Tracy Novick is on a roll. She's ramping up her 2011 re-election campaign, saying anything to get points with the stay-at-home-moms. Recall her manifesto - stop MCAS etc. That was for the socialist Moms out there.
"Start mixing kids of different background and abilities, she said, everybody starts doing better". You sure about that? In fact its often the inverse. Possible if the teachers have extraordinary teaching skills and a whip. But we're talking EAW teachers here.
Tracy Novick, having been a grade school teacher for 4 years hasn't acquired a whole lotta insight into children's social behavior, classroom diversity, and grade correlation. Considering she's never taught in the Worcester school system or in a diverse environment, so statements of that sort just show her naivete.
As explained in the T&G article, the proposed mixing is in reality a smart tactic (mix the dummies with the smarties and it raises the school average) by a smart bureaucrat (Boone) to boost Worcester's failing schools to state acceptable levels. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do even if it's manipulating the numbers.
I wonder what white parents at the better performing schools will think when they're notified their kids are gonna get dumped into Wusta's less desirable schools. Wonder if Tracy Novick is prepared to deal with hundreds of irate parents, or with hundreds of irate EAW Worcester teachers?
And Tracy Novick wants to do away with MCAS?
