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Low-Performing Schools? We Don't Think So
Teachers: Discipline problems and distrust of CMS management curb enthusiasm for Pughsley plan
Page 4 of 4
In other words, it's going to take quite an effort by the CMS administration to convince teachers that the system is for real.
Machado, of South Meck High, is a Cuban refugee who speaks with near reverence of the education he received at Garinger High School, comparing it to the private schools he attended in his native country. He has no interest in working there today, he says, but if he's forced to go, he says he wants the bonus money up front.
"I am not going to put up with anything unless I have the money upfront," said Machado. Years ago, he says he signed up for a career development program that promised a $500 per year increase in pay. It was a few years before the bonus actually showed up in his paycheck. A few years after that, the program disappeared — and so did the increase.
Then there are teachers like Tom Booker, head of the science department at Northwest School of the Arts. Booker got into teaching simply because he loves science and wanted to inspire kids to pursue science careers. Though he's taught kids at all academic levels, it's those who want to learn that really get him fired up and make the job worthwhile. Most of his low performing kids aren't interested in science, or in learning for that matter, he says. The best he can hope to do with them over the course of a year is to at least get them to place education on their list of important things.
"That doesn't always translate into them performing well in class, and rarely, if ever, translates into pursuing a career in science," he said.
What if he had to teach just low-performing kids? "That really wouldn't do it for me," he said.
To Merry Oaks Principal Stanley Frazier, the criticisms of EquityPlus schools are a bunch of nonsense. Ninety percent of the kids at his school are on the free and reduced lunch program. Seventy percent are African-American and 30 percent are Latino, he says, yet the school has been in the high-growth category for five years, which means it exceeded its test score goals by 10 percent annually. The school has a teacher turnover rate of 10 percent, which is low by both state and district standards for regular schools. For an equity school, it's practically unheard of. Frazier insists his success can be duplicated at other schools if teachers buy in.
But test scores and teacher turnover rates show that most equity schools aren't as well run as Merry Oaks. For CMS administration to gain the backing of teachers, it will have to turn many of its equity schools inside out. If the system is serious about the changes, the possibilities seem endless. But it still remains to be seen how much support CMS will get in the meantime from the county's best teachers.
Contact Tara Servatius at tara.servatius@cln.com
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