Lessons from high-performing districts
They're good at working with data and with teachers
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Impressive things are happening in little known districts like Sanger (10,000 students) and Hawthorne (9,000) as well as in bigger districts like Long Beach (the state’s third largest, with 88,000), Fresno (fourth largest), and Garden Grove (eleventh largest).
Significant numbers of English learners and minority students are becoming proficient on state tests in each of the districts. The progress has been consistent and impressive. And it’s been largely under the radar.
True, two of the districts have won the Broad Prize honoring the best in urban education (Long Beach in 2003 and Garden Grove in 2004), and three (Long Beach, Sanger, and
Whitman plan — school grades, charters, merit pay — is right for us
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Every four years, candidates for governor in California campaign on making our schools better. As a school principal, most recently at a Silicon Valley high school, I pay close attention to what they have to say. To be honest, I’m usually unimpressed by the politicians’ promises or don’t believe they have the independence to deliver on their promises.
This year I feel differently. Meg Whitman understands that there is no one-size-fits-all answer and has a multi-pronged plan that at its core holds all of us accountable – from elected officials to principals to classroom teachers to parents.
I recently retired as principal of Del Mar High School, which we turned from an underperforming school into a California Distinguished School. Meg Whitman believes, as I do, that all children can learn. She also believes that schools are for kids, not for status quo bureaucrats and teachers unions.
First, here are the facts. Despite spending half of our general fund on K-12 and higher
