Sometimes it seems like the Mississippi Department of Education can’t get out of its own way. Last Thursday was one of those times.
Last week, the department sent newspapers and other media outlets in the state its annual ratings for school districts and individual schools.
All reporters had to do to get an advance look at the information was sign a document agreeing not to release it until noon Thursday.
That’s a fairly routine procedure, but MDE was up to the task of making it newsworthy.
At about 11 a.m. Thursday, an hour before the information was to be made public, the department sent out a news release saying the state Board of Education had not formally approved the school ratings, and suggested the media hold off reporting the results until October.
No dice.
Led by The Associated Press bureau in Jackson, information about the ratings became public at noon, as originally intended.
The AP called the ratings unofficial, or projected; and it is possible that MDE will make changes to its rating system that could alter a school’s or a district’s grade.
The Board of Education member who pushed successfully for Thursday’s delay said he’d heard “so many issues and so many concerns from the folks out in the districts.”
But when reporters asked him to describe some of the problems, he declined to be specific.
It’s easy to speculate about the board member’s issues and concerns.
The AP reported that under the unofficial results, the number of F-rated districts would increase to 23, compared to just nine last year.
It’s also easy to envision MDE massaging its grade levels in order to manage the number of schools that get certain ratings.
In fact, at the last minute a year ago, the department adjusted its so-called cut scores, meaning the point that divides one grade from another.
When changes like that occur, reasonable minds can debate whether MDE is paying too much attention to the politics of public education — specifically, the number of schools getting good or bad grades.
But what should be beyond debate is the fact that the department changes its measurement metrics far too often.
Whether it’s a change in standardized testing, or a change in how school or district ratings are calculated, or a change in the grading scale, the cumulative effect has damaged the department’s credibility.
Episodes like Thursday’s, when the board starts second-guessing issues that should have been finalized weeks ago, are particularly unhelpful.
Now might also be an appropriate time to remind readers that Mississippi Superintendent of Education Carey Wright is the highest paid state school chief in the country with an annual salary of $300,000.
Some of MDE’s decisions deserve a second look. For example, the Mississippi School for the Blind, and the Mississippi School for the Deaf, are among the unofficially F-rated schools.
Are schools with such a specialized mission being graded on a scale in any way comparable to schools with traditional student bodies?
At the end of the day, the bottom line comes down to this: education in Mississippi has enough challenges of its own.
The MDE should enhance the efforts of public schools instead of confusing them.
