Montgomery County parents have begun drafting their wish lists for Superintendent Jerry Weast’s replacement, whom the school board will begin researching before the official search begins in December.
More attention to programs that aren’t measured through standardized tests are high priorities for many parents.
Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations President Kristin Trible said the group would put together a committee next month to survey the more than 50,000 parents it represents. “We’ll probably do a little behind the scenes, and some testimony before the board,” she said.
Louis Wilen, a leader of the Parents’ Coalition who is running for the school board, prioritized a superintendent with a local focus. “I’m not looking for a superintendent who’s a miracle worker — what I do want is someone who’s focused on supporting our school system, and not trying to be a national role model.”
Gifted & Talented Association President Fred Stichnoth, who has a child at Springbrook High School in Silver Spring, wants the next superintendent to measure achievement based on the top students, rather than midlevel averages such as SAT scores of 1,650 (out of 2,400).
“I don’t think it’s a triumph to close the gap at 1,650. It will be a huge triumph when the top African-American students are scoring the same as the top white students.”
Weast’s chief initiative has been to close the achievement gap between white and Asian students and lower-performing black and Hispanic students. Because he has largely measured that gap by college-prep exams — especially the increasing percentage of black and Hispanic students taking the exams — critics say his focus falls too heavily on the tests.
County Councilman Phil Andrews, member of the education committee and the only council member for Weast’s entire 11-year tenure, has an elementary-age son who has been in the system’s special classrooms for students with Asperger’s syndrome. But Andrews has decided to home-school him this year “because the school system can’t meet his needs.”
“There’s been an almost exclusive focus on college preparation and readiness, and on college-bound students, but not on the many students who are not served by that approach,” Andrews said.
Ted Willard, whose daughter attends Magruder High School, said he moved his family to Derwood so his children could attend county schools. As co-chairman of the curriculum/education committee for the MCCPTA, he says he’d like to see the next superintendent emphasize subject areas outside of math and reading. “The tests only measure those aspects. We need to make sure we’re creating well-rounded students that are engaged in the arts,” Willard said, noting that inadequate science and social studies instruction at the elementary level is a common parent complaint.
Schools spokesman Dana Tofig said parents’ input would be essential during the selection process, but could not specify how that would occur.
