Archive for the ‘School System Updates’ Category

Fairfax County Leads in Graduation Rates

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Looks like the Northern Virginia area is a great place to go to high school. Fairfax County and Prince William County are nation leaders in graduation rates.

This is according to Education Week’s recent “Diplomas Count 2011: Beyond High School, Before Baccalaureate” report.

The rates come from 2008 data collected in the nation’s 50 largest school systems. Fairfax came in second with a graduation rate of 85.1 percent. Prince William County is a little further down, but still relatively high, at spot 17. It had a graduation rate of 68.4 percent.

Unfortunately, that is a fall in ranking for Prince William County. It was previously in 15th place. Also, that puts Prince William County below the national graduation rate of 72 percent. But that percentage is unusually high. Not since the 1980s has the national average been this good.

That’s good news for a country eager for evidence of education improvement, according to one expert quoted in the Washington Examiner article about the report.

“Just as Americans have been following the stock market and employment reports for signs of an economic turnaround, education watchers have been on the lookout for improving graduation rates for the better part of a decade,” said Christopher Swanson, vice president of Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit that publishes Education Week. “It looks like we are finally seeing strong signs of a broad-based educational recovery, which we hope will gain further momentum.”

It may be premature to celebrate, however. The recession has led to deep cuts at many schools. It’s possible that graduation rates at some of the systems on the list have fallen since 2008. Plus the contrast between Prince William County and the national average show that there is a lot of work still to be done.

The challenge going forward is how to maintain and improve graduation rates with fewer resources. Though the recession is technically over, its effects still weigh heavily on school systems. It is unclear how long schools will be beleaguered by budget shortfalls or whether they will eventually rebound to previous levels of funding.

It’s possible that a long-term strategy for surviving on less is needed.

In the meantime, Fairfax County should be riding high on its ranking while taking steps to try and kick Montgomery County out of the top spot.

Check out this press release for more information about the Education Week rankings.

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Suicide Spurs Review

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

It seems there’s a never-ending spate of incidents to worry about when it comes to our public schools. The latest happened in Fairfax County. That is where 15-year-old Nick Stuban committed suicide after being suspended from W.T. Woodson High School.

According to this Washington Post article, some, like Nick’s dad Steve, think reform is necessary in light of what happened with Nick.  They think the school system’s “discipline system is too punitive, with harsh hearings, long suspensions and destabilizing school transfers.”

This article tells the story of Caroline Hemenway. She has wanted changes to the school system’s policies for years. Her son was a sophomore at a Fairfax County high school when he was busted with pot. He was out of school for the fourth quarter of the year, and he was then expelled and transferred to another high school. He is now an honor student in college, but Hemenway thinks the way the school system handled her son was reactionary and wrong.

Fortunately, Fairfax County is listening to parents’ concerns. The school board is beginning a review of the disciplinary policies. See the article on the latest update from Superintendent, Jack D. Dale. It is unfortunate, however, that it took a suicide to get the school board to take action. Apparently, six school board members tried to get a review of disciplinary procedures last fall. They were rebuffed.

To look at a comprehensive critique of the situation, go here.

Whatever the view, whatever the circumstance, it cannot hurt a school to periodically look over all of its procedures — disciplinary and otherwise. A school’s primary focus is education. When student misbehavior gets in the way of that, appropriate action must be taken. But what if the discipline itself stands in the way of education?

In Fairfax County, we have a school board that is serious about looking into whether a new direction is necessary. As the Washington Post editorial said, school system policies cannot be blamed for the suicide of Stuban. However, if ever there were a time to re-evaluate them, this is it.

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Lean Times in Prince William County

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

Superintendent Steven L. Walts’ proposed budget for Prince William County schools combines no layoffs with pay freezes to make a frugal yet satisfying budget.

The total proposed budget is $864 million. That’s $36 million more than was spent last year. The extra bucks will enable the district to add more classrooms as planned.

As for the rest of the budget, first, the good news: Walts’ budget preserves the jobs of all school employees. For those employees living on the cusp of despair in this harsh economy, that will be a relief. This will be the first time since 2007 that nobody was axed. In fact, the school district is planning to hire 175 more teachers.

Other programs that survived in this proposed budget include English as a Second Language and free and reduced-price lunch programs. One out of every three students qualifies for the free and reduced-price lunch, so the program’s preservation is a must.

On the other hand, for the fourth year in a row no school employees will be getting pay raises. No doubt this will frustrate a great number of people, but given the preservation of jobs, it seems a fair trade off. Plus, next spring, employees will get a one percent bonus. But that will not be a recurring reward.

The pay freezes are one cost of preserving positions and programs. Here are a few others: Prince William County has the lowest per-pupil spending rate in the Washington area — $9,577 per student. That is half what Arlington and Alexandria spend. Also, while there will be no reduction in health benefits for employees, rates will increase.

In times of financial strife, Prince William County is doing what it must with the resources it has available. No district in this nation is escaping the effects of our economy. And though American finances are improving, they are by no means where they need to be.

As is always the case in situations like these, parent and teacher options are few. In order to operate the county’s school system effectively, one of two things has to happen. Either the school district makes do with less money or citizens pay out more in taxes. That is a tough line to straddle, and for every person willing to spend more for good schools, there will be another who will stand opposed to the idea.

Until the economy returns to its full flourish, these decisions will continue to be faced. And whatever the choice, the schools have to be creative if they are to keep high-quality education available for Prince William County’s children.

To read more about the proposed budget, go here.

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Have No Fear

Saturday, January 1st, 2011

For Prince William County parents worried about their children’s education, perhaps they need have no fear.  Evidently it’s a great place for youth.

America’s Promise Alliance recently chose the county as one of its 100 best communities for young people. The group was founded by former secretary of state Colin Powell and his wife. A Washington Post article on the honor said that according to county officials, “Supportive educators, numerous after-school activities and volunteer opportunities that are available for students all make Prince William County shine as a place for young people…”

The mission of America’s Promise Alliance is to ensure students graduate from high school and are ready to move on to college. Indeed, graduation rates in Prince William County schools are not too shabby. In 2010, approximately 88 percent of students graduated on time. Of course, Virginia itself does pretty well graduation-wise. About 85 percent of students graduated on-time statewide in 2010. These figures are up from 2009. In that year, Prince William County graduated 84.3 percent of students while the state graduated 83.3.

But graduation from high school is just half the battle. That’s why the support of organizations like America’s Promise Alliance is so important. It is essential that students graduate high school prepared for the next stage of their education. America’s Promise Alliance does this by advocating for the five key supports children need:

  • Caring adults such as parents, teachers, mentors, coaches and neighbors
  • Safe places that offer constructive activities when young people are not in school
  • A healthy start and healthy development
  • An effective education that prepares young people for college and work
  • Opportunities to help others through service

Fortunately, it looks like Prince William County does a good job in these areas as well. So, keep up the good work, Prince William County. And all parents can ensure it does by keeping an eye on the facilities, services and support given to their children.

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Merit Pay Snafu

Monday, December 27th, 2010

The Prince William County school system plan to institute a merit pay program in some of its schools may have hit a snag. The Federal Department of Education provided the school system with an $11.1 million grant to pay for the five-year Teacher Incentive Performance Award pilot initiative, but it turns out that the taxpayers will still end up footing some of the bill.

At a school board meeting, Prince William County officials found out that the school system will have to pay 20 percent of the program’s cost the first year. Then the percentage the school system pays will go up 20 percent every year until it is taking care of 80 percent of the tab in the 2015-2016 school year.

The idea is that the school system should demonstrate its ability to continue to fund the program beyond the life of the grant. Unfortunately, school board members who were so keen on the merit pay program didn’t realize when they voted for it that taxpayer money was going to have to pay for some of the program in the near term.

This news comes in the midst of a poor economy and a sour outlook for the school system’s budget. It was cut $25.6 million from last year. At the same time, enrollment increased by 2,460 students.

While it looked like this experiment in merit pay was going to be free for county schools, the reality is that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The taxpayers must pony up.

For those that don’t remember, the merit pay program is a system where well-performing teachers will get extra compensation for their efforts in the classroom. Nobody’s salary would be affected negatively by the program, but some teachers will end up making more money than their peers. The program is planned only for the poorest schools in the system. The hope is that by offering merit pay, teachers will be inspired and student achievement will rise as a result.

The only “question” left now is how willing are taxpayers to start paying for this experiment in the near term? Everybody thought the monetary burden was going to be delayed, but instead it’s immediate, and in a tough economic time, painful.

It is generally recognized that something must be done to help students in the poorest and lowest performing school systems. Merit pay is just one experiment that is being conducted in an effort to improve the quality at such schools. Eventually, if they are to have a real chance of succeeding, taxpayers at the local level are going to have to pay. Of course, since the grant came from federal funds, the taxpayers are already paying, but the impact is less immediate.

If merit pay is effective, then it might be worth the cost. If it’s not, then the county could just be throwing money away. Time will tell which outcome is true.

To read more about this, go to Washington Examiner.

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Goodbye Michelle Rhee

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

If you have been paying attention, then by now you know that Washington, D.C., Public School Chancellor Michelle Rhee resigned her position. She is the controversial leader who decided to fire more than 200 teachers for poor performance this year, a move that is relatively unheard of in the world of public education. Read more about that here .

Rhee isn’t out until the end of the month, but already Deputy Chancellor Kaya Henderson has been picked to replace her. As usual, politics was involved. Rhee’s educational decisions have angered many, especially unions. The Washington Post article about the decision says that Rhee “reached a mutual decision” with City Council Chairman Vincent Gray to resign her position. Gray, a Republican, is expected to become the next mayor. Current mayor Adrian Fenty lost his re-election hopes in a Sept. 14 primary election. He was widely considered to be Rhee’s protector.

In her tenure as chancellor, Rhee showed her actions to be very much in line with President Obama’s education policies. His Race-To-The-Top initiative advocates for getting rid of low performing teachers, deciding a teacher’s quality based on student test scores and providing merit pay. Despite her departure, Rhee’s reforms, which are credited with raising test scores in D.C., are supposed to remain in place.

D.C. has been one of the lowest performing school districts in the country for quite some time. There, as in many jurisdictions around the country, officials were desperate to find ways to improve how children are taught. Michelle Rhee is what the people got. Read more about her resignation here .

Speculation abounds as to where Rhee will go next. No doubt, wherever it is, she will remain controversial.   Rhee was recently seen in the movie “Waiting for ‘Superman,”.  The movie highlights the flaws in the public education system. Clearly the problem of public education has captured the imagination of the nation. Just because Rhee is going away doesn’t mean her ideas will.

The nature of public school education is going to change. Teachers will be held to account more often, and perhaps, critics say, unfairly. If these reform efforts are successful, the changes will be here to stay. So, it is time for our nation’s parents and teachers to begin adjusting to the change. It might not be permanent, but at least for a time, it will be a reality.

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Almost Good News in Prince William County

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

There was a time that Prince William County schools faced a possible cut of more than 700 jobs in its fiscal 2011 budget. Gradually that number was whittled down until it finally reached zero. That was great news. The school system went from calamity to calm relatively quickly and restored peace of mind to parents, students, and schools’ staff.

Of course, that great news simply meant that the status quo was maintained. But recently, Prince William County schools became hopeful that they might actually get extra staff thanks to federal stimulus funds. With those funds, the school system could have hired 180 extra teachers for its classrooms.

That was all thanks to the U.S. Congress, which recently decided to make 10 billion extra federal stimulus dollars available for education jobs across the country. Virginia will get about $249.5 million of that.

It was up to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors to make the final decision on the new jobs. And it did. The supervisors decided not to use the stimulus funds this fiscal year and instead to reconsider them next time.

To read about this, go here.

The use of stimulus funds is a complicated topic. In this case, the funds would have lasted only for a year. After that, the school system would have had to come up with the money to keep any new jobs. Something similar happened when Prince William County schools decided in 2009 to give a raise to school system employees beginning in fiscal 2010. The raises were made possible by federal stimulus funds that would last for only two years – 2010 and 2011. After that, county taxpayers will be footing the bill. Some county supervisors were skeptical of the move back then and have apparently retained that attitude this time around.

Ultimately, the current crop of stimulus funds may cost the county money. But it’s hard to deny that the extra money would benefit the students in Prince William, at least in the short term. The fewer teachers there are the more students each individual teacher must instruct. We all know that students learn better in smaller classes. So, it’s reasonable to assume that having 180 new teachers would mean smaller classrooms and better education to a certain extent.

Regardless, until the supervisors reconsider the funds for fiscal 2012, the discussion is moot.

In the meantime, county officials and taxpayers must think about which is more important: saving money or educating students? That may seem like an easy question to answer, but it’s not. More money in one place means less money elsewhere, so someone will suffer for the sake of better education. Everybody must understand who will suffer, how much they will suffer, and how much schools will benefit before stimulus funds should be used. Everybody has an extra year to think about it.

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Helping Students Catch Up

Monday, August 9th, 2010

“No Child Left Behind” is an ambitious project set up under the Bush administration to do exactly what its title implies. Despite that, some students in school systems continue to lag behind. Schools often have their own measures for helping those students. Now, Fairfax County Schools have a new one.

The Fairfax County school system says it can make progress with poorly performing black and Hispanic students, but it needs monetary support from the Fairfax Board of County Supervisors to make it happen.

The school system says it needs $1.3 million dollars to morph programs at some of its schools from something called the Excel program to a newly created “Priority Schools Initiative.” Excel has been in place in 20 Fairfax schools since 1998. It was supposed to help low-income elementary school students improve their grades. But school officials say that many aspects of Excel weren’t working. Rather, other efforts — such as needs-based staffing, which decreases student-teacher ratios at schools with a lot of low-income and beginning English-speaking students — were more effective in helping the schools that were part of the Excel program, school officials say.

So, Excel is basically out and the “Priority Schools Initiative” is in. Rather than focusing on low-income students alone as Excel did, the “Priority Schools Initiative” will look to help poorly performing students no matter how much money their families have. In particular, schools where Black and Hispanic students don’t do as well as their white and Asian peers will be targeted by the new program.

All together, 30 schools —some elementary, some middle — will be part of the “Priority Schools Initiative.” Some of these schools were formerly part of the Excel program, but not all. The plan is to give these 30 schools more resources for at least three years. The school system allocated the $1.3 million dollars so that it could use that cash to move schools previously using Excel to the “Priority Schools Initiative.” The county supervisors have set aside exactly that amount for the schools, assuming school officials are able to show that the money is really needed.

So far, not all the supervisors are convinced.

Read more about the situation at Fairfax Times.

It’s the constant battle of public schools to find a way to reach those students who can’t seem to keep up. Countless hours and dollars have been spent trying to achieve what all teachers’ desire: the effective teaching of every student. As some programs fail to accomplish that task, others must come up to replace them. The only thing that is clear is that doing nothing is not an option.

Towards that end, Fairfax County Schools are making a concerted effort to help students who are often forgotten. Parents and students in Fairfax County schools may have first-hand experience with this. Perhaps some of your children did well under Excel. Perhaps some of them will do better under the “Priority Schools Initiative.” Perhaps not.  Regardless, projects like these two will continue — in Fairfax and across the country — as long as there are students lagging.

Learn more about Fairfax’s new program. Whether you think it will help your child or it’s a waste of money, contact the Board of County Supervisors to let members know what you think about the possibility of them spending this $1.3 million. If you’re a part of the school system, don’t let this opportunity to be heard pass.

Go to http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/government/board/ to find more information on how to contact the supervisors.

Go to http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/members.htm to find out how to contact your school board members. Ask them to tell you more about the “Priority Schools Initiative.”

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Dramatic Firings in D.C.

Monday, July 26th, 2010

There is a lot of talk today about the importance of education. We are constantly trying to find ways to decrease student-to-teacher ratios, find better testing methods, and search out new types of schools and systems of education. Despite all these efforts, there is one area in which school systems are generally hesitant to do their duty: Firing ineffective teachers.

In theory, it’s simple. If a teacher isn’t adequately teaching students, then he or she should no longer have a job. In practice, poorly-performing teachers often get to stay on. But Washington, D.C., in a move that is getting national attention, has decided to do something about it.

Michelle Rhee, chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools, fired 241 teachers Friday. That’s 5 percent of all D.C. teachers. Most of the teachers fired had received the lowest rating possible from a new evaluation system. But wait, there’s more. Others in the school system — who are also performing poorly, though perhaps not as abysmally as the already-fired crew — have been told that if they don’t shape up in a year, they’ll be out too.

This isn’t the first time Rhee has fired teachers for poor performance. She did so in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years as well. However, the number of teachers let go back then, 79 and 96 respectively, is small-time compared to the slaughter witnessed Friday.

To read more about the firings, check out this article in the New York Times.

Rhee’s move is dramatic, but is it right?

According to an opinion piece in the Washington Examiner, Rhee’s stint as chancellor appears to be an effective one. When she started her job in 2007, the D.C. schools were terrible. Since then, the schools have been improving, though the opinion piece does note that when measuring the schools’ progress, Rhee “has used highly publicized — and sometimes highly spun — test scores.”

Perhaps she knows what she’s doing. The Washington Post certainly thinks she deserves strong backing.

“A lot of lip service is given to not tolerating bad teachers. Educators, politicians, and even union leaders say that there is no place in the classroom for a teacher who can’t produce results. But actually doing something about the situation is an entirely different matter. That’s why D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee should be supported for taking the difficult but necessary steps to rid the system of ineffective teachers,” states a July 25 Washington Post editorial.

The importance of Rhee’s move isn’t applicable only to Washington, D.C. If her decision survives and the D.C. schools improve further, then you shouldn’t be surprised to see other school systems follow suit.  In fact, Rhee was not the first to consider drastic measures. According to this AolNews article, in February, a Rhode Island school district got rid of all teachers at one high school because of their poor performances. The article also states that Houston, Texas will start evaluating its teachers via test scores next year. And these may not remain isolated incidents. The article says that Obama’s education policy promotes tough teacher evaluations. If the president is behind this kind of thing, then expect to see it become more widespread.

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Great News in Prince William County

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

If you are a parent or student at a Prince William County school, some recent news should have you smiling.

Everybody knows that governments at every level have been facing tough financial decisions in light of the fact that our nation’s economy is still on shaky ground. The Prince William County school system, when formulating its 2011 budget, had a particularly hard choice to make.

In the original budget proposed by Superintendent Steven L. Walts, more than 700 school system jobs were slated for cuts. Naturally, that would have significantly impacted the nature of the student experience. There would have been fewer teachers and support staff in the schools to facilitate and nurture learning.

In March, the county school system realized that the number of layoffs could be reduced to a number closer to 200 as a result of then-current budget projections. The number was still worrisome, but just like that, hundreds of jobs appeared safe.

If things had stopped there, this would be a different, more depressing story; but, fortunately, the school system has managed to gradually whittle the number of layoffs down to zero. That’s right, not a single person is being laid off in the Prince William county school system.

Every resource a student can get his or her hands on is valuable, especially when it comes to human resources. How many of us can remember the people who in some way shaped our lives? There were the teachers who inspired us to pursue our passions, the administrators who set our feet on the straight and narrow path of success, the staff members who made us feel at home. With every job cut, a student loses a chance to meet one of those special people.

But now, that is no longer a worry. Parents and students can rest easy knowing that all their favorite — and perhaps not-so-favorite — school system employees will be at the schools for some time to come. Unless, of course, they choose to leave on their own.

To read the latest article about the school layoffs, go to Inside Nova.

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