I recently heard
about a proposal that would create a statewide Opportunity School District that
would be headed by a Governor-appointed Superintendent. The proposal calls for
the state takeover of "chronically underperforming schools" and would
grant an unaccountable entity vast new powers.
I have deep
concerns over the current proposal, such as: - WHAT IF THE SCHOOL IS ALREADY A
CHARTER SCHOOL? Under the current law, all school systems in Georgia must
decide if it will be Status Quo, IE2, or Charter System. So far, all school
systems have selected models that provide them additional flexibility.
Shouldn't these new models be given time to work before adopting a new
turnaround model?
- GEORGIA'S NEW
ASSESSMENT HASN'T EVEN BEEN FULLY ADMINISTERED and won't be until late spring.
Cut off scores haven't even been defined. The school grading tool in place
relies heavily on standardized test scores. The state's new assessment system
must be validated and reliable before scores are used to seize schools.
- THE STATE
DOESN'T HAVE A TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESS IN TURNING AROUND SCHOOLS. An agency
headed by a Governor appointee recently used Race to the Top grants to
aggressively develop and implement turnaround plans in the 40 lowest performing
schools. After the process, most schools saw no change in performance. This is
the same agency that will be given responsibility over the proposed Opportunity
District.
- HOW ABOUT
SCHOOLS THAT ARE ON THE "FAILING" LIST BUT ARE MAKING PROGRESS? The
proposal calls for any school scoring below a 60 to be included on the state
takeover list; however it does not include a provision that excludes schools
that are improving their scores but are still under the 60 bar. There are
common sense ways to address the issue of chronically "failing"
schools, such as:
- PRESERVE LOCAL
CONTROL AND ENSURE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT - in each district where the school is
at risk for state takeover, the final decision should be made by voters in the
school district via a referendum. Research has consistently shown that
community support is critical to the success of a school.
- BAR FOR-PROFIT
MANAGEMENT COMPANIES FROM RUNNING THE "FAILING" SCHOOLS - management
of these schools should be focused on pupils not profits. All materials and
equipment bought by state, federal, and local funds should be considered
property of the local school system once the state gives authority back to the
local level. - ESTABLISH AND SUSTAIN A COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS PROGRAM IN EVERY
"FAILING" SCHOOL - this is a Georgia-based organization with a proven
record of involving communities in their local public schools. The organization
focuses on bringing wraparound services into the school.
- FULLY FUND QBE
-- all at-risk schools should first receive full funding under QBE for a
three-year period before a state takeover of the school, thereby giving them
the resources to show growth in performance.
- INCREASE THE
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET - this would
provide more resources for preventative measures in schools that are at risk
for state takeover. Though some improvements have been made, the above items
must be included as part of this proposal. We owe it to Georgia's students and teachers
to act in a thoughtful manner. I strongly urge you to vote NO on SB 133 and SR
287 -- a deeper discussion of this important proposal is needed and additional
improvements must be made.
Comments
The threat of thousands of refugees entering public
schools poses an additional problem. Excessive immigration of
non-English-speaking children brings down the scores. Federalized public
schools are unconstitutional. Unelected governance is dangerous and
unnecessary. Public education may be doomed unless “bottom-up” control by
parents and teachers can be achieved.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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