This is a balanced and fair assessment of Josh Starr’s tenure as superintendent of the Montgomery County, Maryland, public schools.
Starr seeks collaborative relationships with parents and staff. He is no fan of high-stakes testing. He has directed more funding to schools that enroll more students with high needs than to those with fewer such students.
“Starr says he is focused on making sure all MCPS students receive the same quality education and has begun programs to help them get ready for college, including one with Montgomery College and The Universities at Shady Grove. He is also pushing for the expansion of “project-based learning” programs in high schools that incorporate hands-on learning and real-world projects to teach students to be critical thinkers and problem solvers.
“He has put in place a data-driven, early-alert system to identify students who are at risk of failing, and has told principals and teachers to focus on understanding the needs of each child in their classrooms. He has also revised the discipline policy to lower the number of out-of-school suspensions, which had disproportionately affected minority students.
“Despite these efforts, Starr’s critics say he isn’t doing enough—or moving quickly enough—to close the achievement gap and address pressing issues. Some, including parents, board members and elected officials, describe Starr as a remote technocrat who is more easily understood through his frequent tweets than when he tries to explain something in person.”
Starr has drawn criticism for showing interest in the NYC Chancellor’s job (he was not selected). Critics also complain that he hasn’t closed the achievement gap. To be fair, if that is the criterion for success, most superintendents would be unemployed
“An acolyte of the progressive education movement, Starr is also focused on helping students succeed in life beyond school. “The line I always use is that I want my kids to be straight-A students and I want them to be great people,” Starr says. “But if I have to choose, I would rather that they are average students and great people.”
“To that end, Starr is stepping outside the traditional role of a superintendent by seeking ways to improve access to social services for students. He has been talking with officials of county departments about providing services for students whose parents can’t make it to a parent-teacher conference because they are working, or who lack Internet access at home, or who come to school exhausted because they work after school to help their families survive.”
Nothing in this article explains why his contract should not be renewed. He sounds like a leader on the right track.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The same reason my principal’s job is on the line, a new bully in town.
A superintendent working to assist children and parents living in difficult circumstances should be cheered and not fired.
So the guy is not perfect. What else is new? He will land on his feet whatever happens. I don’t mean to sound callous, but enough people seem to recognize his talent that he will have other opportunities. As to his interest in the post in NYC, I find it a little bit strange that anyone would think it inappropriate for him to investigate a potential opportunity presented to him. There does not appear to be evidence that he was out actively shopping for another position. I find it a little hypocritical for people to express outrage. I’m sure none of them would ever think of pursuing an opportunity brought to them for consideration (snark alert).
Actual Montgomery County, MD parents urge our public school administrators to STOP harboring suspected sexual abusers of children in classrooms! Superintendent Joshua Starr has permitted MCPS to maintain a list of teachers who are suspected of inappropriate actions with children, without calling 911 or Child Protective Services as required by law.
MCPS has now had over 17 arrests of teachers, subs, staff and contractors on counts of SEXUALLY ABUSING STUDENTS in our schools since Superintendent Joshua Starr arrived. Over 50 schools have been hit by these allegations.
It’s time for the “list” to go and the law to be followed. Read the letter from an actual Montgomery County parent to the superintendent:
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2015/02/letter-4-starr-was-upset-for-one-day.html
And from Stamford, CT:
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Former-Stamford-superintendent-was-told-about-5918443.php
I have found Starr to be collaborative – when it suits his interest. For all he claims to be no fan of high-stakes testing, his pushback to MCPS parents who actively wanted to refuse the tests last year rivaled that found from state superintendents in Florida and New Jersey; it frankly would have been easier to opt out in New York.
I have *not* found him to be open to other viewpoints; I have *not* found him to be accessible to me as a parent and once-hopeful MCPS teacher (who had been a teacher before taking time off to be at home with my kids); I have *not* found him to be open to people who do not share all of The Party Line. (If you’re not a fan of data-driven instruction, for example, either don’t say so or work somewhere else.)
There are SO many people in this county and this school system who wanted and want to help, to be part of improving MCPS – and too many of us have been ignored at best or actively shut down at worst.
He has proposed some promising initiatives which are not likely to get the needed funding any time soon since Maryland has elected a governor who ran on a ticket of fiscal Conservatism and is now tightening the funding screws; there’s likely an element of truth to those saying that anyone else probably won’t be able to do much better in the next 4 years. But he also has a lot of teachers and former teachers, and a lot of community members, with tons of cumulative experience with kids, with poverty, with families, with social initiatives – and many are untapped and feeling useless and frustrated. Phone calls and emails reaching out go unanswered, whether asking for help or offering help. Families trying to get special needs services meet with a lot of legal wrangling; the amount of money spent by MCPS in fighting special ed services is pretty significant. Families who were looking for answers about a number of sexual abuse situations (some of which admittedly occurred before Starr came on board, but many more of which have occurred since!) aren’t finding answers or support. People who aren’t heard simply shout louder; people who shout louder are blocked on social media and ignored further, with the result that too many people don’t feel heard or even acknowledged.
To add to the mix, there have been some changes in the Board makeup reflecting partly public frustration with overall policy emanating from the top down (including the Board and Superintendent); that change in dynamic is likely part of the reason for the change in tone over the past 4 years. It’s also worth noting that on the Board’s side, nothing about the vetting or hiring process of Dr. Starr was transparent; the candidate search was private (the general public had no way of knowing whether someone already in MCPS might have been interested and qualified for the position, and there were nothing but vague rumors about who the final candidates were or what their backgrounds were), the interviews were private, the hiring was announced by the Board as a fait accompli, so the public was simply handed their new Leader with no input; in that regard, the deck was stacked against him for those who resented that process (very likely also part of the reason for some of the Board personnel changes over the past 4 years as elections were held since then).
Were things better under his predecessor? Not for me, and certainly not for a number of my former MCPS colleagues. I was very hopeful when “Call me Josh” came on board that a much more collegial relationship was in the offing. It seems to have worked that way for many people, but for many others – not so much. There’s still more “us vs them” than there should be, even in a school system this size.
I’d say that’s a large part of “why his job is on the line.”
If he gets another 4 years, that’s another 4 years of our family fighting back on PARCC year after year after year despite lip service against standardized testing; if not, then I guess it’s a matter of seeing what comes down the pike. Whatever happens next, it would be a nice change if the Board saw fit to be transparent about the process with the public who elected its membership. We might all get a lot further that way.
Just my two cents, worth what you paid for it.
Thanks for the honest viewpoint from another perspective. That’s important.
Thank you for a teacher’s perspective. But isn’t PARCC under state control and opt out under the local board’s control.
The thing is, as a teacher, I applaud the use of PAR over using test scores and Starr has been vocal about stopping these tests until Common Core has a chance to be implemented.
The idea of cutting special ed services is awful.
The thing is, who can replace him that doesn’t have any quirks?
And therein lies the rub – sort of an element of “The Devil You Know” in that scenario….
But since the Board was not transparent, there is no way to know what was overlooked, even here in MoCo itself.
I can deal with quirks. But I also respect a “The buck stops here” approach. I have no clue where the buck stops in MoCo any more.
They are creating a sense of urgency to justify being irrational. The whole reform movement is based on a sense of urgency. Panic. Hasty thinking. Tricks and traps.
Reblogged this on Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé and commented:
School superintendent’s job is at risk because he puts children first over reform based test scores.
Not even close. If children were put first then suspected sexual abusers of children would be REMOVED from classrooms IMMEDIATELY! Instead they stay in classrooms and are told to NOT TOUCH students. That has results in our 5,6 and 7 year olds ended up in porn videos made by a Montgomery Co music teacher.
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2015/02/letter-4-starr-was-upset-for-one-day.html
I am heartsick about what the “reforms” are doing to teachers, principals, and superintendents who put students first.
The key word is “collaborative.” We read the Washington Post every day and that word stood out to me in the recent articles about Starr. Heaven forbid that he would not do what many superintendents do: my way or the highway.
I think Josh Starr sounds like a wonderful superintendent. He is looking out for the whole child, not just test scores. As was stated in the above article, he’s not the only superintendent that has issues with closing the achievement gap. In my humble opinion, I believe the achievement gap issue has to do with catching kids early enough to provide intervention. If we had a system in this country where we would retain students who are not meeting standards by third, sixth and ninth grade, we wouldn’t have such a gap. Teachers could make summer school a requirement for those kids who are lacking skills. My plan would be to have two sessions: one for Language Arts and one for Math to accommodate students who may be struggling in both areas. In this country, retention is frowned upon because the student would be older than his counterparts but isn’t it worse to be in middle school reading at a third grade level? Which is the worse evil of the two? In addition, I feel we also need to make parents and students accountable. Year after year, I have students who don’t do work and I have to keep them hostage in my class at recess or after school. Some parents actually get upset. They don’t realize I’m trying to help them by educating their child but also making the student responsible and accountable. Unfortunately, this routine is exhausting since I need to give up my break time and hours after school to get them to do their work. The other reason I believe there is an achievement gap is because there are several family issues going on at home. Many of my students come from homes where there is one parent. Some parents have divorced, while others are living in a foreign country or have passed away. Yet, there are also several parents I have encountered who act like adolescents and are busy with their love life to pay attention to their children who need them.
“To that end, Starr is stepping outside the traditional role of a superintendent by seeking ways to improve access to social services for students.”
Speaking as a community college teacher in a low-income, rural area, I can’t think of anything I’d like to see more than having the local superintendents involved in this type of advocacy for their students–who become my students. How is a single mother of four who works 40 hours a week at a minimum-wage job and eats at the local food bank supposed to get a college degree?
Joshua Starr did not show up at today’s County Council hearing to discuss the sexual abuse of students by MCPS staff.
Wonderful superintendent? Not hardly.
The Parents Coalition sounds like the local chapter of Campbell Brown’s organization. Do you really think the Montgomery County teacher force is overrun by sexual predators?
Overrun? Well, what would you call over a dozen arrests? What would you call a teacher that tattooed the name of a seven year old student on his shoulder? Our county council just held a hearing on the topic, the MCPS policy on reporting sexual abuse hasn’t been updated in 25 years, and substitutes with questionable behavior are permitted to work in other schools. Yes, there is a problem in MCPS. .
Luckily, Mr Starr resigned today. Maybe his replacement will restore the community’s confidence in the system’s ability to protect children.
Disruption as a policy might be good for tech startups but not for a school system. I am an MCPS teacher and I support Dr. Starr for three reasons. First, his outreach to the community has been real. He isn’t ramming policy decisions through without listening to the stakeholders. Second, I like his statement that we need a three-year moratorium on high-stakes testing. When there is a policy that will affect 154,000 students so dramatically, it’s better to move slowly — esp. since MCPS is a already such a good school system (don’t believe the hype that we’re all failing). Third, I like his focus on the social-emotional aspects of learning. This is ultra-important for students who come from unstable home environments. Our schools are a community and we need to do better at meeting the needs of ALL the students. I think Dr. Starr deserves a chance to make a difference.