TU: Adam Hollingsworth: Time to take hard look at Duval schools

[Patricia M. McBride]

Mr. Hollingworth is right, but how to make the changes needed.   Perhaps if they can find a new superintendent who focuses on the children and the education process instead of adding more deadwood administrators???  Certainly what they have been doing isn't working, so perhaps it is time to try a different approach?

 

It’s time for a candid conversation about public education in Duval County.

It’s not working.

Our kids and our community are suffering. Our businesses don’t have the educated workforce they need.

Parents are voting with their feet in search of better alternatives for their kids.

In the wake of the school superintendent leaving at the end of this year and with four School Board seats up for election in November, this community must take a hard look at our system.

Only by first having the courage to acknowledge and confront the problems facing us can we then move to the even more difficult task of driving transformational changes in our education system.

Before such statements draw the ire of school officials and teachers, let me say I have the deepest respect for those who dedicate themselves to educating our children. And I know there are pockets of success.

But it’s not enough.

State data show a majority of students in 14 of our 19 high schools are not reading at grade level — despite some of those schools receiving A, B or C rankings. It’s time for a dramatic improvement in student achievement.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-03-05/story/adam-hollingswo...