LITTLE ROCK — LAST WEEK, Little Rock’s school board decided not to extend the contract of Linda Watson, the district’s superintendent. Same as last year. But the super is working on a three-year contract, and she’ll be head honcho at the state’s largest school district until her contract runs out in 2011. At least. And that should be fine with everybody. A contract is a contract, and there’s no shame in either side’s wanting the other to live up to the agreement, the whole agreement, before renewing or renegotiating.
When Linda Watson’s contract runs out next year, the school board,and everybody else, can see how she’s done and go from there. (This isn’t college football. In this arena, coaches don’t get extensions every single year. This activity is important. It actually has to do with shaping the next generation.)
Whether the superintendent is allowed to leave after next year or whether she’ll get a raise is to be settled after the spring. What interested some of us, and ought to interest everyone who puts education first, was the case Dr. Watson and her allies made on her behalf:
They said students’ test scores had improved.
Imagine that. A real standard emerges.
But while any improvement is welcome, let’s not get carried away. Scores released last spring show an improvement of 1 to 10 percent in most grade levels over the year before. But the percentages of students doing well still trail state averages.
The extent of the students’ progress can be discussed some other day. (And has been-in this column.) But today it’s worth noting that a professional educator and long-time bureaucrat in Little Rock’s education establishment says her performance should be judged by the test scores of the students.
This is a big step. Forward.
To quote Linda Watson: “I’m proud of the work that we’ve done. Test scores are up. When I came into the [job], that was my main focus, that I would concentrate on test scores. I can leave here proud knowing that we . . . made a difference.”
Okay, so the comments may be a little self-serving. But the lady’s going by the right standard: student performance.
Shouldn’t all educators? Shouldn’t their own performance be judged by the progress their students have made over the course of a year? Accept no substitute. Like the mickey mouse offered in place of clear standards by the usual disciples of Educanto.
Too many school districts, especially public school districts, base their teachers’ pay on seniority. It’s a system that rewards all those who have been able to skate by over the decades without getting fired. Why not judge educators based on how their kids do on tests instead? That’s the way Linda Watson says she should be judged.
Let’s take this a couple of steps further. Let’s give teachers bonuses based on the test scores their students rack up. And award superintendents contracts on the same basis. The way Linda Watson would like her performance judged.
Next question: Do you think Linda Watson will speak up for excellence and measurable standards by which to judge it the next time there’s a debate about merit pay in Little Rock’s school system? After all, she says she intends to keep working “and earn my pay. Our test scores are going to go up even higher.”
She intends to earn her pay. Good for her. As school district superintendent, she could also be instrumental in seeing that teachers earn theirs. So many do. Then there are the others. They need to shape up or get shipped out-before they neglect another generation of student victims.
That’s the way it ought to be. Parents should insist. So should taxpayers.
IN EVEN better news, school board member Katherine Mitchell chimed in on behalf of the superintendent. Superintendents may come and go, but Katherine Mitchell just goes on and on-like mediocrity in public education. But this time she sounded a welcome note. This time she spoke up for excellence-the real, measurable thing. She said Linda Watson did what the school board asked of her last year: Raise student test scores.
“There was a good increase in every category,” Katherine Mitchell said. “She deserved an extension. She did what we asked her to do.”
Now we have even Katherine Mitchell on record saying educators should get paid when student test scores improve. This is getting better all the time!
If somehow Katherine Mitchell and Linda Watson could talk their friends in the teachers’ unions into following their lead, maybe it wouldn’t be long before teachers are paid like so many of the rest of us-according to how well we do our jobs.
If Linda Watson can oversee that kind of change for the better during the next 12 months, she’ll not only deserve a contract extension, but the respect and admiration of parents, students and taxpayers from around the district. The whole reputation of the Little Rock School District around the state would improve. The district might even come to be seen as an example to follow instead of one to beware. And that hasn’t been the case since Little Rock had a school superintendent intent on excellence by the name of Roy Brooks.
Editorial, Pages 14 on 07/29/2010