If we just didn't have all this high-stakes testing, we wouldn't have principals who cheat.Apparently, that idea will be the P & C's take in Sunday's edition on CCSD's MiShawna Moore fiasco. [See today's High StakesTesting Creates Pressure to Cut Corners .]
Let's take a deep breath here.
We have NCLB because educational results at schools such as Sanders-Clyde were being swept under the rug all over the nation. Now these poorly-served students can no longer be ignored by school boards such as the one in CCSD. And communities have finally awakened to the reality that poorly-served students deter the achievment of everyone's well-being.
The community puts pressure on the school board. The school board's problem becomes the superintendent's problem. The superintendent, who answers to the school board, puts pressure on the principals. So do the associate superintendents. The principals, fearing for their careers, cheat. It happens everywhere.
Wait! Stop!
Let's use some common sense about this particular cheating scandal. It began with the school board's assuming that candidates for superintendent specially trained for urban schools by the Broad Foundation would be the best fit for CCSD. Never mind that the large bulk of students in CCSD live in suburban or even rural areas and that the remainder live in an area considered urban by only the widest stretch of the imagination once you actually look at it.
What we have here is mistake # 1.
Mistake # 2 was the selection of Mishawna Moore to be principal of Sanders-Clyde.
If in fact this decision was made in 2003 while Ron McWhirt was still superintendent, as one commenter on this blog has declared, why was the District 20 constituent board provided with a list of candidates for the position in 2004? According to someone who was on the scene,
"District 20's recommendation was for one of three qualified candidates to be considered for the S-C principal position. These three were from a list of qualified candidates supplied to them by the superintendent and CCSD's Human Resources office (as per the Act of Consolidation). When the school and constituent level interviews were completed, three names were sent up to Goodloe [who by then had become superintendent]. MiShawna Moore's name was not among them."We can only conclude (without further facts) that Moore's appointment was originally temporary. So, how did it become permanent? According to that same source,
"Then a wonder of wonders happens. Ms. Moore emerges as Goodloe-Johnson's choice. Who else was involved? Ms. Middleton was the Associate Superintendent assigned to keep watch over District 20. Without legal authority, she and G-J scuttled the process in favor of their preferred candidate, Ms. Moore. . . . The District 20 Board made their reservations about Ms. Moore known to the administration as early as 2004."This is not a pretty story, and it gets worse. The "Ms. Middleton" referenced above is now superintendent of the Halifax County Schools. In fact, you can email her at
| | Geraldine Middleton  |
Guess who hired Moore away from CCSD, just in the nick of time, you might say?
Aw! You cheated.
Superintendent McGinley didn't choose Moore as principal of Sanders-Clyde (but do remember that McGinley was chief academic officer), but neither did she choose to remove her once facts and rumors began to appear. Given the vast movement of principals of various schools during McGinley's short tenure, she could have switched Moore to another position almost anonymously among the throng. Instead, she chose to give Moore a second school , ignoring the wishes of that school's community and the advice of the District 20 constituent board.You see, Moore's success was proof that McGinley knew what she was doing, so Moore couldn't be allowed to fail.
It's all about the children, is it? No, it's about advancing careers in bureaucracy, about those who troll state by state to find the highest-paying jobs, those who wouldn't make it to superintendent in their original school districts because school boards have gotten the notion that local (or even state) talent isn't good enough.
Well. Maybe changes need to be made in the makeup of school boards, too. There's an election coming in November.
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6 comments:
When we put our heads together the facts become clearer, but in the process some things get taken out of order. The essence of this story is correct. I wasn't there, but some people might describe the same story in slightly different ways concerning how Ms. Moore became principal of Sanders-Clyde.
It may have been 2003, and it might have been at end of the McWhirt administration or at the very beginning of Goodloe's. Either way, McWhirt was a lame duck and a lot of people were waiting on the new superintendent for directions. Remember that he had just announced his plan to close both Sanders-Clyde and Rivers as a quick way to get 2 of the state's worst performing schools off the books (or more specifically off CCSD's state report card).
No one at 75 cared what happened at Sanders-Clyde in 2003. From what I've heard, Geraldine Middleton was deeply involved. She handled the switch between the three candidates that the D20 Board recommended and the one(s) the superintendent acted on (which ever superintendent it was) at the time. No matter when it happened, it has been said by D20 Board members several times since that Ms. Moore was interviewed but not selected as one of the three finalists. The story never varies on that. When it came out that Ms. Moore had been selected by the administration, despite not being presented, the constituent board complained that the process had been tampered with.
When Goodloe arrived it was clear she already had no use or patience for constituent boards, their concerns or the process which included them. No one coming in from the outside could have made that quick of a study of Charleston without first having been given clear orders by those who hired them. Goodloe, and now McGinley, were instructed to do as they pleased provided they made it look like the district was improving. It was also clear the superintendent would be answerable to no one but the people who controlled the five vote majority on the county board.
Ms. Moore is a just an example who and what is being promoted within the system that now directs our public schools. She is also an example of how school administrators continue to pass the trash where there is no transparency or meaningful accountability.
Transparency begins with the elected members of the county school board itself.
There's one name that hasn't yet been mentioned, but was very much a puppet master during the summer of 03 when McWhirt barely punched a clock and the inmates were running the asylum.
Barbara Dilligard.
Talk amongst yourselves....
One more thing you omitted......that is the same Barbara Dilligard that is still employed as a consultant for CCSD with the help of her best buddy, Hillery Douglas. See this cesspool isn't very deep!!
I'll admit my ignorance. Who is Barbara Dilligard and what is her connection with MiShawna Moore?
Barbara Dilligard was Deputy Assistant Superintendent or something of the sort for many many years. Before her departure in July 03, she managed to place all her pals in interim jobs, promote people, get contracts in place, write grants that would benefit her own consulting firm. And that was just the summer of 03.
I just love anyone who uses the phrase "talk amongst yourselves..."
Thanks for the laugh. Life's too short not to laugh every now and then...
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