Requiring teachers to reapply for their jobs, a reform option for schools that continually fall short of federal education requirements, is a dramatic step. But it may be the best way to wardoff a state takeover of a failing school, experts say.
Anne Arundel County Superintendent Kevin Maxwell announced Wednesday that 193 staff members ? including teachers, janitors, assistants and the principal ? at Annapolis High will have to reapply for their jobs. For four years in a row, the school has failed to meet benchmarks set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and if it continues to do so, the school will be susceptible to state takeover.
“What Annapolis High is doing is a pretty drastic step, but I think it?s a very appropriate step.” said Michael Hickey, former superintendent of Howard County Schools and the director of the Center for Leadership in Education at Towson University. “Too many school systems that have been in this kind of trouble have nibbled around the edges.
“A little tweaking here and there is not going to be enough to turn around a school ? it takes significant change,” he said.
Hickey acknowledged that moving teachers around can be demoralizing, but said that many teachers succeed when placed in a new environment.
“Success in teaching frequently is situational,” he said.
County officials defended the decision Wednesday.
“[Maxwell] is very adamant that he wants this school system and this county to control what happens in Annapolis, not anyone else,” said Bob Mosier, a spokesman for Anne Arundel County schools.
“There are good teachers here. Many of them may return next year,” Mosier said.
Other schools in the area have been designated as in need of corrective action, and teachers there could also be required to reapply for jobs.
Harford County has not “gotten to that extreme,” said school spokesman Don Morrison.
The school system did offer teachers at Magnolia Elementary the voluntary option to change schools when it was first identified as being in need of corrective action, but only a small number took advantage of it, Morrison said.
Baltimore County required teachers at Woodlawn Middle School to reapply for their jobs last year as part of a restructuring plan, and about 70 percent of the teachers came back to the school after being reinterviewed.
It is unknown whether the five other Baltimore County schools designated in need of corrective action will take advantage of the option, said Brice Freeman, a spokesman for the Baltimore County public schools.
“We handle each case individually,” he said.
Baltimore City has also required staff to reapply at three schools (Highlandtown Elementary School, Elmer A. Henderson Elementary School and Patascpo K-8) in the past three years.
