Tuesday June 13, 2023
NEW DOMINION PODCAST | Spotsy Schools Are in a Flat Spin | Washington Heritage Museums Upcoming Events | Juneteenth | Share F2S
NEW DOMINION PODCAST: Daniel Cortez
Daniel Cortez: broadcaster, Marine, recipient of the Purple Heart, chairman of the National Vet Court Alliance, member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Hispanic Prosperity under Trump and Biden, champagne aficionado... and the one time he almost knocked over the Queen of England.
ANALYSIS: Spotsy Schools Are in a Flat Spin
No situation is ever totally hopeless, but for pilots, being in a flat spin is about as close to hopeless as one can come. In aeronautics, a flat spin occurs when there is no forward movement.
In Spotsylvania County, the board and superintendent are in an educational flat spin, and at this late stage there is little reason to believe either can recover.
As we enter the middle of June, Spotsylvania schools are facing the prospect of 227.11 licensed vacancies this fall. To put that number in perspective, the district reports having 1,684 teachers to serve 23,871 students. If that total of teachers includes the 227 vacancies, that means the district is short 13.4% of its work force. If that number doesn’t include the vacancies, the district is short 11.8% of its work force.
That is a devastating loss of talent. A loss that means the county has no forward momentum heading into the 2023-24 school year.
The district continues to hide behind the national teacher shortage to explain its inability to attract talent. Superintendent Mark Taylor in particular has talked openly about this. “We’re struggling to compete with a national shortage of teachers,” he said at a presentation before the school board on January 24, “that is hitting Virginia hard.”
As a person with no background in education, no experience in a public school setting, no understanding of what it takes to become a teacher, and no appreciation for the difficulties the job creates, one can understand why Taylor was so dramatic about the problem facing the district in January.
Had Taylor actually come to this job with the proper training and experience, however, he wouldn’t have been so quick to blame the shortage. As The Economist pointed out in 2022, hysteria over teacher shortages is hardly new. It also argues that we can’t really say definitively if such a shortage even exists on a national level.
The article argues persuasively that teacher shortages are not nationwide, but localized, and are driven by a wide range of factors. (USAFacts has an excellent piece on the complexity of teacher shortages and the teacher-training pipeline that Taylor blames for that shortage.)
Just look at Spotsylvania and Stafford. Both are struggling to attract teachers, but the challenges in Stafford are far less dramatic than in Spotsylvania.
Stafford’s list of licensed vacancies currently stands at 130 licensed positions. A substantially lower number than Spotsylvania, especially given that Stafford employs some 400 more teachers than Spotsylvania, and has some 5,000 more students.
The teacher-vacancy gap between the two counties is eye-popping, especially because both counties are attracting residents at record paces, many of whom are coming to work in the greater Washington, DC, market. (See data at USA Facts for Spotsylvania and Stafford.)
Why, then, are two counties that are enjoying record-breaking growth and attracting a more-than-fair-share of highly trained people, experiencing such different problems hiring teachers?
It’s true that the pay gap between Spotsylvania and Stafford has had a deleterious effect on Spotsylvania’s ability to attract teachers. And Taylor has to bear considerable responsibility for what has been a self-inflicted wound. As county administrator in Spotsylvania, he continually argued for, and often managed to get, level-funding for public schools, despite ongoing pleas that the schools were horribly underfunded.
The damage Taylor did to Spotsylvania’s school system as county administrator was summed up well in a 2017 story from the Free Lance-Star:
Taylor’s budget proposal earmarks about 48 percent of the general fund for schools, down 3.5 percentage points from 2012, [school board member Erin Grampp] said. And since 2012, Grampp said, the vast majority of [County] budget increases, or $29.1 million, have gone toward county government rather than schools.
At the same time Spotsylvania was in denial about the cost of education, Stafford was facing the issue and raising salaries. continually working to better-fund teachers. Today, the gap between the two districts is sharp.
In Stafford, a teacher with a Batchelor’s degree and five years’ experience on a 200-day contract earns $56,804. In Spotsylvania, $51,076.
With 10 years experience in Stafford, the salary is $61,195. In Spotsylvania, $54,349
Money alone, however, doesn’t explain the problem.
Board Dysfunction
Though more-difficult to quantify, the majority voting block that took control in January 2022 (Kirk Twigg, Lisa Phelps, April Gillespie, and Rabih Abuismail) has had most likely had a significant impact on teachers’ willingness to work in Spotsylvania.
The four have openly talked of burning books, presided over school board meetings that were models of dysfunction, and perpetuated hysteria over parental rights and curriculum that had the cumulative effect of making teachers in the county the targets of misguided participants’ ire. These people - especially those who were members of the Tea Party and Moms for Liberty - frequently misused testing data to paint a picture of failure in a school district that has performed relatively well.
Teachers are burned out, worried about their jobs, and fed up with being made scape goats for problems that, arguably, are nonexistent in some cases.
Then with Taylor’s arrival in late 2022 - following a raucous session of the Virginia Board of Education that saw two Youngkin appointees vote for Taylor to receive a superintendent’s license, but not before openly stating that he was unqualified for the position - his early actions proved a breaking point for many.
He threatened to close libraries in the aforementioned January meeting. He has gone on national talk shows and openly misled listeners about Virginia’s most-recent NAEP scores. And he has proven to be the most-inaccessible superintendent in recent history. Emails to Taylor receive a message that is intellectually insulting and professionally inexcusable.
Thank you for your email.
As Division Superintendent I receive a plethora of emails concerning a variety of topics every day. We do our best to provide timely and appropriate responses.
Requests for information may be referred to other staff. All observations and suggestions will be given appropriate consideration. You may not receive an individualized response in addition to this acknowledgment, but please know that your email is important to us.
* Special Note to Spotsylvania County School Board Members: Please refer to policy BGR and directly relate your request to Board Chairwoman, Lisa Phelps.
The accumulation of attacks on Spotsylvania’s teachers by groups like the Tea Party and Moms for Liberty; a majority board that is openly hostile toward teachers and fawning in its willingness to hear from parents about book bans; and Taylor’s Draconian budget-cut proposals in January, unwillingness to talk or communicate with faculty, and general failure to grasp even the most-rudimentary aspects of running a mid-sized public school system has led to another eye-popping number.
Fully 96 licensed teachers have resigned Spotsylvania County, according to the June 8 School Board Cover Sheet.
The secret is out. This board has created an environment that is so hostile to teachers, so anti-intellectual, and so focused on meaningless culture wars, teachers simply don’t want to come here when they have better choices.
Flat Spin
Teachers - quality teachers - are the engines that propel a school district. The inability to fill 227 positions, and the loss of 96 teachers to resignation - a sure sign that morale is at critically low levels - means this district has no propulsion to move forward.
And piloting this educational plane is Superintendent Mark Taylor, who continues to demonstrate a complete lack of understanding about public schools and the work that they do. Monday night, during Superintendent Comments, he talked about the “lie” that he once believed that school divisions are quiet, laid-back places in the summertime. And that he is stunned at all the activity going on.
This is the observation one expects from a first-year teacher who has never gone through a summer getting ready for the year ahead. That the superintendent makes this statement demonstrates - again - that he is unqualified and completely unfit for the position that he holds.
And the consequences of too few teachers and incompetent leadership are, unfortunately, quite predictable.
lower test scores
more students falling behind
students with learning disabilities suffering more than their nondisabled classmates
continued chaos on the school board
no plan for how to resolve current problems, much less the problems that are sure to come and this leadership team is incapable of seeing.
This school district is in a flat spin, with a novice, untrained, unprepared pilot at the helm. All we can do until November is stare in horror as the inevitable crash comes.
Washington Heritage Museums - Upcoming Events
Twilight History
July 31-August 3, 6-8pm
$115.00 per registrant, $95 for WHM members
Explore some of the area's most precious historic sites; the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop, the Rising Sun Tavern, the Mary Washington House...and now for the FIRST time, the Mary Washington Monument. This a perfect chance for parents to enjoy downtown Fredericksburg while we educate children ages 8 to 12 with hands-on 18th-century skills, trades, and recipes.
Did you know...WHM members get $20 off each registrant! Consider enrolling your camper as a Scholar level member ($25) entitling your camper and one additional household member to the benefits of membership, including discounts and early access to events for one full year. Join today - it's like receiving a Scholar membership for only $5 and allows your student to enjoy history all year long! Current members, check your email or call 540-373-5630 for the discount code.
Participants must be aged 8 to 12 years.
Questions: 540-373-5630 or youthprograms@WashingtonHeritageMuseums.org
To register: https://washingtonheritagemuseums.networkforgood.com/events/55346-twilight-history-2023
The Mary Washington House During The Civil War
Sunday, June 25, 2023, 6-6:45pm, 6:45-7:30pm
Mary Washington House
$12, $10 for members
During the Civil War, soldiers from both sides visited the Mary Washington House as visitors and to convalesce from injuries sustained in battle. They were all aware of the site's history and used their visit to bolster their patriotism for their side. During the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, the Mary Washington House was not spared from the ravages of war and sustained minor damage. Learn about the residents of the site, free and enslaved, and how the Civil War left its mark on the home of Mary Washington. Tickets are nonrefundable.
Questions: 540-373-1569
To register: https://washingtonheritagemuseums.networkforgood.com/events/57334-the-mary-washington-house-during-the-civil-war
Juneteenth in Spotsylvania
Over the past decade, Juneteenth has grown in the public imagination. What was an unknown event even to many Black people 10 years ago, is now growing into a celebration that is rightfully taking its place along July 4 in the pantheon of American celebrations of freedom.
Learn more about Juneteenth and its history from this National Geographic story.
This year, one of the region’s largest celebrations will be held at the John J. Wright Educational and Cultural Center Museum in Spotsylvania County. Scan the QR code in the image above, or visit the website, to learn more and to join in the activities.
A Special Word to Our Readers
Since leaving the Free Lance-Star in January, a great deal has happened not only in my life, but in our region’s media consumption. F2S has made remarkable jumps in readership in a very short time. We’ve begun adding staff. We’ve launched a podcast with our partner Shaun Kenney. And we are playing a major role in our local civic square through debates and promoting events such as Juneteenth.
These changes have created some unique opportunities, and we’ll have much more to say about this in coming months.
As we ramp up our work, help us spread the word about F2S by inviting a friend to join.
Our material is free to any readers who want to access it, so no one has to pay to read what we provide. We are enormously grateful to everyone who does support us, however. (And we have some plans to thank those people this summer - so watch your emails!)
Pass along this link (https://thelocalburg.substack.com/p/welcome-to-f2s), or the following QR code, and ask folks to sign up.
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