“Asked about the board’s level of talent, Bredesen says the school board is no more a collection of education experts than the Metro Council is a chamber full of scholars on Metro Government. That may or may not be a healthy state of affairs; it all depends upon whom you ask.” Liz Garrigan quoting Mayor Phil Bredesen, Nashville Scene May 20th, 1997

“I think it’s fair to say that, as of today, we have had no conversation on changing standards, curriculum, or anything else,” he says. “I’m not alarmed by that because it’s still early in the process. But if it continues like this, it will not be successful.” Harry McMackin, president of the Metro Nashville Education Association speaking on Common Knowledge Curriculum, Nashville Scene, SEP 13, 2001

I think sometimes it’s important to take a moment, or two, and collect your thoughts before commenting on events. Taking a moment to breathe, and reflect, allows one to develop a perspective that is divorced from the emotional baggage of the moment. Some things that seem crystal clear at first, can be viewed differently after review and conversation.

So while the Tennessean and Fox News raced off to offer their perspective, I pulled back a bit. I dug into the subject and looked at the history of MNPS and the school board. As a PSA, let me offer that the Nashville Scene has a tremendous archive in case you want to familiarize yourself with the history of the district. At this time, I’d like to share some of the conclusions that I’ve come to, based on my research and conversations.

First and foremost, I’m just amazed at our collective lack of historical knowledge. There ain’t one thing happening today, that’s new. We’ve been down every single one of these roads over the past 25 years, yet we wander around making proclamations like we are bridesmaids on pedal taverns just in town to have a good time.

If you are a board member and you uncomfortable with confrontation, that’s on you for not doing your homework. Being a board member is a contact sport. Always has been, always will be. It’s not a job for the meek.

There has never been a time in this city where the school board has not been confrontational and viewed as dysfunctional. There is a good reason for that, it’s an extremely important job that produces extremely important outcomes with no clear path of how to produce results and lots of ways not to. It is also a governing body that hasn’t always acted in the best interests of stakeholders. So if anyone who thought that they were going to get on this board and just attend choral recitals and spread cheer, you were being naive at best.

Working in our schools is hard, hard, work. Teacher’s fight tooth and nail every day for their students. They have to because sometimes nobody else will. Why would somebody think that as a board member you wouldn’t have to fight just as hard and be just as tough? Education ain’t a job for the thin-skinned, the consequences are too important to worry about bruised egos.

You want to see toughness on display? Watch how new board member Fran Bush verbally punches fellow board member Will Pinkston in the mouth when he continually refuses to extend professional courtesy to Amy Frogge while pushing a memorandum on placing a portion the Hope Garden property on the surplus property list (around 1:49). His actions were clearly intended as a vehicle to punish Frogge for her missing a retreat and a meeting. I suspect, it was also due to her not following his lead in supporting the director at all costs as well. It was petty, it was vindictive, it was all the things that Pinkston has shown himself to be. The difference was that this time Frogge didn’t just have Speering by her side, she had newly elected Fran Bush and Bush wasn’t having any of it.

In a tone that dripped with honey, Bush laid into Pinkston, letting him know that retreats were not mandatory, that family came first, and if you are going to talk professional courtesy and respect…you need to walk it. Her delivery had me rubbing my jaw, and I was sitting on the other side of the video screen.

Pinkston’s only retort was, “Is there a use for this property that I am unaware of?”

We weren’t discussing uses of the property Will, we were talking respect of fellow board members. A subject you seem to know little about, but Bush seems willing to help you understand it.

Pinkston’s memorandum failed and Hope Gardens was excluded from the list. That’s got to put a dent in the narrative that he’s been telling associates about him being the one running the district. First Bredesen, now this, this losing thing is starting to become a habit.

I suspect that Pinkston has now placed a target on Bush’s back. Hopefully Bush is aware of Pinkston’s propensity to use surrogates to do his dirty work. He probably won’t come at her directly and I wouldn’t be shocked if he used another board member to exact his revenge.

Now to the second part of the story. There seems to be a narrative being spread about. In this narrative board member Amy Frogge disrespected the teachers giving the presentation on Common Knowledge Language Arts by referring to it as a “dog and pony show”. First of all, Frogge repeatedly stated that she wasn’t intending to be disrespectful to the teachers and secondly, Frogge has been nothing but a champion for teachers over the last 6 years and I’m pretty sure teachers are aware of that.

Christiane Buggs comments to the teachers after they spoke was to say that they looked angry and that some looked they were going to cry. I take some exception to that comment. Over the past several years I’ve interacted with quite a few of our elementary school teachers and let me tell you, they are pretty damn tough. The extra hours that those presenting put into the PowerPoint that was shown is but a drop in the bucket of the extra hours that they put in daily. To do what they do, year after year after year requires the developing of a pretty thick skin. So to insinuate that they are so fragile that an offhand remark by a board member is going to put them in a state of fury or despair, I would argue is kinda insulting.

It’s like a man feeling like he has to the rush of the aid of a woman who is incapable of defending her honor. Pretty sure every one of those teachers was capable of expressing their displeasure and defending themselves if required. The rending of the garments is more about the defenders need to feel good, then it is about protecting anyone.

I’m sure that some of the presenters took exception to Frogge’s remark, but I liken it to when I’m discussing things with my good friend Jason Egly whom I often disagree with. In the course of our discussion not infrequently do we say things to each other that makes the other go, “Whoa, what the hell was that.” But then we give ground and like adults talk it through and as evidenced by watching the board meeting, that is exactly what happened at the board meeting. The difference is that we have established trust between us, in MNPS there is no trust.

If the taking offense is truly in defense of teachers, why are they so quick to rend their garments over some remarks directed at 10 teachers at a board meeting, yet bat nary an eye when 6k teachers across the district are treated with disrespect every day. Let me say that again, across the district, day in and day out, teachers feel disrespected. The fact that you don’t know that is a testimony to their strength and to people not listening, but those days are winding down. As demonstrated by the teachers at Tuesday’s board meeting, teachers are starting to speak out. This week it was 15, let’s see how many there are next month, and the month after if things don’t change.

When you choose to invest in programs over people, you disrespect teachers. When you hold teacher councils and ask for their recommendations on discipline policy, then turn around and enact policy that ignores their recommendations…you disrespect them. When you continually refuse to answer emails and ignore phone calls that cry out for help…you disrespect them. When you ignore the advanced degrees they’ve earned and instead force them to use canned curriculum…you disrespect them. When you talk about them as a bloodthirsty crowd and talk about your income in front of their principals…you disrespect them.

(Recording of speech at recent principals meeting)

These things and more happen on a daily basis and yet not a single tear get’s shed. Not a single shout of outrage comes from the boardThat’s the bigger story to me. Until we stop worrying about respecting teachers in the board room and stop disrespecting them in the classroom, things are never going to get better.

Dr. Joseph continues to suffer under the illusion that teachers know he supports them despite the mounting evidence that counters that belief. He praises the gains made by the schools citing data that, despite his claims, is fudged, faked, or made up.

That’s not a criticism of the work teachers are doing, but rather an indictment against how district leadership missappropriates their hard work. There are great stories and exemplary working taking place, but it is only due to the self-sacrifice and hard work that teachers are doing. That’s what I shed tears over, the miracles that could be happening if only we had leadership that knew how to lead. The miracles that would happen if leadership knew how to foster trust.

On a national level, we seem to have become a nation addicted to taking offense. Taking offense is a choice. We can either choose to take offense or we can work on solving the problem. Myself, I’m over being in a constant state of offense. I want to focus on solutions. But without a change in leadership, that can’t happen. If that offends you…well…you’ve made your choice.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CKLA

Looking at the CKLA presentation, there were a number of things missing from that presentation. The first is a historical context. Yep, we’ve played with Core Knowledge creator E.L Hirsch before. Hop with me into the way back machine.

Back in 1997, then-Mayor Phil Bredesen didn’t care too much for the school board. The relationship was so bad that the Nashville Scene felt compelled to write,

Given the ongoing antagonism between the mayor and the school board, it would be advisable for them to begin to settle their differences. After all, the fractious nature of the relationship between the mayor and the nine members of the school board may not just be a result of what’s going on—or not going on—in Metro schools. It may be a cause of the problem as well.

I know you are shocked. You thought that this board was the most dysfunctional of all time. Sorry to break your bubble. But I digress, When it came to education policy, Bredesen figured he knew better than those sitting on the board and insisted that the curriculum Core Knowledge being implemented. Then-Superintendent of Schools Dr. Benjamin was not keen on the idea and some believe his refusal to implement the curriculum was part of the reason he resigned. Interim Superintendent Bill Wise implemented Core Knowledge in exchange for Bredesen increasing the district’s funding in order to include an art and music teacher in every building.

Fast forward to 2001 and the glitter had faded. Social studies scores had increased but everything else was tanking. Bill Wise was retiring and new director of schools Pedro Garcia was not enamored with Core Knowledge.

The reason for such turbulence is that Garcia and Johnson want to develop entirely new standards that are both “clear and rigorous.” More importantly, they say that they want the new standards “to ensure student success in the 21st century.” While Johnson would not comment specifically on Metro’s curriculum as it now stands, she did say that most districts often fail to make it clear what they expect students to learn and when they expect them to learn it. She also said that most districts don’t prepare their students to work in a marketplace where critical thinking skills are required in nearly all jobs.

It would have been nice, as part of this week’s presentation, to hear how Dr. Felder and her team plan to correct issues that occurred in the past. The Nashville Scene illustrates some of those issues,

Besides, few teachers agree on how they are supposed to teach core, according to Harry McMackin, president of the Metro Nashville Education Association, the local teachers’ union. That alone might be reason to reevaluate the program. “Teachers have differing philosophies. The major concept of core curriculum is to expose kids to basic historical facts and a core set of principles from the full-range of western civilization. Yet this exposure is not in-depth because they could never have the time to do in-depth work,” he says. “That leads to confusion—do we teach to in-depth understanding and mastery or do we teach to mastery? Teachers have differing ideas on this.”

As near I can tell, those problems still exist.

Much of Tuesday’s presentation centered around the proposed Florida State study. What wasn’t made clear was exactly what kids would be included in the study? In looking at the PowerPoint presentation it appeared as if the control group was going to morph into a second treatment group. Well according to Chief Investigator Dr. Sonia Cabell,

We randomly selected approximately 30 children per school from whom we had voluntary parental consent across all kindergarten classrooms. In some schools, the total number was fewer. Across all 24 schools, we have 651 children participating, 333 in the treatment schools and 318 in control schools. We will follow these children as they move to first and second grades. From these 24 schools we will not add additional students from next year’s kindergarten classes.

In other words, just the first cohort is part of the study. All of those grades getting Core Knowledge in the upcoming years, are part of the implementation and not study of CKLA. It appears that Dr. Joseph and his team are using the cover of the study to implement a new curriculum in 24 schools.  Those schools will utilize the Core Knowledge curriculum even though only the first group will be in the study. To me that reeks of dishonesty.

It also concerns me that all of these schools are in the NE and NW quadrant. In other words, starting next year, and going forward, kids on the north side will be taught with a different curriculum than kids on the south side. And I don’t need to tell you the demographics of those two areas. How does the principle of equity apply here? How will the difference in curriculum impact teacher retention and recruitment? Those questions, along with an explanation of how results will be different this go around, remain unanswered.

There was also little comment around how this FSU study would align with the states new, fraught with problems, portfolio evaluation system. News flash! it doesn’t. Remember earlier when we talked about disrespecting teachers? Yea…ignoring potential damage to their professional reputation would fall into that category.

One last side note. The last time Core Knowledge was utilized in the district, teachers wrote the curriculum based on Hirsch’s direction. It was a huge undertaking. I have to wonder how much our own work is being brought back and eventually sold to us? That’s another question that needs answering.

QUICK HITS

Congratulations to Joya Burrell, a senior at Nashville Big Picture High School, who was accepted into the National Society of High School Scholars. She participated in the induction ceremony held Dec. 1 in Atlanta as part of the 2018 Scholars Day. Burrell was the only MNPS student to receive this academic achievement. way to go!

Congratulations to MNPS Chief Operating Officer Chris Henson who was selected as the recipient of the Bill Wise Award from the Council of the Great City Schools. The award is presented to someone who exemplifies professionalism, commitment, integrity, and leadership.

You might have heard that longtime Director Renata Soto is stepping down from her position at Conexion. As a result of her leaving there has been some speculation on what that means for school board member Gini Pupo-Walker. Walker should be considered a leading candidate to replace Soto, but how would that impact her role on the school board? Bears watching.

Memphis has themselves a new interim superintendent in a long time Memphis educator Joris Ray. It seems that more and more urban school districts are looking inward to find leaders. An emphasis has been placed upon people who have come up through this system and know both the culture, history and the players. Seems kind of wise to me.

Rumors are swirling that middle school and high school principals will be getting a Christmas present upon their return from break. They will be included in the district’s recently declared elementary school policy of not suspending, expelling, or arresting students without community superintendent permission.. Needless to say, principals are equating this with a lump of coal and therefore have grave concerns. Let’s see if rumors are true.

I’d like to close with a blog post by Wayne Gersen over at Network Schools. In his post, he points out that teaching isn’t the same job he took 30 years ago.

Teaching is much harder now than ever, and yet we continue to celebrate billionaires who fund charter schools and lionize tyrants like Michelle Rhee who promise to sweep “dead wood” out of schools…. and we then wonder why it is increasingly difficult to find college graduates who want to enter teaching.

I urge you to read the whole piece, it’s short, and then do more than shed tears.

That’s a wrap. Check out the Dad Gone Wild Facebook page. It’s a good news station. If you need to get a hold of me, the email is norinrad10@yahoo.com. Keep sending me your stuff and I’ll share as much as possible. Don’t forget to answer this week’s poll questions. If you think what I write has value, please consider supporting the work through Patreon. To those of you who pledged money this past week, thank you, thank you, thank you.

“Anybody can be unhappy. We can all be hurt. You don’t have to be poor to need something or somebody. Rednecks, hippies, misfits – we’re all the same. Gay or straight? So what? It doesn’t matter to me. We have to be concerned about other people, regardless.”
― Willie Nelson

“Oprah, for instance, still can’t get past the n-word issue (or the nigga issue, with all apologies to Ms. Winfrey). I can respect her position. To her, it’s a matter of acknowledging the deep and painful history of the word. To me, it’s just a word, a word whose power is owned by the user and his or her intention. People give words power, so banning a word is futile, really. “Nigga” becomes “porch monkey” becomes “coon” and so on if that’s what in a person’s heart. The key is to change the person. And we change people through conversation, not through censorship.”
― Jay-Z, Decoded

Last week I received a text from my wife, “Student who went to school here last year committed suicide yesterday.”

Within those 11 words, a world of pain was released.

Suicide is always painful for those left behind, but when it is a child, it becomes particularly tragic. Those left behind find themselves playing scenes of interactions over in their head, trying to find the clues that could have altered the outcome. Unfortunately, those clues can be found everywhere and nowhere. Depression is a chemical process inside a person that goes past the realm of sadness and deeper to the core. Loved ones can see all of the signs and still not be able to change the outcome. At the same time, they can miss all the signs because the person suffering wears their mask a little tighter and in the end, do any of us really know what goes on inside of others?

I didn’t know Jaden Bynum. Nor did my wife, as this is her first year at HG Hill. By all accounts, he was a wonderful young man full of promise. Promise that has now tragically been extinguished. There are no words that will adequately comfort his family and those who love him. But there are actions that can bring some meaning to a life that ended way too soon.

We can start by making sure that our children receive the services they need. There should be a trauma specialist in every school. We need to realize the importance of forming strong relationships, ones that extend beyond the strong bonds of parent and child. Every success has at its core, strong relationships. None of us can do this alone. In order to foster those relationships, we can focus on nurturing versus demanding.

We talk about the importance of social-emotional learning for students, but we spend precious little time developing those behaviors among adults.

My heart goes out to the family of Jaden Bynum and I pray that at some point they are able to find some peace. I pray for all the children, and adults, that are hurting, to whatever degree. I pray they find the courage, the strength, the weakness, or the combination of all three, to share how they are feeling. Depression is not a determiner of who we are as people. I pray that all of us have the capacity to recognize the pain of those around us and we take the time to actually hear them. I pray that we all choose to love each other just a little harder.

STUDENTS AS GUINEA PIGS

On the agenda for today’s MNPS School Board Meeting is a presentation on Metro School’s participation in a study by Florida State University involving the curriculum CKLA. CKLA stands for Core Knowledge Language Arts. It is a curriculum developed by E.D. Hirsch Jr. Hirsch did not have a hand in developing the Common Core Standards but it is easy to see the connection between the two. If you take a look at studies, you’ll see that its results are mixed.

I don’t doubt that a strong argument for its implementation can be built, or that one equally strong against its implementation is unfeasible. My questions though are around its implementation and usage in MNPS. The district’s participation in this study was outlined over the summer in one of Dr. Joseph’s weekly memos. Shawn Joseph Weekly Memo 07.27.18-ilovepdf-compressed

In that memo, is an explanation of the study, an FAQ, and a list of schools who are participating. I urge you to read it for yourselves. There are several questions that I hope get asked tonight.

• How can you have a control when that group is implementing the subject being tested, just on a different timeline? I would argue that creates 2 treatment groups.
• Why are all of the participating schools in the NE and NW quadrants? Many of the schools participating are on the States’s Priority School list? Don’t they deserve proven solutions as opposed to participating in a study?
• There has been a lot of talk about the implications for children who grow up in book deserts. How does a program that focuses on read-a-loud combat those effects?
• Last year the state rolled out a new portfolio system as an evaluation system for kindergarten teachers. To say it was a disaster gives disasters a bad name. Now we are going to force Kindergarten teachers to participate in a study at the same time that they try to navigate a flawed evaluation system. How is the district going to safeguard against having a negative impact upon these teacher’s professional record? I know there is a paragraph in the FAQ but let’s be honest, that’s all hypothetical and you are asking teachers to take a big leap of faith at a time where nothing has been done to build that faith.
• Have all the parent waivers been turned in and what accommodations have been made for parents who don’t want their kids participating?
• I’ve heard talk that teachers in the chosen schools who don’t want to participate in the study are being strong-armed into participation. If those teachers leave, what impact will this study have on hiring replacement teachers? I can’t help but wonder if TNTP is standing by waiting to supplement teachers if needed. Afterall, we approved a contract earlier this yeart for nearly half a million to TNTP in order to help implement CKLA.

Those are just a few of my questions. My biggest one though, is why bring this to the board now? The project is already far enough along, that board questions and concerns will have limited impact, so why bother presenting? Nothing quite conveys we don’t give 2 fucks – sorry for the language, but it’s the only word that fits – about your opinion like asking for it after the fact. Let’s be honest, this administration is using some of our neediest kids as guinea pigs whether we like it or not, so just sit back and enjoy the show.

VOUCHERS, REALLY VOUCHERS

Few policy ideas have been rejected like the idea of vouchers have been rejected. Even people who are fierce choice supporters recognize the failings of vouchers. Yet somehow it’s an idea that fails to go away.

Governor-elect Bill Lee has painted himself as a pragmatic everyman, so there was some hope that despite his surrounding himself with voucher supporters as advisors, he would study the data and make pragmatic decisions. Yesterday he shot holes in that theory and confirmed his openness to supporting voucher legislation. At the best of times this is a terrible idea, but at a time when our schools are chronically underfunded, its a potentially devastating idea.

The problems with voucher programs are multiple. Lee talks about a young man he mentors and how school choice made a difference in his life. Let’s be clear, what he is talking about is offering a lifeboat to some students while condemning those without the means to take advantage of a school voucher plan, to a school even less resourced. It’s a way of picking winners and losers and fails to account for all kids.

Any discussion on the merits of a voucher program has to include the fact that the idea sprung from racist intents. As blogger and educator Mercedes Schneider points out,

In an effort to bypass the 1955 Supreme Court mandate that state courts require school districts to “make a prompt and reasonable start toward full compliance with the [1954] ruling,” [Virginia’s] Gray Commission devised what became known as the Gray Plan. In short, the Gray Plan involved the repeal of compulsory education laws in order to allow for school closure as a last resort to prevent desegregation. It also allowed for state-supervised student assignment to schools and tuition grants to allow public school students to attend private schools. …

Under the advisement of the Gray Commission that he appointed, Governor Stanley called the state legislature into a special session in August 1956, as author Douglas Reed notes, “to devise a legislative response to the prospect of court-ordered desegregation.” The resulting legislation based on the Gray Plan ( …called the Stanley Plan once passed) included both school closure and vouchers to private schools as options. …

[In North Carolina,] Governor Luther Hodges… created a seven-member, all-White Pearsall Committee. In what was known as the Pearsall Plan [1956], the committee advised the North Carolina General Assembly to alter compulsory school attendance as a means of excusing students from attending desegregated public schools. The committee also recommended that the state fund tuition grants for students to choose to attend private schools so as to avoid attending integrated public schools. The Pearsall Plan was not declared unconstitutional until 1969.

There is no getting around that history. Since there is plenty of proof that vouchers do not have a positive impact on student outcomes, we can only assume that some are trying to repeat the sins of the past. As Stanford Education, Professor Martin Carnoy points out,

“There are many policy changes that are likely to have much higher payoffs than privatization,” said Carnoy, including teacher training, early childhood education, after-school and summer programs, student health programs and heightened standards in math, reading and science curricula.

Come on Bill, let’s bring some of that pragmaticism to the table.

QUICK HITS

There continues to be a big push to focus on STEAM education and teach kids coding at an early age. Even though he’s a coder himself, Joe Morgan makes an argument for not teaching kids coding. He argues that it’s more important to expose them to life’s experiences and instill curiosity instead. Teaching them to explore how things are put together allows them to develop a thought process that will inspire their own creativity when it comes to problem-solving.

When we force kids to learn syntax, we reinforce the idea that if something is not a blatantly employable skill, it’s not valuable. Adults can learn syntax. Only kids can learn to embrace curiosity.

How to identify more gifted children from diverse backgrounds is a challenge for every school district in the country. MNPS has been extremely active in this area over the last couple of years. Last year they employed a multiple screener to successfully identify more kids for gifted programs. Unfortunately, this years district budget didn’t include funding to continue its usage. Out in Colorado, Aurora County is employing a new strategy that just may open the door for more kids.

“We had a system that was giving us the results that it was designed to give,” said Carol Dallas, the district’s gifted education coordinator. “That needed to be changed.”

So three years ago, the district paid an outside group to audit its gifted program. Based on those results, the district started testing more students, looking at new ways to identify gifted students, and developing ways to screen for non-academic talents. Aurora Public Schools is also taking a closer look at what teachers offer students in a typical classroom once they’ve been identified as gifted.

Per Chalkbeat, Colorado, using federal definitions, lists various talent areas where a student could be designated as gifted and talented, including in leadership, creativity, dance, performing arts, and visual arts. Aurora has slowly rolled out rubrics for those talents in the last two years, often working with experts from the city or the local college to determine what to look for. In the area of performing arts, for instance, the district holds a performance festival where teachers, as well as actors and producers, critique students demonstrating their talents. Students are getting excited and when students get excited, we should all get excited.

A tip of the Christmas hat to Stratford’s amazing freshman academy team.

Congratulations to the Bobcat Players! Their musical Bonnie & Clyde competed with other high school musicals across the state of Tennessee and won!! The Tennessee State Thespian Society chose Overton’s production of Bonnie & Clyde as the winning submission to perform at this year’s Thespian conference at MTSU in January! Well done!””

Want to REACH teens in Nashville Community? Advertise with the Hillsboro Globe! Job Ads are as little as 10$ Or partner with their Marketing Dept. to drive TRAFFIC to your business. Please consider investing in HS Journalism.

A lot of educators are still mad at JC Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, over his role in the ending of collective bargaining for Tennessee Teachers, but I’ve always found him to be a champion for educators. His latest guest post at TNEd Report makes some solid suggestions on how to improve teacher morale.

POLL RESULTS

Apparently, this week’s poll questions struck a note with Y’all. Responses were way up. Let’s take a look.

The first question asked how you felt about Dr. Joseph’s recent comments at a recent MNPS principal meeting. 187 of you responded with 109 of you saying, “He continually demonstrates his lack of respect for teachers.” the number two answer was “nothing surprises me anymore.” only one person responded that they didn’t have a problem with it.

One person wrote in that “my reporting was out of context”. I must admit, I’m not sure in what context Dr. Joseph’s words would be deemed appropriate. It has also been pointed out that Dr. Joseph was referencing a book when he said made the comment about feeding teachers. Two points here, one he’s referenced that book previously and received criticism. That should have made him extra careful that his comments were taken in the intended context. Secondly, I don’t believe there is a chapter in the referenced book called, “We’ve got some folks snacking.”

Dr. Joseph, like my kids,  has proven very adroit in saying things and then when he’s called out on them acting like he never intended that message, “What?!? What?!? That’s not what I meant.”

He needs to remember, once is an accident, Twice is a possible coincidence. Three times is the establishment of a pattern. Here are the write-ins:

The second question asked for your opinion on the feel-good story of the year. The number one vote-getter, 39%, was the Hunters Bend Band appearing on Pickler and Ben and picking up a check. Number 2 was SW Quadrant Community Superintendent Dottie Critchlow winning an award for her leadership. Here are the write-ins:

The last question asks who you would consider to be the first half MVP of MNPS. Congratulations go to the EL Departments Molly Hedgewood. She continues to lead a department doing great work.  Head of teaching and curriculum David Williams comes in second, barely beating out Dr. Sonia Stewart. However, all nominations are grossly overshadowed by the write-ins. Here they are, all 62 of them:

And that is a wrap. Keep your eyes on today’s board meeting. Indications are that it’s going to be memorable.

As always, you can contact me at norinrad10@yahoo.com. Make sure you check out the Dad Gone Wild Facebook page. if you think what I write has value, please support me through Patreon. I ain’t going to lie, we could use the support. Thanks and peace out.

“As a leader your job is to do everything in your power to create the perfect conditions for success by benching your ego and inspiring your team to play the game the right way. But at some point, you need to let go and turn yourself over to the basketball gods. The soul of success is surrendering to what is.”
― Phil Jackson, Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success

“The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”
― Colin Powell

Once again the MNPS Director of Schools Shawn Joseph finds himself in hot water. As I wrote yesterday, his utilization the pulpit at yesterday’s meeting of district principals to paint a disparaging picture of district teachers when it comes to school suspensions was not well received. In the narrative he shared, he is Maximus, the gladiator in the ring fighting the noble battle while teachers personify the role of the arena crowd, calling for more blood. He went on to talk further about his decline in pay since coming to MNPS from Prince George County Schools and to paint Nashville police as less than partners and more as part of the challenge. It wasn’t exactly motivational genius.

As should be expected at this point, last night, there was a tape floating around and people could hear his remarks for themselves. they were remarks that didn’t sit well with the city’s educators.

Some Nashville School Board members will likely continue to defend Joseph’s words and instead decry how he is under constant attack. My response would be that those attacks are directly caused by the director’s own words and deeds. Over the last two and a half years, he has failed to demonstrate the ability to self-analyze and correct, two very important leadership traits.

I don’t agree with the assertion, but maybe Dr. Joseph is more scrutinized than previous directors. At some point, he has to accept that as a reality and modify his approach. He has to look at everything he says and everything he does through the lens of his critics. Are his actions and words, giving those critics ammunition and if so change the manner in which he delivers his message. Bill Belichick isn’t considered a Hall of Fame coach because he writes up a game plan and sticks to it. He writes up a game plan that allows his team to obtain his goals by countering the strengths of his opposition. In other words, he is a student of the game as much as he is a teacher. Dr. Joseph appears to have abdicated the first role.

Teachers self-evaluate and adjust every day. They head into class with a plan of how they are going to teach. At the end of the day, they analyze how the lesson plan was received and the results it produced. They then think of ways it could be made better. Imagine if a teacher just showed up in front of a classroom and taught in a manner that they thought best, results be damned. They would not be very successful.

Let’s flip the script. If a student has shown the lack of progress in learning that Dr. Joseph has demonstrated, there would be a required intervention. If the intervention did not take place, teachers would be held accountable and accused of doing a disservice to the student. Yet, incident after incident transpires, and nobody intervenes. What will it take?

And I realize that some of what I’m saying flies in the face of yesterday’s plea to broaden the scope of our evaluation. I still maintain that you must have some proof that you are making short-term gains and that people are buying into your vision; some evidence that you are on the right path. Devoid of anything but internally produced data, Joseph’s narrative lacks that evidence.

The counter-evidence, on the other hand, continues to mount.  I looked at a report yesterday that shows the district has lost 143 certified staff members since 8/1. Some will pull out statistics to defend this exodus, but in my mind, that is a lot of people. A lot of people we can not afford to lose. It’s a number that has been consistent with the rate of exit for the last two years, yet nothing is done to stem the flow. It’s like looking at a leaky water heater and saying, “Eh…it’s not that bad, I’ll deal with it next week.”

I’m not afraid to admit that my readership numbers are down a bit and that does concern me because I fear maybe I’m missing something. Maybe my message is no longer resonating. But in talking to people, I have come to the realization that many have just resigned themselves to the current situation. They’ve waited patiently for board members to take action, any action, and when they fail to see it, resignation sets in.  When Dr. Joseph continually exhibits behavior that would be unacceptable in their role with the district and no response is evoked from the school board, or city leaders, a feeling that he is beyond rebuke takes root.

This is not a good place to be. It’s not a culture that inspires great work. It’s not a culture that inspires investment. It’s not a culture that inspires innovation. In the past, Dr. Joseph has referred to MNPS as a sick district. Currently, I think that is probably a pretty accurate diagnosis.

Last night an email went out instructing district employees how they could sign up to speak in front of the board and tell happy stories. After all, that’s the problem right? Morale is low not because of what teachers experience on a daily basis, but rather because they just haven’t heard enough happy stories.

Let me be clear here, there are some incredibly amazing things happening in MNPS. But they are happening solely because administrators and teachers are making them happen in spite of leadership. I would offer this comparison. It’s like celebrating a gifted athlete for his natural accomplishments and never considering how much more they would be capable of achieving if they had great coaching, great nutrition, and a great conditioning plan. I would consider that to be a disservice to the individual athlete and as such, consider failing to supply leadership and proper resources a disservice to our dedicated teachers. They deserve better.

Joseph shouldn’t be referring to them as calling out for blood, but rather acknowledging that they are calling out for support, for resources, for guidance. All of which Dr. Joseph is failing to provide.

THEY ARE BACK

One last side note from yesterday’s principal meeting. Standing by Joseph’s side was Scarlett Foundation head, Joe Scarlett. During his address, Joseph referred to Scarlet as a mentor. I find his presence of note for a number of reasons. Scarlett was a big-time backer of the challengers to the incumbents in the 2016 school board election. Candidates that many described as being pro-charter and pro-choice. Out of respect for those candidates, I’m not going to open that can of worms, other than to point out that Scarlett spent several hundred thousand dollars in an unsuccessful effort to influence Nashville’s school system.

The Scarlett foundation also gives a quarter of million dollars to Conexion Americas, an organization that school board member Gini Pupo-Walker serves in a leadership role. The Nashville Public Education Foundation is also a recipient of Scarlett’s generosity and recently employed school board member Christiane Buggs as a project manager for their Blueprint for Early Childhood Success program. It should be noted as well that NPEF under the leadership of Shannon Hunt, played an extensive role in the search that resulted in Dr. Joseph coming to Nashville. Being a private entity allowed them to shield the search from prying eyes as they weren’t obligated to adhere to Sunshine Laws.

Adding to the intrigue is the revelation that the choice movement is back up to its old tricks. ChalkbeatTN has a new article about a national organization that is looking to unite school boards across the country,

School Board Partners says it wants to create a “national community” of board members and will offer coaching and consulting services. Emails obtained by Chalkbeat indicate the group is targeting board members in Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, Oakland, and Stockton.

I chuckle that Nashville is not on the list, but chalk that up to the results of the organizer’s last foray into trying to influence school board elections. That attempt resulted in a lot of money spent and very little to show for it. In case you are wondering, the new organization’s resources are drawn from the normal cast of characters, so far it has come from money raised by Education Cities, which had been funded by the Arnold, Dell, Gates, Kauffman, and Walton Family foundations, among others. Laura Chapman digs a little deeper into the players and provides us with a program.

Let’s just say I’m watching all of this with a raised eyebrow and a little bit of concern about the extent of influence Scarlett may exert in the upcoming contract extension talks for Dr. Joseph, and going forth.

QUICK HITS

With apologies to the fine folks that are employed by the Prince George County Schools, I have to point out that they continue to supply evidence of where MNPS is heading. Read the latest, where apparently the district double paid 18000 employees.

There are those that would paint MNPS and it’s school board as a dysfunctional entity. At least we haven’t spent $160k and countless hours on a director search that only returns one finalist, an internal candidate at that. Such is what happened last week in Denver. If that wasn’t enough, questions are arising around the finalists’ spouse and their role as a financier of charter schools.

Book’em Nashville is holding a used book giveaway on Dec. 10 from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. Give the gift of reading to your student!

Over at Croft Middle School, yesterday was Project Lit time. Students discussed Rebound for their Project LIT Comm book club! The trivia was heated with a 3-way tie, necessitating a number of tie breakers. Students are ready for next semester and want to thank all of the donors for making the book club possible!

Congratulations are in order to Southwest Quadrant Community Superintendent Dr. Dottie Critchlow, who was named “Tennessee Principal Association Supervisor of the Year” for Middle Tennessee.

Calling all student poets! As part of the 2019 Nashville Poetry in Motion®, ten youth writers will have their poetry featured on MTA bus shelters beginning in April. Submissions by high school and middle school writers will be welcomed with a final submission deadline of Friday, December 21. From this pool of submissions, ten finalists will be selected and will have their poems featured on MTA shelters. Poems are limited to 25 words and 10 lines maximum. I can’t wait to see the results.

The Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Program recognizes high school seniors with $2,500 scholarships for their community service, academic performance, and leadership skills. Deadline to apply is Dec. 7. Apply here http://bit.ly/2KTtKvD 

POLLS

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“Well that’s very kind of you, but voices ought not be measured by how pretty they are. Instead, they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.”
― Sam Cooke

Ever since their arrival from Prince George County Schools, MNPS Director Shawn Joesph and his team have attempted to paint themselves as social justice warriors. They have tried to create a narrative of Nashville as a place where inequities flourish and that they have been sent by a higher power to slay that dragon. Chief Instructional Officer Monique Felder has often told people that she was sent here “to right the sins of the past.”

At today’s principal’s meeting, Dr. Joseph continued that narrative as he addressed concerns about his new discipline policy by referring to teachers as gladiators who just want blood. That blood being kid’s suspended for no reason. This is nothing new, Joseph continually paints teachers as just willy-nilly heading through the halls plucking up black and brown kids and demanding that they are suspended. Per his own words, he once suspended a bunch of kids because that’s what teachers wanted, he has since learned his purpose.

He touts Cigna’s plan to train 90 people to provide mental health supports to stressed out teachers, and then remarks, “If you don’t feed teachers they eat children and some folks have been snacking.” At no point does he acknowledge the role his policies and leadership failings play into teacher stress. Instead, he continually portrays teachers as fearful, racist, and not living up to their potential. It is a narrative that, to say the least, is extremely insulting to the teachers that continually try to make lemonade out of his lemons.

I can only surmise that this reasoning his why his recent discipline policy is focused on stopping something – suspensions, expulsions, and arrests – as opposed to providing something – counselors, trauma-related services. It also lacks any focus on ensuring that 92% of kids who are not suspended, get the benefit of the full and undivided attention of a quality teacher. During school board discussions on the proposed policy, board member Amy Frogge suggested that every school have a dedicated trauma-counselor that could help navigate the outside forces that were influencing student behavior. The idea was rejected, as other board members argued that implicit bias played a much larger role in suspension rates and that is where the focus should lie.

I don’t argue that implicit bias exists. It’s well documented and certainly impacts student outcomes. There are teachers who are quick to employ harsh measures on black and brown students due to their biases. But I would also argue that if there is a deficiency in classroom management with these teachers, then there are probably deficiencies in other areas. I would also argue that this is a minority number of teachers and not representative of the profession. Dedicated supports should be applied as needed and to those who most need it. Whether it’s through additional trainings, mentoring, or restorative practices.

I would also caution against the downplaying of the role poverty plays in behavior issues. Unfortunately, our high poverty schools are populated primarily by children of color. Due to poverty, these are children that are exposed to high levels of trauma – drug abuse, sexual abuse, parental incarceration, physical abuse – at a much higher frequency. Without trained adults equipped to help them process that exposure, their behavior is often impacted in a negative manner.

Converse at a school made up of students from higher socio-economic backgrounds, children have less exposure to trauma. Many of those schools are made up of white students, which is one of the reasons that addressing income inequality on a state and national level is so important. Based on this diminished level of exposure to trauma, there are fewer instances where suspensions become a necessity. This is where poverty impacts the data and if you are not careful, you will get a perception of a greater discrepancy in suspension rates based on race.

There has been very little conversation about how the new discipline policy potentially impacts the teaching profession going forward. Instead, we like to try to consider each individual issue as its own brick, independent of all other bricks. Much like his decision on Reading Recovery, Joseph removes a brick without ever identifying the brick he’s going to put in its place.

The result is that in these high poverty schools there is a perception that there is little a teacher can do to address behavior issues. This perception impacts who is going to teach in these high poverty schools. I’d argue that it will be either young inexperienced teachers, or if you introduce merit pay, older teachers just trying to make some extra cash for a couple of years. As a result, we are not only failing to supply needed supports to our neediest students but as an unintended consequence, we are depriving them of the very teachers who could make a difference in their lives.

What of the teachers who do choose to teach in these high need schools? We judge them based on academic outcomes. I’ll ask you this question, both you and I are hired to sell insurance, you are allowed to focus on selling insurance all day while I am tasked with cleaning the office 2 hours every day, who is going to sell more insurance?

This past week I had a conversation with a fellow parent about how well her child is doing in 8th-grade math this year. This success can be directly traced back to a teacher that her child had 4 years ago that nobody liked; not the parent and not the child. What they have since discovered is that the manner in which the teacher taught the principles of math has allowed their daughter a greater understanding of the concepts she is now facing. But had that parent and the child had their way several years earlier, they probably would have not recommended this teacher.

The point of the story is that we have to stop focusing on just the immediate results and start thinking more about long-term results and the impact on the teaching profession. Dr. Joseph has made the rate of suspension for black students a key performance indicator(KPI). But how does that translate into getting more students the services they need? How does that directly correlate to academic outcomes? What are the other policy areas that are impacted by this focus? Those are all questions that need to be asked, and in my opinion aren’t getting nearly the attention they deserve. Nobody is arguing for suspending, expelling, or arresting kids, what we are arguing for is being deliberate in getting kids the services they need in a manner that keeps everybody safe and doesn’t take instructional time away from other students,

ABOUT THOSE OUTCOMES

I suspect that the reason that Dr. Joseph focuses more on social issues as opposed to academic outcomes is because those outcomes, quite frankly, are not very good. Now Dr. Joseph regularly produces internal data to try counter that evaluation, but luckily the state provides us with independent data.

This week the TNDOE released it’s report card on schools. A quick look at that data shows MNPS trending in the wrong direction. Look at these scores through the eyes of a parent new to the district, do they fill you with confidence? Look at these scores through the eyes of a parent that receives a recruitment flyer from a charter school, do they fill you with confidence that MNPS is the right choice? Look at these scores through the eyes of an Amazon employee moving to Middle Tennessee with the means to live anywhere in the surrounding areas, do these numbers inspire you to purchase a home in Davidson County?

Equity is extremely important. But equity without excellence should not be acceptable when it comes to our schools, neither should be sacrificed for the other. Over the last several years I’ve pointed out numerous ways that Dr. Joseph’s policies have actually increased inequities and harmed the very students he claimed to be championing. Now the state data is showing that his policies are also impacting excellence. Nobody should find that acceptable.

Yesterday ChalkbeatTN printed an article in which outgoing State Superintendent of Education Candice McQueen was quoted in regard to more schools in Nashville and Memphis being taken over by the state’s Achievement School District.

“Our recommendation will be: As we go into next school year, unless we see some dramatic changes in certain schools, we will move some schools into the Achievement School District,” McQueen told Chalkbeat this week.

Initially when I read this I took it as a sign of McQueen trying to assert a last burst of power by threatening to condemn kids to a failed educational experiment. However, as I read it today, I interpret it as a shot across the  bow for MNPS and their plans concerning priority schools. McQueen has met extensively with the district over the last several months and as such, is well versed in the district’s priority school plan.

If she was confident in that plan, why would she even raise the specter of a state take over of schools? Why would she not instead praise the work being done and express confidence that the districts in question were headed in the right direction in regard to their neediest kids? It is my interpretation that she has seen the plans and feels that for whatever reason they are lacking. They are lacking to such a level that she feels compelled to warn that state takeover is still an option.

Asked why people in Memphis and Nashville should have any faith in the ASD given its abysmal track record, McQueen said any decision to move a school into the state’s district will be because of a lack of confidence that the local district has a good plan “to get students ready for college and career.”

I don’t know that it can get much clearer than that.

I’m going to close today with the an anecdote that Dr. Joseph chose to share today with principals at today’s meeting. According to Dr. Joseph his son said to him, “Since we came to Nashville, you make a whole lot less money,” His reply was, ” Yes son, but I make a difference.”

This is an anecdote that raises many questions for me. Was Joseph not making a difference in Prince George? Joseph makes roughly $327K a year in Nashville without factoring in payments to his retirement fund. The former district head in Prince George County made $280K. Joseph was the number 3 in the district. What was he doing to make such a dramatic difference in his income between PGCS and MNPS? Given his close relationship with Dallas Dance, I have to ask, how much work was he doing for Dance?

Leadership experts consider empathy as one of the 5 core traits of a leader. As it relates to leadership, empathy is described as follows,

Empathy is the capacity that allows a leader to understand the perspectives and feelings of others and foresee the impact of his actions and events on them. Effective communication depends on empathy. Without leader empathy, team morale is fragile.  The leader lacking in empathy is driven by his own needs and blind to or indifferent to the needs of others.   Empathy is not the same as compassion, or caring about others’ needs and experience.  Manipulative and authoritarian leaders can be adept at intuiting other peoples’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them.  Adding the capacity to care about—not just perceive—the experience of others creates a beloved leader.

In that light, I would ask, what would be the purpose of relating a story about money to a group of people who oversee people who’s chief complaint is earned income? How could that story about earning less money have a positive impact on culture? In my opinion, it’s a key indicator of just how wrong Dr. Joseph is for the position he holds and that he lacks the basic traits to effectively lead this districts schools.

Nashville needs an educational leader, not a social warrior. The right person knows the difference between the two and where the roles overlap. Unfortunately, the evidence continues to mount that Dr. Joseph is not that person. I would challenge board members who continually defend him to outline evidence to the contrary using data not created by Dr. Joseph himself.

In his speech to principals today, Dr. Joseph castigated those who would come to board meetings and criticize, “I’m aware of calls to come to board meetings and say what’s wrong. Sign up to come and tell what’s going right.” I would counter that by saying, when I take my car to the garage because of engine trouble, I don’t tell the mechanics how well the brakes are working. You can’t solve a problem until you recognize a problem.

I do agree with Dr. Joseph on one thing, “Our children deserve better.”

“You know I hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me. There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies – which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world – what I want to forget.”
― Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

“Feelings are much stronger than thoughts. We are all led by instinct, and our intellect catches up later.”
― Bono

Imagine for a minute, a conversation where I stood in front of you holding a hammer and proclaimed it a screwdriver. You’d probably look at me a little askew and say, “No, that’s a hammer.”

“But I just used it to drive that screw into the drywall,” I would reply, “Took me a couple tries and not all the screws went in, but I used this tool and therefore it is a screwdriver.”

At this point, you’d probably start to ease away from me, and wonder how come I can’t tell the difference between a screwdriver and a hammer.

Now imagine, that you turn to the person next to you and ask in an aside, “Good lord, doesn’t he realize that’s a hammer and not a screwdriver?”

“Well, that’s what he’s using it for, so technically….”

I believe that at this point, you would try to exit the conversation as quick as quickly as possible, wondering if we all weren’t little nuts. Yet, this is the very same type of conversation we continue to have about MAP testing, accommodations for special education and English Learner students, and what is a universal screener.

MNPS began MAP testing a couple of years ago under the guise of giving parents a greater understanding of their children’s learning progress. In case you are not familiar, MAP is a high-quality formative assessment that is used to guide instruction. When used as designed it gives teachers insight into exactly what students need and the growth they have made. If you buy the whole suite, which MNPS does not do, NWEA will desegregate the data in a manner that will allow teachers to target areas of need for individual students and drive small group instruction.

Unfortunately, that’s not what MNPS uses MAP for. District leadership uses it to justify policy, and as a universal screener for special education, magnet programs, and additional advanced academic programs. We do this despite the fact that the MAP version we utilize is not a universal screener. MNPS has used the ruse of using MAP as a screener to deny special education and English Learners accommodations – read-aloud, text-speech – that federal law says they are entitled to. Even though it doesn’t meet the guidelines for a universal screener as defined by the state.

Per the Tennessee Department of Education:

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”
― Malcolm X

“The answer is good things only happen to you if you’re good. Good? Honest is more what I mean… Be anything but a coward, a pretender, an emotional crook, a whore: I’d rather have cancer than a dishonest heart.”
― Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s

You might want to grab some snacks before you settle in to read this one. Something tells me it is going to be a long post. We are living in some surreal times and I’m afraid our actions, or lack there off, are going to lead to some dire consequences unless we start getting honest with ourselves and people start speaking out when they hear untruths.

It seems like I have daily conversations where people say one thing in private and then turn around and spout the exact opposite in public. I don’t if the motivation derives from fear, self-interest, or just not wanting to step above the crowd. But it’s not doing anyone any favors, and there should be no reason why that dichotomy exists. Yet it does.

EDUCATION MEETING

This past week Council education committee chairman Steve Glover held the last of his district listen and learns on education. I joined about 8 other parents under the guise of the council wanting a further understanding of Metro Nashville Public Schools in order to improve upon the budget process for this year. Keep in mind under the city charter, the metro council can only designate an amount of money. They can not designate how the school board uses that money once designated.

In addition to the parents, in attendance were school board rep Rachael Elrod, her husband CM Jeremy Elrod, Community Superintendent Dottie Critchlow, MNPS chief lobbyist Mark North, CM Brett Withers, and a couple of other folks from MNPS. I listened and here’s what I learned.

• Steve Glover and Mark North served on the School Board together and have seen everything. As such they have quite a few anecdotes, the evening was punctuated by frequent crosstalk between Glover and North in regards to how they handled various issues. I can only surmise that since the issues in question were still issues, their solutions weren’t very effective.
• Steve Glover is a self-described fighter, maverick, and someone who tells people what they don’t want to hear. I can only take him at his words because I never got a tangible picture of how he was going to bring those traits to bear for MNPS.
• Steve Glover doesn’t want to know too much about the issues. Any time things got a little bit in the weeds Glover, quickly pulled them out, stating, “That’s an issue for the schools’ board.” This was done in spite of the fact that there were only 8 other parents in attendance and people had dedicated 90 minutes to the meeting. Getting a little in the weeds might have led to greater understanding, but since he and North had served on school board…

That is the extent of what I learned at this listen and learn. Oh…I did learn one other thing. Steve Glover is considering a run for a council-at-large position. So, you can probably surmise the real reason for this meeting.

I did take one benefit away from the meeting, it provided me an opportunity to talk with CS Dottie Critchlow. Critchlow and I haven’t talked for several months, as I’ve grown increasingly frustrated with her continued support of policies that are, in my mind, detrimental to kids. Our conversation didn’t bridge any divides or even assuage any of my frustration, but it was a reminder that the people who hold these positions are real people who are wrestling with their own challenges.

Sometimes my frustration grows to a level that I lose compassion. That’s never a good thing. It’s fair to challenge. It’s fair to criticize. It is never fair to dehumanize. I have no insight whatsoever into the internal challenges that Critchlow and the other community supes are facing, nor the toll, and to what extent, it takes on them personally. That’s something none of us should ever lose sight of. So thank you, Dottie, for keeping it real. I needed that reminder.

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

This past week’s board meeting was akin to the images of a Salvatore Dali painting come to life. I’m still searching for the connection to reality. Board Chair Sharon Gentry was quick to get the party started when she began by recounting a recent visit she and Dr. Joseph had taken to Carter Lawrence ES. She wanted to praise the principal but didn’t want to call her out because she knew she’d mispronounce her name. Huh?

Vice-Chair Buggs then told her the principals name, Sherleta. What’s hard to pronounce? Gentry offered up that she got the first name, but it was the last name. Sanders? The principal’s name is Sherleta Sanders. Say it with me, Sherleta Sanders. Imagine for one second how you would feel if your boss went to praise you in front of everyone but couldn’t remember your name. Inexcusable, but it gets worse.

The gist of the praise doled out by Gentry on Sanders was that she witnessed a child run up and give a hug to Sanders. I’m sure that Sanders is doing wonderful work, but are hugs really a true measure of the quality of work being done? If that’s how we are evaluating, then I need to be put in charge of the SEL department because every week when I go in to read, I’m inundated with hugs. As I walk the hallways to my designated classrooms I’m greeted with hugs and high-fives from kids from past classes I’ve read to. It doesn’t mean that I’m a superstar, this is just what happens with elementary school kids and adults who interact with them. Spend any time in schools and you would know that. It’s very rewarding and reaffirming, but it’s not a measurement tool.

Gentry ain’t done yet though. She then proceeds to point out the difference between what she witnessed this year and last year. According to her, this is an event that wouldn’t have happened last year. Really? Then why was last years principal promoted to a leadership position at the central office in the SEL department? Just one more sign of the level of disconnection between certain board members and schools.

At the 5:30 mark, head of instruction David Williams presents on a project connecting local summer camps and literacy. Williams and his team are to be applauded for getting 19 summer camps to do something that MNPS won’t allow its schools to do; designate 20 minutes a day to reading. Very worthy of accolades. It should have been enough to recognize the programs and the initiative, but alas we have to try to oversell data again.

A graph was displayed showing that by comparing the August and previous February MAP scores, students in the summer camps grew by an NCE score of .90. Board member Buggs asked what everybody was thinking, “What does NCE stand for?” Normal Curve Equivalency is the answer. Then everybody proceeds to act as if they understand what that means.

My issue lies in the attempt to show the camp and the kids scores as anything but a correlation. Over a 6 month period of time, it is virtually impossible to isolate the one variable that resulted in those kids increased scores. They could have gone to multiple camps over the summer, maybe grandparents worked extra with them over the summer, going to camp is an indication of having more involved parents and that could have an impact, there are just too many possibilities to name. This is indicative of this administration’s constant attempt to oversell things. Instead of just saying, “Hey we helped some kids a bit this summer” and leaving it at that, leadership has to try to add superlatives that can’t be supported.

This oversell process continues when you get to the 35-minute mark and data guru Paul Changus steps to the microphone to give an update on the districts key performance indicators(KPI). Look at the first KPI and it shows the district up-ticking by roughly 4% points. Ah, but that’s not an accurate number because it includes students that did not get accommodations – text-to-voice, read aloud – on previous tests but received them on the latest. Factor those numbers out and we are a mere 1.2% points higher.

Here’s an easy way to look at accommodation results. Say I have you run one race with your feet tied together. Then I time you two months later with your feet untied. There’s probably going to be quite a bit of difference between the two right? How is that going to be reflective of any training you did in the period between races? Same holds true with MAP testing.

“So how many kids are we talking about?”, you ask. How big an impact. According to Changus, 13% of all test takers had their accommodations restored. That’s a big number, no?

Changus himself admits towards the end of his presentation that these are the problems that you run into when you try to use an assessment for multiple uses. I’d add especially when you are trying to use it for things it wasn’t intended to be used for.

I’m also curious about how much the focus on lowering suspensions has impacted the other two KPI’s. The way it looks to me is, if you impact one, you impact both. If you factor out reduced suspensions, how much impact have your other strategies actually had on attendance?

Next up, Tony Majors and David Williams present on MTSS. MTSS stand for Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. Many people equate it to Response to Intervention(RTI). They are very similar, but MTSS adds in supports for social-emotional learning. MTSS is designed to offer deeper enrichment then RTI. It a national initiative.

As part of this presentation, three principals from three different schools presented on their MTSS practices. Watch the presentation and you decide how these are examples of district supported initiatives and how much these are examples of individual schools carving out their own policies. For example, Williams makes mention of a grace year. What that means is that schools have until next year until they are forced to choose their intervention services off of a district created preferred vendor list. Currently, individual schools choose whomever they desire. During the summertime at a board meeting, Williams acknowledged that the district currently does not have a firm grasp on whom is using what to what extent. So…you connect the dots because I can’t.

The three schools presenting seem to be doing exemplary work, but is that work being replicated throughout the district and how do we know that? During the presentation, it’s pointed out that the district prodded schools to be deliberate in choosing a discipline model to follow – SEL Foundation, PBI, or Restorative. But not 3 minutes after that it is acknowledged that some schools are doing parts of all three. To me, that speaks of individual schools creating their models independent of the central office. All in all, the presentation left me with more questions than answers.

FOX NEWS GETS IN WRONG

Channel 17 News ran a report on this weeks board meeting and got several things wrong. I find it humorous that they went to former board chair Cheryl Mayes for a quote on the current board’s perceived dysfunction. Those of us with a memory longer than 2 months remember how little control Mayes had over her fellow board members during her leadership tenure. At that time, despite her best efforts, board member Will Pinkston regularly publicly attacked then Director of Schools Jesse Register. Those attacks served to move the board away from the policy of board governance and into its current policy mode. That change in policy was made official last year when the board adopted new policies that aligned with recommendations from the Tennessee School Board Association.

All one has to do is look at current policy and you will see that Gentry assertion of the board having only 3 responsibilities is merely her interpretation. The current policy explicitly outlines 4 areas of responsibility:

• Policy Oversight
• Educational Planning
• Fiscal planning
• Promotion

Board member Fran Bush’s questions during Tuesday’s board meeting clearly fall under 2 categories.

When Gentry name was submitted for board chair, concerns were raised about her lack of policy knowledge and familiarity with Robert’s Rules of Order. Robert’s Rules of order is the agreed upon manner in which meetings are conducted. Board members Gini Pupo-Walker, Will Pinkston, and Anna Shepherd were fully aware and warned about Gentry’s shortcomings and the consequences if Gentry was named the chair. They were told that she would not be allowed to run rough shop over meetings as she had done in the past. They chose to ignore those warnings and vote for Gentry. Nobody should be shocked where we are now.

A simple review of Roberts Rules of Order will reveal that the director was out of line for interrupting board member Bush while she had the floor. As chair, Gentry should have reeled the director in and informed him he was out-of-order and would get his turn when Bush relinquished the floor. Bush was merely defending her right to hold the floor.

The other part of Channel 17’s report that bothers me is the continuous reinforcing of the narrative that our school board is more contentious than other districts. It’s not true. Over the years, school board politics has gotten continually more contentious. Many are not going to like me saying this, but a large brunt of that contention lies on the shoulders of the reform movement. The introduction of charter schools and private entities has forced people to fall into, for the most part, one of two camps. Both camps equally passionate about their beliefs. It creates a recipe for continuous confrontation. That is on top of democracy itself being messy.

For proof of the challenges other districts face, all one has to do is cast an eye westward to Denver. Long considered at the forefront of the reform movement, they are now looking for a new director. A large part of the population is looking at this as a time to break with the reform movement, and policies they feel have proven unsuccessful. The board conducted a 4-month search at considerable expense. Deadlines were pushed back several times. The community expressed that it was very important to them that the search produces multiple finalists and that they have an opportunity to interview those finalists. Despite that expressed desire, the board last night returned…one finalist. An internal candidate.

Prince George County is another example. Just yesterday their chair resigned after a controversial run that saw charges of assault filed against him this summer by a fellow board member. MNPS board members Buggs and Speering may be having angry words on social media, but as far as I know, no charges have been filed.

The Fox News report focuses on how contention between board members hurts kids, I argue, what hurts kids and teachers is bad policy. It shouldn’t matter if board members like each other or not, the focus should be on outcomes. The school board is not a social club nor merely a PR mechanism for the director of schools. Per its own policy…The board shall strive to provide the best educational opportunities possible for all children.

In her written response to Fox 17 Gentry calls attention to the new discipline policy. A policy that was unveiled with no timeline, no communications plan, and no training schedule. A policy that many MNPS educators are concerned about. Though I must admit, I had a board member tell me the other day that they had not heard a single criticism of the policy. I found this hard to believe but if you have concerns and you are not sharing them with board members, they can’t recognize the issues. So please if you have issues with the policies, let board members know.

QUICK HITS

Local blogger Vesia Hawkins tweeted out a past blog post this morning that warrants repeating. In it, Hawkins reprints the words of one her kid’s former principals. Those words contain good advice that we should all heed.

Congratulations are in order for Croft and Antioch Middles Schools. The two are the recipients of a $5000 grant from Dell.  Way to go you two!

Tusculum ES presents Aladdin tonight at 6:30. They look forward to presenting their fabulous production to everyone. The cast members were wearing purple and gold Aladdin shirts to school today. Proud of y’all.

The Oliver  Band received a huge donation from Fork’s Drum Closet Nashville Jonah Hixon and Innovative Percussion, Inc. with products totaling over $5,000!!! This support along with the support from CMA Foundation makes Metro Nashville Public Schools The Best Place for Music Education! Great news!

Nashville’s Mayor is unhappy and thinking about not attending the city’s holiday Christmas Parade if Kid Rock remains as Grand Marshall. Really? The day before the parade we make this announcement? Look I’m no fan of Kid’s public persona, but this was announced months ago and not everybody is unhappy with it. My advice to the mayor is, suck it up, and head out to the parade. Your attendance is not an endorsement of Kid Rock, it is a celebration with Nashville’s citizens and some of them like the Kid. I ain’t one, but we got bigger fish to fry.

In case you don’t have enough comedy in your life, the Chiefs for Change have a new piece out on a future Chief... Nakia T Edwards. A clear indication of the kind of talent courted by the Chiefs for Change.

That’s a wrap. Check out the Dad Gone Wild Facebook page. It’s a good news station. If you need to get a hold of me, the email is norinrad10@yahoo.com. Keep sending me your stuff and I’ll share as much as possible. Don’t forget to answer this week’s poll questions. If you think what I write has value, please consider supporting the work through Patreon. To those of you who pledged money this past week, thank you, thank you, thank you.

“Was it all inevitable, John?” Reeve was pushing his fingers across the floor of the cell, seated on his haunches. I was lying on the mattress.

Yes,” I said. “I think it was. Certainly, it’s written that way. The end of the book is there before the beginning’s hardly started.”
― Ian Rankin, Knots & Crosses

“Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”
― Edgar Allan Poe

I am a big fan of periodically reviewing history. Our minds are adept at rewriting and even though we lived through an event, much inadvertently gets forgotten or altered. How often do we swear something happened one way, only to read accounts and realize it wasn’t that way all. Or how often have we missed things at the moment, but upon looking at them in review, with educated eyes, we see clearly why things have transpired as they have. It was in this spirit that I used the weekend to revisit MNPS Director of Schools Shawn Joseph’s resume and articles that were written around the time of his candidacy for the job with MNPS.

In looking at his resume, the first thing that caught my eye was the demographic comparison between school districts where Dr. Joseph has worked. Prince George County was made up of 95.5% minority students. Montgomery County is 68%. closer to MNPS’s 70%, with Seaford having 57.8% minority students. However, look at poverty numbers and you’ll find Montgomery County is at 34.2%, Seaford at 58.9%, and Prince George County Schools at 61.5%. Per the 2016/2017 budget book, MNPS’s poverty rate is listed at  75.3%. When it comes to EL students MNPS is at 16.1% while Montgomery Co is at 13.5%, PGCS at 14.2, and Seaford at 11%.

If you just compare numbers in individual categories, it appears that all 4 districts have similar students. But upon closer look, you’ll see that Montgomery County, were Joseph spent the majority of his career, is home to a similar racial makeup of students as MNPS, but much closer to Williamson County Schools when it comes to poverty numbers. PGCS is a whole lot less diverse than MNPS and still less impoverished. Seaford is more diverse than the others but again home to much lower poverty numbers.

When you examine these numbers, you can see that Joseph doesn’t have experience in crafting policy for a district with the poverty levels of MNPS. Therefore it shouldn’t be surprising that the district continues to struggle with addressing the needs of our priority schools.

Of equal interest is the per-pupil spending of each of his previous employers. All 3 spend over $16k per student, with MNPS spending $11,500 per student. That’s roughly 30% less per student, and likely has a big impact on outcomes.

It also bears noting that in Seaford, despite the district spending nearly $17K a student, Joseph felt as if that wasn’t enough and pushed for a county tax increase. When the initiative to raise taxes failed, he left. Here also, it should be noted that Dr. Joseph came to the table with little experience in producing results with fewer resources.

Moving on and continuing to look at his resume, under accomplishments Dr. Joseph lists the following,

Improved ACT performance of students as measured by students achieving the College and Career Readiness Benchmark from 33.4% in 2014-2015 to 38.5% in 2014-2015

Huh?!? I’m assuming the 2014-2015 mentioned at the end is actually supposed to be 2015-2016, no big deal, but beyond that, I thought I recently heard board chair Dr. Gentry tell everyone at the last MNPS board meeting that a jump of this magnitude was statistically impossible. So how did Dr. Joseph pull this feat off at PGCS? Why are we not employing the same strategies here at MNPS?  If this growth was used as a selling point on his resume, isn’t it reasonable to hold him to the same expectations in his current role?

I’m also a little puzzled because when I look at the Maryland state report card for PGCS, I don’t see that jump reflected. In fact, the scores don’t look dissimilar to the scores in MNPS; a small trend upwards but basically flat. A trend that continued even after Joseph’s departure. So was it Joseph or the system.

I encourage you to go on the Maryland Report Card site and look at the results for individual Prince George County school performance on the ACT. The site allows you to see scores for the last decade. A review of PGCS performance probably indicates what we can expect from MNPS schools under Joseph’s tutelage.

Here’s the next item that caught my eye,

Led efforts to develop a comprehensive literacy plan focusing on improving reading, writing, and reasoning across all content areas K-12 modeled after the Brockton High School turnaround model in Massachusetts

Hmmm…what is this “Brockton High School Model” and how close does MNPS’s current literacy plan adhere to it? What I found was a fascinating story about a failing high school that made significant improvements. Interestingly enough, a key component of the Brockton model is that they,

“tapped the expertise of its teachers to develop a writing process, focusing initially on a 10-step process for writing an “open response”—an assignment that requires students to read a text and to write an essay responding to a question about the text. The benefit of the “open response” assignment was that it crossed “all disciplinary lines” and offered the opportunity for the biggest bump in improvement. No class or teacher would be exempt—not math, not science or gym.”

Equally worth noting,

Significantly, almost every facet of the literacy strategy was home grown. Just about the only thing for which the literacy committee turned for outside help was in developing an evaluation system. Szachowicz notes that Brockton High’s initiative was highly influenced by Jon Saphier’s Research for Better Teaching, which emphasizes “skillfully and relentlessly” quality monitoring and, in about 2004, hired Saphier’s organization to train administrators in how to evaluate whether the literacy initiative was being properly implemented. Szachowicz estimates that typically the school spent no more than about $35,000 per year on the literacy initiative.

Now that’s a bit different from what we are employing in Nashville. Very little of Nashville’s plan was written by teachers. I looked online for PGCS’s comprehensive literacy plan, but alas I found nothing that reflected the “Brockton Model”. So I’m not sure what Joseph’s plan ended up looking like.

In Seaford, Dr. Joseph claims he implemented the Malcolm Baldrige process for school improvement planning in all schools. I’m not familiar with the Malcolm Baldridge process so it was back to Google to do some research. It was a process that Joseph brought with him from Montgomery County. The Baldrige process allows everyone to have a stake in the education of students. Parents, teachers, students, administrators, and community members work together to build a common vision, mission, core values, and goals that address the needs of all students. It’s a pretty cool concept, but alas not one MNPS is employing.

One more interesting note, on his resume Dr. Joseph includes the following under refereed journal articles,

Joseph, S. & Davis, M. (2016). Becoming a data champion in 6 steps: How a suburban Maryland district uses its data to motivate staff and improve instruction. School Administrator. Alexandria, VA: American Association of School Administrators.

In case you are unclear, refereed or “peer-reviewed” are indicators of the highest level of scholarly writing. They are articles written by experts and are reviewed by several other experts in the field before the article is published in order to ensure the article’s quality. While it is an award-winning monthly magazine”, School Administrator is not a “refereed journal”. So while Dr. Joseph’s article with M. Davis might be a very informative article, I’m not sure it should be included here on his resume. Including it as such was probably just an honest mistake.

Reading through Dr. Joseph’s application packet and the names Dallas Dance and Kevin Maxwell appear quite frequently. In a Washington Post article Joseph is quoted as saying that Maxwell’s “tutelage, care, and support have prepared me to lead a complex, large urban school system like Metro Nashville Public Schools.” A review of Maxwell tenure could be perceived as a warning of what to expect. His administration was rife with scandals that unfortunately now seem all too familiar. 

Dallas Dance was the hotshot young Baltimore Superintendent that got tripped up for perjury. On his resume Joseph cites his work with both Dance, and former Associate Superintendent for Organizational Development in Houston Independent School District Kevin Hobbs as being exemplary. Hobbs went on to become a deputy superintendent with Baltimore Schools.

Hobbs and Dance are cited in sentencing documentation produced by the Maryland Attorney General. In my opinion, In hindsight,Joseph’s close work with either of those two individuals should have been a reason for MNPS to pass.

Looking back it becomes clear that Dr. Josephs resume is reflective of his tenure to date with MNPS; some half-truths, mixed with name dropping and spinning of data, coupled with some questionable associations. Comparing Dr. Josephs leadership over the last two and a half years with his resume gives a clear indication of what the future probably holds. Unfortunately, there aren’t any indications of great progress in that future. We can wish it was different all we want, but the reality is that the future lies within the past.

QUICK HITS

Rumors continue to swirl about whom will be the next Tennessee State Superintendent of Education. There is talk of a plan to bring somebody in from outside the state. Kentucky being the center of those rumors. I’m hoping that is not the case and that Governor-elect Lee chooses someone from the state of Tennessee instead. There are plenty of quality candidates right here at home.

Earlier today I came across this picture attached to a tweet by Dr. Joseph. He was extolling it as evidence of SEL excellence on display. But is it? I’ve read it several times and besides the grammatical errors – I know I’m one to talk – why do we have to single out SES students? What if we replaced “SES” with “Hispanic” or “Female”, would that be acceptable? Why can the white board not just read, “Let’s help our kids with memory and chunk it.” No reason to identify any demographic. It seems to me that would create a better culture. But, what do I know.

Local blogger Vesia Hawkins has woken up to the fact that 2018 is looking a whole lot like 2007. In her latest blog post, she gives a quick review of history minus a few important points. If she wanted to go deeper, all she had to do was read Dad Gone Wild 2 years ago when I first brought to light the similarities.

Hawkins interestingly enough fails to point out that the district went into near state takeover due to a lack of progress under Garcia. Nor that, even though the district was under corrective action by the state, some board members still felt Garcia was doing an adequate job, another repeat of history. She also goes on to repeat the canard that Nashville is more difficult a district to navigate than any other district in the country.

Still all in all, I’m happy to see Hawkins coming to the party late, rather than not at all. Her observations and predictions, save for the trouble finding a viable candidate, concur with mine. I do urge her, and everyone else, to do that Google search and find out about other districts across country and the challenges they face before we turn into Chicken Little. There’s a reason the superintendent job commands a $300k salary and it’s not just to be a spokes model. Nashville is not alone in demanding that a superintendent be all things to all people, nor is it an outlier in the level of passion its citizens bring to the table. And rightfully so, education is too important a subject in which to bring anything less.

Speaking of superintendents and other districts, Denver was supposed to announce their finalists today, instead they announced that the announcement has been postponed until Friday. Curious to see who is on the list.

Andy Spears is looking to tell your story. If you are a Tennessee educator drop him a line and let him share your narrative.

Don’t forget Steve Glover also wants to hear your story. He is holding a community meeting this week and he would love to see you there.

Taking a look at ACT composite results and the number of students that scored over 21. District wide 1404 students scored over 21. Of that 1404, 443 of the scores came from Hume-Fogge or MLK. All but 2 students from Hume-Fogge hit the 21, with only 6 failing to do so at MLK. The next two with the highest number of students over 21 were McGavock and Overton with 133 and 120 respectively.

From board member Anna Shepherd’s Facebook page…

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 27th at 6 p.m. at McGavock HS will be the inaugural PTO/PTA meeting! In all my years at McGavock HS, we have never had this support organization for our students. McGavock parent, Kevin Walker, is organizing this meeting. If you are a MHS parents, know of one, or are a community partner who wants to support our students, please make plans to attend. I will do my best to be there but we have a SB meeting with a packed agenda. Bummer!

If you can make it, please do so.

POLL RESULTS

As we do every Monday, it’s time to look at poll results from the weekend.

The first question asked for your opinion on the new discipline policy. Apparently y’all aren’t fans. 34% of you indicated you thought it was going to make teachers and students less safe. 23% of you pointed out that it was another example of people not in the classroom dictating policy to those who were. Only 1 person said they were optimistic and nobody indicated they fully supported the plan.

The goals of the plan are certainly desirable, but the focus should still be on getting students the services they need. There was nothing in Dr. Joseph’s decree that indicated how student needs would be met, just that they would remain in school.

One thing I have to repeatedly point out is that, intentionally or not, the language surrounding the discussion points to a minority student being suspended from a classroom of white students. That is not an accurate portrayal. The truth is those classrooms are most often populated by other minority students. As a result we are asking our neediest students to sacrifice desperately needed instructional time without a clear-cut plan to provide services to the students demanding their sacrifice.

Without a plan to ensure those children causing disturbances receive services, we also run the risk of exposing children to even more trauma. Many of these children’s home lives are already trauma filled, we should not expect them to come to school and navigate those waters as well. All children deserve to come to a school that feels safe and inviting. This is one airplane that shouldn’t be built while flying.

Let’s take a look at the polls write-ins.

Unfunded mandate. Unlike what was spoken on a radio program, help was cut, not	1
Would be great if the people to make it successful were included in the decree.	1
Show me the policies that govern central office performance and behavior	1
A distraction from root issues. Other districts paying the same lip service too	1
a bit concerning and typically ignoring staff input	1
APs should make the policies	1
why Are these behaviors happening in elementary sc	1
It’s great in theory, but leaves schools at great risk	1
This is how he will claim he lowered suspensions	1
I learned of it through your blog – never was communicated to teachers from admi

 

Question 2 asked about how important you felt it was that the board get along in public. Overwhelmingly, to the tune of 55%, you replied that you were more concerned with the quality of policy. Only 4% of you thought it was important because it affects funding. Here are the write-in votes.

I am very embarrassed about how the board members are treating MNPS staff i	1
Concerned. SRO and plenty of help in middle, NOTHING in ES.	1
Abusers make subjects smile in public so that they may abuse in private.	1
since united seems to be destroying mnps I’m all in on causing a disturbance	1
what new Supt can we get w constant drama?	1
The current situation w/ our board is embarassing	1
Behave AND do their jobs. It’s entirely doable.	1
Being united doesn’t equate to effective-being candid, well informed, trusted, s	1
It only matters to the whimpering Zack Barnes	1
Who cares? Get it right for the kids and staff!

The last question asked how often you are on social media. Let’s just say…y’all got a habit. But it just reiterates the importance of social media as a communication tool.

And that is a wrap. As always, you can contact me at norinrad10@yahoo.com. Make sure you check out the Dad Gone Wild Facebook page. if you think what I write has value, please support me through Patreon. I ain’t going to lie, we could use the support. Thanks and peace out.

 

 

 

 

“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.”
― John Dewey

“Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn’t blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won’t cheat, then you know he never will. Integrity is not a search for the rewards of integrity. Maybe all you ever get for it is the largest kick in the ass the world can provide. It is not supposed to be a productive asset.”
― John D. MacDonald

I hope everybody had themselves a wonderful Turkey day. The Weber clan took its act on the road and visited family in Chattanooga. We stayed at a wonderful AirBB in the Highland Park area and feasted on a phenomenal meal produced by Priscilla’s sister Victoria. The children got a chance to play with their cousins, which produced an 8-hour marathon Monopoly game. The first annual Weber/Brabson football game resulted in a 6-6 tie. All in all, it was a fine holiday.

On the drive down, as well as on the drive back, I reflected on the past week. A week which saw a flurry of activity on social media. The exchanges were multi-platform, including both Facebook and Twitter.  Zack Barnes has an account of the Twitter exchange between board members, and a council member, in this week’s Tip Sheet, though I disagree with his analysis it is one perspective that is not without disciples.

Social media, despite being with us for nearly two decades, is still considered by many to be a fad, frivolous, and not a true indicator of the real world. As someone who can still remember a father who refused to get cable television because it was unnecessary and was something only “those” people bought, I disagree with that analysis. Social media is a legitimate communication platform. Like other communication platforms participation, or non-participation, does not by its nature make you a better  or worse person. Despite countless comedian’s comments and statements from football coaches, the reality is that this is how the majority of the world chooses to communicate. Like it or not, social media is ubiquitous and it is here to stay.

Personally, I have always welcomed social media as a platform because it cuts down on the relaying of mis-truths in the shadows. In previous times, an elected official could meet with one group of constituents and tell them one story. Then turn around and meet with another and tell a completely contradictory story. Neither of the two would be the wiser.

The veracity of a narrative would be dependent on each individual participants depth of knowledge. If something sounded good, it was easily passed off as such. Now, narratives are fact-checked by large groups of individuals. Try to slip something by not rooted in fact, and odds are you’ll be called on it. In most cases, it’s led to a more transparent governance.

Now is social media  a tool without fault, of course not. But what tool is? The telephone when first introduced I’m sure led to miscommunications because of the lack of ability to read facial expressions. Anybody who has ever used email can relate tales of miscommunication due to false interpretations of tone. As the use of email spread upon introduction, the rules had to be created. What was proper use? How formal or informal should language be? The proper use of emoji. To this day the rules are still being written. It should be no surprise that the rules for a younger platform are also still being created. A creation that can be fraught with missteps.

At its core, social media is another means to share ideas. Anytime people start to share ideas, it can get messy. I remember back several years ago when the Charter Wars were in full swing in Nashville. The so-called “Twitter Battles” were brutal and quickly became personal. I’d like to believe that many of us have matured since then and have realized that personally attacking someone is a not a means to enlightening them. I don’t think there is a soul that ever thought, “he just called me a charter zealot, let me take a look at his charts and data and check the soundness of his argument.”

Personally, I’ve tried to put my focus on content as opposed to intent. Too often we read a person’s ideas and think that we can deduce intent. This is the case in every subject, whether it be politics, race, religion, or education. The truth is that I haven’t walked the proverbial mile in your proverbial moccasins, so I have no real ability, save further engagement, to discern how you arrived at your position. That doesn’t mean, as School board chair Sharon Gentry has tried to state, “We can not agree with each other and neither of our of our positions is wrong.’ It means that we both need to expand our depth of research and perhaps consider our opponents experience with a little more credibility.

These days I tend to counter people’s statements via Twitter a little less often. Multiple times a day I type a response, only to erase it before sending. Or I just choose to scroll by a post and save the argument for another day. That said, I don’t believe that you can let people just make a statement that is patently false without addressing it. Like it or not, if it goes unchecked that statement becomes part of the public record as fact. When made by an elected official it carries a great deal of weight in the public narrative.

For example, when you make the assertion on social media that the refusing of accommodations on MAP testing is a result of the actions of the state, that needs to be corrected. MAP testing is administrated by the district and is completely independent of the state. Not all districts in the state utilize MAP testing. MNPS chooses to do so for several reasons. It is a useful tool for guiding instruction, used as designed and at its full capacity – which requires separate fees – it can identify areas of need for individual students. It is also useful for showing the growth of students. As a side benefit, it aligns with TNReady and it can serve as a bit of a predictor. Though keep in mind that TNReady is aligned to Tennessee standards and MAP is a nationally normed test.

So if I were to allow the initial statement to stand without comment, a false narrative takes root in the public record. That shouldn’t be acceptable to anyone. As a side note, another Twitter user, RogerJH, disagreed with some of my assertions and pointed out that the MAP literacy test is a content-driven assessment, which devalues its usefulness. He makes a solid point and one that has me thinking deeper. That’s the beauty of communicating through social media, it allows access to thoughts and ideas, that previously might never have entered the conversation. But only if you leave yourself open for reflection.

In the Tip Report, Barnes takes the school board members to task for the their Twitter disagreements giving the appearance of being dysfunctional. You know what I’m more concerned about than how board members appear? I’m more concerned that they get it right; the quality of the policy they create. If a public dust-up on social media means eventually making the policy stronger, I’m all for it. If one board member does deeper research because they were publicly embarrassed by another board member, how is that not a benefit for all of us?

In AA, we are taught to get out of our head. It’s in our head that clearly, destructive ideas can appear brilliant. We can all convince ourselves of our genius if we never talk to anyone. I’d argue that getting involved in a so-called “Twitter War” takes a great deal of courage. You are putting your experiences, your research, and your deductions out in the public sphere for evaluation. You are opening yourself up for ridicule, ostracization, and running the risk of possibly having to change your tenets of belief. No matter what the format, that is never easy.

That’s why these days I try to focus on the ideas and not the intent. Will conversations at times become heated and slip into personal? Of course, we are all imperfect beings who should be in search of progress and not perfection. I find it ironic that we will refer to education as the civil rights issue of our time, yet we’ll act shocked when people become overly passionate about it.

School board member Jill Speering gets criticized for refusing to let Reading Recovery go in spite of years of evidence that it works. Why would she let it go when the evidence produced by opponents fails to demonstrate that it is not comparatively successful to proposed replacement programming. Knowing the number of students whose lives have been changed by the program, why would you expect her to abandon her position just for appearance’s sake? The same holds true for other board members.

Would Martin Luther King suddenly take up violence because research showed that the peaceful way was not producing results fast enough and in a cost-effective manner? No, he had seen the impact of non-violent protest with his own eyes. He’d seen the impact of other strategies and had determined that while the costs and pace of non-violent protest were not always as many would prefer, it was, based on his experience, the most effective strategy available. Many of you may scoff at that analogy, but think about it, if you are going to refer to education as a civil rights issue, how are Ms. Speerings actions any different then MLK?

We have to allow for people passions whenever engaging in any form of communication about policy. An assertion was made that, “Advocacy should always have the goal of being productive. If you have a concern there are ways to advocate for & implement change EFFECTIVELY and APPROPRIATELY.” Who decides what is “effective” and “appropriate”. Going back to MLK, I would argue that during his time many thought his methods were neither. Many would have also argued that he was being disruptive versus productive. That’s why I argue that we need to focus more on “getting it right” and less on the form and appearance.

Critics say that public disagreement gives the appearance of problems and impacts funding. They act as if nobody would know about issues nobody publicly questioned. That’s ludicrous. I would much rather see the honest public conversation intent on finding the best solution. For me, people publicly working on solutions inspires more faith than people bullshitting me that none exist.

Now don’t let my plea for patience be misconstrued as an endorsement for the belittling of people and personal attacks. We may all may occasionally cross the border, but when you take up residence, we need to be called on it by all. There must never be a place for consistent uncivil behavior that would be unacceptable in our daily face to face meetings. It is on all of us to uphold that standard and again, I’ve seen improvement.

It’s funny, in the past a local education twitter battle would break out and it would escalate with both sides getting personal. The parties would storm off and go to their respective sub-groups, bemoaning the lack of humanity and the mental inferiority of their opponents. Last week I engaged with former board member Mary Pierce over policy and it got heated. Despite the escalating tension, I knew in the back of my mind that the exchange would eventually lead to one or the other of us calling.

True to form, Ms. Pierce called me before I called her. We had an equally passionate but productive personal exchange. Do we agree on policy? Not always, but we do have a deeper understanding of the others reasoning process and that can only be beneficial. Twitter Wars are merely exchanges of conflicting information, the rubber meets the road in how we utilize that information. Hence the Dewey quote at the beginning of this piece.

QUICK HITS

H.G. Hill Middle School continued a holiday tradition last week. They paired with Rise Against Hunger to package 100K meals for children in other countries. Kudos and props to all involved for demonstrating the power of community and the role public schools can play in fostering that ideal. A valuable lesson for all.

Eakin ES 2nd Grade students participated in a Ellis Island simulation that was amazing! Students had a meaningful, memorable learning experience! Boat Ride-Passports Checks- Baggage Processing-Detainment-Medical Check. Well done!

I came across a new blogger this week. Dr. Elizabeth Gregory is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has some thoughts on children and mental health. She argues against falling into the trap that increased therapy is the be-all-end-all strategy for children suffering from trauma-related issues.

Helping parents to talk to their children, read to their children, play with their children, show warmth to their children, listen to their children, believe in their children, give hope to their children – all in a context of doing the same for the parents themselves who didn’t receive it in their own childhoods, is far more powerful than any therapy. This doesn’t happen quickly – again it is about being alongside families in their communities and facilitating them to do things differently by providing the most basic of resources, support, consistency and encouragement.

I encourage you to read the whole piece. Hers should prove to be a powerful voice.

Peter Greene, through his blog Curmudgucation, has long been a powerful voice on education policy and his Thanksgiving piece on the 7 most powerful words in education is among his best. Greene writes,

W. Edward Demmings believed that the answers to an organizations problems could be found closest to the place where the actual work was being done. The folks who have taken the reins of leadership in the education world would do well to remember his insight. But “What can I do to help you” doesn’t just yield the most useful advice for helping schools; it breaks down the sense of isolation. Teachers are used to working in a solitary setting, and they’re used to being ignored by people who make decisions that affect the classrooms where they do their actual work. Teachers are used to being over-extended jugglers who only see the bosses long enough for them to toss in one more ball (or cement block or running chain saw) and then run away.

Which leads me into our next announcement, it is time to hear from teachers, staff members and bus drivers in the Antioch/Cane Ridge Clusters and I am asking for you to please come and share your successes and challenges. This will be your time to tell MNPS what’s on your mind so let’s pack the room! This is for you and the only way things will change if they hear from you. Fran Bush will be there as your School Board Member representing you. Please share this information with every teacher, staff member, and bus driver. Can’t wait to see you on November 29, 2018 at Antioch High School, 5:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m.

There is a school board meeting on Tuesday. make sure you check out the agenda.

I continue to predict that teachers will see a proposed raise of 4 – 5% in the next budget. That’s not because of any outpouring of love for teachers but rather because board members Bush, Frogge,and Speering have all indicated that any proposed budget that does not include a raise should be considered a non-sequitur.

Furthermore Director Joseph needs it for his contract renewal drive, MNEA leadership needs it to remain relevant, and the Mayor needs it for re-election. Safe to say that it’ll be in the mix.

Please join Council Member Steve Glover, the Chair of Metro Council’s Education Committee, and MNPS staff for a District 2 roundtable at John Overton High School. I will be in attendance and hope you will be too.

I have never forgotten that Dr. Joseph once told a principal meeting that there “ain’t no crazy like Nashville crazy.” That makes it fun to keep track of just how high his former stomping grounds keep that bar. If anybody wants to learn what dysfunction looks like Prince George County continues to be a model.

That’s a wrap. Check out the Dad Gone Wild Facebook page. It’s a good news station. If you need to get a hold of me, the email is norinrad10@yahoo.com. Keep sending me your stuff and I’ll share as much as possible. Don’t forget to answer this week’s poll questions. If you think what I write has value, please consider supporting the work through Patreon.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
― James Baldwin

“If you ain’t in the battle, don’t comment on the war.”
― Chuck D

It’s the Monday before Thanksgiving and anticipation for the approaching holiday is running high. I went and read to my 1st grade class last Friday and they couldn’t wait to eat turkey, chicken, corn, and mashed potatoes. Thanksgiving is a favorite of my wife and children as well, and we as a family are looking forward to the time together.

One thing I am thankful for is the fantastic teaching at Tusculum ES where my kids attend. As you all know, Tusculum is a high needs school. It’s the kind of school that parents often fret about sending their children and school critics try to paint as a failing school. In truth, there is no need to fret, and the school is anything but failing.

I’m often critical of MAP testing and continue to believe that as a district we are using it wrong. However, when used as intended – to reflect growth and guide instruction – it is a very useful tool.

Over the last couple of weeks, MNPS students have been taking the MAP tests. I like the way Tusculum does it – no fanfare, no hoopla, just, “Let’s see what you know.” I’m blessed to have two high achieving children, and they score well on the MAP test. Which obviously makes me proud. What makes me even prouder is that they continue to show growth.

As a parent, I’m no different from any other parent. We are all victims of the hype and fear mongering. I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve been told, “Don’t sacrifice your children at the altar of your ideology.” As a result, we often question whether we are making the right decisions for our children and if we are putting them in position to succeed. Looking at my children’s MAP scores for the last 2 years reaffirms my decision. They are growing academically and culturally, and as a parent I couldn’t want for more.

So this Thanksgiving season, let me take another moment to thank everybody at Tusculum ES, from the leadership team to the ladies who run the office and everyone in between, including the crossing guards. Every day I put my children in your hands and every day you reaffirm why that was a good decision. You are living proof that schools are more than just test scores and that parents from all demographics can feel good about putting their children in their local school. Thank you again.

MONDAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING IS PERFECT FOR POLICY CHANGE

Over the course of the year, there has been an intensive conversation about the suspension, expulsion, and arrest rates for children ages K-4. NOAH has led the conversation and believes that it is necessary for the district to create a policy prohibiting the suspension, expulsion, or arrest of any child in K-4 except for 500 level offenses. Today, principals should expect to receive notification of a policy change that reflects that belief. A policy change that I disagree with.

Before we get too deep in the weeds, let’s be clear that I do not support the suspension, expulsion, or arrest of children in K-4 either. But I don’t believe that you take tools out of the hands of principals without putting other tools in their hand and concrete instructions on how to apply those tools. I also believe the conversation takes the focus off of 95% of the students and places the focus on 5%. The reality is the vast majority of kids go to school, follow the rules, and stay out of trouble.

There is a reason that the kids who run afoul of the rules do so. Some of it stems from implied bias and racism, and as such, needs to be addressed. The majority of it comes from the severe level of trauma that many of our students face in their daily lives. As a result, they need very specific services in order for trained professionals to help them address that trauma. The key words in that sentence being trained professionals.

That’s where I take an exception to the new policy. It puts the horse in front of the proverbial cart. The problem being solved shouldn’t be whether a child remains in school or not, but rather, “How do we get the child the services that they require?” This new policy outlines none of that.

There is an assumption made that if students remain in school, those services will miraculously be made available. While we recognize that there are areas that need shoring up, we assume that eventually funding for those additional services will be secured. Little detail is given as to how those needs should be addressed until “eventually” arrives.

Unfortunately, “eventually” never seems to arrive, and teachers, with minimal training, are left to try to provide those high level required services. We scoff at the idea of TFA candidates being qualified to be classroom teachers after 6 weeks of training, but we readily accept the notion that with some PD days, a restorative circle, and some empathy, classroom teachers are equipped to meet the needs of students suffering from intense trauma. We also talk about the urgency of a student’s education, yet we ask those children who follow the rules and try to learn as much as possible to sacrifice weeks of instruction while a teacher provides services for a troubled student due to a policy that limits options. Where is the equity in that?

We also choose to ignore the fact that our schools are understaffed with teachers already. Attend any PTA meeting across the district and you’ll hear parents talk about the lack of math teachers or the use of long-term subs to fill vacancies. How is a child who has very real needs better served sitting in front of a long-term sub versus sitting at home? I don’t have an answer to that question, but I can tell you how adults benefit from the policy. An administrator gets to mark that student present and the district’s rate of chronic absenteeism drops. Under the new ESSA act, that chronic absenteeism number carries a lot of weight. Chronic absences are not factors into funding and the distribution of other resources.

Talk to principals and teachers, and few of them support this policy. They certainly believe in the idea behind it, but they don’t believe this policy matches up with the ideal. Dive into the reasons why we are experiencing a nationwide teacher shortage and the subject of discipline rises to the top. Teachers don’t feel like they have any control and as a result, many don’t feel safe. I know when we talk elementary kids, we picture cute little kids capable of little damage. As a parent of a third grader and a fourth grader, I can attest that is not the end of the story. It is not uncommon to find a 100-pound fourth grader or even one like my son who weighs 60 pounds and is wicked strong. The point is, teacher fears are not unfounded.

In this proposed policy change, bullet point 3 says that “Law enforcement will not be called to arrest students in grade PreK through 4 (except for 500-level offenses). Administrative staff will call the Community Superintendent rather than the police.” Take a look at the student handbook (Starting on page 40) and you’ll see that assaulting a teacher is a 400-level offense. As is sexual assault and gang intimidation. In fact, the only 500-level offenses are attempted homicide, homicide, possession of explosives or a firearm, and dealing drugs – which I would argue should be a 400. Aggravated assault of a teacher is a 500-level offense, but what defines aggravated?

According to the handbook, “aggravated” is anything that causes more than “basic first aid.” And who makes that determination? I can think of at least one administrator this past year that suffered the consequences of a concussion as a result of a student action. Did that initially require more than “basic first aid”? I just don’t know how you can tell a victim of assault they don’t have the right to call the police unless they run it by their boss.

My fear is that in implementing this policy, we will negatively impact another area of need. If teachers do not feel safe in the classroom, they will ply their trade elsewhere. There is nothing, in my eyes, in this policy that takes into account teacher safety and the safety of fellow students. That should be problematic to everyone. Equity means everybody, not just selected sub-groups.

Another concern of mine is that once again we are implementing policy without the supporting work. Where is the timeline? Where is the training? Where is the communication plan? It is this complete lack of supporting implementation that always makes me suspect about whose needs we are actually serving.

Are we truly serving kids if we implement the change with no meaningful training? How effective can the policy be if we implement it but have only communicated the “what” and not the “why, how, or when”? What about the implementation before fully informing parents? Do they even understand the changes or the need? Should they not be fully versed on a policy with potentially adverse effects on their kids?

This is how this administration continually does things, in a check-the-box manner. Look at the changes in progress reports or the plan for priority schools; both share similar hallmarks. I understand the need for speed but getting it right should be equally important. It’s why I’ve always detested the districts recent mission statement, “To be the fastest rising school district in the country.”

Education should be about getting it right, not getting it fast. Is there a parent out there who thinks, “I like my school but we’re just not improving as fast as the kids in Houston’? Or conversely, “I don’t like my kid’s school but at least they are improving faster than schools in Las Vegas.” Quality needs to always trump speed.

I’ve got to ask where the sense of urgency comes from. A glance at the data supplied by NOAH shows that the district is trending in a positive direction. Suspensions and expulsions are declining, though racial disparities still exist and are maintaining their levels. That being the case, why the rush to write policy? What’s the actual problem that is being addressed here? Yes, work needs to be done, especially on racial disparities, but it should be deliberate, well thought out, and effective work. Work that also puts an equal burden on city and state leadership in addressing.

As for today’s announcement, being as it is the Monday before Thanksgiving, let’s see how many principals actually read the edict, let alone communicate it to staff.  Of course, the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are always a prime time to address policy changes. That was sarcasm. One thing this letter does do is allow Dr. Joseph to check a box when he makes a case for a contract extension. But how is that really putting kids at the forefront?

QUICK HITS

School board member Amy Frogge continues to fight for teachers and students with her latest Facebook post. Many wish she would quit bringing these very real issues to light as if they would cease to exist if nobody acknowledged them. Critics of Frogge make the argument that her calling attention to the issues hurts funding. I argue that it’s the issues that hurt funding. Just like arguing in front of the kids doesn’t wreck a marriage. Not addressing the issues wrecks a marriage.

Chalkbeat TN takes an extensive look into what the transition of the state superintendent position may look like. It’s interesting to me that everyone seems to be making a mad dash to say something nice and ignore the realities of the last several years. But not everybody,

“She was a kinder, gentler Kevin Huffman,” said Dan Lawson, long-time school superintendent in Tullahoma. “They shared the same political agenda and underpinning, but Candice was able to deliver it in a smoother, less abrasive fashion.”

Andy Spears over at Tennessee Education report also does his best to deliver an honest assessment. He quotes Tennessee Education Association President Beth Brown,

“As candidates for the state’s next commissioner of education are considered, it is my hope that serious consideration is given to an individual’s experience in our own Tennessee public schools… Students and educators are struggling with two major issues that must be tackled by the next commissioner: high-stakes standardized tests and a lack of proper funding for all schools. Our schools need a leader who understands that the current test-and-punish system is not helping our students succeed. Governor Bill Haslam has made significant increases in state funding for public education, but there is still much work to be done to ensure every child has the resources needed for a well-rounded public education.”

From her lips to God’s ears.

POLL QUESTIONS

The poll response was a little light this week, but still some worthwhile answers. Let’s review.

The first question asked who you thought was going to bear the ire of Will Pinkston after the recent election. Not surprisingly the majority felt that he would ease into a familiar role as attack dog for a person of power. 56% believed that those who opposed Dr. Joseph would become the recipients of Pinkston’s ire. Optimistically, 3 of you felt that Pinkston would be the bigger man and learn from his missteps. In related news, unicorns have been spotted on the lawn at Bransford Ave. Here are the write-in votes,

Question 2 asked for your opinion on the prospect of hiring 2 individuals in Metro’s audit department to oversee MNPS spending. 27% of you classified the move as “more political posturing” with the number two answer being, “Maybe if he’d just go to meetings this would already be in place.” Only 2 of you felt this was the kind of stuff Pinkston was elected for.

I really thought there would be more response to the Pinkston questions, but he seems to have created an air of fatigue around his brand. Supporters are tired of defending their support, and critics have grown equally weary. It is a shame because with his intellect he could have really done some good for the families and teachers of MNPS if he hadn’t gotten sidetracked with personal issues. Here are the write-ins,

The last question asked who you thought should be the next State Superintendent of Education. I love that Hillsboro HS Principal Shuler Pelham garnered the most votes. The state could certainly do a whole worse than elevating this respected educator. Some of the write-ins made me laugh aloud.

And that is a wrap. As always, you can contact me at norinrad10@yahoo.com. Make sure you check out the Dad Gone Wild Facebook page. if you think what I write has value, please support me through Patreon. Peace out.

“Unfortunately, we’re just operating in an environment in which negative attacks, unlimited outside dark money, and unbridled tribalism is trumping — both figuratively and literally — everything else. That may sound like sour grapes, but it’s the truth.” – Will Pinkston on the trouncing of Phil Bredesen

“I am just a poor boy though my story’s seldom told
I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises
All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest, hmmm” The Boxer, Simon and Garfunkel

The election is over, the dust has cleared. The results are in and it’s been proven, Will Pinkston is not the smartest man in the room. I guess that title belongs to Ward Baker, as Baker led his candidate – Marsha Blackburn – to a double-digit victory in the race for Tennessee State senator. Ironically he did it by utilizing the same dark arts that Pinkston so often employs against others.

Word on the street is that many of the strategies that ended up dampening support for Bredesen – the Kavenaugh response for instance – were designed by Pinkston. That shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody when you don’t believe in anything…well you can’t relate to people that do. Obviously, that one move didn’t doom Bredesen, but when you are involved in a race that tight, there is no margin for error. In the end, Baker was just more disciplined and as a result, Pinkston’s candidate got clobbered.

The question now on everybody’s lips is, what’s next for Pinkston? A renewed interest in his job on the school board? Throughout 2018 he missed several meeting and when he did attend, he usually departed shortly after the consent agenda was read. My thoughts were that surely he’d start staying for the whole meeting now that his schedule was freed up, but if this week is any indication – he left once again shortly after the consent agenda and before the presentation on ACT scores – bad habits are hard to break.

He did come out of the gate with some policy proposals this week. The first being that the threshold for board approval on contracts be lowered from $100k to $25. This is not a new proposal. Both Jill Speering and Amy Frogge have brought it up for consideration in the past, but there was no will to pass it. Maybe now there is.

The second proposal is much more intriguing though it reeks of political gamesmanship. Pinkston proposes that Metro’s audit office hire two auditors at a 100K a clip and their sole responsibility would be to maintain constant oversite on the director’s office. Interesting, but isn’t there already an elected board that has that responsibility. To me, this is like Marcus Mariotta proposing that he continue to play quarterback but the Titans pay somebody extra to come in and throw the ball. In the words of Patriots coach Bill Belichick, “Do your job.”

In proposing the policy change, Pinkston maintains that the action is not directed at Joseph and has been a long time coming. Problem with that theory is, as fellow blogger Zac Barnes points out in his weekly Tip Sheet, Pinkston has been on the board for 6 years. If this has been a long time coming, why now? Why has he not addressed the issue in the last 6 years? After all, isn’t fiduciary oversight a large part of a board members responsibility? Hasn’t he been screaming, “underfunded district” for years? How are you going to ask people to fill the bucket if you won’t even ensure the holes are plugged?

What do I think is really going on here? I think that Pinkston is going to grasp the reins on the drive to get Joseph a contract extension. After all, as he likes to tell people, he brought Joseph here and he is his guy. This oversight proposal is the establishment of one more bulwark for Joseph. How can he be criticized for wasteful spending if he’s got two emissaries in the mayor’s office watching? Here’s a question for you though, who are those auditors going to be and how are they going to know if a proposed usage is a prudent usage? How will they identify wasteful spending? Will these two individuals be educational budget specialists?

Let’s add some things up here for a minute. We are proposing outside overview of finances. Bone McCallister is fixing the human resource department. TNTP is handling professional development. The University of Pittsburgh has the curriculum taken care of. NOAH is writing discipline policy. Am I missing anybody? So what exactly is the director handling? Why exactly are we paying him $300k plus a year?

I guess that is a question that may be answered in January when the board conducts its formative review of the director. If they conduct that review, something they didn’t do last year. Pinkston bristles at criticism of the evaluation process but last I checked, the formative review from June hasn’t even formally be completed yet. Does anybody have Baker’s number? Maybe he can get it done.

Good news is that I suspect teachers will see a proposal for a raise of about 4% in this years budget proposal. Forget that it’s the right thing to do, and remember, Pinkston is going to need to drum up some support for Joseph’s contract extension, not to mention the proposed raise that will surely come with it. This one comes straight out of the Broad Academy Handbook. Mute the criticism by buttering up the union. That creates a potential situation that is good for teachers but is it good for everybody?

All of this is admittedly speculation. Pinkston hasn’t talked to me in two years and has blocked me from his social media feeds for almost as long. Which to be honest, has been kind of nice. I do know he is a bully. A bully who just got his ass kicked, In true bully fashion, he won’t learn from the experience, but rather will look for someone else to bully. It may be charter proponents, it may be fellow board members, it may be people at the state level, it may be private citizens. Though I would be willing to bet it won’t be anybody affiliated with Ward Baker.

THERE WILL BE A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN

Yesterday Tennessee State Education Superintendent Candice McQueen announced that she’ll be stepping down after the first of the year to take a position with National Institute for Excellence in Teaching(NIET). NIST is a non-profit that focuses on attracting, developing, and keeping high-quality educators. McQueen will reportedly head up the new Nashville Office.

McQueen is personally respected by many educators across the state but issues with testing, teacher evaluations, and the heavy hand of the state burned a lot of that capital over the last several years. Per Chalkbeat, McQueen said being education commissioner has been “the honor of a lifetime” and that her new job will allow her to “continue to be an advocate for Tennessee’s teachers and work to make sure every child is in a class led by an excellent teacher every day.” While I often disagreed with her policies, I do want to thank McQueen for the class and dignity she brought to the position. A far cry from her predecessor.

Speculation now begins on who her successor will be. Several names are already up for conversation. Dorsey Hopson’s name has arisen. The current head of Shelby County schools endorsed Bill Lee in his candidacy and this could be his reward. State Senator Janice Bowling, a former teacher who supported Lee during his run is reportedly on the short list. District Superintendents Johnny McDaniel, Jason Vance, and Bill Heath are names that have come up and are all certainly qualified. In the end, Lee may choose to stay at home and promote current deputy commissioner at the state department of education, Lyle Ailshie.

There is also the very real possibility that it could turn out to be somebody not on the radar. Bill Lee is not a career politician and therefore he doesn’t have a whole lot of political relationships. That could be a good thing; or not. Time will tell.

BOARD MEETING

This past week MNPS held a board meeting.

I urge you to watch it. There is a lot of information dispersed throughout. For our purposes, I’d like to fast forward to the 1:30 mark where discussion about this years ACT scores. After the presentation board member Gini Pupo-Walker raises some good question about the difference in the achievement gap on ACT and that on EOCs. In her words, it seems as if the differences are much starker when it comes to the ACT versus the EOC. Dr. Changus doesn’t really have an answer, other than to offer cut scores as a possible culprit for the difference. He goes on the describe work being done with John Hopkins on early indicators that is proving promising.

At the 2:08 mark, board member Fran Bush lays out just how serious these scores are to her and that where we are currently should be unacceptable to everyone. She pushes Changus hard and then gives the scores for each individual high school. It’s not pretty.

At the 2:27 mark fellow board member Amy Frogge lays out her concerns that Dr. Joseph is not taking these scores serious enough. In support of that charge, she reveals that a test prep company tried to meet with Dr. Joseph in order to help improve scores and were rebuffed. Instead of talking ACT, Joseph preferred to talk about the “7 in his pocket”, referring to school board members.

Joseph denies the charge and Frogge brushes his denial aside by responding that she knows two of the people who were in the room and it was said. She then goes on to point out that Joseph has never taken the time to figure out who the players are and how they are connected. That I would argue is the central failing of this administration. They continue to try and do the work without building the relationships. Nothing is going to succeed on scale until that failing is addressed.

Following Frogge, Chair Dr. Gentry tries to defend Joseph but Frogge ain’t having any of it and tells Gentry, “I’m tired of the constant defending of the director.” Frogge goes on to make a formal request that the director stops the bad mouthing of board members at meetings with outside entities, something he seems to engage in regularly.

Once she gets the floor back, Gentry gives a classic Frogge speech circa 2015 about how test scores are influenced by trauma and poverty. The kind of speech that three years ago board members would roll their eyes at whenever Frogge would give it. Bush wasn’t having any of this either though and proceeded with a no holds barred rebuke, all done with a smile and a bless you.

Gentry and veteran school board members are clearly frustrated with Bush. Understanding her is fairly easy though. While the others are concerned with optics and politics, her only concern is teachers and students. Perhaps a little more dedication protecting those in their charge and a little self-interest would make things smoother.

One last note on the ACT numbers, as evidence of growth, Changus show black students who scored a 21 or higher growing from 20% in 2017 to 20.8% in 2018. That sounds good until you do the math. In 2017 a total of 2010 black students took the test. 20%, or 402 students, scored a 21 or higher. In 2018. less black students actually took the test, 1985. Of 1985, 20.8% scored a 21 or higher. That comes to 413 students. A difference of 11 students. Do the same math for white and Hispanic students and you get 49 and 36 more students respectively. Does that sound like exceeding expectations?

QUICK HITS

The calendar for next year was passed at the board meeting. So those who have been awaiting it to be finalized in order to make plans for next year should be able to find it on the district website soon.

MNPS has been awarded the American Heart Association’s 2018 Gold designation for Workplace Health Achievement! Check out the video to find out what is taking place to help employees get and stay healthy:

(photo by Gina Elizabeth Grimes Kelley)

The reviews are in and Overton High Schools performance of Bonnie and Clyde is a hit. You owe it to yourself to check it out. Showtimes are 7:00 Friday, Saturday, and Monday at Overton High School in the auditorium. Students get in for $5.00 with their ID- $10.00 general admission. This is adult themed.
Good luck to all these fabulous kids!!!

TEA ways in with their thoughts on who should be considered as the new state superintendent of education.

Local Blogger Vesia Hawkins has some thoughts for Bill Lee on how he should pursue education policy. Pretty solid.

I often hear people say, “I’d like to research things a bit more but don’t know where to go.” Blogger Peter Greene offers some advice and places to go.

That’s a wrap. Check out the Dad Gone Wild Facebook page. It’s a good news station. If you need to get a hold of me, the email is norinrad10@yahoo.com. Keep sending me your stuff and I’ll share as much as possible. Don’t forget to answer this week’s poll questions. If you think what I write has value, please consider supporting the work through Patreon.