Two of metro Atlanta's largest public school systems open their doors Monday, and while many of the teachers and students are the same, the faces in charge have changed.
Both Cobb and Fulton counties begin the year under new superintendents: Michael Hinojosa traded offices in Dallas for a headquarters in Cobb, while Robert Avossa moved to Fulton from Charlotte. Both are learning about their new districts and gave The Atlanta Journal-Constitution a sense of their priorities in the year ahead.
Hinojosa left a larger system that struggled with student performance. In July, he took over the Cobb school system, with its roughly 107,000 students and a reputation for high achievement. The Dallas Independent School District, where he was superintendent, was overseen by a school board known for squabbling. At a retreat with Cobb school board members Aug. 6, Hinojosa got a taste of comparatively placid politics.
"All of them participated and no one dominated," he said. "People have said, ‘How are you going to work with this board?' Well, there's no comparison."
Avossa, who was chief strategy and accountability officer for the 135,000-student Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools, is approaching the first day of school from two perspectives -- as the leader chosen to boost student achievement across a racially divided community and as a parent whose kids are starting in new schools. He has the same goals for Fulton’s projected 93,000 students as he does for his own two children: an engaging and challenging education that prepares them for college success. Avossa’s daughter, 5-year-old Mattia, starts kindergarten Monday, and his 8-year-old son, Gianluca, begins third grade in the district.
Avossa, who has a doctorate in education from Wingate University, said he is focused on narrowing the achievement gap and using technology to enhance learning for a generation of kids being raised with iPods and iPads.
"We are helping kids to prepare for jobs that have yet to be created," said Avossa, 39, who is temporarily living in Alpharetta while searching for a new home. "What are we doing to help our kids feel engaged and have a rigorous and relevant curriculum?"
Hinojosa, 54, who has a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin, said he plans a meticulous internal ranking of the Cobb schools so he can close the gap between the students who need help and the "high-flying, superstar students."
In some school board posts -- the areas served by a particular school board member -- more than 90 percent of schools made adequate yearly progress, or AYP, goals for state performance under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. But in others fewer than 60 percent did.
Schools that are doing well will be left alone, he said, while the underachievers will "have less freedom."
Hinojosa, who is living in a townhouse in Vinings, said he was impressed with the caliber of his new staff. "I'm not going to have to make any major personnel changes because of the quality of the people," he said.
Avossa, an educator for 17 years, said the technology available to Fulton high school students is inadequate. "I think about the high schools I have visited so far and I am not seeing that we have invested the way we should have in the system," he said. "It’s time for us to really have that conversation about technology."
Since Avossa was hired in June, he has listened to parents demand improvements in their local schools. About a third of Fulton's roughly 100 schools did not make AYP goals. Eighteen of those schools -- 12 in south Fulton -- are on the state’s Needs Improvement list, meaning parents can request transfers to other schools.
Despite what some say, the unequal performance is not due to an unequal distribution of resources between schools at the north and south ends of the county, he said. Resources are divided evenly based on a "formulaic method," Avossa said.
"When you look at the numbers you see the disparity that exists on outcomes," he said. "Some schools are doing a better job. ... We want to see all kids succeed."
Hinojosa, with more than 30 years of experience in education, including as superintendent in a couple of suburban districts before Dallas, said he always prepares an "entry plan" when he takes over a new system. As of last week, he'd talked with 55 people -- school board members, administrators and residents -- and said he planned an additional 45 conversations before preparing a report for his new board in September. He asks everyone the same questions -- about their expectations and priorities. Then, the admitted "spreadsheet freak" codes the answers to identify themes.
Hinojosa doesn't want to talk about what he's hearing yet but said he's already seen some obvious things that need to change. Cobb doesn't have huge problems like Dallas: "What's very obvious is that I don't have to be the fix-it man," he said. But people have occasionally taken their eyes off the ball, arguing over things like the school start date instead of grades.
"There've been a lot of issues with the calendar and other things, but I haven't seen a lot of agenda items that deal with student achievement," he said. "We're going to be heading in a different direction."
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