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Tuesday, September 02, 2008 10:42 AM Price blasts Locke report on schools' parent friendliness By Stephanie Creech Daily Times Senior Writer A "baseless grading system" is how Wilson County Schools Superintendent Larry Price describes the system used by the John Locke Foundation of Raleigh to determine the parent friendliness of North Carolina's public school systems. Wilson County Schools was one of 27 districts to receive an overall D+ ranking, according to the report the foundation released earlier this month. The study looked at four different areas: school administration, teachers, safety and student performance. Among the items that the foundation used to compile the report's grades are results for the state-mandated End-of-Grade and End-of-Course tests along with the four-year cohort graduation rates for high schools and school crime. The study also considered working conditions for teachers and teacher turnover. The district received a letter grade in each of the four categories in addition to the overall grade. Wilson County Schools received a D ranking in three out of the four categories -- teachers, safety and student performance -- and a C ranking in administration. "This report develops a system that's designed to show the extent to which North Carolina's school districts provide children a sound, basic education in a stable and safe environment that is responsive to the needs of children and concerns of parents," said Terry Stoops, the foundation's education policy analyst in a press release. Price said the test scores, graduation rates, school safety numbers and teacher turnover rates have "nothing to do with parent-friendliness." Two area school districts fared the same or worse in the study. Greene County Schools received an overall D ranking and Edgecombe County Schools received an F ranking. Nash-Rocky Mount, Johnston County, Pitt County and Wayne County schools all did better than Wilson, receiving C rankings. "This baseless grading system serves only to advance the foundation's cause of promoting school choice in North Carolina by misdirecting important conversations away from real issues," Price said. Stoops asserts in the report that "genuine accountability to parents begins with school choice" and that school districts are more "focused on strengthening the organization's position and goals, rather than meeting the needs of students and parents." Overall, the study said it found that smaller school districts are generally more parent-friendly than ones serving larger numbers of children. When compared to school districts with student populations between 7,701 and 14,100, Wilson County Schools was ranked 18 out of 22 districts in terms of parent friendliness. "In particular, I found the report's indictment, based on the district's grade, that our teachers have low regard for parents to be especially offensive," Price said. "In Wilson County, we are keenly aware of the important role parents play in the education of their children, and we are dedicated to doing everything possible to cooperatively enable their children to be successful." creech@wilsontimes.com | 265-7822 |
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