What a Good Public School District Looks Like

Jere Hochman, superintendent of the Bedford, New York, public schools wrote the following for his colleagues among NewYork superintendents:

“If you want to see Superman solve the problem of the day with the fix of the day, go to
the movies or buy a comic book. If you want to see a student motivated intrinsically with
drill-skill learning and a standardized test, go the DMV. If you want to make money off the
backs of kids, open a small business that sells video games, not tests.

If you want to see authentic learning, go to a public school where you will find a proud
principal who will gladly engage you in dialogue with professional teachers and introduce
you to remarkably dedicated staff members.

And then proceed to the entire school district where you will find a humble superintendent observing in schools, meeting with our citizens committee or civic partners, and planning with an elected board or district leaders; a superintendent who revels in the connections, the learning, and the organizational capacity to sustain success.”

Lynda Costagliola says:

February 17, 2013 at 3:55 pm

Awesome comments and so very, very true. Unfortunately, good public schools are not news and don’t fit into the scheme of so-called rheeformers and educrats. Thank you!

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tuppercooks says:

February 17, 2013 at 4:31 pm

Amen.

Ron Poirier says:

February 17, 2013 at 6:55 pm

“If you want to see a student motivated intrinsically with drill-skill learning and a standardized test, go the DMV.”

This is funny to me because in my town, the local department of education is housed in the old DMV building. The ALP (Alternative Learning Program) is housed in the section of the building that used to be where people would wait in line to deal with DMV officials. Now that area is filled with tables of students on laptops, condemned to work on computer-based curriculum all day (not sure if it was purchased from Gates or not). In my town, the quote above is LITERALLY true.