Letter: Pasco School Board needs to make clean sweep of top administrative staff
Mom! I only failed 14 of my 17 classes!
Parents would be horrified if their child came home with this report card. Seven fail minus; three fail; five Ds; one C; and two Bs. Mom, you need to double my allowance, I received two Bs!
The sad truth is that it is not our children receiving these grades, but the Pasco School District. The Washington Policy Center, summarizing state Board of Education accountability data, found that Pasco schools rank the lowest in the Tri-Cities, and compare similarly statewide.
Rather than focus on its core mission, improving curriculum for existing students, district administration (over 60 earning more than $100,000 per year) have decided to expand those responsibilities to include preschool, since the district will only be required to pay half (the taxpayers will of course pick up the whole tab).
It is time for the Pasco School Board to take the bull by the horns, and make change. This includes a clean slate of top administrative staff.
In “The Origin of Species,” Darwin maps out how natural selection, not self-pollination, is the mechanism for improvement. The board and public would be best served by bringing in new blood to ensure survival of the species.
Roger E. Lenk
Franklin County
This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Letter: Pasco School Board needs to make clean sweep of top administrative staff."