School system survey:
What does it mean?
By Chip Drago
Mobile Bay Times
The Mobile County Education Association recently conducted a survey of 512 registered voters in Mobile County to assess public opinion of the Mobile County Public School System.
To the extent that fault was found for failings in the school system, the finger of blame was generally pointed at the school board.
Is the school board a true goat or a scapegoat? Do the opinions of these 512 Mobile countians have any merit? Are they based on fact or hearsay? If the results of the survey truly reflect a broad public perception, can the survey be useful in efforts to improve public education in Mobile County?
Click here to read the survey.
Mobile Bay Times solicited the comments on the survey from a variety of segments of the community, though not all responded and not all are represented.
"The results, especially the criticisms of the board, should probably come as no real surprise to anyone. I must say I find it interesting that MCEA left out any mention of what is for me one of the most significant obstacles to school improvement, the teachers' union itself. It’s a union-sponsored survey, but they don’t include that (the union) as one of the impediments toward improvement, it seems to me. Some of my union friends may not appreciate that.”
-- Steve Giardini, assistant district attorney and former school board attorney
“As in any survey reflecting on you personally or professionally you tend to overanalyze because it is an opinion survey, a perception survey," said School Board President Judy Stout.
"It’s useful for myself and other members of the board to recognize what the opinions are whether they are valid or not. We need to see if we are creating those perceptions or if there is anything we can do (to improve them) and, if so, do it. It’s helpful to get that kind of feedback.
"It’s interesting when you compare some of the questions and look at the numbers. Some of the reasons for negative feedback on schools are also reasons for positive feedback on schools. You don’t always know what people mean with some of their answers.”
In some instances, follow-up questions would’ve improved the value of the survey, Stout suggested. In other questions, the survey sought opinions on issues involving personnel and salaries that were not under consideration.
“The answers are meaningless because no one has any intention to do any such thing, but the question implies those are agenda items coming up,” she said.
Stout said it “alarms me” that the public’s negative image of the board seems to be transferred to the schools themselves by respondents who graded the schools with a ‘D’ or an ‘F.’
“That shouldn’t be answered because of how you feel about the board,” she said. “If you don’t like the board, the schools shouldn’t take a hit for it. Do the schools really deserve a ‘D’ or an ‘F?’
Principals, teachers, parents and administrators are all a large part of the education equation. Their role is perhaps diminished and overshadowed by the public’s disenchantment with the board, according to Stout.
On one level, the survey is crystal clear: ... the public’s opinion of the board is not good; of (school Superintendent) Dr. (Harold) Dodge, it is good.”
“I would maintain that the public doesn’t know either of us,” Stout said. “(The public’s perception) reflects who got positive press and who didn’t get positive press. Or they (the public) hear things from other people. I’m sometimes told things that my mother heard at church or from my husband at the courthouse. There are rampant rumors. They are told so often to so many people in so many environments that they are taken as fact. So word of mouth also creates these impressions.”
School boards are often lightning rods for the public’s frustration with the shortcomings in a community’s school system, said Stout. Also, a negative impression that calcifies over years and years becomes so established in the public’s mind that the view is more ingrained than informed.
The school board’s influence, good or bad, in the performance of an individual school is “very little,” said Stout.
“The most important factor is leadership in the school,” she said. “The principal, the staff, the parents and community support” are greater influences at a school.
“Schools built (long ago), with termites, mold and high poverty, with great community support and involved parents are doing okay,” she said. “Other schools in brand new buildings with nothing to complain about are not doing as well.”
“The board’s level of involvement is to bring concerns to the superintendent,” Stout said. “We see the background on this and comment on that. Why is this not happening as well as we thought? Recommendations and programs are based upon the research and study and strategic planning of his (the superintendent’s) staff, not the board. He brings us policy. We vote, up or down. We have to trust them. They spend days, weeks, months doing research. Whether a school is good or bad relies so much on local situations.”
When 87 of 100 schools reach the benchmark for academic achievement and testing of students, yet members of the public hold a negative image of the system, someone who deserves credit for success is not getting it, for whatever reason, according to Stout.
“We are getting blamed for our image and it bleeds over to the teachers and principals and that’s not fair,” Stout said.
“For the system to continue to have public support, all elements have to receive a pretty good opinion,” she said. “So if the school board doesn’t have a good image, it’s harmful to the whole system.”
“The number one thing (cited) to improve schools, the widespread answer -- even though it was only nine percent, it was the top reason – was for the board to stop fighting and work together,” she said. “This is baggage every school board has carried for decades. (At a recent meeting) we had one vote that wasn’t unanimous. If we vote 3-2, that doesn’t mean we’re not getting along. As a matter of fact, we do most of the time vote unanimously. But to expect us to? What’s the point?”
“Someone told me, ‘y’all had a riotous meeting last night,’ and I said, ‘huh?’” Stout said. “It was what they showed on the news. One person for five minutes ranted and raved at us. Two people spoke. The second was a high school PTA president with commendations and a thank you from the parents. One person ranted and raved. The rest of the meeting was civil. The news was clips from one angry person and that was the impression of what went on at the board meeting that night. We don’t fight. Sometimes we disagree and I hope we always do because (by disagreeing) we make each other think.”
School boards are often “on the hot seat” unfairly, said Stout.
“Could it be ‘not enough resources?’” she said. “But that can’t be the problem because I don’t want to pay more taxes. Maybe a lower student/teacher ratio would solve a problem. I would do it in a heartbeat if I had the resources to do it.”
Stout noted that almost two-thirds of the respondents were older than 50.
“It’s been a long time since they were in public education and it’s an entirely different animal now,” Stout said.
-- Judy P. Stout, Mobile County Board of School Commissioners
"The survey results are about what I would expect."
-- Rusty Glover, state senator and Mobile County public school teacher
"Here are some thoughts:
All surveys are done for a reason, usually as evidence to advance some cause.
This survey was by the Alabama AEA, MCEA.
This is a very long survey – I’m surprised they could keep people on the phone through completion.
It has a high margin of error at +/- 7.4 percent.
The closed end questions toward the end are definitely slanted towards AEA issues (pay and class size).
Overall, it portrays a lack of confidence in the School Board (justified?) but a surprisingly low knowledge of who the members are (Q 17 – 30). I take this to indicate a lack of confidence in the institution. Note that about 15 percent of those who recognized the member’s name still had no opinion about them. This could indicate a difficult situation to change since even the new person, who has not had time to do anything, is rated near the same as the older members.
Naturally, Dr. Dodge rated high, even though 64 percent rated the schools he runs as a grade “C” or worse.
I could not tell how questions 3, 4, 5, and 6 were handled. Could you answer the questions about why schools got a “D” or “F” only if you thought that is where the schools rated?
So, the question is back too, what’s the purpose of the survey? It probably gives a reasonable picture of the opinions in the county, shaped almost exclusively by media reporting. I don’t see much that would be useful in setting future direction/policy. If I were going to use this (or any survey) to try and move opinions, I’d need the tabulation of responses by demographic group. Even though the segmented results have a much higher margin of error (lower confidence limit) they point towards messages/actions that address the concerns of those groups."
-- RDI, public relations consultant
"Not much reaction as this survey reflects the Register coverage of the School Board in general and the continuing problems relating to (former School Commissioner David) Thomas.
Regarding the evaluation of each School Board member:
I believe that Stout is the most talented member of the School Board but her tough re-election campaign combined with her attempts to reconcile the various fragments of the School Board have reduced her below (School Commissioner Bill) Meredith who seems to be a nice guy who is lost in deep water without much idea of what to do except keep letting the current take the boat he is in wherever the current flows. Who knows about (School Commissioner Ken) Megginson as it's too early to tell?
The ratings for the superintendent reflect the Register’s positive coverage which is probably undeserved but which is an attempt to keep the School Board (at least the pre-Thomas impeachment School Board) from hiring (Deputy Superintendent Samantha) Ingram.
All in all it is a mess. I believe the School Board should try the Local School Council concept that (former Lt. Gov. Steve) Windom passed as a pilot program in about '95 or '96 ( is it still around?) as it would empower those who do the best in these education polls: parents, teachers and the principal. However, as usual, the School Board feels it will be giving up power, or in the School Board’s case, the power to make the citizens hate the School Board."
-- PPK, Mobile attorney
"Let me just say, that in spite of all the crap, said and done, the individual schools are doing a good job. The crap being, all the stupid stuff coming out of Barton (Academy)."
-- John Holland, former school commissioner
"My former political science professor ... would regularly opine that "the public is usually wrong." My own opinion is that the public probably does not invest sufficient time learning about the system and base(s its) opinions on incomplete facts and hearsay. I believe this to be true with the school system and with most other community issues. Regarding the school system, I include myself in the same category. I just do not have the time to study all community issues. My uneducated impression is that the school board is an ineffective body that I wish did not exist. Dr. Dodge seems to be a reasonably effective administrator given the impossible structure of the system. I think the school system is doing a much better job of educating students that want to learn than they are given credit. Low standardized test scores are not the fault of the school system alone. I believe cultural and familial influences are also responsible. Teachers in Mobile County are seemingly doing a wonderful job overall. The school system, thanks to the property owners in Mobile County who raised their ad valorem taxes, is doing a good job of changing the perception of the system by building nice new schools. Teachers, relative to other professions, seem to be well compensated when you factor in the benefit package. Overall, I think we are moving in the right direction."
-- ECH, real estate executive
"I have a bias against very detailed surveys and wonder how much the public who is responding understands the issue well enough to comment.
For example, the questions on problems in the school system identify the school board, discipline and 'no teaching' as the problems. I can easily see someone with little contact with the schools except the newspaper and Sound Off thinking this.
But to be fair, this survey does show a very negative view of the school board that I would say is deserved from what I read and understand. The blame is assigned to the board and the credit is given to the teachers.
Other questions that go to qualities needed in a superintendent or management issues strike me again as asking an uninformed public to give detailed response or direction to an organization they know little about. I wouldn't expect the average person to be able to understand enough about my organization, for example, to give specific direction to budget and management issues, but the public readily feels able to do this and I think the micromanaging by the board gives them license to equally dive in.
I think other issues that should be asked have more to do with overall direction and goals of public education -- preparing youth to have a place and be productive in the workforce and society get completely left out while the public wrings their collective hands about what they think is going on day to day in schools.
-- Rose Johnson, Mobile County Department of Human Resources
"I think our public schools are headed in the right direction but will never reach their full potential with the current school board. Dr. Dodge has been such a positive influence over our school system despite being handcuffed by several members of the board. There is one primary reason our schools deserve a D or F grade and that is the lack of leadership from our board. It’s too early in Ken Megginson’s tenure to lump him into the same category as the other board members but every other member has yet to show that they have the courage of their convictions to stand-by anything.
I am a firm believer in reducing the board’s term from six years to four and increasing the number of members to at least six if not seven. The current layout of each district is a concern as well. How can one district have 30 schools while another has only 11? With approximately 100 public schools in Mobile County the breakdown should be 20 per board member.
I am opposed to purchasing the QMS building for several reasons. The most frustrating part of this process is that we have a beautiful building in Barton Academy that is falling apart and the money that is being spent on the QMS building would be a huge benefit to Barton. Barton is a part of Alabama history and needs to be restored.
Our teachers deserve the best and right now we are not providing that for them. I support a pay increase for our teachers. I want to make one thing clear though, just because you are a teacher who shows up to work every day doesn’t mean you deserve a raise. We need to bring back teacher testing so we can ensure our kids are getting the best education possible."
-- Andrew Davis, Director of Operations, International Assurance, Inc., and unsuccessful school board candidate
"How can so many who answer "don't know" have such hard opinions down the line on the survey? Inconsistent with outcome of true polling info.
Also, I have to laugh with one person blaming the President of the United States of America for MCPSS's problems. If people who believe such rubbish are going to take these surveys I rest my case in its validity.
As a former teacher in the system, (I find) it is interesting to read some of the answers in the survey. If you only ask parents or teachers or administrators you would get 3 different outcomes. It would be interesting to see the results of that compared."
-- Terry Lathan, local GOP official and former public school teacher
"I looked at the survey and I would not say that public sentiment is surprising. To state the obvious, I would say that recent events, most notably the Dr. Dodge contract issue has greatly exacerbated a lack of public confidence in the Board. Dr. Dodge is immensely popular and the survey indicates that he is definitely the preferred public choice to lead the School System. Since perception is often reality, it seems that the Board will have to work very hard to overcome the negative stigma of these recent events. I believe better communication with the public to explain policy positions and decisions would be helpful. As a public official, I have found that constituents who disagree with a policy decision are respectful and appreciative when I explain the reasons that I supported (or opposed) the decision. Often times, communication brings facts to light that were previously unknown or misunderstood. Communication = Better Understanding = Public Confidence, I believe, at every level of government."
-- Connie Hudson, Mobile City Councilwoman and former school board candidate
"I think the survey can be summed up as follows:
- 1) Current Superintendent -- Respondents like Dr. Dodge and approve of the job he is doing as superintendent.
- 2) School Board -- Respondents do not like the school board and do not like the job they are doing. Specifically, they do not like the board's public image, the board's consideration of public input, or the board's progress in improving schools. Drilling down a little further, they don't like the board's decision to remove Dr. Dodge or add deputy and assistant superintendents. (School Commissioner) Hazel (Fournier)'s proposal to ban critical speakers from board meetings also got low marks (go figure).
- 3) Teachers and Staff -- Respondents gave MCPSS teachers and staff high marks and believe they deserve credit for improving schools.
- 4) The Future -- Respondents voiced strong support for reducing terms of office for school board members from six years to four years. A slimmer majority approves of expanding the board from five to seven members. Those responding to the survey also strongly support a proposal that all school board travel expenses be made public. The survey also indicates that the public believes that increasing teacher salaries and reducing class sizes should be a priority for our school system's local tax dollars."
-- Wade Perry, Mobile County Education Association
"The survey indicates the public believes the board is dysfunctional. I tend to agree. Maybe we should all resign and elect a new group. I'm sure there would be a long line of candidates. Perhaps a better solution would be to allow the public to elect the superintendent."
-- Bill Meredith, Mobile County Board of School Commissioners
