Fulton school chief to Georgia Legislature: Raise teacher pay. Lower time spent on testing.

[n2doc]

Fulton Superintendent Robert Avossa runs one of the most successful school districts in the state. In a recent ranking of best high schools in Georgia, Fulton had four in the top 20.

So, he tends to get heard when he speaks.

And Avossa is speaking out more. Last year, he took a strong stand on the confusing state of high school math in Georgia.

Now, Avossa is speaking out about testing and teaching. Here is a letter he sent to legislators on the first of the session:

An Open Letter to Our Georgia Legislators:

As superintendent of Fulton County Schools, I’ve met with thousands of teachers, parents, students and community members over the past four years and have listened to their thoughts, concerns and ideas.

I’m writing this letter because I feel it’s important to share their collective story. As you begin the 2015 legislative session today, there will be many agencies making a case for additional funding.

I ask that you think about education as an investment rather than as a budget item and urge you to focus on a few big areas:

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http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2015/01/12/fulton-school-chief-to-legislature-raise-teacher-pay-lower-time-spent-on-testing/

[CurtEastPoint]

1. GOOD! That the district I live in.

[elleng]

3. Good for you!

[daleanime]

2. But there's no profit in that.....

[Igel]

4. Good schools have little need for the tests.

The kids are typically high performing. The teachers feed off of that and encourage it.

It's sliding and down-in-the-dumps schools that need them. Othewise it's easy to spend more and more time teaching less and less. Until finally you have schools that don't really teach much.

Which is why the original tests were introduced. They were basic. Can you read OTC medicine instructions? Can you read a simple map? Can you manage to master the math for balancing a checkbook? Can you read simple narrative and non-fiction prose for information?

Now we have "essential skills and knowledge" that are anything but. I know students learning about quantum states as sophomores and n-numbers for calculation electron transitions. This is considered "essential knowledge." Odd, I seem to go most of my year without once worrying about such things. I find them interesting; I liked learning about them; I can talk people through Planck's solution to the UV catastrophe and teach the math at at least the jr-year college physics level behind Bohr and de Broglie's advances. Still ... Doesn't seem like "essential knowledge."