Two people, so far, have filed their candidacy for election to the Chesterfield County School Board; Johnny McLendon and Wayne Chapman. The vacant seat in District 9 had been filled by the late Council Porter for nearly 20 years. A special election for this seat will be held Tuesday, Nov. 13, a week after the general election this fall. Filing will remain open, for anyone else wishing to seek this position, until noon Sept. 17, 2012.
A moment of silence was held in memory of “Coach” Council Porter at Monday night’s regular meeting of the school board. Porter’s official photograph as a member of the board was presented to his widow. He died Aug. 17, at the age of 82.
Superintendent Harrison Goodwin spoke with board members about No Child Left Behind waivers. He reminded the board that information for these new waivers are determined by “growth and improvement.” So far, more than 19 states have implemented waivers, described as unique or alternate solutions to the government mandates of No Child Left Behind.
According to an article on the National Education Association’s website by Cindy Long, “One of the provisions that No Child Left Behind requires is that all students be proficient in reading and math by 2014. Reading and math proficiency is a goal all educators are determined to help students reach, but the current form of the law doesn’t allow them to get there. The waivers allow states to scrap the 2014 proficiency requirement if they can provide a viable alternative plan.”
An article posted by the NEA recently said, “U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced waivers for Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island, which were granted in exchange for state-developed plans to prepare all students for college and career, focus aid on the neediest students, and support effective teaching and leadership.”
“ESEA is a new method of reporting information that was previously referred to as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under No Child Left Behind, and is a result of the waiver that was recently granted to the state of South Carolina,” said Goodwin.
“As with previous years, the statewide data does point out our need to address the achievement gap among the subgroups and this is reflected in the data for Chesterfield County Schools,” he said.
The next regular board meeting for the Chesterfield County School District is scheduled for Oct. 8, at the Palmetto Learning Center at the old Edwards Elementary School in Chesterfield. Public comment is scheduled from 5:30 to 6 p.m.
— Staff Writer Karen Kissiah can be reached by calling 843-537-5261, or by email at kkissiah@heartlandpublications.com.
Post a Comment
