Ex-School Board Member Rips Maurice Henderson
From the blog of ex-School Board member, Carol A.O. Wolf:
Upon learning that RPS had some of the worst SOL math scores in Virginia, Maur
ice Henderson, the vice chairman and 5th District member of the RPS School Board, had the gall to tell Richmond Times Dispatch reporter Zachary Reid:
“There’s no alarm here ….There’s no news here. We’re headed in the right direction [...] My only concern is that we stay focused on the things that are broadly making our schools better and not get burdened with or wrapped up in this singular moment.”
Really? Some of the worst scores in Virginia? No alarm? No News?
How can Henderson honestly think that a 97 percent failure rate (only 3 percent passed) at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School is not news nor cause for alarm?
How can it not be news if only 7 percent of the kids at Henderson Middle School (a 93 percent failure rate) passed the test? The Capital City Program, located in Gilpin Court at a school once attended by tennis-great Arthur Ashe but now serves students with behavior issues, had a 4 percent pass rate.
Jason- refresh my memory… is someone running against him?
The challenger is Mamie Taylor. She also linked to Wolf’s blog on her Facebook page with this preface:
What could Maurice Henderson possibly be thinking. PLEASE READ AND PASS ALONG TO OTHERS WHO WILL BE VOTING THIS YEAR IN THE 5TH DISTRICT!!!!!! For those of you who may not know, Mr. Henderson is our current 5th district School Board representative.
We need new representation in our district. On November 6, 2012 vote Mamie Taylor for Richmond Public Board. I WILL, we need someone who cares an
d will maKe a DIFFERENCE
Not to defend him, but across the state, math scores plumetted due to the new test they instituted last year and didn’t give teachers the updated standards until halfway through the year. I would check to see where RPS stood the year before they changed the test (2010-2011)
Again, not trying to defend the guy, but there is an additional wrinkle that most would not be aware of.
It is true that a new test was instituted during the 2011-2012 school year, and teachers were not given a lot of support from central office to aide them in preparing our students until the second semester, but everyone was aware of the changes at the beginning of the year. And that includes the superintendent, her support staff, principals, teachers, students and especially our school board reps who sign off on every single thing. Where RPS stood the year before they changed the test was that students were only required to know how to plug in problems and find the answers. With the new test, students had to actually understand the problem and know how to get to the answer. That’s where the problem begins. Our children are taught to the test and not taught how to think critically. The true wrinkle is that great test scores are prioritized over a quality education. We need new leadership, so please vote Mamie Taylor For Richmond School Board on November 6th. I will give you a voice and I will hold our leaders accountable to providing a quality education to our children.