Letter grades for schools?
The proposed legislation is part of McDonnell’s education agenda and he was pushing hard for it last week. He even enlisted the help of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who instituted a similar grading system during his time as governor. The measure cleared Senate and House committees and is expected to come up for votes in both bodies this week.
Proponents say it will be an easy to understand system that will help parents. But opponents argue it’s overly simplistic, could have unintended consequences and is unnecessary.
The Daily Press also points out an interesting connection about Bush. An article from Saturday explains opponents of the evaluation policy have concerns the system could be used to push for charter schools, which McDonnell supports.
The story goes on to state:
“Bush heads a non-profit organization, Foundation for Excellence in Education, that lobbies in the interests of for-profit charter school and virtual school companies.
A story in the left-leaning The Nation magazine Wednesday said emails received through Freedom of Information Act requests suggest that Bush and the companies that fund the organization profit directly from its lobbying efforts.”
So, what do you think? Grades for schools to measure accountability? Or if it ain’t broken don’t fix it?
February 4, 2013 - 3:01 PM
I believe that a single letter grade for each school is a good idea. The Virginia Department of Education web site has some good information, and the local school board web site has information. But it can be confusing when trying to consider Adequate Yearly Progress, Accredation, SAT scores, and other test scores.
I disagree with Roanoke County Superintendent Lorraine Lange. I believe that 80% of the parents do not know their schools current rating. Plus, the comment about companies relocation to an area where schools are rated D or F also applies to parents wanting to send their kids to schools with a D or F rating. This grade gives us parents a rating that is easy to understand and track.
I think the educators are against letter grades because it puts more pressure on them to perform.
The connection between Bush and getting more charter schools is just a theory. But I would welcome more charter schools in the state.
I think it’s a great idea too. It is hard to understand all of the information about schools on the VDOE website and that’s if you can find the information you’re looking for at all. This is a move that will benefit the parents who aren’t skilled at education lingo and don’t have the time to shift through multiple excel spreadsheets to try and figure out what’s going on at their children’s schools.