LAWTON, Okla_A member of Oklahoma's Board of Education thinks the A-F School grading
System will help put Oklahoma
schools on the right track. Retired Major General Lee Baxter of Lawton said it will help
everyone understand how their school is doing and which areas need the most
improvement.
Ever since the
grades were released, it seems like no matter who you talk to they've got
something to say about it. While some parents are hesitant to accept the new
plan, Baxter is sure this is what's best for Oklahoma public schools.
Oklahoma School
Board member Lee Baxter wants you to know the new A-F grading system is here to
help.
"It is
intended to let everyone know where their school stands and to highlight those
areas that schools can improve upon and increase the quality of education for
the kids."
But he's not
saying it's perfect. In fact the reaction he's gotten from superintendents
overall has been mixed.
"You know
the system will get better over time. We will make changes to the way it's done
and it'll get better through the process."
Baxter said the
plan isn't trying to place blame on anyone.
"The whole
community has to be involved if you want to improve. You got to have great
teachers in the classroom, we got to have good administrators, we got to have
parents who care, and we got to have accountability for outcomes and I think
that's what A-F is really about."
We wanted to
know how the Lawton
schools are reacting to the grades they received so we put in a call to the
superintendent's office and received a statement which read:
"We feel
the data used by the A-F grading system is accurate, but we are concerned that
the formula used to produce these grades has issues and unfairly penalizes our
students and teacher that work so hard. We are proud of our schools and overall
performance rating, but we know there is still much work to be done to achieve
the desired level of performance."
As for
reactions from other superintendents in the area, Cache Superintendent Randy Batt
said they are very pleased with their scores and will use them as a benchmark
to improve for the coming year. Altus Superintendent Bob Drury was not
available for a comment and when we called the Duncan Superintendent office
this morning we were hung up on before we got a chance to get the question
across.
If you're
wondering, Lawton schools scored above the Oklahoma average. Of the
31 schools graded, there were no failing grades, along with 3 A's, 19 B's and
only 9 C's.
