Schools
Superintendent Survey Gives Low Grades to Education Department
NJ Spotlight: From too much paperwork to achieving the core mission, supers are highly critical of the job the DOE does.
Back in the spring, acting education commissioner Chris Cerf approached the state's superintendents association about organizing a no-holds-barred survey of its members.
All 580 of the state's district superintendents would be polled on what they like and dislike about the state education department, which is charged with monitoring, supporting, and regulating their public schools. There would be 66 questions in all, and a comments section.
Well, the results are back, and they’re not pretty.
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Cool relations between Gov. Chris Christie's administration and the field are nothing new, but superintendents -- 408 responded in the end -- gave low grades to the department in nearly every regard, from all the paperwork it requires to the quality and usefulness of the data it gives back.
The criticism wasn't across the board. The department’s help with budgets is pretty good, the superintendents said, as is guidance on certain programs.
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But on one of the big questions, only a third said the department's statewide goals have been communicated to districts. A smaller fraction said that the state helped them improve instruction.
Bottom line, just a fifth of the state's supers agreed with the following statement: Overall, the Department plays an important role in helping my district achieve its core mission of elevating student achievement …
Continue reading this story in NJ Spotlight.
Related Links: Survey Results, Cerf Memo
Original Post, Superintendent Survey Gives Low Grades to Education Department, August 16, 2011.
