LETTER FROM FORMER SANTA FE TEACHER- What's behind this?

This letter posted by Dr. Sutherland on her blog is from a Santa Fe teacher.  Some question its validity because of the push by the Mayor and others to get someone else.  Since other board members don't share much we are left to assume but the wording sounds like what someone posted on the newspaper in Santa Fe and what we have said we don't need.  We don't need someone who is only for cookie cutter programs.  We want Boyd or whomever with a blank piece of paper and takes notes on what our district needs. 

Write these down:

*Stop the Bullying/Retaliation
*Stop the testing
*Train us on time and effectively
*We need new people at the top.


We don't need to be an experiment.  Read up on what we provided as the basis for his training at Harvard and similar programs.  If he is truly interested in Fort Worth ISD then hear out the teachers, students and parents and create a plan based on that.  Not on what you hear from the current cronies or some board members.  We are tired of the same governing styles... I would say to reach out to Dr. Reid in Keller ISD, a prominent superintendent in the state.  Read the work he and colleagues are doing in regards to education.  You want a true leader.. check him out.  Perhaps he can mentor Boyd and speed him up on how our state runs things. 

Read letter below:

Communication from former Santa Fe teacher

by Ann Sutherland on 02/22/15

This was sent to board members on Sunday, Feb. 22:

Recently, many of us who live in Santa Fe have read articles regarding Joel D. Boyd’s impending move to the Fort Worth Independent School District.  So much of the rhetoric attributed to Mr. Boyd, subsequent to the announcement, is a carbon copy of Mr. Boyd’s words when he was selected to lead the Santa Fe Public School District approximately three years ago.  During his tenure, nothing here has changed, except SFPS has lost hundreds of qualified teachers and administrators.  I suspect if Mr. Boyd becomes the leader of FWIDS, the same will be true for your district three years from now.

I was heartened to read comments from members of your Board when they referred to Mr. Boyd as being Harvard “trained,” rather than Harvard “educated.”  There is a difference – something people in Santa Fe failed to notice when Mr. Boyd was hired.  The program from which Mr. Boyd attained his on-line doctorate, has, I believe, lost its affiliation with Harvard, perhaps because Harvard no longer wants the negative association with this type of program.

I also noticed your district is focused on the academic growth of students in Santa Fe, specifically, the graduation rates.  This is an area which deserves your attention.   The growth in SFPS, referenced by Mr. Boyd, is highly influenced by students graduating from on-line courses, taken at schools converted to promote virtual learning. Students review the same questions repeatedly, take the same rote “tests,” day after day, and eventually some pass the “test,” and some finally graduate. 

In addition, many of these same students were actively recruited from the city’s two high school campus.  When the recruiting took place, many of the current on-line students were currently enrolled at the high school sites. They were offered electronic devices to enroll in the on-line programs, and were quickly accepted into the virtual programs.

There is also a great deal of controversy, and many questions around the people with whom Mr. Boyd has contracted or attempted to hire to administer programs or obtain services.  A name you may want to remember is Joseph Wise.

In the spirit of transparency, I was, until May of 2014, employed by SFPS.  I left my ten-plus year teaching position to pursue other interests.  I wish the best to the students and teachers in SFPS, and can say in all honesty, they are not receiving the “world class” education promised by Mr. Boyd when he rushed to Santa Fe in 2012.