I previously named Joshua Starr, superintendent of Montgomery County public schools in Maryland, to the honor roll for his courage and wisdom.
He rejected Race to the Top Funding because his schools have a nationally acclaimed peer review evaluation system. He called for a three-year moratorium on standardized testing.
For daring to be different, he is now under attack.
He is wrong, says Checker Finn of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, for not following in the footsteps of Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, and Joel Klein.
Who thinks that Chicago or DC schools are a national model? In NYC, only 26% of voters approve of the Bloomberg-Klein reforms.
Josh Starr has dared to say what parents, teachers and 99% of educators believe. He belongs on the honor roll.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I wish our superintendent had not accepted RTTT money and the evaluation process that went with it here in Florida. What is so ironic is that the head of the RTTT project was once our union president and then became staff for the FEA. He makes a great salary too. I feel he betrayed all his fellow teachers to be part of something like this.
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Shorter Finn:
“I have to admit MontCo is a really good district. But I’m going to ask a lot of questions about it to cast doubt. And then I’ll suggest they consider adopting policies that have little to no evidence of working, like junk science VAM ratings, because… well, maybe they might maybe possibly make a good district better, even though there’s no proof they will, and lots of evidence that they may cause serious harm.
“Oh, and the teachers unions are suspect.”
Your modern reformy education conversation, ladies and gentlemen.
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Jersey Jazzman – Please post that as a comment after the article. Here’s mine:
Mr. Finn – You certainly have the money, personnel and access to all the information you are disingenuously seeking in this paragraph. Why don’t you publish it along with your excoriation of Supt. Starr so the rest of us not-so-connected citizens can determine the implications of your concerns.
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I come from a high rent district. We elect a school board that chooses a superintendent. The idea that the union controls that selection is ludicrous; perhaps that is because the board chooses someone that the community as well as the teachers feel is responsive to the community’s concerns. That is not to say that superintendents always work out. The current transparent, data driven accountability mantra has not left us untouched. I trust, though, that we will weather the over emphasis on the business model of education being pushed by people with little experience in/with the classroom. I applaud Joshua Starr for his willingness to speak up.
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If you really want to know what goes on in Montgomery County, Md in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) go to the Parents’ Coalition blog at http://www.parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com. Unfortunately Diane Ravitch doesn’t know what is really going on in this school district and she seems to be buying whatever our $10million MCPS PR Department is selling.
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Paula and Janis: I do believe Ms. Ravitch (and Ms. Strauss) will believe facts, which is something the Parents Coalition in Montgomery County knows little about. The Parents Coalition is no friend of Montgomery County Public Schools or their teachers. They are as good at bending the facts and always looking for the negative side of things as the reformers are.
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Wrong mathcs. But, let’s see you are anonymous, aren’t you?
Actually MCPS teachers come to the Parents’ Coalition all the time for advocacy and assistance. Why? Because they have been jettisoned by their supposed union.
Ms. Ravitch and Ms. Strauss consistently ignore documented facts. If you want to buy into their fantasy, have at it. If you want to see documentation, then read the Parents’ Coalition blog.
For example, where else will you find the details on the MCPS deal with PEARSON Education, Inc. except the Parents’ Coalition blog? When has Ms. Ravitch or Ms. Strauss written about or investigated that deal? When have they made the details public? Oh, never.
So keep with the fantasy, enjoy. And for those that want facts we are still here.
Just like we were here when Jerry Weast took his Pearson Foundation sponsored trip to Australia a few weeks after the MCPS- Pearson surprise curriculum deal. We broke that story. We posted the video.
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2011/12/pearson-foundation-grant-sends-weast.html
Oh, guess that was the “negative” side of that super cool deal, right?
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Mr. Finn:
1. Why has the word “pensions” morphed into a word with toxic connotations? I am confused by the evil implications that are attached to it.
2. I lived and attended school in Bethesda, MD from 1969-1971. At that time Montgomery County had the highest per capita income in the United States. This may have changed in the many years since but surely there is no need there for RTTT money and all of the strings and hoop jumpings that come with it.
Quite simply: if it ain’t broke, don’t reform it.
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Ms. Ravitch, How about a little factual information with your swooning. Montgomery County Public Schools had rejected Race to the Top funding BEFORE Joshua Starr arrived.
BEFORE
But, you act as if this was his idea. Please. Enough already of hero worship of Superintendents.
Joshua Starr didn’t arrive in Montgomery County until the summer of 2011, long after the Superintendent and Board of Education had rejected Race to the Top funding.
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2010/06/no-race-to-top-for-mcps.html
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That may be true, but Joshua Starr has been outspoken against the misuse of standardized testing and has called for a three-year moratorium on it. Why do you think he was criticized? Can you name another superintendent in your region who has been equally courageous?
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Josh Starr didn’t reject RTTT funding. Jerry Weast, his predecessor, did that.
Talk is cheap. Easy to talk about moratorium on testing. Let’s see what the upcoming Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight report says about the “achievement gap” since Josh Starr came to town. THen, and only then, can we see if he really is on the “honor roll.”
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Finn: “government, as well as employers, civic groups, philanthropists, and the media have a parallel obligation to bring all the relevant information into public view, about the system and also about who governs it. Local control in a democratic system is only as good as the means whereby it is exercised, ultimately by thoroughly informed voters.”
Montgomery County Public Schools won a Baldrige Award and was runner up for a Broad Prize. Which is the greater honor? How many Broad Prize winners even attempt Baldrige? Can Finn even tell when he’s hawking snake oil?
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I don’t put too much stock in the Broad prize. Houston won the first one, and its in crisis again. NYC won it in 2007, and weeks later, the NAEP scores came out and showed no gains. Then in 2010, the state sores collapsed.
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What’s up with the Parent’s Coalition, Diane? So nasty on twitter about Starr.
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I don’t know who this group is or what they want. I went to their website and I still don’t know. Maybe they want excellent education and lower taxes. Or maybe they want more testing.
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They want to be controlling the Board of Education and the schools in our county. They are always very negative about our schools, regardless of any honors or achievements that come our way. Their Parents Coalition web site is as nasty as some Tea Party web sites I have seen. Essentially, they’re not in control, and they think they know better what the school system should be doing than, well, anyone else. They complain all the time about the lack of transparency in MCPS, yet they reject most postings by teachers to their web site.
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Although it has nothing to do with Starr, the general point Finn raises that citizens have a right to transparent information about where their taxes are going is correct. But can one say that Baltimore City schools, presided over by one of the supes praised by Finn, are transparently run? Hah!
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As far as I can tell, this is the crux of Finn’s actual indictment of Mr. Starr:
“And then there’s Joshua P. Starr and a few more like him who have emerged in recent years as fully fledged anti-reformers, pushing back as hard as they can against the sorts of changes that the Joel Kleins, Arne Duncans, and Jeb Bushes are striving to make.”
Yes, there are a few more like him. Let’s find all of them, and put them on the public servant honor roll, where they belong.
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When you find them, let me know.
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NJ has over 500 Superintendents and many of the best superintendents in the country. Courage though is in short supply.
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A Note of Thanks
Dear Colleagues,
This is Teacher Appreciation Week, and I want to take a few moments to say thank you to all of the educators and staff who work tirelessly every day on behalf of our students.
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is fortunate to have so many outstanding people who are committed to preparing our students for the future. As I have walked the hallways of our schools and visited classrooms, I have seen this great work in action—administrators who provide strong leadership and encouragement; teachers who plan and deliver lessons that engage and excite our students; and support professionals who serve as the backbone of our school district.
The results of your hard work are clear—our students are achieving at high levels in all areas. This excellence has been recognized recently in a number of ways. Earlier this week, it was announced that 17 high schools made the Newsweek/The Daily Beast list of “America’s Best High Schools.” This news follows two other national rankings from The Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report, in which MCPS performed extremely well. We have also recently announced that dozens of MCPS seniors have earned prestigious scholarships from organizations like the Gates Foundation and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, and that we have the only two U.S. Presidential Scholars in the state of Maryland.
These awards and recognitions—and many others—are the result of outstanding work done by you and your colleagues at all grade levels. You have focused on the needs of our students from the moment they enter our schools until they walk across the stage at graduation.
Yes, there is work left to be done. We must make sure all of our students have the opportunities and support they need to be ready for college and the workplace. And we must continue to focus on developing the skills and knowledge that our students will need for success in the 21st century, including academics, creative problem-solving skills, and social emotional competencies.
We should take the opportunity to celebrate our successes while, at the same time, committing ourselves to the important work ahead of us. I know, without a doubt, that we have the right people in place to meet the challenges of the future and help bring our school district to even greater heights.
Thank you for everything you do for our students and our community. It is an honor and privilege to be your superintendent.
Sincerely,
Josh
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