In a rare show of courage Thursday night, some Hamilton County Board of Education members fell on their sword.
School board members said they were at fault for the district's low TCAP scores, demonstrating acceptance of responsibility rarely seen in public discourse today.
"When it comes to accountability," said board member Greg Martin, "it is us and you (Superintendent Rick Smith)."
"I don't blame the teachers and I don't blame the principals. It's the school board and the administrators to blame for these scores," Rhonda Thurman said.
It is refreshing to see elected public officials acknowledge a serious - and chronic - problem.
Too often board members have appeared more interested in field trip policy than how to move the district's 40,000-plus students into an upward test score trajectory.
But, as in 12-step programs, acknowledging a problem is the first step toward recovery.
If board members, in fact, are willing to shoulder some of the blame, they may want to tie a portion of Smith's annual evaluation to how public school students score on standardized tests.
Teachers' evaluations are based in part, fairly or not, on student scores. The superintendent also should bear some similar responsibility.
In 2014, Smith's evaluation was based on ratings in seven categories: board relationships, staff and personal relations, educational leadership, business and finance, strategic planning skills and personal relationships.
The closest one of the seven that relates to student performance was educational leadership. But of the seven sub-categories under educational leadership, only two mentioned students: "Develops, implements, promotes and monitors an assessment and improvement system for student learning that results in ongoing improvement in student achievement" and "Promotes academic rigor and excellence for students."
Evaluations of school board members a year ago scored Smith from a 5 (significantly above expectations) to a 2 (below expectations) on those student-related sub-categories. Only one board member made a comment involving student scores: "Math is still woefully inadequate."
Earlier this year, ahead of the release of the low 2015 TCAP scores, where students made gains over last year in only five of 10 areas of testing, the superintendent received his highest evaluation marks yet. School board members, in turn, voted him a $9,000 raise to $199,000.
Smith, perhaps bolstered by that vote of confidence, said at Thursday's meeting that accountability "rests with all the community" and - citing the need for increased community involvement and funding - said student performance won't "change until our community changes."
It was unclear exactly how he wants the community to change, but he may have been referring to the $34 million increase in funding for the school district he lobbied the public to support earlier this year. His lobbying success was at best lukewarm. People understood the need of specific expenditures but couldn't fathom increasing their property taxes $150 a year (on a $150,000 house) to pay for them.
In the end, Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger did not approve a budget with the extra funding because he did not believe the idea was economically sound.
And, as many of the largest school systems in the country have learned, more money doesn't necessarily lead to higher test scores.
The school board on Thursday did take a step toward more community involvement, though, when it approved - in a reform suggested by advocacy group UnifiEd - allowing additional members of the public to speak at meetings if they sign up the day of the meeting (instead of having to register three days before the meeting).
UnifiEd, a grassroots organization that wants to increase community involvement, has numerous reforms it would love to share with school board members. They may be just what the district needs, or they may not. But a school board willing to accept responsibility for low test scores also should be willing to accept thoughtful suggestions on how those low scores might be remedied.
And while they're at it, the board should create new evaluation criteria for Smith. Indeed, with yet another state testing system being implemented this school year, it's the perfect year to do so. The scores from 2015-2016 could be the baseline. In subsequent years, students' improvement on the new TNReady tests should have a bearing on Smith's evaluation.
Accountability must start at the top.