Last summer I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with
our local senator, Senator Don Gaetz. He was a former school
Superintendent, so I felt I could share my frustrations with him about our
current state accountability system. Don't get me wrong. I am an accountability
girl. I have seen the advent of accountability cause an elevation in our
ability to improve student achievement like never before. But I did share with
the Senator how our state’s “safety net” embedded in the accountability system reduced
the urgency necessary to turn around schools demonstrating a downward
trajectory in regards to student achievement. I shared the story of how I took
over a “B” school that was really, by points, a C school with only 9 points keeping it from a D. But the community, the district, and even the school staff were not
acting with a sense of urgency due to the “B” which camouflaged our downward
trajectory.
During our chat,
he was very insightful, and I took away some awesome quotes from our visit. He
said, I needed some “hard chargers” to help with the reform…referring to the
teaching staff.
When he responded
to my visit by sending me a personal letter, he said, “I was intrigued by your analysis
that the current school grading system – “buffered” grades – turned out to be a
disadvantage to you in developing a sense of urgency among your faculty and
parents and district staff.” When I read his letter, I knew that he had
genuinely listened to what I had to say.
And now….FLASH FORWARD….a year later. This
spring, the Senator has worked with others in the government to remove the
safety net and to create a transparent grading system. I was thrilled when I
received his email newsletter that described the changes.
I firmly believe that
the Senator listened to my heartfelt concerns. He probably heard similar
concerns from across the state, and he listened. This summer I will reply to
his letter with thanks. All in all, this was a worthwhile experience, but the
Senator’s responsiveness and time taken to send me a letter seemed to make it
even more gratifying.
