A recent attack on a teacher in Baltimore City by a student made national headlines. It also released a stream of anger from teachers, who say, as The Examiner reported more than a year ago, that administrators ignore school violence because they do not want to be labeled “persistently dangerous.” Under 2001?s No Child Left Behind Act, that label could remove students and money from their schools.
Critics blame the federal legislation for putting statistics above learning. But statistics do not have to be the enemy. Prince George?s County Public School System, which faces many of the same problems as those in Baltimore City, is developing a database to track previously ignored factors ? including attendance and progress on learning English for non-native speakers ? essential to a child?s learning. The database will ultimately help to determine raises for county teachers and principals under a new performance pay program.
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The database is possible in part because of $6 million in grants ? $4 million from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and $2 million from the Broad Foundation. Don Mitchell, the district?s manager for grants, told The Examiner that in the world he came from at Microsoft Corp., “you have to get things done or they?ll replace you. … That?s been a little different here.” The same could be said of Baltimore City.
We look forward to watching how teachers respond to the program and whether it helps to boost student learning. All experiments won?t succeed. But what?s clear is that holding people accountable for their actions makes them more responsible for their work.
Baltimore City Public School System CEO Andres Alonso started that process by giving school principals more control over how money is spent in their schools. Changing the culture may take time, but Prince George?s Superintendent John Deasy and Alonso should be encouraged to keep pushing for measures that offer incentives to improve learning. Administrators and teachers need to see the upside of being held accountable, not just the consequences.
