ED, Davis/Yarbrough meeting covered in newspapers

Proviso Probe already covered the Davis/Yarbrough education meeting held on Tuesday, November 29, and a number of you made comments.

Here's what Forest Park Review wrote in an editorial:

But what’s true of Forest Park District 91 is not true everywhere, and the good guys in public education cannot afford to cover up for the corruption and mismanagement that drags the system down in so many local schools....

Still, it was rather discouraging, and seemed a bit arrogant, that three hours intended for a public discussion by school administrators on what they need to do to improve public education ended up being thrown back in parents’ faces as a harangue on what they’re doing wrong.

Forest Park Review (Seth Stern) and Pioneer Press (John Huston) also had news coverage of the meeting.

FPR quoted Bob Libka:

Libka’s criticism of No Child Left Behind was minimal compared to other administrators, but he did note that the tests by which the act measures each school district "doesn’t measure progress, but measures a student’s level at a certain point in time."

I've already criticized this excuse. The evidence shows District 209 isn't making significant progress in educating its students; the problem isn't merely receiving students arriving at a low level. But the excuse allows Libka and the rest of the D209 leadership to say something to evade responsibility for poor results.

Pioneer Press quoted Jerry Jordan:

Jerry Jordan, superintendent of Lindop District 92, also spoke out about funding, but from a different angle: Tax caps.

He said the taxing restraints, which prohibit school districts from increasing taxes higher than either the consumer-price index or 5 percent, whichever is lower, are too strict and will eventually result in nearly every district going broke, Jordan said.

I'm going to be writing more about the economics of local government later.

While we're thinking about education as a policy issue, Capitol Fax Blog has had a debate on teacher tenure. It started with "The Hidden Cost of Tenure" with The other side of tenure being the response.

I suspect a major challenge for public schools is what to do with "burned out" teachers. Everybody knows they are there, but what do you do about them?