools, many of whom are African-American. When teachers themselves are from historically under-represented racial communities, Teach For America has found they can have a profound additional impact because they can be particularly persuasive with students regarding the potential for success in education and in life.

If you would like to learn more about my experience teaching math in Houston, Texas as well as other African-American corps members’ experiences teaching in low-income communities around the country, please join us for a Webinar. We’ll also share with you details on how you can apply to Teach For America and join the movement to end educational inequity.

Please register for one of the Webinars below, just click on the time that best fits your schedule:

Wednesday, January 9: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST

Wednesday, January 9: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST

Friday, January 11: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST

Friday, January 11: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST

Finally, if you are interested in talking with someone who taught with Teach For America (one of our alumni), please respond to this e-mail, attach a resume, and I would be happy to set you up with one. In the meantime, I encourage you to learn more about Teach For America by visiting their website and taking the time to read their commitment to diversity.

Thanks for your time.

My best,

Shani Jackson

Here was my polite response back to Ms. Jackson:

Hello Ms. Jackson. You sent me a kind letter back before the Holidays to my other address and I wanted to respond from this address.

While I was interested in TFA once upon a time, I did take some courses on my own and both applied for and received a lateral entry teaching license in H.S. English about three years ago.

As such, I taught here in Guilford County (N.C.) for about two years; I taught in an adjoining county full-time last year. I taught in a high-impacted high school and the politics I dealt with while I was in Guilford Co. was absolutely disgusting. I had good kids, and we had a good staff, but it was the lack of attention on behalf of our elected school board that helped to destroy that school.

As such, I no longer felt as though I could make changes at the bottom…I needed to make them at the top. So I’m running for our school board this year.

The so-called teacher shortage in NC is a joke and it is all politics. I’m working to hopefully attempt to make a change to that system this year.

Thank you,

Erik “E.C.” Huey
Candidate, Guilford County Board of Education (at-large) 2008
erik@hueyforguilfordschoolboard.org
www.hueyforguilfordschoolboard.org

Gee…like last time, I never did receive a response back. 😦

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E.C. 🙂

Grier’s Gone: The search…and the golden parachute

(Rhino Times)

I’d figure I run this cartoon again because we may have a golden parachute situation going on here, if we don’t get some questions answered in the next several days.

Terry Grier (technically) is still on contract with Guilford County Schools. But, in a San Diego Union-Tribune article from the other day, a U-T reporter said: Although Grier won’t officially start his job until July 1, he plans to make several working trips to San Diego in the interim. He’s also developing what he calls a “100-day entry plan.”

And judging from the comments we’ve received here over the past couple of days, you all are sharing the same concerns.

So…will he be taking these trips on OUR dime or San Diego’s dime? Or both? If we cut ties with Grier now, what kinds of incentives does he walk away with? We need these questions answered because the taxpayers have the right to know what’s going on.

Today’s lead editorial in the News & Record ponders the same thing and echoes some of my sentiments about the upcoming search:

Conduct open search

Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008 

It shouldn’t be hard for the Guilford County school board to devise a good plan for selecting a new superintendent: It can do what Charlotte-Mecklenburg did two years ago.

North Carolina’s largest system relied on public input at the beginning and end of its search, eventually putting its three finalists through a series of open meetings with community groups.

The process was thorough and grueling, Board of Education Chairman Joe White said Tuesday. “We are pleased with the result,” he added.

One of those finalists was Guilford County Superintendent Terry Grier, who accepted the top school position in San Diego Saturday. So, the Guilford board has to find a replacement.

Grier withdrew before the Charlotte-Mecklenburg board chose Peter Gorman, who emerged as a favorite among those who participated in the public examination of the finalists. White said that input was important to his evaluation and helped make sure the new superintendent would be accepted by the community.

The board held private interviews with nine or 10 semifinalists, White said, but told them the three finalists would have to agree to public identification. That puts candidates in a “very unfair situation,” White admitted, because of problems it can cause them in their current jobs. “Some were very reluctant,” he said, but none backed out.

Guilford school board Vice Chairman Amos Quick, who began meeting with teachers and principals Tuesday soliciting their ideas about the selection, said community input will be important “early, continuously and particularly toward the end,” when the field of candidates is whittled down. Community buy-in is critical, he said.

Timing presents concerns. November’s school board election might transpire before the superintendent search is completed. As many as six seats could turn over. Should the board wait until a new cast is assembled before hiring a superintendent?

“Had I been going off the board, I would have wanted the person replacing me to make that decision,” White, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg chairman, said.

That also could save the new superintendent the awkward experience of suddenly finding himself or herself with unfamiliar bosses.

“There could be some merit in waiting,” Quick said. But some risk, too, if strong candidates get away in the meantime.

Before going that far, the board has more immediate decisions to make, Chairman Alan Duncan said Wednesday. One is to “straighten out what our relationship with Terry is going to be.” That might result in his departure before his July 1 official start date in San Diego and the installment of an interim superintendent sooner rather than later. Duncan expressed confidence in the abilities of current senior staff members to carry on.

Whatever decisions the board considers, it will assure better outcomes if it provides opportunities for public participation.

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As I said, why this is not even an agenda item for Saturday’s Board retreat is baffling.

E.C. 🙂

Why public school districts are dysfunctional in North Carolina

There simply is too much top-heavy bureaucracy in the way public education is administered in this state. And it all begins with fundamental changes at the top.

As I’ve said here before, I’m supporting Bob Orr (R) for governor of North Carolina. I apologize for making this partisan, but in my opinion, Judge Orr still remains the only candidate focusing on how to reform the administration of public education in this state.

See, we can’t effectively deal with problems in the classroom (the bottom) unless we deal with the bureaucracy in Raleigh (the top). Reform on Eugene Street will not occur until there’s reform at DPI. Reform at DPI will not occur unless there’s a plan in place to restructure public education, and that comes from the governor’s mansion.

The two democratic candidates, Richard Moore and Bev Perdue, are merely paying lip service. They’ve had years to influence Raleigh lawmakers and attempt to make changes. They haven’t.

Judge Orr unveiled a thorough plan yesterday, the plan can be found here on his Web site. His proposals include:

1. A state constitutional amendment to eliminate the election of the Superintendent of Public Instruction;

2. Statutory changes to bring the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Department of Public Instruction under the executive authority of the Governor;

3. A state constitutional amendment to eliminate the authority of the State Board of Education to “supervise and administer the free public school system and the educational funds provided for its support” and transfer that authority to the Governor;

4. A state constitutional amendment that would direct the General Assembly to provide a mechanism for the public election of eight members of the State Board of Education from the eight education districts currently in place;

5. Statutory changes to allow the Governor to appoint three members from the state at large to the State Board of Education;

6. Statutory changes to authorize the State Board of Education to provide accountability oversight for public education and to provide advice and counsel to the Governor on public education policy.

For you visual learners out there, Judge Orr also has a chart on his Web site that explains the current layers of bureaucracy and the proposed flow-chart under his plan (go to his website, and the charts are much more clearer):

Current:

Proposed:

As I’ve stated before, when you cast your ballot in May, please vote smartly. And while I’m not necessarily a one-issue candidate, when it comes to public education, we need to elect people who are ready to make sweeping reforms, from the governor’s mansion all the way down to our board of education chambers.

The time is now.

E.C. 🙂

Retreat Agenda for 1/26/08

Click here for the GCS BOE retreat agenda for this Saturday. A chocked-full day is planned:

 Retreat Agenda
8 a.m. – 9 a.m. Academic Improvement Strategies
9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Report on AYP Progress and Initiatives
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. School Scheduling Recommendations
10:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. Frequency of Assessments and Dealing With Loss of Instructional Time in General
11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. School Calendar Considerations Including How We Can Best Reduce Use of Teacher and Principal Time Outside of the Classroom
11:30 a.m. – 12 noon 2008 Budget Calendar Process
12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Update on Magnet Schools and Magnet School and No Child Left Behind Opt Outs
1:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Consideration of Increased Pay for Long Term Substitutes
1:45 p.m. – 2 p.m. Report on Virtual High School Status and Utilization
2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Seatbelts on Buses and Bus Safety Issues
2:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. Funding Formula for the Allotment of Teacher Assistants
3 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. Funding for the Arts
3:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. School Nutrition Programs Report
4:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Legislative Committee Report
4:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. Governance Committee Report – Naming of Schools
5 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. After-School Shared Use Libraries
5:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. School Climate Task Force Report and Report on School Safety Department Alignment and Duties
6 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Energy Education Proposal
6:30 p.m. Adjourn

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 E.C. 🙂

Grier getting an early start (SD U-T)

From today’s San Diego Union-Tribune (make sure you look at the comments if you click on this link):

New schools chief meets community half a year before job begins

By Maureen Magee

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 22, 2008

HOWARD LIPIN / Union-Tribune

Terry Grier (right), the new San Diego Unified School District superintendent, spoke with board member Robert Robinson after a community breakfast yesterday.

San Diego’s newest superintendent has made the rounds at a whirlwind pace since the school board voted unanimously to hire him Saturday.

Labor leaders, mayoral candidates and education advocates have all had something to say to the next schools chief. He has even received advice on where to find his native North Carolina barbecue here.

Terry Grier is plotting his introduction to the community and school system. It probably will be an abbreviated reception overshadowed by looming budget cuts, tense union talks and plenty of analysis of district programs.

Although Grier won’t officially start his job until July 1, he plans to make several working trips to San Diego in the interim. He’s also developing what he calls a “100-day entry plan.”

“I want to hear what people have to say,” Grier, 57, said after a community breakfast in Encanto to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights legacy. “But then you have to check to see if the perceptions match up with the facts. Our perceptions are not always true.”

Grier will leave his post as superintendent of North Carolina’s 71,400-student Guilford County Schools to take the helm of the San Diego Unified School District and its roughly 135,000 students. He will replace Carl Cohn, the self-professed peacemaker from Long Beach who stepped down from the position last month – about two years shy of his contract – after losing interest in the job.

A career educator, Grier is well-regarded for his work in reducing high school dropout rates with innovative programs for at-risk students. Among them are special schools that boast classes of no more than 15 students and evening schools for working students.

Grier also has generated controversy by creating an incentive-pay program aimed at wooing top teachers and principals to hard-to-staff schools.

He said there are no plans to immediately scrap local programs or wholly import Guilford County programs. But because the two districts face many of the same problems, Grier said, he will draw on his successes.

“I’m going to want to keep programs that work, those with evidence that they work,” Grier said.

Grier wants to take a hard look at secondary schools, saying that middle and high schools need to do better. That means figuring out how to work with students who can’t read at their grade level and carefully selecting their teachers and principals.

In particular, he said, principals often are hired based on their success as teachers.

“We need to make sure we are hiring people who like working with adults – parents, teachers, faith communities – not just children,” Grier said.

Grier also wants to talk with the teachers union about ways to give district-run schools the same kind of freedoms and innovations that independent charter schools enjoy.

“Charter schools are not going to go away in San Diego,” he said. “If the union continues to dig its heels and not be flexible in meeting the needs of children, charter schools will continue to grow.”

The San Diego school district’s new superintendent must grapple with deep funding cuts proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for fiscal 2008-09. The budget will be “a huge challenge” that will include making reductions, Grier said.

Along with his wife, Nancy, Grier spent the holiday weekend at the Tower 23 luxury hotel in Pacific Beach. It’s a place their four grown children would love, Nancy Grier said.

But most of the couple’s time was occupied by meetings, dinner parties and tours.

“I really believe the success of our school district will be determined by the relationships we forge,” Grier told the crowd at yesterday’s breakfast.

He expressed eagerness in addressing many of the concerns he fielded over the weekend, including the persistent achievement gap between students of different races and economic backgrounds. But Grier said high-achieving populations will not be ignored.

“We spend too much time labeling kids,” he said. “They are all our children. Instead of worrying about how much we put in each bucket, let’s make sure all their buckets are full.”

Grier plans to hold forums throughout San Diego to meet parents, teachers and residents. After sensing that many San Diegans are hard-core sports fans, he said he can steer the conversation if need be.

“I’m a Tony Gwynn fan, and (Chargers quarterback) Philip Rivers is a North Carolina alumni,” Grier said with a subtle Southern twang. “I predict a smooth transition.”

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E.C. 🙂

Grier’s gone: His legacy (N&R)

(SD U-T)

From the lead editorial in today’s N&R:

Terry Grier’s legacy

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008 

After eight stormy, but productive, years as superintendent of the Guilford County Schools, Terry Grier will take charge of the San Diego Unified School District, effective July 1.

Many wish he would stay. Others would have gladly bought him a one-way ticket to somewhere else years ago.

Among Grier’s allies, he won unprecedented levels of assistance from the business community. He also enjoyed consistent support from the school board, even as its personalities and politics changed over the years.

As for his detractors, some have lobbied, passionately, to “Get Terry Grier Outta Here” for more than three years.

That’s too bad. Grier, 57, hasn’t been a perfect superintendent, but he has been a good one, having just completed, arguably, his best year on the job.

Guilford County last year beat the North Carolina averages in state and federal testing results. Graduation rates are up; dropout rates are down. Eastern Guilford High School successfully finished the 2006-07 academic year after the campus was destroyed by fire on Nov. 1, 2006.

Grier was named the state’s Superintendent of the Year for 2007 and will vie for the national award next month.

Also during his tenure Grier forged partnerships with area colleges to create middle college and early college programs for struggling students and high achievers.

The district began a promising new program, Mission Possible, which offers incentives and bonuses to attract high-demand math and reading teachers to poor and low-performing schools. The number of students taking Advanced Placement exams has more than doubled.

Despite his successes, and thicker skin than most, Grier has at times felt unappreciated. When the subject of his pay once came up, he didn’t hesitate to point out that a superintendent in a smaller system earned more than he. (In San Diego, Grier will command a base salary of $269,000 a year versus his current pay of $202,903.)

He still bristles as well at the perception that he conceived the unpopular High Point reassignment plan that fueled much of the “Get Grier Outta Here” commotion. The now-abandoned plan originated with the school board (which seemed content all the same to let Grier take the heat for it).

There were bumps and potholes on Grier’s watch. The district struggled to manage its construction projects. A school bus-hub system went painfully awry in 2004. Two local high schools — Dudley and Smith — were among 17 statewide ordered by a Wake County Superior Court judge to improve student performance or be closed.

On balance, however, Grier has seen more victories than setbacks. And he has kept the ideas coming, including an audacious proposal to offer two years of free tuition to Guilford County Schools graduates at GTCC.

Effective superintendents are a precious commodity everywhere. He won’t be easy to replace.

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Umm…yes he will.

E.C. 🙂

Grier’s Gone: the tale of two boards

Just comparing apples to oranges here…

Thomas Paine said that government is best which governs least. And that certainly applies when looking at the GCS Board versus the San Diego School Board.

Here in Guilford County Schools, we have 71,xxx students in 119 school facilities with 10,000 employees, which is governed by an 11-member school board.

In San Diego, their system has 135,000 students in 221 school facilities with 15,800 employees, which is governed by a 5-member school board.

Something to think about…

E.C. 🙂

Bus Delays for 1/22/08

From GCS:

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 8:34 AM

Due to unforeseen changes with the weather that have negatively impacted road conditions, buses have been instructed to hold at a safe location until further notice. Buses will be released as soon as temperatures rise and road conditions improve – no later than 10 a.m., sooner if possible. Buses will run their engines to maintain heat while being held.

Schools are not delayed.

District high schools that are on a block schedule will begin end-of-course exams on Tuesday, January 22.  Exams will continue through Monday, January 28.

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E.C. 🙂

Grier’s Gone: We need to hear from teachers

All it takes is one teacher or one GCS staffer out there to begin circulating this post throughout the entire GCS system…

We need to hear from GCS teachers, classified staff, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodial staff…we need to hear from you. Please do not be afraid to speak because now is the time to speak your mind on what you would like to see in a new superintendent.

You can e-mail me direct on erik@hueyforguilfordschoolboard.org or you can respond to this blog post below. You can sign your name or you can remain anonymous (your anonymity will be respected and honored)…but we need to hear from you.

I promise that any and all comments will be forwarded (and hand delivered) to the search committee once one has been put into place.

Please spread the word. Please forward this to any GCS staff member out there.

Thank you.

E.C. 🙂

A Day On…not a day off

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday today, I respect the theme of making it a day on, not a day off.

You can do that, simply by supporting this campaign.

By supporting this campaign, you support freedom, equality, justice for all in our community, especially ALL of Guilford County’s children, both black, white, latino, Asian, Native American–ALL of our children.

While some on our GCS Board practice division, I believe in unity. While some want to be stuck in the 50s-60s, I want our community to progress and advance into the 21st century. We CAN do it.

While Dr. King had a dream…so do I. My dream is simply for us to have the best schools in North Carolina, and the entire county. We CAN do it.

E.C. 🙂