Edgecombe County Public Schools - Birmigham City Schools Superintendent Search under construction: open on Friday, January 8, 2009
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Education Statistics & Thumbnail Facts: School size not saving Detroit schools form chopping blocks - Economies of scale
B'ham Superintendent Search: Edgecombe County - Birmingham City Schools
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BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL CLOSING WATCH: MORE SECRET MEETINGS
2007-2008 BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL CLOSINGS (HERE WE GO AGAIN - "DOWN SIZING, RIGHT SIZING, or CAPSIZING" )
Alabama School Districts Without One Month Reserve Fund
More Busing in Birmingham With School Consolidations
ALA'S #1 PROBLEM: TEACHER SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
Blog Ala's Biggest Problem - Teacher Sexual Misconduct
BIG SPENDERS - MOST COSTLY SCHOOLS NOT SMALL SCHOOLS
The late Henry Sparks made Birmingham the financial envy of the state's education system
Education Finance, Economics, & Budget Monitoring
Despite Free Space in SomeSchools, Many Packed Classrooms(How are Birmingham Classrooms?)
Class Size Comparison Changes For Parents - The Classroom Effects of Closing & Consolidating Schools
COMING SOON: ** THE CHOICE: SCHOOL ZONING, BIG SCHOOLS - SMALL SCHOOLS (WHICH EDUCATES THE POOR BEST?)
CLASS SIZE REDUCTION
Education Research on School Size: School Climate and Academic Achievement
Evidence Based Consequences of Increased School Size
Curriculum and Instruction
BIRMINGHAM CITY SCHOOLS DECLINE: THEFT IN SCHOLS - INTERNAL CONTROLS LACKING
Worhtless BOE Guidelines and Frame Work For Superintendent Stan Mims, Lay Citizen Advisory Task Force (BOE Policy 6170) Sabotaged
In Education: Big Is Not Better - Research Finds Small Schools Better for Poor and Black Students
Links About Birmingham City Schools
The Good Common School Journal
Thumbnail Facts: Birmingham Enrollment/ Teacher Loss Not Cause of $22 Million Bham BOE Losses
Anniston Citizens for Better Schools
FAIRFIELD CITIZENS FOR BETTER SCHOOLS
Jefferson County (Alabama) School System:
Sylacauga Citizens for Better Schools
Citizens For Better Schools:
Education Management and Leadership
Special, Exceptional, and Gifted and Talented Education
GOLD FACULTY - BROWN PAST 50 WORKSHOP: BEYOND NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND - FULFILLING THE PROMISE OF BROWN
Contact Your School, State, and Federal Representation Here!
Favorite Links: Legal Resources - College Funding Opportunity
ALL SPORTS Birmingham - ALL THE TIME
GENDER EQUITY: Public Schools, Segregated Schools?
Phillips Academy - Crisis in Student School Bus Transportation
WE ARE "HOKIES" TOO!
Topic Index: BREAKING SCHOOL CLOSING NEWS ** Citizens for Better Schools
BIRMINGHAM CITY SCHOOLS SEARCH FOR SUPERINTENDENT IN EDGECOMBE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA:
News Media Coverage:
Quote of the Day: "You don't tell a mechanic how to do his job and you don't tell a plumber how to do his job." Craig Whitterspoon at the Sardis Baptist Church, February 1, 2009, in his first public address since being named Birmingham, Alabama's new superintendent of schools.
It was not clear to whom Whitterspoon was speaking, the micro-managing Birmingham Board of Education or to Birmingham parents and taxpayers. One parent was overheard saying "Perhaps," referring to Whitterspoon's sardonic remark, "That's why Toyota's gas pedals' stuck."
In any event, Whitterspoon's management style will be sorely tested in Birmingham as the district struggles to survive, both academically and financially, loosing a thousand students a year - He'll need a good plumber to plug the student drainage and a great financial mechanic to bring fiscal soundness to the school district.
“This system needs the best, and the best person . . . And with all due respect, that is not Dr. Dr. Whitterspoon”
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/01/for_william_bell_a_long_journe.html
Whitterspoon’s “Cloudy Start,” hiding Edgcombe BOE work evaluation report
Birmingham News Opinion, January 24, 2020
http://blog.al.com/tscarritt/2010/01/board_of_education_sets_bad_ex.html
Whitterspoon awarded "No Cut" contract to become superintendent
Summary of Whitterspoon Contractt:
The employment contract offered and accepted by Craig Witherspoon to become superintendent of Birmingham City Schools includes:
Termination (no-cut contract): Should the BOE decide to terminate Whiterspoon for cause, poor performance, misconduct, incompetence or immorality – Whitterspoon will be entitled to receive the fully base salary and benefits balance of his contract; the BOE will have to pay Whitterspoon in full for any time left on his three year contract at the time of firing.
Birmingham BOE Sued – Open Meetings Law Violation Charged
http://blog.al.com/bn/2010/01/group_sues_birmingham_school_b.html
Open Meeting Act Complaint Against Birmingham Board of Education
http://media.al.com/bn/other/Citizens%20for%20Better%20Schools%20complaint.pdf
Alabama Attorney General Open Meeting Manual
http://www.ago.state.al.us/documents/open_meeting.pdf
Request for Restraining Order http://media.al.com/bn/other/Citizens%20for%20Better%20Schools%20motion%20for%20TRO.pdf
Group asks judge to hold Birmingham school board members in contempt of court http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/01/group_asks_judge_to_hold_birmi.html
Superintendent Contract http://media.al.com/spotnews/other/Witherspoon%20employment%20agreement.pdf
Relocation Agreement
http://media.al.com/spotnews/other/Relocation%20agreement.pdf
Thursday Hiring Meeting
http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-stories/2010/01/witherspoon_hired_as_superinte.html
Birmingham News Opinion – Make Sure Selection Not In Over His Head:
http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary/2010/01/our_view_birmingham_school_boa_10.html
Whitterspoon Accepts Contract
School Board Lawyers Oppose Citizens for Better Schools
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/01/post_380.html
Ford, Volker Uphold Community Standards – Respect Court Order
Birmingham school board members exhibited profiles in courage when voting not to approve a contract of employment to Craig Whitterspoon to become superintendent of Birmingham City Schools. Ford and Volker were the only Birmingham school board members voting “NO” last Thursday (January 21, 2009). Volker's dissent arose from the ”flawed” process used to pick Whitterspoon for superintendent of Birmingham schools, the sixth in fifteen years. During school board meeting, Ford said he could not support making a hire of Whitterspoon “when the applicant will not allow our school board to examine Edgecombe County’ (Whitterspoon’s employing school board) performance evaluation of him.
Citizens for Better Schools commend school board members Volker and Ford for their respective dissent on hiring Craig Whittertspoon.
NORTH CAROLINA ACCOUNTABILITY GLOSSARY: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/nclb/glossary#nclb
Edgecombe County District Report Card http://www.ncschoolreportcard.org/src/servlet/srcICreatePDF?pLEACode=330&pYear=2008-2009&pDataType=1
Edgecombe Longitudinal LEA Statistical Data on Edgecombe to compare where Edgecombe was and where it is now. http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/reporting/leaperformancearchive/
Edgecombe -2005 Composite Scores http://disag.ncpublicschools.org/disag2005/disag-public.jsp
COLLEGE READY, NORTH CAROLINA - ALABAMA STUDENTS?
ACT SCORES - http://www.act.org/news/data/09/pdf/National2009.pdfGroup asks judge to hold Birmingham school board members in contempt of court http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/01/group_asks_judge_to_hold_birmi.html
Birrmingham Supperintendent Search Ends in Failing North Carolina School System: - System in third-year "school improvement
Title I Schools in School Improvement in the 2009-10 School Year
Title I schools not meeting state proficiency target goals for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in the same subject (reading/language arts or mathematics) for two consecutive years are identified for school improvement. For every year a school in improvement does not make AYP, progressive sanctions apply.
B'HAM BOE TO HOLD SPECIAL CALL MEETING ON ELECTION DAY (THIS TUESDAY) TO HIRE WHITTERSPOON AT 5:30 PM - BOE HQ ON PARK PLACE
Call your Board members, they all represent you:
BIRMINGHAM BOARD OF EDUCATION:
Tyrone Belcher 531-6165 *Virginai Volker 592-7966 592-2036
*Emanuel Ford 986-7500 *April Williams 960-6257
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*Willie Maye 925-8237
Citizens for Better Schools
"Structuring Schools for Success -
Making the Vision Work for All Students"
www.cfbsedu.org
(205) 421-5428
"Structuring Schools for Success -
Making the Vision Work for All Students"
www.cfbsedu.org
(205) 421-5428
PRESS RELEASE & NOTICE OF PRESS CONFERENCE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ALL MEDIA
16 JANUARY 2010
Birmingham, Alabama
BIRMINGAHM CITY TAPS FAILING NORTH CAROLINA
SCHOOL SYSTEM SUPERINTENDENT CRAIG WHITEERSPOON
TO LEAD ITS TROUBLED SCHOOL SYSTEM
COULD BECOME BE ALABAMA'S HIGHEST PAID SUPERINTENDENT AT $230,000
As 130 Alabama high schools score poorly on reading, stumble on bedrock of education, Birmingham High Schools are worst in state:
The school system lead by the man the Birmingham Board of Education has called its "preferred candidate" to become its next superintendent of schools failed state and federal academic standards for the past three years in a row; among highest dropout rates in North Carolina (failed to win competitive State dropout preveniton funding grant three years in a row - State says "Edgecombe prevention plans not clear"
The most important decision a board of public education makes is the selection of a superintendent of schools. The superintendent is the one individual, more than any other, who determines whether the district inspires confidence in parents, students, teachers, the larger community, manages and directs the academic performance and progress of the school district. It is the superintendent who establishes the educational philosophy and objectives of the district, and puts in place the fiscal and management organization to support the philosophy and goals of his/her education system. While the final selection of a superintendent belongs to the Board of Education, there is a vital role for community members – as parents, students, and employees of the district, taxpayers and interested citizens - must play for the betterment of their school systems. That role is to advocate that the Board of Education assures a truly open and transparent process for searching and selecting a superintendent that will increase the chances that the person ultimately selected will be an outstanding leader, capable of performing the duties and achieving the policy goals and standards established for public schools by state and federal policy makers - More important, that the superintendent upholds the high expectations of citizens. To that end, "It is the duty of the citizen to prevent government from falling in to error."
Citizens for Better Schools traveled to Tarboro (Edgecombe County), North Carolina last week for an on-site background review of the condition of education in the Edgecombe County Public School System. Our visit included review of public school records, citizens and public officials interviews, including a personal interview of superintendent Craig Whitterspoon.
Citizens for Better Schools has posted a Betterment Report with Findings & Concerns on our web site www.cfbsedu.org Below is a summary of our findings:
Birmingham Citizens
Superintendent Search
Investigation Report:
READ FULL REPORT HERE: http://www.cfbsedu.org/rich_text_8.html
Summary of Findings:
Whitterspoon Fails "ABCs" - Not Best Fit for Birmingham Academic & Adminstrative Needs Not Met In Edgecombe
CITIZENS FOR BETTER SCHOOLS “Structuring Schools for Success – Making the Vision Work for All Students”
FINDINGS & CONCERNS
Under Dr. Craig Whitterspoon’s superintendence, Edgecombe County Public Schools (Tarboro, North Carolina) has earned "No Recognition" designation under North Carolina’s school accountability system, meaning that fifty percent (50%) or more of its students, system as a whole, do not read and do math "at grade level." Additionally, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has placed Edgecombe County (system as a whole) in its third year of "School Improvement" under the federal “No Child Left Behind Act,” commonly meaning Edgecombe’s Title I students do not read and do math at “grade level.”
FINDING & CONCERNS: · Edgecombe School System Failing “ABCs” · ( End-of-Grade and End-of-Course assessment and Adequate Yearly Progress results) Edgecombe schools score substantially below NC schools on state accountability assessmentshttp://www.ncpublicschools.org/newsroom/news/2006-07/20060727
- Edgecombe School System Failed to Make AYP (Only 8 of 15 Schools Made AYP last
Year )
- Racial Academic Gap Expands: The black/white racial academic gap in Edgecombe county has increased over two percent, while the overall racial academic gap in North Carolina has declined, but not in Edgcombe County, according to the north Carolina Department of Education.
- Dropout Rates Up – Not Down (Second Highest in the State – does not have clear plans to reduce dropouts; could not make its state mandated one percent improvement goal in annual dropout reductions; could not write a clear plan to receive state dropout reduction competitive grant funding that satisfied NC Department of Education standards, for three years in a row) Edgcombe Dropout rate increased by 7.2% between 2007 and 2008, while the state dropout rate declined.
- North Carolina Governor Perdue Determined to Lower State Dropout Rate: http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/features/perdues-focus-includes-poorly-prepared-grads-15330 Edgecombe droput rate among fastest growing in state.
Racially Disparate Student Discipline Practices: Blacks are put out of Edgecombe schools at a rate higher than their proportionate enrollment numbers in the Edgcombe school system. Black student suspensions are far higher than their white schoolmates. The North Carolina Department of Education directed Edgecombe to correct disparate treatment of black students after parents petitioned the state for assistance, Edgecombe having failed to respond to black parents complaints of racial discrimination in school discipline.
- The Edgecombe school system is near state take over. The whole system is in year-3 of "school imporvement status" and the whole system must make AYP in all subjects for two-consecutive years or face restructuirng, meaning the superintendent could be removed, principals and staff reassigned, or fired. Craig Whitterspoon has been superintendent of Edgecombe County Public Schools for all three of the years the school system failed to make AYP, in addition to failing North Carolina's "ABCs"
DATA SOURCE FOR FINDINGS & CONCERNSThe basis of our Findings & Concerns are predicated on data and information from: Edgecombe County Board of Education, http://www.ecps.us/ ; North Carolina Department of Education Data: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/data/reports/ Testing; http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/accountability/reporting/ United States Justice Department of Education, AYP – Stronger LEA Accountability http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/ayp/edpicks.jhtml; Testing: Frequently Asked Questions http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/ayp/testing-faq.html; AYP in Title I Schools – Accountability: http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/ayp203/edlite-index.html
Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education.
OTHER FINDINGS & AREAS OF ADMINSTRATIVE CONCERN FOR BIRMINGHAM & EDGECOMBE COUNTY SCHOOLS:
HOW EFFECTIVE HAS EDGECOMBE'S Title I Parental Choice Transfer & SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES PROGRAMS BEEN USED TO IMPROVE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT http://www.ncpublicschools.org/newsroom/news/2006-07/20060727
Supplemental Educational Services (SES) are extra academic services, such as tutoring free of cost to low-income students attending qualifying Title I schools, offered outside of regular school hours (not to disrupt the regular instructional day). Title I schools that have not made adequate yearly progress (AYP) for three years in the same subject are required to offer these services. Service Providers are approved by the N.C. State Board of Education. At least annually, an LEA must provide notice to the parents of each eligible student regarding the availability of SES. Specific information about the timing of services should be provided directly to the parents of eligible students so that there is sufficient time to allow them to select an SES provider. There are other notice requirements school districts must also comply with under the NCLB, and parents should make themselves aware of. The cornerstone of the No Child Left Behind Act is that “no child be left behind” in a failing school. For students in some non-performing Title I schools, parents have the legal right to transfer children from those schools. North Carolina, however, is one of five states approved to participate in a national pilot to switch the order of the first two years of sanctions that the No Child Left Behind federal law applies to schools in Title I School Improvement, according to notice received today by State Superintendent June Atkinson from the U.S. Department of Education. The pilot allows seven districts in North Carolina to offer supplemental educational services (free tutoring) to economically disadvantaged students in the first year a school is in Title I School Improvement instead of public school choice options, the usual first-year sanction. How has Edgecombe County utilized this education improvement option? Edgecombe’s school system is in its third year a SINI (Schools In Need of Improvement) system. Martin Middle School has been a School In Need of Improvement for five years. How many parents have exercised Parental Choice Option to exit Marin and have their Children matriculate in one of Edgecombe’s better performing schools? How many of Martin students have regularly participated in No Child Left behind Supplemental Educational Services? Do parents know that they have the legal right to opt out of failing schools, to receive free tutoring? How aggressive does the Edgecombe School District encourage parents and students to participate in these school improvement options? For our future, these are critically important school improvement issues. School administrators, teachers, parents and the greater community must address and, more importantly, resolve now, not later.
Additionally, Citizens for Better Schools has directly addressed these concerns to Dr. Craig Whitterspoon and all members of the Edgecombe County Board of Education for their response to our Findings & Concerns. We will publish their responses on www.cfbsedu.org .
Because of the civil rights implications of our Edgecombe Findings & Concerns, Citizens for Better Schools has filed an administrative complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, United States Department of Education, asking the Department to undertake an investigation of Edgecombe County Public Schools for possible violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Our complaint alleges violation of title VI in operation of Edgecombe's Gifted&Talented Program. Affrican American students are under-represented in Edgecombe's Gifted and Talented Program.
Citizens for Better Schools' complaint also alleges violation of Title VI in the operation of Edgecombe's student suspension program, as black students are treated more harshly than their white classmates. The complaint ask that federal funds be withheld from Edgecombe, absent full compliance with Title VI's non-discrimination requirements.
Birmingham City Schools is a troubled school system, having had five school superintendents in the past 12 years. Our school system is fiscally challenged and academically under performing. Birmingham is in urgrnt need of a high performing academic leader to helm of our school system, and understands that school budgerts must be planned, and administered, to link spending to produce academic achievement and accelerating learning, system as a whole.
We come, for no other purpose, to observe the operation and performance history of the Edgecombe County Public School System. In the selection of a superintendent for Birmingham City schools, the risk are too great and the stakes are to high to base such a critical selection on impulse and emotion. This important decision must be made upon punctilious examination of the performance of the "preferred candidate" of our Birmingham Board of Education in the Edgecombe school system. We truat, but we must verify.
Below, we present our preliminary findings on the Condition of Education in Edgecombe County Schools. We wish to thank The North Carolina Department of Education which has made this review so much eaiser. The Education Department's web site is execptionally consumer- friendly, copmprehensive, commonly comprehensible, and transparent. The North Carlolina Department of Education makes the people of North Carolina proud. Carolinians residents are well served to use and rely on its State Education Department's informational web site http://www.ncpublicschools.org/ on a daily basis to better inform their judgments, guide thier schoolchildren's education decison making, and, equally important, in holding their schools and school systems accountable.
We began our observation of Edgecommbe county schools resolved to rely upon primary public record source data as the most objective standard available to the public. We concluded that federal an state standards were the most objective measures available to observe administrative performance of public school districts in Edgecombe County, as chool districts are legally obligated to comply with state and federal regulatory standards. Federal education standards, with some local exceptions, are the most common education standards by which to measure administrative performance in relation to student academic achievement, our primary focus.
WE BEGAN WITH THE FOLLOWING PRIMARY QUESTIONS:
We are interested in in obtaining data and information on the condition of education in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, academic, administrative, and fiscal, along with community perceptions of the condition of education in Edgecombe County on:
BACKGROUND:
STATE & REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE:
EducationPer student expenditures vary by county with Edgecombe spending the most per student at $6,722; Nash County spends $6,580 per student and Wilson $6,484 per student.
(Source: North Carolina Department of Instruction 2002).
Table 12: Students Passing End of Grade Exams by Race and County Source: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 2001-2002
In both Edgecombe and Wilson counties, the difference between black and white scores is 25%; in Nash County it is 27%. In Nash County the gap between Latino and white student scores is 24%. The Latino gap is less in both Edgecombe and Wilson counties with 13% and 18% respectively.
The experiences for residents in these three counties vary considerably, ranging from income and wealth differences to poverty and educational attainment differences. All counties have significant levels of inequality in the variables examined, most notably in terms of income and housing values. By examining Census data and becoming aware of the patterns of inequality in our region, we can better focus on policy initiatives to help regions that have significant poverty. Citizens for Better Schools is dedicated to providing education information and data analysis on poverty to enable citizens to understand the impact of better education can provide to improve the quality of life in our communities.
The ENCPC is dedicated to providing information and data analysis on poverty in the Eastern Carolina and encourages use of these presentations in schools, colleges, communities, and government agencies so we may become better informed citizens and work toward making substantive change in our communities.
FINDINGS & CONCERNS
- Edgecombe School System Failed to Make AYP (Only 8 of 15 Schools Made AYP last
Year )
- Racial Academic Gap Expands: The black/white racial academic gap in Edgecombe county has increased over two percent, while the overall racial academic gap in North Carolina has declined, but not in Edgcombe County, according to the north Carolina Department of Education.
- Dropout Rates Up – Not Down (Second Highest in the State – does not have clear plans to reduce dropouts; could not make its state mandated one percent improvement goal in annual dropout reductions; could not write a clear plan to receive state dropout reduction competitive grant funding that satisfied NC Department of Education standards, for three years in a row)
Racially Disparate Student Discipline Practices: Blacks are put out of Edgecombe schools at a rate higher than their proportionate enrollment numbers in the Edgcombe school system. Black student suspensions are far higher than their white schoolmates. The North Carolina Department of Education s directed Edgecombe to correct disparate treatment of black students after parents petitioned the state for assistance, Edgecombe having failed to respond to black parents complaints of racial discrimination in school discipline.
DATA SOURCE FOR FINDINGS & CONCERNS
Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education.
OTHER FINDINGS & AREAS OF ADMINSTRATIVE CONCERN FOR BIRMINGHAM & EDGECOMBE COUNTY SCHOOLS:
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| Type | Area | LEA# | LEA Name | Title I, Part A Allotment | Per Pupil Allocation for SES* | 20% Allocation for Choice/SES | ||||
| LEA | 330 | 330 | Edgecombe County | $ 2,175,409 | $1,329 | $ 435,081.80 | | |||
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