The Five Year Plan: They want your feedback!

[Jamey Dobbs]

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
Dear Board Members and KCS Stakeholders:

The attached strategic plan is the culmination of a year-long effort to identify and assess the strengths and the needs of the Knox County Schools. The plan builds on the vision for the future, Building on Strength: Excellence for All Children, that I presented to the Board of Education and the community in December 2008.

Just as we did with the development of the vision, we have had broad stakeholder participation and comment as we have developed this strategic plan. We have collected insights at multiple community forums and meetings with school leaders. The Knox County Council PTA, the Knox County Education Association, the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and our school principals were also represented on the strategic plan advisory group.

This proposal provides a blueprint for our actions, and defines our success for the next five years. There are areas in this strategic plan that are very specific in nature, elements that are more general, and some components that will require additional research and analysis. We have clearly established goals and initiatives that will be regularly measured using a variety of methods and metrics.

This strategic plan provides for the productive development of our instructional practices, processes, and systems, as well as an educational culture that will enable us to realize higher levels of academic success for all students, and achieve our vision of Excellence for All Children.

I welcome your feedback on this proposed five-year strategic plan.

Sincerely,

James P. McIntyre, Jr. Superintendent

[Bob Hunter]

Debi,
You weren't suppossed to notice that - sort of like in the movies when they fire 20 or 30 rounds from a 6 shooter! Are you trying to make their plan look bad?
And can I be a millionaire with you??????

[Debi]

Of course you can join me. Just print off some pretty stationary, maybe something that looks like a spiral bound dollar bill, & put in a pretty font our goal and why it is such a good goal. Put on it some statistics about how many other people have the same goal, how many people are millionaires already, and then write a nice paragraph about how good it's going to feel when we make it.

[Vic Spencer]

CA, do you mind if I use your comment in the Knoxville Focus? I need a quick response, so send me an email please at [e-mail]. Could you find for me the URL that ranks us in teacher pay?

[Vic Spencer]

I would like to tell you all that CA is a teacher. I hope he does not mind me mentioning it. I am very proud of the fact that we have incredibly smart teachers like he/she is. This is the kind of person we need the most in our school system. It is very clear that McIntyre has nothing over him/her. It is this kind of talent that I see within our schools. This is why I just cannot understand why we have to go and get someone whose real capabilities are unknown, because we obviously have a good talent pool within our existing principals and teachers who could do better for us as superintendents. CA, I have a feeling that Charter Schools will be interested in you -- and they will be growing.

[Seely Booth]

Vic, honestly, you scare me with your absolute disdain of Dr. McIntyre. Look back at the last year at what that guy had to deal with right off the bat from this crazy, East Tennessee town! Why he didn't run away from this place is beyond me!

Take him to task at times, sure. But you guys that post here are ready to execute this guy already. Give him some time to try. I don't recall any other super reaching out to the community the way this guy has tried. He tried to visit every school this year. I am aware of no other super that tried to accomplish that feat. He has published at least two articles that I recall in our local newspaper about what he sees and what he'd like to accomplish. Does anyone recall another super stepping out on that limb? I don't.

We live in East Tennessee. The DNA gene pool is not superior. This is one of the largest counties in the south. Lots of schools, lots of kids, lots of families. He cannot snap his fingers, clap twice, and solve every problem, ace every test, win every game.

Give this man a chance. If he hadn't taken the time to write a five-year plan, you would have nothing to "rip" into and devour. The last two guys didn't even try. For the love of God, give the guy a chance.

When he gets thrown out, if he doesn't run away first, we will nominate you to run this system. I bet anyone a diet coke Vic doesn't last one school year.

[Vic Spencer]

SB, I think we have several principals who could make a great super. I would not. I disagree with you about the local DNA gene pool, and I am an ex-yankee who is very content here. I love this area and I even created a Web site to that effect called Knoxville in Pictures, www.goknox.info . His 5 yr plan is meaningless SB. Visions are meaningless, although you do need a vision of where you want to end up. But it is unwise to celebrate visions. It is unwise to celebrate even very good plans. Celebrate great results, because we need them badly. Believe me, I would love to see him succeed. To me that means an increasing ACT performance to catch up with the leading international competitors. Only that can increase our science and engineering advanced degrees, that we lost 50% of reducing our R&D capability in 111 of 114 key industries.
McIntyre treated me like crap. He told me not to get involved with educational performance but only help with parents. He did not ask me, he told me. The major challenge that I see is with academic results, and the best end of pipeline indicator is the ACT.
SB, no one, not one Board member, nor any super had the fortitude to stand up and say something about our falling education standard for decades, and naturally no one kept standing until it was reversed to this very day. Fortunately the American Diploma Project is coming down as an order to increase the graduating credits by 10%. Right direction, but not quite enough yet. We are going to have more Charter Schools, which is also a very positive move. And if we see great ACT improvement from McIntyre, I will be very grateful and supportive of him. But I know that poor plans do not produce good results. You always need two things: a very good plan with clear and simple, measurable goals, and you need, like Debi said here, excellent execution of the plan.

You are right in that we should give him a reasonable chance. Please accept the fact that it was shocking for me to see an expense budget request submitted for $375 million without any measurable plan telling us what we are going to achieve for that. Nothing. And it was approved. And then I see a 5 yr STRATEGIC plan that does not have a single strategic element in it, it is unworkable, and presents virtually no growth in a competitive market where we are lacking. BUT IT LOOKS NICE with 4-color pictures. For me, this indicates that we are unlikely to see anything better than the downward past trend. I will believe the ACT, and hope that I am wrong.

[Seely Booth]

Good post Vic.

I too love this area and the kids and families that are here. I really like my kid's school and the people there. I'm sincerely happy to read you love k'ville too. See, I did not know your heart was sincere until I read that. Now that I know you are a pretty good guy, I feel we could share a diet coke together!

And I agree w/you that there is so much to do to make it better. The cold shoulder given to you was not cool. Sorry that happened. My experience w/ some "school people" has been that when they feel they are being attacked, they shut down. I am not offering an excuse...more of an explanation.

Were you an administrator at one time? You have a great grasp of statistics.

[Denise DeNeve]

As I teacher that is new to knox county and coming from a different state. This plan looks great, as long as it is followed by EVERYONE involved, especially ALL staff, from downtown to the parents, I am looking forward to being a part of this plan.