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Sunday, April 23, 2017

Montgomery Sentinel: Local outrage on education


8 comments:

  1. Whose action item is this?

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  2. I have to believe that Jack Smith was like the 3rd or 4th choice. He is in so far over his head and has NO idea what he is doing. Even with all of the contracted help he receives from the likes of retired school system employees like Linda Ferrell and Kathy Gemberling not to mention his 3 deputies. They are the ones responsible for mess you see in test scores, the academic program, and security. Jack should do the right thing and resign.

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    1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8DRen60X10

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    2. Nope. The voters are responsible. They voted repeatedly for these Board members. It is the elected Board of Education who hired Jack Smith. They love, love him. And so, apparently, do the voters.

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    3. The lemming mentality
      Clearly defies reality
      As voting is just a ritual
      That has become habitual.

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    4. There is more to it than that. Smith had some inside information provided by his close friend, and former MCPS employee, Gemberling. She is a co-founded a company called Performance Matters and sold Smith on the system while he was in Calvert. She would have been able to supply Smith with enough inside information on MCPS for him to be able to ace his interview. Now, guess what data system Smith wants to bring to MCPS? You guessed it... Performance Matters. Here is a quote from the Montgomery Sentinel from February: "Dr. Smith recommended MCPS adopt a new electronic grade entry system. “ Janet Wilson, associate superintendent of the Office of Shared Accountability, said the new grading platform, Performance Matters, will allow data from tests outside MCPS to be included with student test scores.” Anyone else think that there is a serious ethics violation here? Especially since there was no competitive bid for the "new grading platform."

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  3. Not that I agree on the superintendent selection, or know about the "drama" that most likely occurred during the process, but here is the basic background on the search for superintendent:

    From what I can recall it was not easy to find a superintendent. I believe that in 2015 the BOE was unable to find a candidate they wanted after interviewing 11 candidates. An announced preferred candidate, Dr. Andrew Houlihan, from Houston, withdrew his candidacy. (Another finalist Robert Avossa took a job with Palm Beach County in FL.- only known because Avossa stated that) The names of other candidates are not known or widely known as this was the agreement with local organizations involved in the process.
    The BOE then suspended the search and asked the interim superintendent, Larry A. Bowers, to stay in place for an extra school year.The board’s search for a more permanent superintendent resumed at the beginning of the school year and in January 2016, board members said they were pleased with the pool of applicants and were optimistic that a candidate would be selected as early as March.Montgomery school officials did not release names of the superintendent candidates or finalists. But the finalists included Jack Smith and Marty K. Smith, chief of staff for Fairfax County’s public school system.

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  4. IEL to the rescue?
    http://iel.org/jerry-weast

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