Wake GOP on not endorsing Jennifer Mansfield for school board

No, I'm not implying that the intent of WSCA was to bring down public education, but that you joined forces with those who wanted to do just that.  I do not believe that most who were involved with WSCA put forth all that effort for altruistic reasons or to support public education, but that they did so for personal gain.  Each of the newly-elected board members immediately and without (or even against) public input voted to put into place policies that would benefit them personally, particularly regarding assignments and calendar changes.  They even voted against what a majority of parents surveyed had told them they wanted, simply to satisfy supporters!  Other supporters stood directly to gain financially by decisions made such as changing the site of the H6 high school and significantly increasing the sole use of EVAAS.  That the packet exposed those associations has evidently made you feel uncomfortable.

The former system hid nothing from the public.  In fact, the extreme-right group Civitas did a study which showed WCPSS to be the most transparent district in the state.   The unprecedented Curriculum Audit was commissioned by the former superintendent specifically to reveal any weaknesses the system might have so that they could be corrected.  The results were released to the public, warts and all.  The administration and board were working systematically through action steps suggested by the audit to decrease the achievement gap and increase equity.  Those efforts were paying off, as indicated by improved metrics -- including but not limited to graduation rates -- among the ED population last year.  AdvancEd found that the new board members refused to believe the data indicating such.  Talk about propaganda!!!  Objective criteria for placing students into Algebra had already been put into place and efforts were being made to increase the numbers of ED students in those classes, just as efforts had been made to increase the numbers of girls in those classes in years before with great success, as shown by greatly increased SAT scores in math.  THAT is the type of information that was "hidden", or at any rate, not publicized sufficiently.  The reason CMS almost caught up with WCPSS with achievement for ED kids (not for any other groups!) was because of the millions and millions of extra local dollars they invested into their weighted staffing for their newly created very high poverty schools.  That's what it took for them to get their ED kids to roughly the same level as ours, when we were spending millions of dollars less.  Do you think those gains will be maintained now that many of those schools are being closed and they no longer have the money for weighted staffing? 

And there was no "scandal" regarding the SAS report.  The superintendent did not "sit" on it.  He referred it to the head of E&R.  There was and is much controversy surrounding the use of EVAAS for making high-stakes decisions involving students and teachers.  Did you read the article by the mathematician I linked to earlier regarding the flaws in EVAAS and how it is being used incorrectly?  In any case, the system was already beginning to use much of the data provided by EVAAS.  From what I have read, even William Sanders was dismayed by the leaking of his letter and report to be used for negative campaigning while E&R was in the process of evaluating what he said and responding to him.  The EI that had been devised by employees of WCPSS and used for almost two decades was completely mischaracterized by WSCA and their supporters, leading to the loss of a tool that helped to compare apples to apples and treat teachers fairly.  At any rate, a dispute between statisticians that most lay people could not understand was used unfairly.  Chaboard, who clearly understands statistics, has had many posts on this blog explaining the differences in EVAAS and the EI, which was never used in any way to place kids in Algebra classes, as much of the public was led to believe. 

There has also been much controversy over how to place kids into eighth grade algebra.  It can be detrimental to place them too early, before they are ready, as Montgomery County (Md.) has learned.  After getting to the point where they had a greater percentage of all students taking Algebra I in eighth grade than most of the nation, they are now backing off, after seeing that many ended up having trouble in high school math.  Again, it is not as cut and dried as your side has made it out to be.  WCPSS was on the right path, making improvements, until the new board majority came into power and stopped the progress dead in its tracks with measures such as taking away  the designated time for all teachers to participate in PLT's, which had shown definite progress in increasing achievement for individual students in all demographic groups.  I'm so glad that Superintendent Tata has realized how successful WCPSS has been and the imperative of preventing the creation of high poverty schools in order to continue progress.

Stick a needle in my eye.

I have no idea about the packet you speak, nor have I ever even seen it. 

As well, even though I can guess, unlike sideburns, I am not quite sure who you are.

I have consistently told my own people, despite G5 acting pretty much in lock step with Art Pope since they were elected, that Art's money had little to do with what happened, that it was tone deafness of current admin and board, that it was WCSA which pushed it over the top, and that election was a mandate because even if low, turnout was twice what it was before.

That said, it is wrong for any BoE member to make any decision based on campaign promises over data.

If, as you say, you support Tedesco "completely, then why go against his choice for a D3 candidate and risk Hill retaining his seat? That makes no sense to me and it makes it appear that your support for Tedesco is something less that "complete."

The issues you bring up -- vouchers and charters -- are not even school board issues. School board members have no authority in these matters, so I do not understand their relevence in regard to who is running in District 3.

Interestingly, it is important to note, that vouchers and charters are not party-centric issues. Many low-income and minority individuals -- a significant proportion of whom are Democrats -- value and support vouchers and charters as attractive alternatives to failing public schools. For example, below is a link to an article about protests by black citizens against the NAACP on the issue of charter schools.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-27/naacp-under-fire-in-new-york-charter-school-war/#