AYP performance disappointing

Contributed
Published: September 4, 2008

To the editor,
On Aug. 28, 2008, one of the area’s newspapers (Free-Lance Star) reported that only one of eight of Orange County’s public schools passed the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) tests for 2008. That is an 87.5 percent failure rate, which by anyone’s standards is dismal to say the least. As a matter of fact, the failure rates reported for 2006-2008 are as follows: 2006: 37.5 percent, 2007: 75 percent, and 2008: 87.5 percent. As you can see, money spent did not equate to success, since the failure rate increased with funding increases.
I am sure the school board and the school system’s administrators will try to put spin on this and give one excuse after another, but the fact is that only one school passed all the necessary requirements. That school is Locust Grove Elementary. The school that is so over-crowded that it is reported that it has a very difficult learning environment. But somehow they learn, and do it very well. The students, teachers, administrators and parents, should be, (I am sure they are) very proud of their school and their accomplishments.
Maybe the school board search of a new superintendent needs to start and end at Locust Grove Elementary School. I imagine there are a lot of parents out there that are wondering how to get their children in that school, which is a good question. A better one is how do we make our school as good as, or even better than Locust Grove Elementary. The best starting place is to contact your district school board member, go to the school board meetings and let them know your concerns, join and take an active role in your school’s PTA.
As a taxpayer I am very concerned that I am not getting my money’s worth. I believe that salaries should be based on performance. For example, [a base salary (X dollars per failure)] could be applied across the board. Start with a reasonable base and subtract say $5,000 for each school failure from the superintendent’s salary, $3,000 from each assistant superintendent’s salary, and so on. Let’s pay for actual performance and not for proposed performance.
A reminder to the chamber of commerce and the board of supervisors, high-quality schools help attract high-quality businesses with high-paying jobs.
John Bangs
Orange