Sorry, kids. Hate to bring this up, it being summer and all.
But at some point before August, you're going to need to answer one kinda-big question:
Do you know who your principal is?
Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith has reassigned about 75 principals and assistant principals, at last count, in one of the biggest shake-ups in recent years. He's made more moves than J.R. Martinez. Than Kasparov. Than Two Men and a Truck.
1. How many schools will have new principals?
a. 0
b. 1
c. 4 minus 1
d. At least 25
2. How many schools will have new assistant principals?
a. 1
b. 1 and 3/4
c. Cinco de Mayo
d. At least 50
In both questions, the answer is "D,'' as in "Does anyone know why this is happening?"
Every middle school has at least one new administrator. The same is true for 13 out of 19 high schools and 25 of 43 elementary schools. Fifteen schools have both -- new principals and new assistant principals.
To use some teenage lingo: WTF? (Where They From? Who's This Fella?)
Soddy Elementary has had three principals in three years, according to news reports. Wolftever Creek has a new principal -- its third in three years, as well -- and a new assistant principal.
The principals at three schools set to receive state Innovation Zone funding were moved. Each was demoted to assistant principal. Brainerd High's Charles Joynes was told he was going to Chattanooga Middle/High, then retransferred to Ooltewah as assistant principal.
"Mr. Joynes is an excellent principal,'' said Isaiah Hayes, who graduated this spring after four years at Brainerd with a scholarship to Cumberland College. I called him several weeks ago at his job in the meat department at a local grocery store.
"We were upset. We didn't understand the reasoning. He's done such a great job,'' he said.
Joynes was replaced by Uras Agee, a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate who's been a principal in suburban Atlanta. According to documents obtained from the DeKalb County School District, Agee -- who had been investigated at least twice by the school system's internal affairs unit and suspended for a physical altercation with a student -- was set to be demoted for the 2012-13 school year.
The year before, Agee received a "Letter of Reprimand" from the DeKalb superintendent after an investigation into unprofessional conduct.
"This is your final warning that any similar incidents will result in your demotion and or your termination,'' the letter reads.
Did Smith know about this before he hired Agee?
But this column is not about Agee. It's about the decision-making at central office, which seems as random as Powerball to folks on the outside. More announcements are made over McDonald's menu changes than this.
Maybe it's time for an essay question:
Why?
Why did Smith make so many moves?
How political is this? How involved is the Hamilton County Commission (we're looking at you, Fred Skillern) in such decision-making?
How influential are test scores, which remain embargoed by the state like a box of Cuban cigars? Smith can't release these scores until the fall, but how much did they affect these decisions?
In his defense, Smith may be making some of the most visionary decisions ever, based on data and an understanding that some folks fit in some places better than others.
Let's hope that is the right answer.
Kids? You still there? Kids?
David Cook is the metro columnist for the Times Free Press, working in the same building where he began his post-college career as a sportswriter for the Chattanooga Free Press. A graduate of Red Bank High, Cook holds a Master's Degree in Peace and Justice Studies from Prescott College and an English literature degree from University of Tennessee-Knoxville. For the last twelve years, Cook has been a teacher at the middle, high school and university ...
Cook, as a card carrying ProgDem and a disciple of Barack of Nazareth you have no moral standing whatsover to criticize anyone about political motives or what is good for our children.
Principal shakeups are common to all changing of guards at this political Mecca called the public school system. It may be that Mr. Cook is simply young and lacks exposure over time. This is not a new condition, it is common place in HCDE and school systems with a changing of the guard. Frankly, some leadership shakeup is needed.
After 4 or 5 HCDE superintendent turnovers over the years, Mr. Smith's is no different than... Mr. Loftis, Dr. Jessee Register or Dr. Jim Scales.
The HCDE has improved in terms of lowering their malfeasance factor. In the old days, teachers report that the School superintendent for Hamilton County, would take the male shop and gym teachers out of the classroom to help him catch his cows that got out of the fence in the fall and near roads. Then, there was the incident where Hamilton County Road Department was paving School Board members driveways. We have come along way :-)
Along with the fact that most of this story is ripped off from wrcbtv.com, there are also some wild charges here. Where is the documentation that Mr. Agee was about to get demoted in DeKalb County? Can you provide proof of this? It seems like the TFP and Mr. Cook are hoping and praying this man fails at Brainerd High School. What an interesting agenda. Have you reported the annual decline in test scores at Brainerd under Mr. Joynes' leadership? Didn't think so. It's on the web. Do your job.
Mr. Cook obviously has not looked at the complaints against Mr. Agee. Mr. Cook has made a fool of himself, again.
Well, it seems that in what is so often the case, the the truth has touched some raw nerves here. Mr. Cook is either using valid information that he has obtained through credible research, or he needs to be sued for slander. Shooting the meesenger doesn't alter the truth in this column. The question posed by Mr. Cook is legitimate and you all know it. If all of this "change" is truly necessary, then why were these incompetent administrators hired in the first place? Huh? Come on, answer the question. These are not five, ten, or fifteen year employees. Why the exceedingy high turnover rate? You want the truth? You can't handle the truth. Besides, the article was extremely well-written, and represents sardonicism (look it up) at its best. Kudos, Mr. Cook.You made my day. Keep up the good work!!
No calhoun what strikes nerves are half-truths and innuendo, which the current staff of the TFP are experts at. Thats why they need a union.
I would go with the Teamsters myself.
As I stated, please point out the factual errancy of anything Mr. Cook said or in any figures/statistics he used. I don't see one place in his article where he states his opinion. Not one. His impetus was to question the prolific movement in school administrators in Hamilton county this year.I see a lot of innuendo in these response to his article, but no one has yet answered the question. Will you?
Why was Mr. Agee diciplined ? Who filed the grievance ? Mr. Cook didn't address that.
The ProgDems in this town got their collective panties in a wad when a teacher at Brainerd High maced a fighting student. It is in the best interest of the ProgDems to maintain chaos and confusion inside the school house. It keeps them employed.
If schools educated and students were safe a major reason for the exsistence of the Democrat/Obamist party would evaporate.
I can't find the information about Mr. Agee's supposed demotion anywhere online. Can anyone (including Mr. Cook) produce it?
If Mr. Agee were White would Cook have an issue ?
I wonder what the opposite of a ProgDem is? A Regressive Republican? A RegRep? Moving 75 administrators in one year is not normal, common or part of a changing of the guard. Of course we have documentation about the demotion. I quoted from it. Now, the question remains: why are so many administrators being moved?
You drug Mr. Agee into this, now you need to explain why.
And for the unread, ProgDem is a combination of Progressives (such as Obama and Pelosi) and the party apparatus of the Democrat Party. So you insulted Republicans for no good reason.
And answer the question Mr. Cook. Do you support unionization of the TFP ?
And while you are answering questions, tell us where Gerber went to college. She seems to be in control of the Progressive agenda of the TFP and we know nothing about her.
Wow, apparently, a la the famous quote from the movie, what we've got here is failure to communicate. "JonRoss", you continue to evade the question that Mr. Cook posed, that I asked again, and that Mr. Cook reiterated -- again! Why are so many administrators being moved? The answer -- obviously rhetorical in nature -- has absolutely nothing to do with a union at the newspaper, where someone named "Gerber" went to college, or the color of one man's skin. Which part of "According to documents obtained from the DeKalb County School District" did you understand? Please stop throwing around irrelevant cliches and catchphrases and address the question.
And the documentation can be located where, exactly? Has it been reported by any legitimate media outlet, and if so, could you provide the link, Mr. Cook?
My questions stand: 1. Why the hit on Mr. Agee ? 2. Where did Gerber go to school ? 3. Does Cook support unionization of the staff at the TFP ?
The ProgDem controlled TFP is arrogantly going after anyone who doesn't meet their high moral standards. Why can't they answer a few simple questions ? Surely Mr. Cook has no difficulty putting together a one of two word answer to number 2 and 3. He is going to have a hard time with number 1, but maybe Gerber will give him three pages to explain what exactly happend to Mr. Agee. And part of that process would be an in depth talk with Mr. Agee.
"JonRoss", it seems you and everyone else is having a hard time answering the one and only question posited by this article. Are you going to do that or not? Well, are you? I think not.
As far as your whining about "documentation" concerning a "Mr.Agee"; the sources are stated uncategorically. Did you even read the article? A link? Are you kidding? Please say that you're kidding. I would ask what you consider to be a "legitimate media outlet", but based on your incessant repetion of the same irrelevant questions regarding this article, I'm not sure you could answer that question any better. As far as it goes (the fundamental question about administrator movement in the county remains the same), the issues concerning Mr. Agee's personnel file are either true, or they're not. What would be the purpose of an "in depth talk" with him? Is his record representative of the best hire that HCDE can make? If so, that might be part of the problem. Have a nice day.
O.k., I will answer the question. No, there is no political aspect to the decision to change leadership in several schools. Nothing supports the argument that there is. It is as simple as that. But the reactionary ProgDems perceive the changes as a threat thus making it political.
Mr. Agee and other like him demand results and dicipline. The ProgDem power structure abhors that. If results are positive, if children are learning, if schools are orderly and nuturing, it threatens the very existence of ProgDems and their ability to spread political patronage.
I thought you folks were all about hope and change. Mr. Agee brings hope and change.
So Mr. Cook claims to have some incriminating evidence in his back pocket that no one else has seen, no media outlet (including his own) has reported. We'll just take his word for it. After all, he's a longtime teacher at GPS. So he knows all about public schools.
I have a connection to BHS going back to a time before Cook was probably born. The school has changed in many ways since the beginning but the bottom line is that the kids there are in most ways really no different than the kids at Soddy or EH in their desire for dicipline and to be challenged to excel.
The ProgDems believe if you demand too much of these kids we will "lose" them. Well..we are losing many anyway. It is time to let them know that much is expected of them, and the reward will be great. The highly "educated" educational elite treats these kids like their personal property. When teacher Joshua Barber pepper sprayed a violent kid, from the reaction of the educational elite you would have thought he had slashed his throat. Joshua did the absolute correct thing.
I continue to be puzzled why the ProgDems want to control our lives in every respect, FOR THE GREATER GOOD, but they want to leave the students in the troubled schools to their own devices. It makes no sense.
Mr. Cook your assessment that moving 75 administrators is not common to changing of guards has no basis, what-so-ever.
It is indeed common place in HCDE for major changes to occur with new superintendent, including Central Office management and principal reassignment. Your failure to compare to previous changing of guards shows bias in your assessment, and a tone of allegations against Mr. Smith without data. In fact, there was a TFP article about principal reassignment from the man, Dr. Jim Scales himself, discussing how this was common, and complaining about it, when he did the same.
I am no fan of Mr. Smith, perhaps this system needed a good shakeup.
Evidently, Mr. Agee didn't bring "hope and change" to the DeKalb school system. Further, "change" seems to be a recurring theme with all school systems. What's up with that? Everything's always changing, but nothing ever gets better.
@aae1049, according to Mr. Cook's article, Soddy Elementary AND Wolftever Creek have each had three new principals respectively in three years. Do you dispute this information, or do you have a clever explanation?
This site evidently will not support a hyperlink, but anyone who cares to might copy and paste the link below. This country's education system (among other things) is disgustingly broken and no one currently employed in the profession has the guts to stand up and say so. David Cook said so with candor and aplomb. Good for him.
http://m.savannahnow.com/column/2012-06-19/moore-decline-teaching-profession
Isn't change at the heart of the ProgDem/Obamist peace and freedom myth. If Cook can't accept change in the school system maybe he needs to revaluate his allegience to the Obamist change it all change it now we can't wait doctrine.
And we can't hate gays but we can hate unions. Not a very obamist philosophy.
Dude, I truly hate to descend into an ad hominem diatribe, but do you have any conception whatsoever that nothing you've said in fourteen posts has absolutely ANYTHING to do with the article at all!!!??? Try not referring to "ProgDems", unions, or President Obama and try again. Geeezzzz!!!!
Calhoundawg said... Dude, I truly hate to descend into an ad hominem diatribe, but do you have any conception whatsoever that nothing you've said in fourteen posts has absolutely ANYTHING to do with the article at all!!!??? Try not referring to "ProgDems", unions, or President Obama and try again. Geeezzzz!!!!
JonRoss feeds like a troll. He does this on most of the posts. Goes off subject and is obcessed with where Gerber got her degree. JonRoss said... Gerber: Flood of response on 'Tempest' Cook received a degree from UT Knoxville. Where did you get your degree Allison ?
I could list more, but is there really any need? We tend to just not feed it, as much as possible.
I wonder... Why is it wrong to ask why?
Why does asking it often bring defensive, agressive response?
What might happen if we listened to and thoughtfully considered what those who think or believe differently than we do have to say?
How did so many comments move so far away from the article's points???
Just sayin' to use a teen phrase.
A Prog is a Progressive. Progressives are arrogant self-important dolts who don't give a crap about what people want or need. They just feed on their on brilliant ideas and then shove them down the throats of the populace. Many progs are racist and Marxist. Barack of Nazareth and Pelosi are prime examples of a Progressive.
Dems are Democrats. There are few Democrats anymore. The Democrat party has been gutted and back-filled with Progressives. Dems can be obnoxious but they don't set off bombs in government buildings as do Progressives. The Democrat party is the shell that the Progs hide beneath.
ProgDems can also be fascist. Obama being a prime example of both.
There is nothing progressive about Progressives. Quite the contrary.
And you ProgDems are lashing me because I am "off topic". Tell us why Cook's vicious attack on Agee falls under the topic of politics possibly influencing school board actions.
Principals are moved around, or up or down the ladder for a variety of reasons. Unfair or not the Brainerd switch was due to money being received. There would have to be detailed analysis of each school to determine specific reasons. As has been mentioned this is not a new practice.
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