Fulton County's candidate for school superintendent is at the center of an uproar at his district in North Carolina over a testing system that tracks the performance of both students and teachers.
Some teachers and parents decry the tests given to all students -- a regime of 52 that can take up to an hour each -- as a waste of time and money. Some, such as testing kindergartners on art and music, have been called ludicrous.
The testing, championed by Fulton superintendent candidate Robert Avossa, costs Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools about $1.9 million at a time when budgets are tight for school districts across North Carolina.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg began the testing a few weeks ago, and parents and students almost immediately began protesting against it. A petition drive has gathered almost 2,000 signatures demanding that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board reverse its endorsement of the tests.
"It's wasting time and it's wasting money when we can ill afford to squander either," said Mary McCray, a teacher for more than 30 years and the president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators. "There's been a lot of pushback on this by parents and teachers. It's caused a big uproar."
Avossa, who is currently Charlotte-Mecklenburg's chief strategy and accountability officer, touted the tests as a better way to track teacher and student performances.
"It's all about improving the educational outcomes, helping students and teachers," Avossa said earlier this week. "Our goal is to quickly spot where there are disparities and then direct resources, educational tools, to the teachers and students that need them."
Avossa spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this week about his work in Charlotte and his desire to bring his experience to Fulton, which has about 92,000 students, compared with Charlotte-Mecklenburg's 137,000.
Avossa wasn't asked directly about the testing protests in Charlotte, and his staff has since said he will not be available for additional media interviews until he visits with Fulton parents and teachers next week at two forums.
Tom Tate, the vice chairman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, defended Avossa as an innovator who has helped improve the CMS system ever since he joined the superintendent's staff five years ago.
"Robert is entirely trustworthy and immensely talented," Tate said. "He's engaged in his work, and when he was our area superintendent, he was always on top of the job."
Tate said he has some reservations about the testing program, but he hopes it works.
"We're still working some of the kinks out of it," he said. "It seems to be taking a heck of a lot more time from the classroom than we originally thought. We're getting lots of complaints about it. But it's still new."
Another wrinkle with the tests is that there are plans to tether the results to teachers pay and bonuses. Avossa said the idea is to reward successful teachers, which will help the system retain its best teachers and recruit better teachers.
Georgia school districts that have signed on for the state's Race to the Top efforts, a $400 million federal grant program, will begin evaluating teachers in part on how much students improve on standardized tests. All Georgia teachers will eventually be evaluated in part on test score improvements. Fulton chose not to participate in Race to the Top in large part because of the desire for more local control.
Linda Schultz, the chairwoman of the Fulton County Board of Education, said the board is aware of the protests in Charlotte, but she downplayed their potential impact.
"Whenever something is brand new, or if something is tied to teachers' pay, there's bound to be some heartburn," Schultz said. "We believe that we have the right man for the job. We've looked at his broad background and experience, not just one thing. As for what programs he may or may not bring here, it's too soon to even talk about that."
The school board intends to hire Avossa at the end of a 14-day public comment period that began Monday.
Kelly Himes Brolly, who has three children in Fulton schools, said what she has heard about Avossa intrigues her, and she plans to attend at least one of next week's forums.
"Although kids don't really care who the superintendent is, the job is vital for the whole district," said Brolly, who is the chairwoman of the Superintendent's Parent Council. "We are very happy with [retiring Superintendent Cindy Loe]. She's been doing a good job at uniting north Fulton and south Fulton. And we want to see someone continue on that path."
There has long been a disparity in scores on the SATs and other tests in the district, which sandwiches around Atlanta's school district. The more affluent north Fulton generally outperforms south Fulton.
The forums are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. and a presentation by Avossa at 7 p.m. on his educational philosophy and background. He also will take questions. Tuesday's session will be at Westlake High School at 2400 Union Road S.W. in Atlanta. Wednesday's is set for Centennial High School, at 9310 Scott Road in Roswell.
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