TALLADEGA COUNTY — Administrators and teachers with the Talladega County, Talladega City and Sylacauga City school systems gathered at the Talladega County Board of Education office Tuesday afternoon for a candid roundtable discussion with U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers.Rogers, who made appearances at the Lincoln High School Career Tech classroom dedication and the Talladega Kiwanis Club earlier Tuesday, offered the educators an open forum to discuss the No Child Left Behind Act.
Talladega County Schools Superintendent Dr. Cindy Elsberry hosted and moderated the meeting, following a nine-point outline. The group went point-by-point, discussing everything from the general fairness and effectiveness of NCLB, to how it affects special education students, English language learners and the consequences schools face for not meeting the criteria.
“I agree that is has forced us to better focus on subgroups, but it has hurt some of the students in a way,” Elsberry said.
The audience consensus echoed Elsberry’s sentiments and pointed to several of their own personal experiences and hang-ups with the strict guidelines of the policy.
“You need to prioritize one, two, three, four and five and then focus on one, two and three,” Rogers said. “You need to have two or three issues that you want me and my staff to take back to Washington and champion for you.”
School Choice was one point at the top of the list. Once a school enters “school improvement” status, a title defined by whether a school meets its adequate yearly progress goals, which in time is set by NCLB, students have the option to choose to attend one of two other schools within the district.
Elsberry said one of her schools faced that issue when students left to attend another school because it was “better.” Those students ended up doing more poorly in their subgroup at their “choice school” than if they had stayed where they were originally.
The educators agreed that just because a school is classified as in “school improvement” doesn’t mean it’s a failing school, and often parents and students don’t realize that.
The issue of “highly qualified teachers” also brought in several comments. According to the professionals, in Alabama teachers are required to pass several tests and courses before being labeled “highly qualified,” while a general continuity is in place for all the other states.
Teachers relocating to Alabama and those who don’t have the time to “jump the hoops” for the “highly qualified” title must send letters home to the parents of their students stating they don’t hold the “highly qualified” title.
The administrators agreed it was not only a ludicrous and time-consuming process for an educated and experienced teacher to go through, but also embarrassing to ask them to send the letters to parents, especially when there can be any number of reasons a teacher isn’t “highly qualified.”
“So you’re looking for reciprocity?” Rogers asked.
Graduation and dropout rates were also a major point. The educators said it is unfair for a student who drops out multiple times to continue affecting the school’s AYP and it hinders how much time and effort school staff can devote to working with those students.
The school representatives said one of their biggest issues was the mainstreaming of special education students and how it negatively impacts them, as well as a school’s AYP goals, and the 100 percent pass or fail mentality expected from each school district.
Rogers thanked the educators for their time and their opinions.
