Susan Troller of the Capital Times has the story.
To me, this is the best news:
The timeline for some parts of what’s known as the high school redesign has been pushed back so the new superintendent — to be hired early next year in advance of Rainwater’s June retirement — will be able to have an impact on a plan that’s likely to stir strong passions in the community.
Since Supt. Rainwater announced his resignation, I’ve been telling anyone who would listen (including Supt. Rainwater) that the success of any reform is linked to leadership and that the incoming leadership needs to be part of this. I doubt my opinion had any impact, but I’m still glad.
In related news, there is a new organization — ExcellenceWithoutAP.org — worth checking out (I hope our redesign team does). This from their site:
The reasons for moving beyond AP vary from school to school. Only one belief is shared by all of the schools listed on this site: that a locally designed curriculum better serves their students than a curriculum leading to a nationally-administered standardized test.
I had great experiences with AP classes decades ago, but much has changed since then. I’m certainly not anti-AP, nor do I think AP (or IB for that matter) is the be all and end all of excellence as some seem to.
Thomas J. Mertz
AMPS 