State ABCs Results Released

According to results released today by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Iredell-Statesville Schools' performance composite increased by nearly 9 percent this year as compared to 2007-08. Eighty percent of the district's schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as defined by No Child Left Behind. In addition, I-SS has four Honor Schools of Excellence. District Interim Superintendent Brady Johnson is pleased with the results.

"This is certainly great news for our schools," he said. "Our employees are dedicated to helping our young people be successful, and their efforts are definitely paying off."

Click on the link below to see the full article.

State ABCs Results Released

In addition to the four Honor Schools of Excellence, there are eight Schools of Distinction, and thirteen Schools of Progress.

Congratulations to all the I-SS employees who worked hard to make these achievements and all the other achievements of the school system possible.

And, for those who have made comments about checking the test scores of my wife’s students, let me say this, she teaches at Lakeshore Middle School, which is one of the four Honor Schools of Excellence.

Record and Landmark Editorial

The following is taken from the editorial titled I-SS Making Strides that was printed in Thursday's edition of the Statesville Record & Landmark. Unfortunately it is not available on the paper's web site.

The article starts with the statements:

Iredell-Statesville Schools officials aren't completely satisfied with the district's showing in the Adequate Yearly Progress report for 2008-09.

That's the right and politically correct thing to say, but the results - combined with rising SAT scores and graduation rates - provide another sign that I-SS is moving in the right direction.

The article then ends with the following statement:

Parents, teachers, and taxpayers should expect Mr. Johnson and other top administrators to continue on the course set by Dr. Holliday until the school board advises otherwise.

Yes, I-SS has had a number of successes over the last few years, but as has been pointed out in this blog, many of those successes have been in spite of Dr. Holliday's initiatives rather than because of them. As the records have shown, Dr. Holliday has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer's dollars to implement his version of the Baldrige plan. A plan that has alienated many students, parents, teachers, teacher assistants, and other Iredell Citizens.

As many people have commented on this blog, Mr. Johnson is known to be an honest and professional man who has the student's best interests at heart. I personally hope that Mr. Johnson is given the freedom to change the focus of the administration away from the superintendent and toward the students.

I suggest that we thank Mr. Johnson for agreeing to take the interim position and offer him our support.