Parents Fighting Back!

Aug 30

jonpeltoEducation Reform, Stefan Pryor, Teach for America, Windham , , , 12 Comments

At last week’s Windham and New London Board of Education meetings, concerned parents and public school advocates handed out flyers educating citizens about the damage Steven Adamowski did when he served as Hartford’s superintendent of schools and warning Windham and New London residents, now that Adamowski has been put in charge of their school districts.

Earlier this year, Stefan Pryor, Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, appointed Steven Adamowski Special Master of Windham’s Schools and then expanded his authority as the Special Master of New London’s Schools.  In a no-bid contract, Pryor gave Adamowski a compensation package of $225,000 per year plus benefits.

Adamowski, who along with Paul Vallas, is considered one of the country’s leading “education reformers,” has long sought to claim credit for increasing standardized test scores and graduation rates in Hartford.

Wait, What? readers will recall that the claim that he increased standardized test scores overlooked the fact that the improvement was primarily due to his decision to remove ten percent of the lowest performing students from actually taking the Connecticut Mastery Tests.

The flyer that was given out at the recent board meetings focused on Adamowski’s claim that he also improved graduation rates.

However, as the flyer noted, the truth is that Adamowski “imposed a minimum failing grade of 55 for all students, whether or not they attended classes.” By demanding that teachers give a grade of no less than 55, including forcing teachers to go back and change grades that were lower than that, Adamowski created a situation in which students could pass a course by only attending classes for one marking period, since all they needed to do was get their grade up to a 60 to pass.  That change, along with a few other gimmicks, meant that students who were once failing were suddenly passing, thereby increasing Hartford’s “graduation” rates.

For full coverage of the parent action and the response from the Chairman of the Windham Board of education go to: http://www.remindernews.com/article/2012/08/26/parents-teachers-oppose-special-master-methods

As I said in the article and will repeat here,

“Steven Adamowski represents the new breed of corporate school administrators, people driven by privatizing public education, reducing teacher input and implementing programs that target scarce resources to the ‘best’ students while undermining educational opportunities for the vast majority…. His claim to fame is creating the appearance that he increased standardized test scores in Hartford, when what he really did was stop giving the test to the 10 percent of students most likely to have lower scores. Removing them created the illusion that students across the board scored better. It was a gimmick that has now become a ‘tool’ of education reformers who believe it is better to make things look good, than actually change the quality of education.”  - Jonathan Pelto

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  • mookalaboona

    So, he’s not an administrator, he’s a magician using sleight of hand techniques.

  • Querculus

    Way to go. Keep it up. Hope my input was helpful.

    • guest

      Yes, but to do battle we need more. Malloy is busy co-opting what little resistance he has acknowledged.

      • Querculus

        Since it goes up to Malloy, the battle must be statewide. I think the most extreme and legally problematic “reform” activities are going on in Bridgeport. Parents there are more desperate for improvement in their schools (which is indeed needed) and are willing to believe whatever they are promised. I cannot say that I blame these parents for their willingness to support someone who promises positive change, but I am certain that what is being implemented is a disassembly of their city’s public schools as a viable institution. There is chaos in the schools here in opening week, and I bet the Vallas team will take the chaos that they have created and blame it on the teachers and the schools to promote their agenda even further.

      • R.L.

        That seems to be the strategy behind the whole reform movement, to take the chaos created by policy makers and blame teachers for it. For true education reform we need to take a giant step back. Back to a time before no child left behind was implemented. It was based on a lie and has been the single most destructive force in the demise of education, period.

      • http://www.facebook.com/melanie.savage.1610 Melanie Savage

        Yes, and going back to Kenneth Moales. How despicable is it that these “reformers” appear to be seeking out people like Moales–people of color with leadership roles within their communities? How despicable is it that these “reformers” would seek out a religious leader to help further their agenda? Even worse, how despicable is it that Moales would sell out his community for the sake of money/power? Moales, are you really naive or stupid enough to buy what these criminals are selling? Or are you aware, and willing to sell out your community to further your own position? How can you look into the faces of your little ones?

  • msavage

    The teachers who showed up to engage in these flier distributions deserve a lot of credit. Thank you for being brave enough to stand up for our kids despite the fear that any normal person feels about “going against the flow”–especially where one’s livelihood is concerned.

    • jonpelto

      So true! They are amazing people. Smart, dedicated and courageous! And it serves as a great lesson about the impact of parents and teachers standing together!

    • Magister

      Those people are awesome!

  • Guest

    Finally there is true, investigative media coverage of the devastating tactics of Adamowski, to augment the dedicated blogging of Jonathan Pelto. A local weekly paper, the Reminder News, has offered real journalism while the large, corporate-backed dailies stick to the propaganda (doesn’t this sound like classic soviet-style disinformation from the Hartford Courant?).
    It certainly takes courage to confront the wall of protection around Adamowski–and it is thick. Governors and mayors have gone to prison in Connecticut’s recent (and remote!) past for their abuse of power, but the real power seems to lie elsewhere. Urban superintendents and school administrators are paid much too much–even though they have many more deputies, assistants, and staff than smaller districts. These large staffs offset the size such districts represent, so I say–a pay cut to all the superintendents and school administrators making more than–well, even $150,000 sounds too lavish.
    Adamowski basically made twice what the now-jailed mayor Eddie Perez made–but look who’s in prison. No wonder urban mayors, like Finch, want to reconfigure boards of ed–they see all the power and money concentrated there. Well, the money leads to corruption (note where Perez sits now). Adamowski had too much power in Cincinnati and Hartford–and now he is lord and master of Windham and New London.
    Investigate him and CUT THAT OBSCENE SALARY!

  • George P

    “Have there been any investigations by the State Department of Education or any other authority?” asked Sewall. “You’d think that if there was any substance to the allegations, someone would have looked into them.”
    You would think so, wouldn’t you? But since these folks are all cronies of Stefan Pryor there hasn’t been anyone taking a critical look at this bullshit. Jeez, maybe Rick Green would be the major-daily reporter to investigate these allegations?

    • jonpelto

      And today’s top contender for the best reader comment of the day and week! “you would think so, wouldn’t you” omg that is great!