Education Policy For Our Future - Dean Stephens

Bertie County is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Formed as a Peninsula between the Roanoke and Chowan Rivers and feeding into Albemarle Sound, this area is one of God’s chosen places. So why are we losing population while the state of North Carolina is growing? Why are our tax rates 85% higher than the 10 richest counties in the State? Why has our retail community deteriorated to the point you must leave the county to buy a decent pair of socks. Why have we allowed our school system to founder while spending more money per student than most other counties . . . even most other nations? Despite great teachers and good intentions, we are improving in inches while improvement is needed in miles. We need major change in a county where the culture is to resist change. Before we change we have to decide if we are ready for change. Are we ready for change?

Before you answer, remember the money involved. The Board of Education spends 30 million dollars. The County Commissioners spend 17 million dollars, not on education, but their total budget including all other county needs. The biggest entity in Bertie County is the School System, and they are not carrying their weight in preparing Bertie County for the future. Are we ready for change yet?

I believe we have to do two things to make change happen.

First we must permanently end the court case that is being used by some on our Board of Education to prioritize building new schools over other actions that will better teach our children. A different priority list is needed, one that puts student performance at the front of the line. This case is not over and we still need to attain what the courts call Unitary Status to end it.

That goal is actually simple. The next is more complicated.

The second goal. . . we must chart a new strategy in education for Bertie County that starts with the belief that we can provide our children with a great education. That new strategy must be based on returning to the basics of teaching that made our education system the best in the world until the last couple of decades.

The proven historical strategy we need to adopt to make real change for our children focuses on four issues:

Teaching Empowerment.
Community Empowerment.
Embracing Technology.
Spending Wisely.

These issues will allow us to do as they did down in Okaloosa Florida, "clear out the underbrush of educational fashions and learning fads that have cluttered our schools, muddled our teaching, and disserved our children for too long." I would like to explain what these four issues mean to me.

Teaching Empowerment

Change starts in the classroom. Teaching empowerment and effective instruction are the same thing. We need to empower teachers to teach the state curriculum with the focus being on student results and the resources needed to get them. To clearly define our goals the following actions are needed.

1. Our focus needs to move more from the central office to the schools. We should decentralize money and organization so that our activities support instruction from a classroom perspective. We must build programs and budgets that are driven by student academic needs at the classroom and school level. Recently the education establishment has centralized the budget process so that budgets are built and controlled from a central office perspective. Returning to the historical method of budgeting money to the students has resulted in some of the fantastic success stories that are happening in our nation.

2. We must provide student level standardized test performance data for use by principals, teachers, and parents in a system wide consistent format. This data must be recorded over time and at the student level to gauge performance against the grade or subject matter levels. This data will become the basis for a School Performance Plan which should be internet accessible with appropriate security. This plan will be the basis to focus needed changes as determined by teachers, principles and parents to serve our children.

3. Wherever possible we should have previously “district office” personnel assigned to schools for best support and we should have those positions report to principals. This insures the best utilization of these resources at the point of instruction. Any remaining district central office job descriptions should be charged with responsibility for student achievement in some significant way. Everyone’s goals should be tied to improving student success in a measurable way.

4. Principals must become the instructional leaders of each school with this instructional leadership role having a higher priority than the traditional management function of the principal position. Principals will drive the changes needed in curriculum and instruction and will serve as the change catalyst for implementing policies and practice that may conflict with current ways of doing things. The principal’s focus will move from being adult centered administrator to instruction centered leader. This new principal must have the ability to judge teaching effectiveness, evaluate student performance and adjust efforts through test results, and make sure resources are allocated to areas with the greatest need.

5. We must end social promotions, eliminate grade inflation as a matter of district policy and restore discipline to our schools. Social Promotion only puts the student in a more daunting learning environment and makes it harder for the teacher to accommodate varying levels of ability in a lesson plan that is already challenging. All grading must be based on the student’s academic achievement. This insures each student has mastered the skills for each grade level. Holding people accountable and assuring discipline will create a totally different environment for our children, one conducive to learning.

6. Focus on student results and not the process. The state has defined the curriculum and how we will test our success in teaching it (that is the process). Principals must insure teachers focus on individual instruction and move beyond whole-group-instruction. We must end pull out programs which take students out of their grade level curriculum. We must provide supplemental instruction for deficient skills. This will be accomplished through a School Performance Plan that outlines the instructional focus areas (by student and subject) for each school on an annual basis. The result must be that the student is the focus of the plan.

7. We must partner with the county commissioners to fund a county stipend that supports teachers who meet or exceed certification and student testing goals and challenges those who don’t with a fair improvement plan that is supported by continuing education and mentoring. Results will drive rewards in the new environment. I would like to see a significant portion of our county money given to this teacher reward process as soon as practical. Though that sounds excessive, would anyone object if the result was tied to Bertie County becoming one of the top school systems in the state?


Community Empowerment

Give real authority to the community. Making people feel they are part of the ongoing process and direction of our educational system, rather than every four years at the ballot box, is something we must do or apathy will destroy our system. If people feel like they have some degree of control over the direction of their schools we will see increased volunteerism and community support to improve our schools. We must make the educational experience inviting and supportive for all stakeholders. Community empowerment is important work. Making people feel welcomed and included must start at the board of education level. Stakeholder involvement needs to occur during the process and not after major decisions and strategies have been set. When elected, these are the key programs I would seek to implement.

1. Along with the cultural change of having our instruction and budgets be driven from the school, we will be making parents partners in the instructional focus and budget implementation for their school. We will increase parent and community involvement by implementing a school advisory council at each school with real power. This council will serve as an advocacy group to balance and check the decision making process of the school as it relates to instructional and financial initiatives. This group helps insure that all decisions are based on the academic needs of the students. This group will have oversight in the development of The School Performance Plan at each school and must sign off on the plan before it can be implemented. This plan is developed based on analyzing end of grade testing and developing instructional programs, plans and resources for specific student groups to drive performance. The School Performance Plan will be the action plan for instructional focus and the basis for developing the discretionary instructional spending budget in each schools annual budget. The majority of the council will be elected from the parents of children at the school. The rest will be appointed by the district board member and approved by the board of education. Term limits will be worked out by the board. No advisory council members or members of their immediate family can work for the Bertie School System.

2. With like minded board members I will create a partnership with the county commissioners and make sure they are included in long range capital and strategic planning that could call on taxpayer resources. My hope is this process can be formalized and both boards would meet together at least twice annually. A joint strategic and long range capital committee should be formed to bring the boards more in sync on an ongoing basis.

3. We will actively seek and develop a formal volunteer program. The program will be supported by a volunteer handbook which will outline how volunteers will interact with faculty and staff. We will develop a web based volunteer site to recruit, schedule, educate, and appreciate volunteers. This program will teach students the value of community and provide a support group that will be needed as our instruction becomes more segment focused within the same classroom. We need to begin to explore ways to develop afternoon tutoring programs in partnership with each community and help staff these programs. We have not utilized the wealth of volunteer resources. Developing this resource for the board will be a major focus if I am elected.

4. I will work with other community minded board members to build partnerships and show our community partners how important they are to the board and our educational system. I will push for having at least one board meeting in each district during the year and for having meetings in the early evening hours for parent convenience. I will push for public comment times to be on the agenda at the most convenient times for our educational advocates who attend board meetings. I promise that I will hold a town hall style meeting in my district every quarter and welcome anyone in the county to attend. I will do everything in my power to make sure we communicate to the point you tell us to stop. More on this in my technology section.

5. Community located elementary schools will be a preference of this board member if elected. Students perform better in community schools.


Embracing Technology

Learn to use the power of technology. Technology today is producing amazing improvements in productivity. Many of these technology improvements are based on the Internet. Since the mid 90s corporations have been focusing on the strategy advantages of understanding the Internet and using the advantages to create huge leaps forward. There are numerous specific uses of technology in enhancing the world of education. However using technology means getting past simply buying computers and putting them into the schools, but developing programs and training teachers in how to use the leverage power of technology to expand career opportunities for our children. This requires focusing on the two most important aspects of the Internet for education, distance learning and knowledge research, making sure every teacher is expert in both.

1. Every school person must be able to use email effectively. Every teacher and principal will be reachable by email, and we will implement some of the business community’s expectations that email is answered the same day it is received.

2. All public meetings at school or central administration will be reported promptly on the school system web site, and will not be considered complete until so posted.

3. All student reports must be filed electronically, and available to parents online with proper security.

4. Homework assignments, schedules of tests, and outlines of special classes being taught will be online, so parents can follow what their children are doing.

5. The distance learning capability of the Internet is especially important as it allows for the computer to become an “assistant teacher” working one on one with the student to maximize the lessons the teacher is charged with providing, and providing easy access to specialized tutors from across the world on topics of specific interest.

6. The vast array of knowledge available on the Internet will be a special focus. This knowledge is useless unless you are trained in the research techniques and use of the search engines that the Internet offers. Use of these tools and the support facilities such as “chatting” with tutors and experts will be taught to all teachers. The numerous low cost classes available on the Internet will reduce costs in many areas while dramatically broadening the scope of instruction available. The focus will be to make the Internet a “library” in the classroom. That way learning can become interactive and immediate, the best and most exciting way for children.


Spending Wisely

Manage our money like a business. Everyone in Bertie County who reads a paper or watches TV knows what can happen when responsibility is not a priority. We are a low wealth county and our resources must be diligently guarded. Spending in the classroom cannot come at the expense of other areas. When a hard choice in spending allocation must be made the classroom must win. I will be a diligent watchdog to insure that our teachers and children are the first focus for our spending. My focus for spending will be as follows.

1. Instruction will drive spending. We will create a culture where all requests for money will be tied to student needs and student results will measure the results of spending. Did we get the results we were seeking? Our instruction focus will be clearly shown for the districts budget since it will be an accumulation of each school’s budget and performance plan, which we have called the School Performance Plan. Our budgets and performance against them will be open for the community to see. They will have oversight from the school advisory councils and be available on the web as each reporting period is closed. We will make sure our financial data is open to the community.

2. Capital budgets will be followed or changes reviewed prior to implementation. We will never again risk our relationship with the community and county commissioners over projects not done in the full light of day.

3. We will use our successes to justify increases in funding rather than blame our performance on a lack of funding. Bertie County’s funding (state, federal, and local) historically has been above the state average on a per pupil basis. Sometimes more than 20% greater than the state per pupil average. Study after study has proved that there is no shortage of money in education. There is a shortage of accountability.

4. We will implement modern accounting methodologies that rely on budgeting and auditing with simultaneous different views of our money and the responsibilities to the different funding agencies. Businesses understand that keeping track of money for both generally accepted accounting practices and for local, state and federal taxes, plus budgeting for stockholder accountability and various overlapping management budgeting processes for rewards and bonuses, requires a sophisticated budget process that keeps track of money in more than simple ways. In schools we have to report money expended to satisfy federal, state and local reporting requirements demanded by law, but this does not mean that we do not capture the details about how money is spent so that we can report money spent on a specific student. We can do both!

To summarize, this is what I think are the key issues for future success.
Teaching Empowerment
Community Empowerment
Embracing Technology
Spending Wisely

We can make huge changes in the success of our public education system. Public education is the key to a society’s growth. Our stagnant growth is the result of our stagnant education system. Bertie County is foundering at the bottom. This must change. This can change.

Bertie County can be the best.


Please click on the title of this article to go to my web site in support of this campaign to make great change happen.