Holding School Administrators Accountable

7 March 2005 @ 18:15 | Posted in » Education, New Jersey

Thirty New Jersey school districts are not meeting requirements for standardized test scores (what criteria?). Four districts were not identified as they are appealing. At least one, if not more of those four will be an Abbott district.

Eleven of the 30 not meeting the standards are Abbott districts. There are 31 Abbott districts. More than one-third are not making the grade, despite the additional millions of dollars from all New Jersey taxpayers. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has built-in consequences, but those have been watered down and ignored by the New Jersey thus far. When do the taxpayers of this state get relief from pouring additional money into school districts that are not reforming? More money is not the answer to the ills of education. Residents of the Garden State deserve to have their money spent efficiently.

The inevitable question is What do you suggest we do with these districts? The local school boards need to be forced to fire their administration. Obviously, someone needs to be held accountable. Superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, and district supervisors need to be looked at. Would the entire administration be removed? While I would have no problem with that, realistically, that probably would not happen. How about 50%? That should be enough of a wake-up call.

The 11 Abbott districts that are failing are:

Camden City
East Orange
Irvington
Newark
Jersey City
Trenton
New Brunswick
Asbury Park
Long Branch
Paterson
Plainfield

Also blogged on this date . . .

Harry Peek: Poster Boy of Government Handouts - 2010
Fajitas . . . Finally - 2010
Stimulate This, Corzine! - 2009
Obama's Power - 2008
Mr. Christie, Investigate This - 2007
Technology Is Changing - 2006
Things Are Changing - 2006
Every Vote Counts - 2005
Bombs Away - 2004

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Tags: Education, New Jersey

One Response to “Holding School Administrators Accountable”

By Bob on 7 March 2005 @ 19:48

A more detailed article is now up at PhillyBurbs.

For now, the price for districts landing on the list is low. They must notify parents of their students of the designation, develop an improvement plan and put some of their federal funding toward professional development for teachers.

But for districts that make the list three years in a row, the penalty will be much stiffer. The state could take over districts or break them up. Administrators and teachers could be replaced. Federal funding could be taken away.

Yes, that is how it is supposed to work. But some schools have already been identified as being in need previously; three of the four middle schools in Vineland, for instance. If I am not mistaken, some of these listed districts have previously been identified too. That means we are supposed to be beyond notifying parents. Administrative consequences are next up. Perhaps New Jersey, once again, modified the procedure. I know our elementary school was originally not reported as in need, although we had not met the 40 areas in NCLB. We were slipped in with little fanfare last summer.

It seems to me for the program to work properly, a strict adherence to the guidelines is needed so the remedies will kick in sooner. If we keep sugar-coating the consequences, there is no way we will be able to meet the 2014 requirement. Instead, everyone desires to complain about an unfunded mandate.

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