Jackson, MS – On Wednesday, Sept. 2 Southern Echo and the MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable submitted to the MS Dept. of Education 12 recommendations to increase the information disclosed to parents and students in the new annual Report Card required of school districts by the Children First Act of 2009. The recommendations were made in response to the release of proposed Report Card Guidelines and a “sample” Report Card by MDE.
Echo and the Roundtable submitted written recommendations and oral testimony in a public hearing conducted at the MS Dept. of Education by a single hearing officer under Mississippi’s Administrative Procedures Act. In Transparency as the Foundation for Accountability Echo and the Roundtable noted the Report Card is intended to enable community to obtain the information needed to hold school districts and individual schools buy valium online no rx accountable to the delivery of a quality order phentermine hcl 37.5 education to every child.
The 12 recommendations, if adopted, would require each school district and individual school, in plain language, to shed light on student test results, faculty composition and qualifications, federal, state and local revenues and expenditures, and data on student discipline. Echo and the Roundtable requested that the recommendations be made mandatory, rather than voluntary, to ensure school district compliance.
Testimony was provided by Leroy Johnson, Echo Executive Director and parent; Helen Johnson, member of the Holmes County School Board, Echo Education Coordinator and parent; and Mike Sayer, Echo Senior Organizer and Training Coordinator. Mandy Rogers, Mary Troupe, Stephanie Lovelady and Paul Rogers, on behalf of Parents United Together, presented recommendations that data on special education students ought to be included in the Report Card.
