posted November 4, 2009
County School Supt. Dr. Jim Scales, in the wake of a dismal report card based on more stringent state standards, told the County Commission on Wednesday, "Our school system has not failed."
Dr. Scales did acknowledge that the schools "have work to do. We know we need to do better. We are going to do better."
Asked by County Mayor Claude Ramsey if he has been gearing up to deal with the higher standards, he said, "Not totally, but we are working on it."
He said staff development for the past 18 months has been geared toward dealing with the new standards.
Dr. Scales said school officials are not panicking over the lower test scores, but he said there is "a controlled urgency" about making corrections.
Mr. Ramsey said a main problem is "we have people who don't care about their child's education. There are pockets all over the county - not just in the inner city - where they don't value education."
Commissioner Warren Mackey said part of the problem is that "some 60 percent of children are born out of wedlock" and often don't have parents interested in their schooling.
He also said, "We've got to do better. We've got to adopt a higher standard and expect more."
Asked by Dr. Scales what he meant, Commissioner Mackey said he was referring to "leadership." He said one concern was that principals are frequently rotated from school to school. He said, "You have to have stability. When you form relationships, you have better results."
Commissioner Fred Skillern also said he was dismayed by frequent changes in principals.
And he said he had trouble reaching principals in his district at their schools. He said, "When I and my son are away from our business, our productivity goes down."
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