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In a May 2011 District
Administration article, then Wake County superintendent Tony Tata recounted
the moment that he began to consider a career in educational leadership. Five years earlier, Brigadier General Anthony
Tata was the deputy commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division in
Afghanistan. Shortly before the start of
another dangerous mission, he witnessed an Al Qaeda rocket destroy a school,
killing a teacher and seven students.
Tata remarked, "It occurred to me then that our enemy really sees
education of the population as their enemy."
What does this have to do with his demise in Wake
County? Read this week's CommenTerry to
find out.
Bulletin Board
- The John Locke Foundation cordially invites you to a Headliner
Luncheon with our special guest Dr. Charles
Murray, Author of Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010. The
luncheon will begin at noon on Wednesday,
October 24, 2012 at the Woman's Club of Raleigh (3300 Woman's Club Drive). Tickets
are $30.00 and may be purchased online.
- The North Carolina
History Project would like educators and homeschool parents to submit lesson
plans suitable for middle and high school courses in North Carolina
history. Please provide links to N.C.
History Project encyclopedia articles and other primary and secondary source
material, if possible. Go to the N.C. History Project website for further information.
- JLF's research newsletter archive likes
long walks on the beach and a bottle of Chablis.
CommenTerry
I know
what some of you are thinking -- Stoops is going to compare the Democratic
majority on the Wake County Board of Education to Al Qaeda. No matter how much they saw Tata as the enemy
of their plans to reengineer public education in Wake County, they are clearly
not terrorists.
But they are politicians. The school board is a political office
obtained by doing many of the things that (gasp!) Mitt Romney and Barack Obama
are doing to get votes, albeit on a smaller scale. How easily we forget the character
assassination campaign against Heather Losurdo...or accusations that Ron
Margiotta was a racist...or "reporting" of John Tedesco's financial
woes. Partisanship, not the sudden
discovery of virtue, is a natural consequence of elections.
So, let's get it out of our
heads that school boards magically transcend partisanship and politics just
because there are children involved. In
fact, the relative importance of public education raises the stakes and,
therefore, increases the politicization of the office.
For these reasons, I believe the
entire discussion of school board partisanship and politics are a giant red
herring. Nobody should be surprised that
members of the school board act in ways that strengthen their long-term
political prospects, which includes employing school administrators that will
carry out their plans for the district.
Remember that state law makes it
clear that school district superintendents work for their elected school boards. They have every right to bring in "their
guy" when they feel that it is necessary.
We may not agree with the decision, but it is their right.
And expect the Wake County school
board majority to hire a "stepping stone superintendent," that is,
someone who has paid his or her dues in administrative posts in progressively
larger school districts. He or she will
be a proponent of diversity (read: busing) and will use vapid phrases such as "school
board collaboration," "common good," and "public interest"
frequently. Obviously, the new
superintendent will spend a great deal of time trying to squeeze every penny out
of taxpayers. In sum, the school board
majority will choose a ho-hum left-leaning career school administrator in the familiar
McNeil/Burns mold.
Some criticized the school board for hiring someone that did not have a
background in education. (Funny how these
critics never pan Guilford County superintendent Mo
Green, who is an attorney by profession. But I digress.) Even so, I think there was something
refreshing about having a superintendent who entered the profession later in
his career.
Professionally
and personally, Tata had nothing to prove.
He did not have the baggage that career school administrators often
bring to the job. This brings us back to
Tata and his experience in Afghanistan.
He was an idealist -- someone whose school reform efforts started with
the premise that citizens in free societies too often take public education for
granted. When the Democratic majority on
the Wake County school board asked him to assimilate for the sake of his job, and, more importantly their
political future, he refused. His firing
became inevitable.
Random Thought
Who else is waiting for Rob Schneider to publish
an autobiography?
Facts and Stats
|
Wake County
Graduation Rates |
|
Subgroup |
2008-2009 |
2009-2010 |
2010-2011 |
2011-2012 |
Change,
2010-2012 |
|
All Students |
78.4% |
78.2% |
80.9% |
80.6% |
+2.4% |
|
Male |
74.5% |
73.6% |
77.1% |
76.8% |
+3.2% |
|
Female |
82.5% |
82.9% |
85.0% |
84.7% |
+1.8% |
|
Asian |
88.3% |
91.3% |
91.0% |
88.1% |
-3.2% |
|
Black |
63.4% |
63.9% |
67.9% |
69.6% |
+5.7% |
|
Hispanic |
51.1% |
54.2% |
65.2% |
65.3% |
+11.1% |
|
Multi-Racial |
81.2% |
75.7% |
80.3% |
80.6% |
+4.9% |
|
White |
89.4% |
89.3% |
90.7% |
90.3% |
+1.0% |
|
Economically Disadvantaged |
54.2% |
59.2% |
63.0% |
65.1% |
+5.9% |
|
Limited English Proficient |
38.9% |
36.7% |
36.7% |
34.6% |
-2.1% |
|
Students With Disabilities |
56.8% |
57.0% |
55.9% |
61.1% |
+4.1% |
Source: NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI), "Cohort Graduation Rates," accessed October 2, 2012.
|
State Test
Results for Wake County: Math and Reading Composite for Grades 3-8 |
|
Subgroup |
2008-2009 |
2009-2010 |
2010-2011 |
2011-2012 |
Change,
2010-2012 |
|
All Students |
70.3% |
71.9% |
73.0% |
74.2% |
+2.3% |
|
Female |
72.7% |
73.7% |
75.0% |
76.5% |
+2.8% |
|
Male |
68.1% |
70.1% |
71.0% |
72.0% |
+1.9% |
|
Asian |
87.9% |
88.4% |
89.1% |
90.0% |
+1.6% |
|
Black |
45.2% |
48.4% |
50.3% |
52.8% |
+4.4% |
|
Hispanic |
46.9% |
48.9% |
55.3% |
56.5% |
+7.6% |
|
Multi-Racial |
72.9% |
74.2% |
76.5% |
77.7% |
+3.5% |
|
White |
86.4% |
87.4% |
87.9% |
88.4% |
+1.0% |
|
Female - Asian |
89.3% |
90.1% |
90.9% |
91.4% |
+1.3% |
|
Female - Black |
49.4% |
51.5% |
53.5% |
56.7% |
+5.2% |
|
Female - Hispanic |
49.1% |
50.6% |
57.2% |
58.7% |
+8.1% |
|
Female - Multi-Racial |
75.4% |
76.5% |
78.7% |
81.3% |
+4.8% |
|
Female - White |
88.0% |
88.7% |
89.6% |
90.1% |
+1.4% |
|
Male - Asian |
86.5% |
86.8% |
87.2% |
88.4% |
+1.6% |
|
Male - Black |
41.1% |
45.4% |
47.0% |
49.0% |
+3.6% |
|
Male - Hispanic |
44.9% |
47.3% |
53.4% |
54.4% |
+7.1% |
|
Male - Multi-Racial |
70.4% |
71.8% |
74.1% |
74.1% |
+2.3% |
|
Male - White |
84.9% |
86.2% |
86.2% |
86.8% |
+0.6% |
|
Economically Disadvantaged |
43.9% |
47.2% |
49.3% |
51.6% |
+4.4% |
|
Not Economically Disadvantaged |
82.5% |
84.6% |
85.2% |
87.3% |
+2.7% |
|
Limited English Proficiency |
35.4% |
32.6% |
33.8% |
33.0% |
+0.4% |
|
Not Limited English Proficient |
73.3% |
75.3% |
76.3% |
77.4% |
+2.1% |
|
Students With Disabilities |
35.7% |
38.0% |
40.4% |
41.8% |
+3.8% |
|
Non-Disabled Students |
76.2% |
77.5% |
78.2% |
79.6% |
+2.1% |
|
Academically Gifted |
>95% |
>95% |
>95% |
>95% |
0.0% |
|
Academically Gifted Math |
>95% |
>95% |
>95% |
>95% |
0.0% |
|
Academically Gifted Reading |
>95% |
>95% |
>95% |
>95% |
0.0% |
|
Autistic |
48.8% |
51.1% |
53.5% |
52.8% |
+1.7% |
|
Specific Learning Disability |
32.6% |
34.4% |
35.6% |
38.2% |
+3.8% |
|
Other Health Impairment |
40.6% |
42.5% |
44.4% |
45.7% |
+3.2% |
|
Speech or Language Impairment |
78.7% |
78.2% |
80.6% |
81.1% |
+2.9% |
Source: NC DPI, "Reports of Disaggregated State, School System (LEA) and School Performance Data," accessed October 2, 2012.
Note: Only test scores for subgroups with at least 500 valid scores are included.
Mailbag
I would like to invite all readers
to submit announcements, as well as their personal insights, anecdotes,
concerns, and observations about the state of education in North Carolina. I
will publish selected submissions in future editions of the newsletter.
Anonymity will be honored. For additional information or to send a submission, email
Terry at tstoops@johnlocke.org.
Education Acronym of the Week
AAR -- after
action review
Quote of the Week
"I will profoundly miss all of you: the students,
teachers, staff, and principals as well as our many hard working business
partners, volunteers and parents who make our school system so great. To all 18,000 employees, I say thank you for
your support and loyalty to our core mission of raising academic achievement
for all children. It has been my honor and privilege to serve with you."
-- Tony Tata, email
from former superintendent of the Wake County Public School System, September
25, 2012
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