Friday, March 21, 2014

Black Friday

Black Friday was a huge success, thank you to all who participated! 
*photo: GHS teachers and ESPs sporting black to encourage funding for our schools. 

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Updates


  • The GEA Executive Board recently endorsed incumbent VEA president Meg Gruber for re-election.  
  • The GEA survey is LIVE until this Friday, March 14th, with a new superintendent coming in this summer, it is of extreme importance that you share your thoughts.  We encourage ALL GCPS employees to take the survey.
  • Next Friday, March 21st will be a GEA sponsored "Black Friday," we must bring to the attention of local decision makers the impact the lack of funding has on our students.
  • Additionally, we encourage, all staff, parents and concerned community members to attend the Board of Supervisors budget meeting at the TC Walker on March 24th.  

Thursday, October 17, 2013

President's Remarks to the School Board, September 10, 2013


Remarks to the Gloucester County School Board
September 10, 2013
Brian J. McGovern, President
Gloucester Education Association

Good evening Mr. Chairman, members of the School Board, Dr. Kiser: Brian McGovern; Abingdon, GHS teacher, GEA president.
I speak tonight in reference to Virginia’s new law to assign a letter grade to every school, and to authorize an entity known as the Opportunity Educational Institution to seize schools administered a grade of F.  I realize that the Administration and School Board members have been well informed on this issue, so my remarks are for the benefit of my fellow citizens, especially parents in the community.
The letter grade will be administered according to scores on growth measures and standardized tests.  On the surface, its supporters surmise that this system will sound simple and therefore appealing to parents.  Yet, the motivations for this policy are not about academic success, but politics; the implications of this policy will actually have potentially damaging and rippling effects on students and families, communities, local economies and the constitutional rights of citizens.
The policymakers say it will simplify the myriad of ratings which are now issued about individual schools.  At the same time, they promote the idea that letter grades for students is an antiquated and oversimplified system, which is why divisions like Gloucester and Fairfax have begun to implement standards-based reporting of student progress.  Yet, the so-called reformers say that a letter grade system is just what is needed for schools.
Of course, everyone should be held accountable for those factors which they have control over.  Yet, much of the criticism stems from the fact that this system will punish schools for factors they have little or no control over, such as poverty, domestic issues and truancy. 
 Moreover, school divisions have no control over all of the actions of the General Assembly which have shackled them with unfunded mandates, SOL’s of ever-increasing difficulty, value added data requirements, more time consuming teacher and administrator evaluations, to name a few.  To add insult to injury, local taxpayers are all-too-frequently sent the bill for unfunded mandates they never asked for.
Would school letter grades in Gloucester say anything about the true quality of Gloucester schools:  The robotics program, career and technical training, the health careers academy, horticulture, FBLA, the number of graduates who start as college juniors because of dual enrollment and AP programs?  My fellow citizens, please know that none of these great programs will be taken into account when our schools are assigned letter grades, nor will they be taken into account if the OEI seizes your child’s school.
The law will potentially impact college-bound students who attend a school with a less than stellar letter grade, factors they have no control over.  It will potentially damage the local real estate market, impact economic growth, housing startups, per capita income and local revenues.  These consequences may arise all because of an oversimplified, inaccurate, politically motivated letter grade system.
That’s not all.  Not only has the General Assembly violated the Constitution of Virginia with the provision to authorize the OEI to seize a local school but also the First Amendment right of citizens to petition the government for redress of grievances.  How so?  The voters of Gloucester County have elected a school board to direct school policy and governance.  If any parent deems their child’s school to be deficient in any way, that parent can easily contact their school board member or come to this podium. If the OEI seizes your child’s school, where will you go to voice your concerns?  Richmond?  More importantly, can the Commonwealth of Virginia usurp the authority of a democratically, locally elected body and the right of its citizens to elect such body?  The answer is no, it cannot.  This law violates both the constitutions of this Commonwealth and this Nation.
All of these factors have forced Norfolk Public Schools and the Virginia School Boards Association to challenge the constitutionality of this new law, with the support of the Norfolk PTA council.  The Virginia Education Association and GEA stand with Norfolk and the VSBA in this action.  As Ben Franklin once said, when risking his very life and fortune to stand for what was right:  “We must all hang together, or we will most assuredly all hang separately.” 
In the final analysis, it is not the General Assembly or OEI, but parents who are the final arbiter of the quality of education and their child’s school.
I thank the School Board, members of the Administration and my fellow citizens for hearing my comments.