“There needs to be an error code that means “I received your request but decided to ignore you.”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

These continue to be strange times that we are living in. Social media allows us to express whatever pops into our minds and the freedom to do so with little concern of reprisal or long-term impact.

For decades, we’ve thrown around rhetoric that treats our political opponents as mortal enemies instead of fellow citizens. Predictably we’ve become more divided as a country than we’ve ever been in the past. It was only a matter of time before the words became actions.

This week, a candidate for president was shot at a campaign event. The shooter was a 20-year-old man whose motive is still under investigation.

Luckily the candidate survived with just a flesh wound to their ear, but the threat was very real, and the implications concerning.

A secret service agent brandishes a submachine gun while agents and police subdue a gunman behind him after he shot President Ronald Reagan, his press secretary, a policeman and a secret service agent in Washington on March 30, 1981. The policeman lies wounded, foreground, while a White House staff member kneels over James Brady, the press secretary. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

It’s been over forty years since an attack was made against a president or a presidential candidate. Many of us can still remember the aftermath of the attempt on President Reagan’s life by John Hinkley. The images are forever etched in our collective minds.

I don’t care what your political affiliation is, or your personal feelings about a presidential candidate, violence should never be part of our governing process. That’s not how democracy works.

In the aftermath of Sunday’s shooting, social media and the airwaves have been awash with cries of, “but they…”. It reminds me of my teenage kids in the back of the car arguing over who did what and when, though none of it should serve as justification.

This should be a time of reflection for each of us, How are our actions and verbiage contributing to the current climate.

I’ve been alive more than a minute, and I’ve seen presidents of varying degrees of quality. Some I liked, some I didn’t. Some were skilled, some not so much. Two things have remained consistent for me.

My quality of life was determined not by the actions of any president, but rather my own. I have never looked to the president, or any other politician, as a moral compass. Dismiss that argument if you want, but I continue to have many friends from all parts of the political spectrum, united by a belief in kindness, compassion, honesty, and commitment.

While we may disagree politically and philosophically, we can still show kindness to each other. We can rely on facts instead of hyperbole.

Which brings me to the second thing, despite all of these presidents, democracy has prevailed. The country looks a lot different today than it did in its youth under Nixon, but it’s still America, the best damn country in the world.

Round here, we are supposed to fight for our fellow citizens, not against them. We also have a belief and faith in our country and its citizens that seems to be in short supply today.

We assign motivations to others without even really know them, taking little time to interact with them. Meanwhile, we make assumptions that divide instead of unite. We spend more time building fences, instead of tearing them down.

We are supposed to have room in our hearts for all Americans, not just the ones who think like us.

We spend a great deal of time talking about the Civil War, but we don’t seem to have learned many lessons from it.

I’m not sure what it looks like, but we have to do better, and that starts with each of us.

If each and every vote counts, then the actions of each and every one of us matters as well.

My constant reminder to my kids is to worry less about the actions of others, and more about your own actions. Be the change you envision.

If you want better neighbors, be a better neighbor.

If you want a more civil country, be more civil yourself.

This current trajectory can not be sustained.

– – –

The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) was founded almost 15 years ago by former Senator Bill Frist. The premise being that a bunch of non-educators were better equipped to influence state education policy than actual educators. Its current CEO David Mansouri, has never taught in a classroom and holds a music degree. Despite his lack of qualifications, Mansouri earns north of 400K a year for his efforts.

Over the years, SCORE has received nearly $20 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to guide the state in adopting its favorite initiatives. Common Core, Literacy bills, teacher evaluations, TISA, and increased testing have all been among the efforts promoted by the organization.

The board is filled with a who’s who of political elites with names like Frist, Ayers, Levine, Scarlett, Gonzales, Cagle, Haslem, and Niswonger. Not a lot of public school parents on this board.

During the last State General Assembly, SCORE kept a lower-than-usual public profile, as lawmakers had caught on to the grift and had developed a habit of asking uncomfortable questions about the source of the non-profit’s funding and agenda.

However, they did raise their head to oppose the proposed voucher bill. Now let’s be clear here, it wasn’t because they were staunch defenders of public education. Nope, it was because they were staunch defenders of standardized testing.

If you’ll remember the House version of the bill had a provision for lowering testing requirements. That brought SCORE out in protest.

Those test results are very good for fundraising, and SCORE depends on them to fuel the bottom line.

In case there were any doubts about SCORE’s commitment to standardized testing, The Tennessee Firefly is reporting on two memos the non-profit is sharing in support of standardized testing.

A news release emailed to The Tennessee Firefly, the two memos titled “Teacher Evaluation: Driving Improved Instruction and Student Achievement” and “Standards and Assessment: Setting High Expectations and Monitoring Progress” mark the launch of a new memo series dubbed “Policy Pillars: Supporting What Works,” which will examine how state initiatives have worked to improve student performance.

According to the memo relating to assessments, annual Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) assessments and end-of-course exams play a critical role in measuring student proficiency and growth and giving students and families transparent information about college and career readiness. It said these assessments are also important for informing instruction and academic intervention strategies. It noted that following the implementation of state academic standards and aligned assessments to hold students to higher expectations, student performance across the state has gradually improved, with Tennessee “no longer at the bottom of the pack in national comparisons.”  The memo added that Tennessee’s academic performance notably stood out as one of the “fastest growing in the nation.”

Let’s be clear here, SCORE is arguing that an exam whose results are not available to parents until late in the summer are somehow magically contributing to increased student performance. Not only that, but are providing transparency for parents. Man if you are buying this, I’ve got some swampland in Airizona you might be interested in.

Again, the non-profit is utilizing the tagline of “fastest growing in the nation” despite it being over a decade since we earned that title on NAEP testing.

Here is my favorite quote:

“Tennessee should maintain high expectations through rigorous academic standards and aligned assessments that reflect student preparation for school, careers, and life. Moving forward, the state should also commit to better connecting education and work data and making data insights about long-term student success more accessible and actionable for all Tennesseans.”

I pray tell, please share with me how TCAP reflects student preparation for life.

No documented research shows a correlation between a student’s performance on state standardized tests and their future quality of life.

Arguably the tests reflect student learning, but even that assumption has been put in doubt as more and more research shows that tests reflect a student’s socio-economic status more than their actual learning.

SCORE’s memo focusing on teacher evaluations noted that Tennessee’s foundational commitments to evaluating educators and providing high-quality feedback “have led to increasingly effective instruction and significant advances in student achievement.” It said evaluations also play a critical role in planning for professional development, determining classroom assignments, awarding tenure status, and making decisions relating to promotions, retention, and compensation.

“Without teacher evaluation, there would be no basis on which to implement these essential strategies,” the memo read.

It’s not like every teacher and administrator in every building doesn’t know who are the effective teachers. Freeing up principals to work with struggling teachers is a more effective use of time than continually evaluating teachers who are consistently performing at a high level.

Someday, someway, legislators really need to do a deep dive into the role of non-profits in crafting state education policy.

Till that happens, it’ll just be more defending of the cash cow nonsense.

– – –

As the start of the next school year quickly approaches, changes are afoot at the upper echelons of Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) leadership ranks.

Chief Academic Officer Mason Bellamy announced early last week that the end of the week would mark the end of his tenure with MNPS. The veteran administrator arrived roughly five years ago after spending the entirety of his career in Clarksville.

The abruptness of the announcement has led to speculation that the administrator has run afoul of MNPS’s Director of Schools Adrienne Battle and was being forced out. It is worth noting that administrator contracts renew at the start of the fiscal year, which is July 1.

In an effort to dispel those rumors, Bellemy made an appearance from his home on a Friday Zoom call with principals. He had nothing but good things to say about his time at MNPS and explained that with his child going away to college, this was an opportunity for him and his wife to take some time to reconnect. He also alluded to an offer in the private sector that he couldn’t pass up.

Sounds great except when you consider that he and his wife likely knew about the coming change well in advance of today. Since both were in Memphis at last month’s Principal Splash, perhaps that would have been the time to give a heads-up to school officials. Instead of using that time to plan for the coming structural changes, principals spent their time watching a movie on equity that is available online.

Bellamy was recently a finalist for the superintendent job in Albuquerque, before pulling out for “personal reasons”.

In a release from MNPS, Dr. Battle spoke glowingly of Bellamy;

“Dr. Bellamy has been a key ingredient in our recipe for success at MNPS,” Dr. Battle stated. “I’m proud of the work we have done to support and grow the students we serve and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Replacing the outgoing CAO is former Priority School Chief Renita Perry.

On a side note, I love how Priority School Chiefs continue to get better opportunities while the list of priority schools never decreases, but maybe that’s just me.

Perry has been with the district for a little over six years. Initially hired as Executive Director for Elementary Schools, she took over as Chief of Innovation when Sharon Griffin retired.

During this year’s budget season, she riled Priority School principals when she attempted to make up the pending loss of Federal money by asking them to tithe over a portion of their school budgets to fund central office positions supporting Priority School. It was not a popular idea.

When asked about the status of that initiative, MNPS Chief of Communications Sean Braisted responded:

“Regarding the budget question, due to a change in rules by the TDOE related to how priority school grants are allocated, the district worked with principals to develop a budget process that ensured a continued level of centralized support for our Schools of Innovation. This means a portion of funds allocated to schools in the grants process are used to fund positions that work directly to support them. Our Schools of Innovation and Federal Programs collaborated with those SOI principals to develop this budget process to maintain a continuity of services to support student success.”

Supporting Chief Perry in the Division of Academics and Schools will be Dr. David Williams who has been promoted to serve as Deputy Chief of Academics, while continuing to provide support for the district’s teaching and learning teams.

Two other moves were announced. Both raised eyebrows.

According to the district press release, “Dr. Shawn Lawrence, currently serving as Executive Director of Elementary Schools in the southeast, is taking on the new position of Deputy Chief of Schools and will oversee the district’s school and school leadership division.”

Lawrence comes to the position with the reputation of a disciplinarian and a micromanager. Before serving as an Executive Director, he was a principal at Eagleville. The man is reportedly very fond of a write-up as a means of motivation.

In 2018, I wrote the following:

Nashville will have a new elementary school next year, and now that school has a principal. Metro Nashville Public Schools announced Mr. Shawn Lawrence as the first principal of the district’s newest school, Eagle View Elementary School. The elementary school will serve the Cane Ridge Community with a capacity for 800 students. Mr. Lawrence was previously the Principal at Apollo Middle School. Before that, he was at Neeley’s Bend Middle. He is a recognized turnaround specialist. So I have to ask… why is a turnaround specialist for middle schools the perfect fit for a new elementary school? Is middle school no longer a high need for MNPS, and if it is, why are we moving proven MS leadership to the ES level? Just the kind of stuff that goes through my head.

Dr. Rodney Rowan will join MNPS as the Executive Officer of Schools. He brings 27 years of impactful experience in public education to Metro Schools. Throughout his career, he has served as a classroom teacher, professional learning coach, assistant principal, principal, and most recently assistant superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Public Schools. He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tennessee State University, an Educational Specialist Degree from Union University, and a Doctorate in Leadership from the University of Memphis. Dr. Rowan is known as a dedicated instructional leader who has consistently demonstrated the ability to build student and adult capacity while accelerating growth and achievement in public education.

Rowan was a key component in the creation of Memphis’s Innovation Zone. The IZone, which was dedicated to turning around low-performing schools, proved to be more successful than the Tennessee’s Achievement School District. Despite that initial success, Memphis remains a chronically under-performing school district.

Memphis recently hired a new director of schools. Dr. Battle serves as an advisor to the new director as a member of the Directors Transition Team.

An interesting side note, MNPS executives appear to be scrubbing their Linked In accounts prior to district announcements.  All three of the new appointee’s pages only showed their latest position. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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Categories: Education