Virginia earns top grades for educational innovation
A report released Monday graded states on dozens of criteria to determine if they’re ready to transform their schools, or if they’re stuck in the past.
Category
D.C. grade
Md. grade
Va. grade
School Management
D
C
C
Flexibility in financing districts and schools
C
C
B
Removing ineffective teachers
F
F
A
Data collection
F
C
C
Use of technology
D
A
A
Source: “Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Innovation”
An inability to remove bad teachers from the classroom has stymied education reform in Maryland and the District of Columbia, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and two prominent think tanks.
About 77 percent of D.C. Public Schools principals and 72 percent of Maryland’s principals said “teacher unions or associations are a barrier to the removal of ineffective teachers,” compared with a national average of about 61 percent of principals.
In Virginia, a right-to-work state, less than one-third of principals cited the same troubles. That data was collected as part of a U.S. Education Department survey in 2007-08, and compiled with dozens of other measures for a “Leaders and Laggards” state report card on innovation in education. The left-leaning Center for American Progress and the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute helped to write the report.
Both Maryland and Virginia received the highest marks for using innovative technology, including the use of online education at the K-12 level so that, for example, students can take courses not offered at their home school.
Certain reforms, especially in the District, were not cited in the report because of the study’s timing. D.C. Public Schools, for example, received an “F” grade in the data category because it lacked a system to track students’ progress throughout their school years. But on Monday, a new employee joined D.C.’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education to direct that exact initiative.
The District’s highest accolades came for its strong charter school laws, including no limit to the number that can open with the approval of the D.C. Public Charter School Board. Maryland and Virginia both have relatively weak charter school laws, according to the report.
“Charter schools operate within the confines of the code of the state, so that’s an issue for the General Assembly,” said Charles Pyle, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education. He added that the state’s “governor’s schools,” such as Fairfax County’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, are an innovation ignored by the report.
Bill Reinhard, spokesman for Maryland’s Department of Education, said “a variety of measures … find both our students and our schools steadily improving. That, we believe, is the most significant yardstick.”
