King Said Statewide, School Leaders Frustrated

Putnam County Director Of Schools Corby King said frustration is the most common feeling among school administrators statewide, concerning vouchers and the job being done by educators.

King met with directors and superintendents last week. He said the push toward an expanded voucher system for Tennessee students seems to be ignoring the voice of school leaders.

“Lots of frustration,” King said. “Don’t feel like the leaders are being heard. Don’t feel like the elected school boards are being heard. There are lots of resolutions that are currently put in front of the legislators, but they’re still just kind of ignoring those and voting and pushing this through. And there’s just a lot of frustration within that.”

King said some of the frustration centers around the Department of Education and changing agendas that leave local school officials scrambling. He said department officials said they heard the concerns and he will be optimistic.

“Every system is still continuing that narrative that our public schools are good and we’re doing good work,” King said. “There’s a lot of frustration across the state with the current legislation about vouchers in the General Assembly. Some frustration with the Department of Education, some of the way things have been rolled out around letter grades, around the report card release that’s about to happen here in a few know this is going to be a release from a test that was taken last year and we’re ready to take tests again this year. And just the timing and the way things are happening, it’s just kind of a frustrating couple of days for the education leaders.”

King said department officials said they appreciate the feedback and he plans to be optimistic.

“At the end of the day, what we all want is to provide opportunities for our kids,” King said. “And when they leave us, we want them to be prepared to enter the workforce and to succeed in life. And I think we all have the same goal, just sometimes different processes. And for those of us who live this every day, boots on the ground. I think sometimes our department and those who don’t have that daily touch with students and faculty members, they lose some of that.”