North Shore school superintendents said this week they want the next state education commissioner to focus on the “nuts and bolts” of preparing students for college and the work force, rather than what one called a “one-size-fits-all” approach that was instituted under former state Education Commissioner John B. King.
“Someone says we want to have a brand new car that is really stylish and has these features and gets 55 miles-per-gallon, the next question is what do you do to make that happen?” said John Bierwirth, Herricks’ superintendent of schools. “We as a state set some goals but we don’t have the steps in place to realize those goals.”
Bierwirth was among the most critical school administrators on Long Island of King, who earlier this month accepted an advisory position within the U.S. Department of Education, for his acquisition of a $700 million federal “Race to the Top” grant and subsequent implementation of the Common Core benchmark standards that educators have said focuses more on test scores than learning.
“If you want to bring in a brand new math program, teachers need to know what the program is and how it works,” Bierwirth said. “If you set standards and no one meets them that doesn’t accomplish much of anything.”
Charles Cardillo, the superintendent of schools in Manhasset, said King was “passionate about his belief system as it relates to closing the gap and notion of equity,” but criticized the former commissioner for ignoring the large-scale requests and suggestions from high-performing school districts in setting testing standards and teacher evaluations.
“The idea would be to find someone to fill that position that has extensive public school field experience, preferably as a school superintendent and is able to take that experience and deal with significant issues that are out there and also be much more willing to listen to the leadership in the field and other educators on these key issues and move away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach,” Cardillo said.
East Williston Superintendent of Schools Elaine Kanas echoed Carillo’s and Bierwirth’s remarks, saying King’s successor should be someone “who has a view and commitment in supporting our students in the state” as well as “someone who will understand the various needs of different school districts across the state.”
King is expected to join the Obama administration in early 2015, according to a news release earlier this month from the U.S. Department of Education.
The state Board of Regents has begun a nationwide search for King’s successor.
Elizabeth Berlin, the executive deputy commissioner, will serve as interim commissioner in accordance with state law.
“I want to see kids be successful. I think that the conceptual goals all make absolute sense,” Bierwirth said. “We need to have students who graduate from high schools in New York State go on to college and be successful but the steps are not in place.
“The new commissioner needs to be somebody who is going to focus on the nuts and bolts of actually making this happen,” he added.
