Weast: The Tour Continues

Superintendent Jerry Weast announced his retirement from MCPS on Tuesday.  Two days later, he was back on the speaking circuit. No need to be in Montgomery County four days before the new school year starts...

Diverse:  Poll: Expectations of Sending Children to College Growing Among U.S. Parents
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim , August 26, 2010

...Dr. Jerry Weast, superintendent of the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, said the Gallup poll is important for educational administrators, policymakers and others concerned with bringing about school reform.

He said he used Gallup methodology over a decade ago for a systemwide survey that found students felt largely disengaged and teachers felt largely unsupported.

Efforts were made to get better teachers and make the curriculum more engaging, Weast said, and today the Montgomery County Public Schools system has one of the highest high school graduation rates for Black and Latino males in the nation, as noted in a recent Schott Foundation report on the subject of public education and Black males.

“Listen to the Gallup Poll,” Weast said. “People are telling us they want their kids to go to college.”