Yeah! Metro Schools move to improving status!

On Wednesday morning the much anticipated results of No Child Left Behind directed testing were released. To the surprise of the purveyors of convention wisdom, Metro did not fail. So, instead of heading for "alternate governance" Metro is now identified as an improving system.

I have to admit, I wasn't all that surprised. Metro had made some progress last year but fell just short. With the addition of Jesse Register and the election of David Fox to School Board chairman, there has emerged a new level of professionalism and urgency. As one board member put it "we have stopped talked about 'change' and started talking about excellence."

Jesse Register, you might recall was treated by the press like last night's cold leftovers when he took the job of Director of Schools. Even parents I know were a bit lukewarm to the choice. Their attitude was understandable as pretty much everyone had grown impatient with Metro Schools' performance.

To some criticism, Dr. Register has cautioned against this impatience. Organizations - and I don't care if we are talking about business or government - don't change overnight and when they do it is usually for the worse. It takes slow, methodical planning and implementation to change a system. It takes leadership to put the right people in the right jobs and explain to them what is expected. And it takes courage to hold those people accountable for their results. Change to our school system, as David Fox put it, is just not a matter of four or five clever ideas. Change is a long term, profound effort that will raise the expectations teachers have for their students, teachers have for each other and parents have for all of them.

Happily, these same parents that were expressing reservations now refer to Dr. Register as a breath of fresh air. Sadly, the Mayor's office appears to be lagging somewhat in developing the same attitude. What should have been cause for a hearty round of applause instead engendered a tepid statement about how we needed to avoid complacency. Pat Nolan provides a good analysis of this bizarre response that failed to even mention Dr. Register or the school board.

So, to all the parents, students, teachers, principals: Way to go! Thanks for all your hard work! We can't wait to see what great things you will accomplish next year! Keep it up! We are counting on you! We know you can do more and make us proud!

To the school administrators and School Board: Way to go! Thanks for your leadership! We expect more next year!

Now, back to work.