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 A Message from Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond

  • Superintendent Message
    Jonathan P. Raymond, Superintendent
    There is a principle in the architectural world:

    Form follows function

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  • Superintendent Message
    June 18, 2010 - This morning, the district learned that the tentative two-year agreement with SCTA...
  • Superintendent Message
    June 17, 2010 - Make no mistake, these are difficult times.
  • Superintendent Message
    June 11, 2010 - This week’s letter will be brief but considerable in content...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

A Message from Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond

This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Can a simple strawberry be a catalyst for change?

 

This week, as our students take the California Standards Test, I want to once again thank our dedicated employees for all you do to put children first. These tests are a crucial component in the federal and state accountability models by which we are judged as a district. Test scores are used to track student achievement, and therefore are vital to assessing our services. But we cannot forget that the tests are just one measurement of our work with children. We should also be assessing ourselves on our much larger goal: To take a holistic approach to education.

Which brings me to the strawberry.

Starting May 10, our nutrition services staff will begin giving fresh, locally grown strawberries to elementary school children at lunch, courtesy of a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant. While that may seem minor, it represents an important step toward thinking about children in terms of serving their needs on many fronts so they can grow as learners.

Research shows that healthy kids perform better academically. Eating nutritious food is essential to staying healthy, one reason we are excited to offer our children – especially those who rely on our lunch program every day -- fresh strawberries. In addition, the district has launched a Healthy Food Task Force, co-chaired by Board of Education member Patrick Kennedy, my wife, Julie Raymond as parent liaison, and George Washington Carver High School Principal Allegra Alessandri, to find creative ways we can provide healthier, locally produced food for the children in our district. The district has an obligation to teach our children about food, nutrition and the environment. It’s the right thing to do as we work to put kids on a college- and careerbound trajectory, which is one of the foundational pillars of our overall approach to educating our kids. If eating better helps them learn, we must improve the meals they get from us.

Exercise can also improve a child’s academic performance, as well as teach life-long lessons about self-discipline and perseverance. Competitive sports, too, give children a sense of identity and purpose. Sometimes, being on a team is the hook that keeps an otherwise wayward teen in school. Perhaps most importantly in these times of financial crisis is this: Healthy kids spend fewer days at home sick. At a time when every dollar counts, improving the health of our students will impact the bottom line.

With that in mind, I am proud that our district is one of only seven in California to win the 2010 Governor’s Fitness Challenge, a contest among the state’s K-12 schools that encourages students, parents and staff to get active, healthy and fit. Participants register with the program then record their “active days” – days spent exercising for at least 30minutes – on a spreadsheet. As the weather warms, now is the perfect time to begin or step up a regimen of regular exercise. I urge every employee to be a health-conscious role model for our children by staying fit and healthy. In our district, 40,402 students are signed up for the Governor’s Fitness Challenge. Each school has a designated Fitness Challenge coordinator who works with students to help them keep track of their activity levels. These timesheets and calendars are being filled out now and will be turned into the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports at the end of May. By winning this competition, we will receive a Live Positively Fitness Center with a retail value of more than $100,000. The school to receive this fitness center will be announced later in the year.

No matter which campus gets the equipment, everyone inspired by this program to exercise more regularly wins the gift of health and soaring self-esteem. Can a strawberry change the way we do business? Maybe not. But seeing each child as a whole human being – not just a mind for testing – will get us closer to the transformation we seek.
Sincerely,
Jonathan P. Raymond
Superintendent

 

 

 

 

 Dear Colleagues,

This morning, students at Pony Express Elementary School celebrated the 150th anniversary of the postal delivery service for which the campus is named. On hand were riders from the Pony Express National Association who recreated that spring day in 1860 when a lone horseman with a saddlebag of mail left St. Joseph, Missouri, for a 2,000-mile trek west to Sacramento. Because of those riders’ bravery, the Pony Express is embedded in Western lore. But the service itself lasted far less than its legacy. Eighteen months after it started, the Pony Express shut down, rendered obsolete by a faster, more efficient system – the transcontinental telegram.

The Pony Express is a cautionary tale, a reminder that systems must progress and innovate or risk becoming outmoded. This message is as true today as it was in 1860. And with this idea in mind – that time and tide wait for no one – we are moving as a district toward our goal of excellence.

It is with this focus on urgency that, next week, I will begin to announce some staffing changes for our six Priority Schools. Since our work began at these campuses, dedicated employees from within the district have come forward to support us in our efforts to reform these six schools. We have met with staff, parents and community members at forum discussions at each of these schools to gain insight regarding the complex challenges facing these campuses. The input that we are receiving from these forums will be integrated into our decision making process as we address the transformation of each site. The value of this work cannot be underestimated. We will improve these schools and thereby the lives of children and families they serve. As President Obama has said, “In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education.”

This week, we notified a select few elementary school teachers that they had qualified for the Talent Transfer Initiative, a federal research project studying the effect of voluntarily transferring highly effective teachers to underperforming schools. These teachers were identified using very specific federal criteria. For example, to qualify, teachers must have taught at the same grade level for at least three consecutive years. This particular research project, while small in scope, fits into a national conversation about investing in reform and innovative approaches at our schools. I would encourage anyone interested in learning more about this program to visit their website, at www.talenttransferinitiative.org.

I am also pleased to announce that, this week, rescissions of 107 lay-off notices to certificated staff were sent out to schools. This action is the result of applying tie-breaker criteria to teachers who are equal in seniority and other qualifications. To date, we have rescinded 277 pink slips. Schools are working now to finalize their staffing budgets which will result in additional rescissions for any positions funded categorically. I am optimistic that the jobs of other teachers can be saved as we move forward with our budget process.

Keeping as many of our great teachers as possible is crucial as we blaze a new path in our district, just as the fabled Pony Express riders worked together to blaze a new trail through the rugged West. Together, we can all deliver our promise of better schools in our community.

Sincerely,

Jonathan P. Raymond

Superintendent

 

SCUSD Jonathan P. Raymond, Superintendent

letter to Colleagues March 26, 2010

 

 
 
 
 

SCUSD to create ‘Superintendent’s Priority Schools’

 for six most academically troubled schools

Bold leadership, effective teachers, additional resources for more than 4,600 students

By Gabe Ross SCUSD "new" Chief of Communications

March 16, 2010 – Sacramento’s six most academically troubled schools will be put into a special grouping of schools—the Superintendent’s Priority Schools—with innovative principals, additional assistance and resources Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond announced today.

In a first-of-its-kind effort in Sacramento to intensely focus on improving underperforming schools, the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) will create the Priority Schools to help more than 4,600 students in six schools—Oak Ridge Elementary, Father Keith B. Kenny Elementary, Jedediah Smith Elementary, Fern Bacon Basic Middle, Will C. Wood Middle and Hiram W. Johnson High. Oak Ridge was identified by the California Department of Education last Monday as among the state’s “persistently low-achieving” schools, but Superintendent Raymond said the five other SCUSD schools also have not served children adequately.

“We must take strong, decisive action and include our school communities to help these schools vastly improve how they educate our children,” Raymond said. “Tinkering around the edges of the problems at these schools won’t work. We need bold leadership, more effective teaching and a plan to provide the support our teachers and principals desperately need. We also need more resources to help students learn. We cannot afford to wait another few years and let another generation of students be lost because we didn’t do something to improve their educational opportunity.”

Raymond said the first steps will include meeting with staff, parents and partners involved with each of the six campuses. “We want to move with deliberate speed in this process. That means taking time to meet with staff, parents, students and partners. It means making sure we avoid unintended consequences. It means moving quickly but also taking the necessary steps to learn what is working at each school and what needs to be improved for the students,” Raymond said.

“We have already met with staff at each school and will begin scheduling meetings with parents, students and partners immediately.”

The school district will recruit principals and teachers for the Priority Schools who have a proven record of successful leadership and teaching. Raymond said the six schools will go to “the front of the line” for new computers and other resources, and squads of new volunteers, tutors and mentors will be recruited to help bring additional support to the schools.

Raymond said the six schools will report to one director who will report directly to the superintendent. “That director’s main job will be to support those six schools,” Raymond said. “The days of business as usual are gone. We’re going to take big, bold, dramatic steps to help these schools.”

Academic performance data for these six schools show they have consistently failed to adequately educate children for as long as seven years. Four of the six schools have failed to meet federal proficiency standards in English Language Arts and math for seven years, two have failed to meet the standards for four years. Any gains have been minimal and, in some cases, performance has declined.

All six schools serve primarily economically disadvantaged, minority populations. At all but Johnson, more than 90 percent of the students live at or near poverty.

“We are failing the students we most need to help – those who live in poverty and don’t have the same advantages at home that other students have to help them be prepared to succeed in school,” Raymond said. “We have let failure be acceptable at these schools for too long. But next school year, that culture of failure stops, and a new culture of success and achievement must begin.”

The Oak Ridge school will receive up to $2 million in additional support as a result of the state’s designation of it as a persistently underachieving school. SCUSD will use federal Title 1 money and leverage other private and public resources to pump up the funding for the other five schools, Raymond said.

At Johnson, which has nearly 2,100 students, the district will provide additional resources to support the existing 9th Grade Academy Program to give extra, focused attention to freshmen as part of the Priority Schools initiative. Johnson also will have a special arts school within the main high school.

“The waiting is over,” Raymond said. “Urgent action to improve these six schools begins now. We don’t have a child or a moment to lose.”

Go to the Sacramento City Unified District Web Site

 
 
 
 
Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond
 

Viewpoints: Sac City district needs new thinking, bold action to reach heights kids deserve - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee: 

 

Jonathan P. Raymond is superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District.


Take risks for kids



That advice from a parent a week into my job as superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District remains one of the most profound things I learned during my first 100 days.

After 100 days of listening and learning, visiting 83 schools, meeting with hundreds of students, parents, teachers, and community members, it's clear to me we urgently need to take risks for kids in Sacramento. We must take bold steps to improve learning."

I have learned that SCUSD has some great programs and people serving children and neighborhoods. But while we have schools that do a good job, at other schools, learning sometimes occurs by happenstance. We have random rather than system-wide excellence.
Many districts across America share the same dilemma. We are too complacent about struggling schools that don't do a good enough job of educating children, especially those classified for three years or more as failing under the federal "No Child Left Behind" law.
While student academic performance has improved in recent years, large gaps in achievement remain between white pupils and students of color, between English learners and native English speakers, between poor kids and children from more prosperous homes, between regular education students and those with special needs.
I am concerned that despite many wonderful people who support our schools and want to see them do well, too many adults remain indifferent or resigned to believing no significant progress will occur in our district – as though struggling schools, like poverty, will always be with us. It is a pernicious and morally reprehensible belief system that holds some kids can't learn. It can, and must, be rejected. In the coming days, those serving the district who subscribe to this unacceptable belief system will either change their behavior or they will no longer work in our schools.
The good news is the district has administrators, teachers and staff who care deeply about students. Those educators have created pockets of success that can and should be expanded and replicated. As U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan observed, "There are great schools out there, and nobody pays them any attention. There are great teachers, and nobody pays them any attention. We need to fundamentally change that."
Earlier this month, I was visiting American Legion High School, a continuation campus. A teacher showed students pictures of a lion and gazelle. He told his students that each animal knows it needs to run faster every day – the lion because it wanted lunch and the gazelle because it didn't want to be lunch. The teacher explained that students need to keep getting better and "running faster" because life is challenging, changing and competitive. The teacher asked his pupils what they wanted to do with their lives and their plans for achieving those goals. This teacher reached out to his students and made them think beyond current circumstances to envision what they desire. He connected; they learned something – and there was magic. Adults need a plan, too, for what we want to see in our schools.
I have presented to our board of education a framework for making Sacramento City Unified a strong, high-performing school district.
Leadership is critical. Our plans calls for a strong principal in every school – someone who can recruit and keep effective teachers, motivate and inspire students and staff, bring in new resources and connect their school to the neighborhood. We must also have an effective teacher in every classroom – a teacher who meets the needs of diverse students with different needs and learning styles. We must take information about each child's academic performance and use it to improve how we teach, and how we intervene and help when children are not learning.
And our school district must engage parents and community. Schools are better when they invite the community – the "outside" – in. This invitation must include activities and services that support students and families – parent centers, clinics, afterschool programs, adult classes,recreational and sports programs. Schools cannot exist as islands adrift from their communities.

During his first 100 days in office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt fundamentally changed the nation's direction to save it from the throes of the Depression. Our job here today in Sacramento is just as important to our children. We must bring genuine improvement to every school and continue the listening and learning.
I pledge to aggressively seek our community's input and involvement in key decisions. This was your school district long before I arrived, and critical decisions must be made with your involvement and counsel. In January we will gather information and recommendations from the public and our employees as we develop a strategic plan, deal with our budget shortfall and make other important decisions. Our work will be transparent, genuine and effective.
What we do together after this first hundred days will shape our community for the next hundred years. Our children are ready. Let's not keep them waiting.


 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Superrintendent's Biography


 

8/20/09 News Release -Superintendent begins tenure with students, parents, employees and community in 12-hour first day

 

8/10/09 News Conference video

 

8/10/09 News Conference: Prepared Remarks

 

8/10/09 Email to Staff

 

8/10/09 News Release

 

7/23/09 News Release

 
News and Messages

 
Principals' Segment Meeting Remarks August 12, 2009 - video

Q&A: Click on the question below to see the response.

 

   1. What do you mean by authentic parent engagement? - video

 

   2. Can you give us one example of something that worked in the Charlotte

    school district that was worth replicating? - video

 

   3. Can you further explain your view of accountability? - video


 

    4. Can you talk about your vision for developing and supporting good
    teaching in the classroom? - video

  
News Conference August 10, 2009

Audience Reaction (Video)


Interviewed by Marcus Walton, Public Relations Staff.


Video by Gary P. Bell Interim communications specialist

 

 

 Roy Grimes, SCUSD School Board President Trustee, Area 6 - video

 

 


 

 


 Louis Yanez, PTA Vice President District 3 - video




 Carrie Rose, Executive Director, Parent Teacher Home Visit Project - video





 Donald Terry, School Board Trustee, Area 3 - video





 Gustavo Arroyo School Board Trustee, Area 4 - video





 Susan Miller, Associate Superintendent - video




 

Superintendent hires teacher as chief of staff

 

Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond announced today he has hired Dr. Teresa Cummings, a district math teacher and instructional expert, as his chief of staff. Cummings will focus on strategic planning to help improve learning district wide and improving support to schools. She begins work in her new position today.

“Dr. Cummings brings an important teacher perspective as chief of staff as well as a strong commitment to involving parents in the education of their children,” Raymond said. “She has had great success in reaching out to and teaching underserved students. The magic and learning happens in the classroom, and Teresa understands that.”

Since 2004, Cummings has worked at Hiram Johnson High School where she taught Prealgebra, Algebra 1, physical education and California High School Exit Exam preparation. She also has taught at the middle school, community college and university levels and has been a strong supporter and participant in the district’s Parent Teacher Home Visit Program as a teacher.

“I believe in the direction Superintendent Raymond is moving the district—putting children first,” Cummings said. “I wanted to be part of the change.”

Cummings earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University, Chico. She earned her Ph.D. in education from the University of Illinois, Chicago where her doctoral studies emphasized curriculum design for urban youth.


Cummings lives in the district and is married to a district math teacher. She has three children and has served on the Peter Burnett Elementary School site council as a parent.

“Urban school districts become great by teaching themselves to greatness. With the
contributions and dedication of staff like Teresa, we will get there,” Raymond said.



http://www.scusd.edu/Pages/default.aspx

 

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Putting Children First
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
New SCUSD Superintendent
Jonathan Raymond
Press Conference 8-10-2009
 
New SCUSD Superintendent Jonathan Raymond
Press Conference 8-10-2009 Part 1
 
 
 
New SCUSD Superintendent Jonathan Raymond
Press Conference 8-10-2009 Part 2
 
 
 
 
New SCUSD Superintendent Jonathan Raymond
Press Conference 8-10-2009 Part 3
 
 

Superintendent's Office

 
 

Superintendent dishes it out

Published Wednesday, Sep. 09, 2009


Jonathan Raymond, Sacramento City Unified School District's new superintendent, serves beans during lunch Tuesday at Woodbine Elementary's cafeteria.

 

School board member Diana Rodriguez, left, dishes out apple slices and applesauce, and food services assistant Danielle Hilliard, right, serves corn dogs to round out the menu.  

 
 

A conversation with Jonathan Raymond

 

Published Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009

 

Here are excerpts from an interview with Jonathan Raymond by editorial writer Pia Lopez.

 

Non-traditional background

 

As a child, I learned the power of a teacher. At the Commonwealth Corp., I learned the power of innovation and partnerships. As a nonprofit, we were set up to develop partnerships, to create innovative programs for education and work force training. Our mission was to work with at-risk and vulnerable youth. We developed programs like "Diploma Plus" for kids who had dropped out or were at risk of dropping out. It gets them on a track not only to get their high school diploma but to matriculate to higher education. It was a very successful program … in urban, high-poverty, high-minority areas. That work was where I gravitated. It became clear to me that that's where I wanted to do more.

 

I heard about the Broad program as I started to think about what I wanted to do next after seven years at the Commonwealth Corp. I took a chance and got my application in and was accepted with the cohort of 2006. Off I went.

 

Having an impact on children is what I want to do with my life.

 

Charlotte's accountability model

 

Mostly, we've said that accountability isn't about "I gotcha." Accountability is truly about empowering and getting it right.

 

We want to provide better information. … We then want to provide support. You can't be held accountable for things that you can't do or that you can't reach without any prospects of help or support to get you there. And then we want to provide pressure. Use the tools, use the information, use the supports. Or we're going to make some changes. That system has changed the paradigm. It's a culture here of getting better.

 

Our "school quality review program"… what has made that so powerful? Yeah, we've provided a lot of information to our schools with these intensive reviews where a team comes in. What's been more powerful is that we've trained our instructional leaders to be school quality reviewers. That was a key piece. … These principals were coming back having seen things that they were going to take back to their own school, practices that in their view were transformational at best and, at worst, worth trying. That culture has just continued. What we're seeing in those schools where the principals have been trained and had gone on reviews is a very special dynamic. …There's this culture of self-examination and continuous improvement.

 

What makes our accountability model kind of special is that it's not like the federal or state "all or nothing" measure of you've either made it or you haven't. ... How do you tell a teacher who has just worked with kids who are two or three grade levels behind and moved them two or three grade levels that they're not proficient? That's not a failing teacher in Charlotte. That's a teacher that's going to get recognized. That's a teacher that has really moved the bar for kids. Our accountability model reflects that.

 

The pieces that came out of school quality review time and again, even in our highest-performing schools, were that teachers need to differentiate instruction more, and we need more rigor. So what does that mean? We've got to push kids. We've got to find a curriculum that's challenging. We have to have the assessments that can unearth where kids are learning and where they're struggling. Then we've got to find a way to meet those kids where they are. Those are the pieces we've worked hard to develop, programs for teachers, principals and others.

 

The chief strength of Sacramento

 

We have a passionate, excited, anxious – and, I would even say, frustrated – public and community that is willing to be a partner, that wants to help, that wants to put their shoulder to the wagon on this. That's a tremendous advantage. That's a very powerful and largely untapped potential for engagement. We're going to build on that.

 

The chief challenges

 

Fiscal realities. We've got to do more with less. These are very real and, perhaps, going to become more daunting before they get better.

 

We always have to deal with the human capital part of it. Do we have strong leaders in our schools? Do we have quality, effective teachers in our classrooms?

 

The challenges today demand that we've got to do better. We've got to figure out how to do better for all of our children. It's not good enough to have a handful of really great schools, a lot of mediocre schools and a bunch of poor schools. That's not acceptable. We're going to have to focus and really figure out what our priorities are, fund those priorities and really work hard on them.

 

Conclusion

 

There are tremendous strengths in Sacramento. We've got a mayor who cares about education and who wants to have a great city built upon a great school system. We've got a state senator who just happens to be the president of the Senate who lives in the community and has his children in our schools. And when I spoke to him, he said, "Hey, let me know how I can help. What do you need?" A business community that wants to help, wants to be engaged. I met with all the collective bargaining units this week. They speak about wanting to be partners and to be at the table. The communities I met with over three evenings are really committed to working together. They want to be brought in. Some of them had never met with the superintendent. There's lots of potential. There's lots of energy, so many ideas. I think it's incredibly exciting. I'm energized by the visit. I can't wait to start officially (on Friday). I'm looking forward to meeting more of the community and moving the bar for kids.

 

 

This story is taken from Sacbee / Opinion

 

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Editorial: New city schools chief has right stuff

 

Published Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009

 

More than a year after Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Maggie Mejia retired, the school board finally has named a new superintendent.

 

Jonathan Raymond, a non-traditional candidate with a background in diplomacy, international trade, law and work force development, brings fresh perspective and strong skills to the job.

 

The programs that Raymond pioneered in his seven years as head of the Commonwealth Corp. in Massachusetts, such as "Diploma Plus" for kids at risk of dropping out, and the accountability system he developed in Charlotte, N.C. (now considered a national model), show his passion for public education and his commitment to improvement.

 

A big plus in Raymond's background is his 10-month training with the Broad Foundation's superintendent's academy. That program specifically recruits senior executives for training to take on top jobs in large urban districts and focuses on raising student achievement. About 20 percent of large urban districts that have recently hired new superintendents have filled the jobs with Broad Academy graduates. And those who stay in a district for three years or more consistently outperform other districts in student achievement, according to Tim Quinn, managing director of the Broad Academy.

 

Raymond has seen reform efforts around the country and has a network of superintendents and education experts to draw upon.

 

As the interview at right reveals, Raymond has picked up several important truths about public education over his career:

 

• The importance of effective teachers.

 

• The importance of innovation and partnerships.

 

• The importance of measuring outcomes in a way that drives improvement.

 

• The importance of great principals.

 

With a new school board (four of seven were elected last November) and a new superintendent, this is a grand opportunity for Sacramento City schools to start anew. The first year will be crucial.

 

The new superintendent and board should schedule a retreat before a month is out to set the tone for that first year, adopt a set of priorities and begin building a working relationship that will allow them to conduct business together. This can't wait.

 

The challenges certainly are great – an unending budget mess in California and declining enrollment, for two. But Sacramento has some great strengths. As the new superintendent already has learned, apathy is not an issue. There's a lot of interest in education in this community. And Raymond already has received a lot of national attention. As a Broad Academy graduate, he's got a network of successful superintendents who want to see him succeed. He's mentioned Tom Payzant, formerly of San Diego; Arlene Ackerman, formerly of San Francisco; Ray Cortines in Los Angeles; Joel Klein in New York and others.

 

The new board took a bold step in selecting Raymond. Now it needs to give him the space to show his leadership skills to improve student achievement in Sacramento.

 

These are exciting times in urban education, and Raymond has eagerly embraced the challenge. The community should embrace him as well.

 

 

 

 

This story is taken from Sacbee / Opinion

 

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Good teachers crucial, says new Sacramento schools chief

 

mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Published Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009

 

 

Jonathan Raymond knows the importance of a good teacher. And as the new superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District, Raymond wants to make sure students are surrounded by them.

 

Raymond, 48, said his affinity for education was sparked when he was in sixth grade in Newton, Mass.

 

"The school I attended at the time thought I had a learning disability," Raymond said. "It turned out I wasn't being challenged. I was fortunate I went to a school where I encountered the most important thing in education – a good teacher. I remember for the first time in my life I became excited about learning."

 

And that excitement hasn't subsided, said Raymond, who was introduced Monday to staff and community members during a media conference at the district's office in south Sacramento.

 

Sacramento City Unified trustees hired Raymond in late July, signing him to a four-year contract for an annual salary of $245,000. He begins Aug. 21.

 

Raymond spent three years as the chief accountability officer at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina. While in Sacramento during the next three days, Raymond is scheduled to meet with staff and community groups about his plans for the urban district.

 

He said it's too soon to know what changes he will make, and he plans to listen to each interest group and digest their concerns.

 

"I think you look for patterns," Raymond said. "It's called triangulating the data. It's just important that people understand that I want to hear their perspective and see what they have to share."

 

Raymond pledged to visit each of the district's schools during the upcoming school year. He reaffirmed his commitment to live in the district and send his three children – ages 7, 6 and 2 – to district schools.

 

Raymond will be the first Sacramento City Unified superintendent in 20 years to send his children to district schools. He said his wife, Julie, has been house hunting in East Sacramento and Land Park.

 

As reporters peppered him with questions, Raymond calmly addressed several hot-button items.

 

• Raymond supports merit pay for teachers. However, he doesn't believe in using just one measure of performance, such as test scores.

 

"I believe we ought to do what we can to get the most pay and the most resources into the hands of our best teachers," he said.

 

• Raymond said he supports charter schools, calling them "laboratories of innovation" as Mayor Kevin Johnson listened in the background. Johnson founded St. HOPE Academy, which operates three charter schools in the Sacramento City Unified district.

 

"I think competition is good," Raymond said. "If charter schools are doing a better job, then we should be learning from them."

 

• Raymond said he hopes to strengthen the Multiple Pathways initiative, which weaves career themes into core subjects such as math and English.

 

Raymond is familiar with the concept, having been president of Commonwealth Corporation, a Boston-based nonprofit group that he said helped schools design career pathways.

 

"All children don't learn the same," he said. "There are many ways to engage and challenge a child."

 



This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Region / Education

 

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New Sac City Superintendent: Transparency, Accountability, Collaboration
 

Aired 8/10/2009 on All Things Considered
Aired 8/11/2009 on Morning EditionListen

(Sacramento, CA)

 The new superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District says he’ll focus on transparency, accountability and creating a “culture of collaboration.” Jonathan Raymond introduced himself to the community Monday.

 

Jonathan Raymond didn’t get too specific during his first press conference Monday. Raymond said he wants to take his first few months in Sacramento to get to know the community and the district. But he did lay out some basic beliefs, like holding teachers and schools accountable:
 
Raymond: “I believe that adults must be held responsible for their work, and I also believe it is important that they have the support that they need to be successful.”
 
And on the role of charter schools as an alternative to traditional schools:
 
Raymond: “Frankly, I think competition is good. If charter schools are doing a better job, well then, we should be learning from them.”
 
Raymond also says he supports the politically sensitive issue of merit pay for teachers – but only by using multiple ways to measure a teacher’s achievement, not just their students’ test scores. That’s something the president of the city’s teachers’ union declined to comment on. But Linda Tuttle, who met with Raymond earlier in the day, says she thinks the new superintendent is someone the union can work with.
 
Tuttle: “He needs to take his time and really get to know the Sacramento area. So I think we have to take a wait and watch and take time and get to know him and let him get to know our district.”
 
Raymond comes from a school district in Charlotte, North Carolina. He spent two and a half years there as Chief Accountability Officer, after previously working in the private sector. Raymond officially starts his job on August 21st. He replaces interim superintendent Susan Miller, who held the job for a year after the previous district head retired.
By: Ben Adler

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Jonathan Raymond
 

Sac City schools introduce

new superintendent  

mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Published Monday, Aug. 10, 2009

 

Jonathan Raymond stressed the importance of transparency, accountability and a culture of collaboration during a media conference Monday, where he was introduced as Sacramento City Unified School District's new superintendent.

 

Raymond is in Sacramento the next three days to meet with staff and community groups about his plans for the large urban district.

 

Trustees hired Raymond on July 23, signing him to a four-year contract for an annual salary of $245,000. He begins Aug. 21.

 

Raymond, 48, spent three years as the chief accountability officer at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina.

 

"My first 90 to 100 days will be spent listening and learning while I visit our schools and get to know the district, the administrators, the principals, the teachers and the students," Raymond said. "I feel some urgency about this, because I am eager to begin my work."

 

Raymond pledged to visit each of the district's schools. He also reaffirmed his commitment to live within the district and send his three young children to district schools.

 

Raymond said his wife, Julie, is house hunting in East Sacramento and Land Park.

 

For more on this story, see The Bee or sacbee.com on Tuesday.

This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Region / Top Stories

 

 

 

 

New superintendent's kids to attend Sacramento city schools

 

 

"It's all about relationships," Raymond said. "A big part of my job is to build those relationships through communication and trust. It's something I'll be working very hard at, which is why I think it is important that our children go to district schools. It's an opportunity to interact.""

mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Published Tuesday, Jul. 28, 2009

 

 

Jonathan Raymond will be the first Sacramento City Unified School District superintendent in 20 years to send his children to district schools.

 

Raymond has pledged to live in the district and said he considers it a priority for his three young children to attend schools in their new community.

 

"It was an easy decision for us," he said.

 

Trustees hired Raymond on Thursday, signing him to a four-year contract to make $245,000 annually. He begins Aug. 21.

 

His 7-year-old daughter will start second grade, a 6-year-old son will enter first grade and a 2-year-old daughter will be a preschooler when the school year begins.

 

Parents and school board trustees who hired Raymond said they're impressed with the effort.

 

Raymond, 48, sent his children to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the district in North Carolina where he was chief accountability officer for three years.

 

"I think it gave me a good perspective when I was in Charlotte, and I'm sure it will in Sacramento," Raymond said Monday in an interview with The Bee while on a family road trip. "We are parents first and parents are critical partners in a school system."

 

The last Sacramento City Unified superintendent to send his or her children to district schools was Keith Larick, who ran the district from 1986 to 1989.

 

Sacramento City parent activist Heidi McLean said she appreciates that Raymond will utilize the schools he oversees and hopes he chooses his neighborhood school, not a magnet school.

 

"I want a superintendent who will work as hard as the teachers work to make every school successful, not just a few," McLean said.

 

Sacramento City Unified trustee Patrick Kennedy said he is impressed with Raymond's commitment to have his children attend district schools. Kennedy's four children have all attended district schools. His youngest is at their neighborhood school, C.K. McClatchy High School.

 

"Obviously, it is not something we can require, but it is a very big deal to me," Kennedy said. "I think it sends a message to parents in our district that he believes in our schools."

 

Raymond will be in Sacramento Aug. 10 through 12 to meet with trustees, parents, teachers and the community.

 

"It's all about relationships," Raymond said. "A big part of my job is to build those relationships through communication and trust. It's something I'll be working very hard at, which is why I think it is important that our children go to district schools. It's an opportunity to interact."

 

As an assistant superintendent and chief accountability officer in North Carolina, Raymond examined student performance, teacher performance and how schools fared in terms of achievement. He developed Charlotte-Mecklenburg's "Data Dashboard" – a Web site that shows how schools are doing and allows people to compare schools.

 

While Charlotte-Mecklenburg has been recognized for paving the way in terms of accountability, California is lagging behind.

 

President Barack Obama referenced California's lack of teacher accountability Friday when announcing the Race to the Top, which is $4.35 billion in competitive federal funds set aside for schools.

 

California may not see any of that funding because of a law that prevents teachers from being evaluated based on student test scores. Raymond supports performance pay programs, but said they should not be done in isolation.

 

"It has to be done in a way that supports teachers to improve performance and ultimately the outcome for the children," Raymond said.

 

 

This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Region / Education

 

 

 

 

CMS aide leaves for California

 

 “Charlotte's loss is Sacramento's gain." CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman said.

By Steve Lyttle

slyttle@charlotteobserver.com

Posted: Monday, Jul. 27, 2009

 

 

Jonathan Raymond has made it official, announcing he will leave the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to become a superintendent in California.

 

 

Raymond will take over management of the Sacramento City Unified Schools on Aug. 24, after serving for three years as chief accountability officer with CMS. In his local role, he oversaw the testing program and data studies for the school system.

 

 

Raymond had rumored in early July as front-runner for the job, but the Sacramento school system trustees didn't officially approve him as their choice until Thursday night.

 

 

Board President Roy Grimes told the Sacramento Bee that Raymond signed a four-year contract for $245,000 annually. He made $169,363 a year with CMS and was among the system's five highest-paid administrators.

 

 

Raymond replaces interim superintendent Susan Miller, who had headed the school system since M. Magdalena Carillo Mejia left the top post a year ago.

 

 

“While I am looking forward to the new opportunities and challenges in Sacramento, I'm also sorry to leave Charlotte,” Raymond said. “The work being done in this district is at the cutting edge of accountability and school improvement. It has been rewarding and an honor to be a part of it.”

 

 

While in Charlotte, Raymond helped CMS develop an online “data dashboard” that gives the public access to an array of data on schools.

 

 

“Jonathan has made a substantial contribution to this district, and he will be missed,” CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman said. “Charlotte's loss is Sacramento's gain.

 

 

“We will continue the important work he has helped us start at CMS, such as performance management, the Data Wise improvement process, School Quality reviews, the Data Dashboard, and improved assessment procedures.”

 

 

He is the third of Gorman's top aides to become superintendent in the past year. Maurice Green left CMS as deputy superintendent last August to take over the Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, and Ruth Perez, former Chief Academic Officer, became superintendent of the Norwalk-La Mirada Schools near Los Angeles in April.

 

 

Raymond goes from a school system of more than 134,000 to a 48,000-student system.

 

 

As was the case in Charlotte, Raymond will be dealing with the impact of budget cuts in Sacramento.

 

 

More than $34 million was cut from the Sacramento schools' budget in the 2009-10 academic year, including the elimination of 172 teaching positions, the closing of four schools, and an increase in class size.

 

 

“He was a front-runner,” Grimes told the Sacramento Bee. “He's low-key, but no nonsense. He intends to be very active in this community. He has committed to have his three kids attend our schools and live in the district.”

 

 

Observer staff writer Ann Helms and the Sacramento Bee contributed

 

charlotteobserver.com

 

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 SCUSD Board Special Meeting Agenda July 23, 2009

 

 Sacramento City Superintendent Contract

 

if he does what he is supposed to do...it is too little
if he fails... it is way too much....

 

 

 

Uploaded via Facebook Mobile from Board Meeting.

 

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This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Region / Education

 

Sac City board to vote on new superintendent contract

 

mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Published Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2009

 

Sacramento City Unified School District trustees will vote Thursday night on whether to approve the contract of a new superintendent.

 

District officials have not confirmed who their final candidate is, but several sources have confirmed Jonathan Raymond is the pick. Raymond is the chief accountability officer for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina.

 

Raymond will replace Susan Miller, who has been the interim superintendent since last July when former Superintendent M. Magdalena Carrillo Mejia retired. Raymond, who makes $169,363 in North Carolina, could make roughly $260,000 in Sacramento.

 

The district's school board will meet in closed session Thursday at 6 p.m. before voting on whether to approve the incoming superintendent's contract around 7 p.m. during an open session at Serna Center.

 

 

 

From the  SCUSD Observer 

Johnny Data
 
Is the ink dry on the $260,000 contract? No official word but a biographical picture of Jonathan Raymond emerges.

In 1996, Raymond secured a contested Republican nomination to run in Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District, challenging the seven-term Democratic incumbent, Barney Frank. Raymond has been an associate with the law firm of Cushner & Bloom in Boston, served as legislative counsel to the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and worked on Capitol Hill for Congressman Tom Lewis and Senator Orrin G. Hatch.

Before becoming  ...Continue reading this story at the SCUSD Observer 

 

 

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CMS Chief Accountability Officer leaving district?

Posted: July 6, 2009 03:25 PM PDT

Updated: July 7, 2009 07:00 AM PDT

By Dedrick Russell - bio l email

 

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A shake-up may happen in Charlotte Mecklenburg schools (CMS).

 

WBTV has learned CMS Chief Accountability Officer Jonathan Raymond has been offered the superintendent's job in Sacremento, California.

 

If he leaves, it will be a big hole the district would have to fill.

"Very pleased for Jonathan," CMS school board chairperson Molly Griffin said. "I think it's an affirmation of the great work he's done here and at the same time it will be a tough loss."

 

Griffin tells WBTV Raymond did tell his boss, superintendent Peter Gorman, about the job offer. CMS usually sends a press release stating one of their own has applied for a superintendent's position and is a finalist. But that did not happen this time. Griffin believes the process happened very fast.

 

"I think people are scrambling to find good people," Griffin said. "And find them quickly."

 

With test scores up and people who help Gorman with his job leaving the district, is there a fear CMS will lose ground?

So far under Gorman's leadership, four high profile administrators have left the district for better jobs.

 

"It's always a concern to see people leave," Griffin told WBTV. "But I do think we have great people waiting in the wings."

The district is working on a succession plan. The plan will groom other CMS workers to fill important vacancies.

 

The Sacramento City Unified school district says the district has interviewed superintendent candidates. But no one is saying who the board selected.

 

Raymond was not available for comment.

 

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This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Region / Education

 

Sac City schools tap N.C. administrator for top post

 mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Published Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009

 

The Sacramento City Unified School District has offered its superintendent job to a North Carolina school district administrator who ran a multimillion- dollar nonprofit in Boston before going into public education.

 

Sacramento City Unified school board trustee Patrick Kennedy confirmed Tuesday that the district has made an offer. Because school officials still are negotiating a contract, none would publicly identify the candidate.

 

According to two high-ranking school sources, however, the job has been offered to Jonathan Raymond, chief accountability officer for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

 

Raymond, who makes $169,363 in North Carolina, could make roughly $260,000 in Sacramento.

 

He would replace Susan Miller, who has held the superintendent's position on an interim basis since former Superintendent M. Magdalena Carrillo Mejia left a year ago.

 

Miller did not apply for the permanent position.

 

Sacramento City Unified trustees launched their superintendent search in earnest in May and fielded applications from 50 candidates.

 

Board President Roy Grimes would not comment Tuesday on the search.

 

Reached Tuesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools trustee Tom Tate said Raymond has "done a terrific job here."

 

As chief accountability officer, Raymond's job is to examine student performance, teacher performance and how schools are faring, Tate said. "He has to understand where Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are in terms of achievement and what works and doesn't work."

 

Tate said Raymond developed that district's "Data Dashboard" – a Web site that informs parents and other community residents about how schools are doing, and allows people to compare schools.

 

Raymond was president and CEO of the Boston-based nonprofit Commonwealth Corporation, a $31 million organization that provides education and work force development programs to strengthen communities.

 

He worked in private law practice with a focus on business and labor law, according to a biography posted by the Broad Superintendents Academy. He was legislative and public affairs director at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 4th Congressional District in Massachusetts in 1996. He earned a bachelor's in history from Tufts University, a master's in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a law degree from George Mason University School of Law.

 

Raymond was appointed chief accountability officer for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in 2006. CMS is North Carolina's second-largest district, with about 134,000 students and more than 170 schools.

 

More than half of the district's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. And, as in Sacramento City Unified, CMS students are a racially diverse group.

 

CMS entered the national spotlight in 1971 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of assigning students to schools by race, rather than geographic proximity, to combat segregation.

 

In 2002, a Supreme Court ruling ended the district's busing program, and students were assigned to schools based largely on where they live.

 

"As a result of that, some of our schools went from being fairly successful to more high-poverty than they had been before," Tate said.

 

In 2005, a Wake County Superior Court judge issued a ruling that accused the district of "academic genocide" against low-income students.

 

"There are schools that have middle-class and upper- middle-class families and do well and attract the best teachers, and then there are high-poverty schools that have a hard time attracting staff and being academically successful," said Carol Sawyer, a member of Mecklenburg Area Coming Together for Schools, a citizens group that advocates for school equity.

 

In Sacramento, Raymond would face similar inequities among schools – many of which struggle with a deep achievement gap between students of different races.

 

He also would be thrown into deep budget troubles. Sacramento City Unified has cut millions from its budget, has closed four schools this year, and expects to close six to eight more schools in the next two years because of finances and declining enrollment.

 

Tate said he sees Raymond's experience in North Carolina translating into success in Sacramento if negotiations move forward.

 

"He's the kind of person I would like to see a superintendent someday," he said.

 

Trent Merchant, another CMS board member, said Raymond "is a very data-driven guy, so he tends to take a just-the-facts approach. He doesn't guess at things – if he doesn't have the answer, he'll go and get it."

 

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Jonathan Raymond

Republican nominee in Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District

 

Monday, Nov. 04, 1996

 

 

 

MASSACHUSETTS

 

Population (1994): 6,041,000 (up 0.4% from 1990), 2.3% of U.S. total

 

Voting-age population: 4,564,000; 1994 turnout, 47%

 

Median age: 33.6 years

 

Median household income: $40,500 ($8,236 above U.S. median)

 

Unemployment: 4.8% (0.8% below U.S. average, March 1996)

 

Last presidential election: Clinton (D): 48% Bush (R): 29% Perot (I): 22%

 

Congressional delegation: 10 Democrats, two Republicans

 

Barney Frank (D) 71.64%

Jonathan Raymond (R) 28.33%

 

 

BARNEY FRANK District 4 (Boston suburbs--Newton; New Bedford; part of Fall River)

 

BORN: March 31, 1940, Bayonne, N.J. EDUCATION: Harvard U, B.A., 1962, J.D., 1977 FAMILY: Partner, Herb Moses RELIGION: Jewish MILITARY: None OCCUPATION: Lawyer POLITICAL CAREER: Massachusetts House, 1973-80; U.S. House 1980- ADDRESS: P.O. Box 260, Newtonville 02160. Tel.: 617-965-0119

 

In the debate over the recently enacted Defense of Marriage Act, Frank's eloquent support of same-sex unions might have been politically dangerous if he hadn't already earned a reputation as a superb legislator. A popular liberal, he opposed the balanced-budget amendment, the line-item veto and the 1996 Welfare Reform Act and in 1994 was unopposed.

 

THE ISSUES Budget NO Medicare NO Defense YES Abortion NO Guns YES Gays NO Bosnia NO NAFTA NO Welfare NO Medical Leave YES (For an explanation of these issues, see the front of this guide.)

 

QUOTE OF NOTE: "People talk about their marriages being threatened [by same-sex unions]. I find it implausible that two men deciding to commit themselves to each other threatens the marriage of people a couple of blocks away."

 

JONATHAN RAYMOND (R) District 4

 

BORN: Sept. 20, 1960, Boston EDUCATION: Tufts U, B.A., 1982, M.A., 1984; George Mason U, J.D., 1991 FAMILY: Single RELIGION: Jewish MILITARY: None OCCUPATION: Lawyer; federal legislative counsel; congressional aide POLITICAL CAREER: None ADDRESS: 153 Clark Street, Newton Center 02159. Tel.: 508-758-2399

 

Raymond thought he had lost the primary until he learned that a clerical error had been made and he had, in fact, won. He brings to the general election an agenda of tax breaks for churches and charities, and tougher sentences for drug kingpins and handgun crimes.

 

THE ISSUES

 

Budget YES Medicare YES Defense NO Abortion YES Guns NO Gays NO Bosnia NO NAFTA YES Welfare YES Medical Leave NO (For an explanation of these issues, see the front of this guide.)

 

QUOTE OF NOTE: "When my great-grandparents came to this country, they didn't have government programs...to take care of them. Instead, they had a network of friends...We need to get back to that sense of charity. Bureaucratic institutions are replacing the family."

 

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985464-4,00.html

 

 

 

 

This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Region / Education

 

Two districts: A comparison
Published Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009


SACRAMENTO CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

 

 Students: 48,110

71.3 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch in 2008-09


Rating: 5 out of 10 from GreatSchools.net

 


CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG SCHOOLS


Students: 134,000


50 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch in 2008-09

 

Racial breakdown:


Hispanic/Latino: 16 percent


White: 34 percent


African American: 42 percent


Asian: 5 percent


 

Rating: 6 out of 10 from GreatSchools.net

 

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Sacramento mayor reviews his goals

 

On Tuesday, he cited a Bee news report that Jonathan Raymond, chief accountability officer for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina, has been offered the superintendent position at Sacramento City Unified School District.

 

That clears the way to work jointly with superintendents on an initiative to get kids back to school, he said.

 

"We are talking to them about what we can do collectively," Johnson said.

 



This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Towns / Sacramento City News

 

  

 

 

 

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The CMS press release:

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Feb. 12, 2009 – Employee furloughs, pay reductions and changes in class sizes were among the cost-cutting options discussed by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education at a Feb. 12 budget work session.


The session was the second held by the Board as it seeks to provide guidance on a sharply reduced operating budget for 2009-2010. The national economic downturn has reduced local and state revenue, and CMS is looking at cuts ranging from $53 million to $87 million. In 2008-2009, the district’s budget was $1.2 billion.


CMS Superintendent Dr. Peter C. Gorman and Sheila Shirley, chief financial officer for the district, provided the Board with a list of potential cuts for the 2009-2010 budget that would cover $17.6 million in reductions of local funds and $35.7 million in reductions in state funds for a total of $53.3 million. But both cautioned that the final number for budget reduction is likely to be even higher.


Recent conversations with county officials suggest that the district could have to cut as much as 10 percent from its budget, Dr. Gorman said. Cuts in the 10 percent range could mean CMS would have to eliminate 1,200 or more positions.


“We’re going to have to sharpen our pencils and look for reductions we haven’t even thought of yet,” Dr. Gorman told the Board.
The possibilities that he offered to the Board for reduction included:
Cutting $17.2 million from central support and operations. These cuts, which would represent 7.4 percent of the division’s budget, would be made in communications, human resources, technology services, finance and school law enforcement, as well as other areas. It would also include cutting 170 positions, which represents five percent of the staffing in that division.


Cutting $14.8 million from the academic services division. These cuts, which would represent 7.4 percent of that division’s budget, would include curriculum and instruction, career and technical education, learning communities, Exceptional Children and English as a Second Language student education and professional development. It would also include cutting 128 positions, or 4.5 percent of division staff.


Cutting $23.3 million from the schools division. These cuts, which would represent 3.6 percent of the division’s budget, would include changing the formula for assigning assistant principals and support staff, reducing or eliminating teacher assistants and eliminating the local accountability bonus. It would also involve cutting 395 positions, which represents 3.8 percent of the division staff.
In addition, Dr. Gorman offered information about the financial implications of increasing the distance of no-transportation zones and by increasing class sizes. Board members agreed that they would like to keep the cuts as far from the classroom as possible – but they also acknowledged that with such large cuts, that might not be an option.


“Once you get into the $50 million to $100 million range, there really is no place else to go,” Dr. Gorman told the Board.
The Board did not vote on budget cuts. But it did resolve one issue that affects the budget: whether the number of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch (FRL) is an accurate proxy for poverty. Several Board members have questioned whether CMS should use the FRL number in allocating resources to schools because sampling has showed that some families who didn’t qualify were receiving the benefit.


“We are at a key point in building our budget models and we need to narrow this down today,” Dr. Gorman told the Board.
Jonathan Travers, a consultant with Education Resource Strategies (ERS), reviewed an earlier presentation that showed a high correlation between free and reduced-price lunch eligibility and incoming student performance.


“The fact that there are such close correlations means that CMS would see very little change” in resource allocation if the district used a formula that blends incoming student performance and FRL eligibility, Travers said.


After discussion, the Board agreed to use the FRL count in the 2009-2010 budget and asked that CMS develop a new formula for evaluation.


“This year, we ought to stay with free and reduced-price lunch,” said Molly Griffin, chairperson of the Board. “We shouldn’t try, in the midst of all the budget struggles we’re having, to change.” Other members of the Board concurred.


The Board will resume budget deliberations with another budget session on Feb. 24 in Room 267 of the Government Center.

 

 

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Source: Rhino Times Charlotte

 

CMS Sluggish Progress

August 23, 2007

With a dab of fanfare and the requisite PowerPoint presentation, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools released the facts and figures associated with its Adequate Yearly Progress, or lack thereof, results last Friday afternoon.

Joining Superintendent Peter Gorman at the black table and golden water jugs at the meeting to announce the results was the district’s chief accountability officer, Jonathan Raymond.

As it turned out, CMS has had some successes in the parameters of academic performance the report covers, but a shipload of shortcomings as well, the end result being a somewhat flaccid overall showing despite the mountains of money being spent on special programs intended to send scholastic scores soaring.

According to CMS, preliminary results for the 2006-2007 academic year showed 55 out of 150 schools district wide, less than 40 percent, met their Adequate Yearly Progress goals.

Crunched into categories, only one of four special/alternative schools, three of 23 high schools, five of 31 middle schools and 46 of 92 elementary schools met the AYP goals. As in the past, not one of the four High School Challenge locations made AYP.

“We didn’t do good enough,” Gorman conceded. “It’s tough.”

However, in hopes that some of the high schools might look better, at least on paper, Gorman said CMS was having the NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) take another look at some revised data.

“There might be some tweaking,” Gorman predicted.

As it turned out later in the week, six CMS high schools were added to the list – Ardrey Kell, Butler and Providence, along with the math, engineering and technology and science high schools within a high school at Olympic. That ray of hope had CMS sending out all manners of press releases announcing the blessed event. Overall, the district saw the number of schools meeting their AYP targets bump from 50 a year ago to 61, or just over 40 percent of all schools.

Not everybody, however, was overly impressed with the revised results, or the district’s overall progress.

“They are spinning the public,” said school board member Larry Gauvreau. “Our track record is abysmal, and the record shows it as such. The bureaucrats say we don’t need to fix anything, because everything is fine.”

Despite the high hopes the high school additions held, the number of middle and elementary schools in CMS that made the AYP goals remained the same.

AYP is the benchmark for the minimum level of improvement in scholastic results by a school district as determined by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. Achievement is measured not only by individual schools, but also by sub-groups such as race, disability or socio-economics.

NCLB has its roots in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It was enacted as federal law in 2002 and is up for reauthorization as the No Child Left Behind Improvements Act of 2007.

The House Education and Labor Committee will begin working on the reauthorization in early September, followed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee later that month. The full House will likely vote on the reauthorization in late September or early October, followed by the Senate in November.

Not all educators, though, find NCLB user-friendly. In fact, there’s a push by the National School Boards Association to swamp legislators with letters and e-mails “suggesting” changes to the law so that the standards it requires won’t be so strict.

 

 Gorman said he would be going to Washington, D.C. to bend as many ears as possible regarding AYP, especially the way the results are tabulated.

“I think there needs to be a more realistic growth model,” said Gorman.

But growth model or not, this year’s AYP results for CMS indicate there is still a looming gap between what the district doles out in dollars versus returns on the financial investment.

Whether the NCLB standards are too tough is probably open to debate since all schools involved, not just CMS but nationwide, have the same goals to reach. That means students in a school or district where the standards are met probably feel they are not that bad, whereas others who fall short would naturally be inclined to cry foul.

Gauvreau agreed that NCLB and AYP were somewhat choked with red tape.

“I agree with the general feeling of CMS leadership that NCLB measurements are bizarre, hard to track and achieve,” Gauvreau said. “One has to wonder why they are so obsessed with subgroups. However, I don’t want to suggest, because I disagree with NCLB, that we’re doing fine.”

AYP measures test results in reading/language arts and math for 10 student groups. These include the school as a whole, along with sub-groups for the student population in categories such as race – defined as White, African-American, Hispanic, Asian or Multiracial; economically disadvantaged (children who get free or reduced-price lunch; limited English proficiency; and those with disabilities.

For a school to reach AYP, each of the 10 groups in the grades subject to testing (3-8 and 10), must meet proficiency goals in the courses tested. Each group must have at least 95 percent of its students taking both tests, and each student group must have at least 40 students tested.

Also, the school as a whole must show progress in another category, such as attendance. If even one target goal is not met, the school will not make AYP for that year.

Proficiency in reading and math on End-of-Grade results for grades 3-8 determine if elementary or middle schools achieve AYP. On the high school level, tenth-graders must be proficient in Algebra 1, English 1 and writing to make AYP.

The ultimate goal of NCLB is to have all student groups at or above grade level in reading and math by the conclusion of the 2013-2014 school year. So, how has CMS been measuring up to the AYP ideal in the recent past? Not all that great it seems.

For 2005-2006, only 50 out of 142 CMS schools achieved AYP. That’s just 35.2 percent of all public schools in the district. Broken down by grade and type, one out of four special/alternative schools, three out of 17 high schools, five of 31 middle schools and 41 of 90 elementary schools met the AYP goal.

Not one of the four High School Challenge locations – Garinger, Waddell, West Charlotte and West Mecklenburg –met the AYP mark. Don’t forget, these are the schools put on “probation” for poor academic results and the recipients of over $5 million in extra funding to alleviate the problem.

For 2006-2007, Garinger met five of 19 target goals, West Mecklenburg 16 of 26 target goals, West Charlotte eight of 15 targets and Waddell six of 20 target goals.

Gorman didn’t seem surprised at the news.

“If you look at where they were, I don’t think it’s reasonable,” he said. “Too much growth would have to occur, especially in math.”

For the 2004-2005 CMS scholastic year, 58 out of 138 schools made AYP. As far as schools that stood out as being abysmal for reaching the target goals, Morgan School didn’t meet a single one of its three goals, Derita Alternative met one of 15 target goals and Midwood High/Tate TAPS managed to meet two out of five of its target goals.

The 2003-2004 school year saw just over half of CMS schools achieve AYP goals. By the numbers, 76 out of 137 schools achieved the AYP goals set for their location. That represented 65 elementary schools, nine middle schools and just one high school in the district.

Again, the most worrisome AYP results and the schools that got them were Derita, Midwood and Morgan. For 2003-2004 Derita met one of 13 goals, Midwood one of seven and Morgan bombed with zero goals met.

Given the current state of CMS and its AYP goals, it will be interesting to see just exactly how Gorman and his cadre of commanders down at the Ed Center fare in meeting the state’s target goals in the interim between now and 2014.

At least CMS has a couple of years to chew on it. From 2007-2008 to 2009-2010, the state proficiency target goals will stay about the same. In grades 3-8, 84.4 percemt of target goals in reading and 77.2 percent in math must be met. The target-goal figures for tenth grade for the same period are 56.9 for reading/language arts and 80.5 percent for math.

After that lull, the state will ramp up its target-goal percent requirements. From 2010-2011 to 2012-2013, in grades 3-8 the target-goal percentage will be 92.2 in reading and 88.6 in math. For tenth-graders, that same time frame will see the proficiency target goals bump to 78.4 percent in reading/language arts and 90.2 percent in math.

School board member Kaye McGarry thinks CMS should start looking outside the box to get students’ academic performance up, and hopefully increase the number of schools that achieve the AYP goals. Her reaction to the overall number of local schools that didn’t make AYP and what might be done about it was alarm.

“It’s a huge red flag,” McGarry said. “We need to look at alternative ways to teach. KIPP Academy is well past due in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.”

The KIPP Academy is a pilot charter school for low-income fifth-graders. KIPP stands for Knowledge is Power Program. Currently, the highly successful method of intense yet engaging education has nearly 100 students on the rolls.

“Sometimes you have to teach a little differently depending on who is on your classroom,” McGarry said.

Title 1 schools, those with a high percentage of students who are considered low-income, receive federal funding. Currently, CMS has 37 such schools at the elementary and middle school level. For 2007-2008, there will be 40 Title 1 schools for CMS to deal with.

“There is a greater and greater concentration of poverty in Charlotte,” Gorman said.

This year, only 11 of that number achieved AYP, all of them being elementary schools.

Title 1 schools that don’t make AYP for two consecutive years are subject to sanctions. For 2006-2007, 14 elementary and eight CMS middle schools found themselves in that boat.

According to Gorman, sanctions can include offering parents the choice of sending their student to another school, restructuring the curriculum, or having the state send in “technical” help – in other words, someone to watch over the school.

Given the fact AYP and No Child Left Behind are federal programs, that the NCDPI and General Assembly in Raleigh represent the state, and on a local level the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners also has the final say in many CMS matters, there are no doubt many at CMS who wish the government would not meddle in education.

With two members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, Joe White and Vilma Leake, in the audience at last Friday’s news conference on the AYP results, Gorman was asked if he wished Uncle Sam, and politicians in general, would butt out of the classroom.

“Yes,” Gorman said without hesitation. “Well, everyone but the school board that is.”

Given the presence of local school board members in the audience, Gorman’s addendum drew a titter. However, even Leake had her brow furrowed as she digested what the AYP briefing had revealed.

“I’m not happy,” Leake said. “But we’re getting there.”

Perhaps, but the fact remains 2014 and the 100 percent AYP target goals the feds are expecting will still be a next to impossible task for CMS to attain given the current rate of progress, or lack thereof. 

 

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Sacramento city schools join trend, find chief with broad experience

 

mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Published Saturday, Jul. 25, 2009

 

 

The Sacramento City Unified School District's new superintendent – like a growing number of top school administrators across the county – is an education outsider who spent most of his career in the private sector.

 

Trustees said they were looking for change when they tapped Jonathan Raymond, a lawyer who dabbled in Massachusetts politics and ran a multimillion-dollar nonprofit in Boston that provided education and work force development programs before becoming chief accountability officer for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina three years ago.

 

Raymond, who begins Aug. 21 in Sacramento, signed a four-year contract and will make $245,000 annually.

 

"People who come from outside education are more used to working in performance culture versus entitlement culture," said Tim Quinn, managing director of The Broad Center, an organization that trains prominent leaders from the military, business, nonprofits and government to run urban public school districts.

 

Raymond graduated from The Broad Center's 10-month executive management training program in 2006.

 

Quinn, who oversaw Raymond's training, said he has noticed more school boards and search firms calling The Broad Center looking for nontraditional – or what he calls hybrid – candidates. Quinn considers Raymond a hybrid because of his experience with Charlotte-Mecklenburg and his previous accomplishments outside of education.

 

The ranks of superintendents who are not career educators have grown since the mid-1990s when former U.S. Army Maj. Gen. John Stanford was hired as superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, Quinn said.

 

"These people can bring a fresh perspective," Quinn said. "So many people who are brought up in education are numb to their challenges and are convinced there are problems that can't be fixed."

 

Sacramento City Unified board President Roy Grimes said Thursday after the board cast its unanimous vote to hire Raymond: "I think he stood out mainly because we are looking for change in the district. We are looking to move to the next level of achievement."

 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg trustee Trent Merchant admitted his hesitation in hiring a nontraditional candidate for an assistant superintendent position.

 

"But, it all worked out well," Merchant said. "The idea of bringing in a guy from Massachusetts who ran a nonprofit, we were like, 'What are you thinking?' "

 

As an assistant superintendent and chief accountability officer, Raymond examined student performance, teacher performance and how schools fared in terms of achievement.

 

Raymond developed that district's "Data Dashboard" – a Web site that informs parents and the community about how schools are doing and allows people to compare schools. Merchant said Raymond helped use data to "track individual student performance and tie that directly to teachers."

 

Reached at his home Friday, Raymond asked to postpone interviews until Monday. The father of three said he was leaving for a family vacation.

 

Raymond earned a bachelor's degree in history from Tufts University, a master's in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a law degree from George Mason University School of Law.

 

He worked in private law practice with a focus on business and labor law, according to a biography posted by The Broad Center. He was legislative and public affairs director at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 4th Congressional District in Massachusetts in 1996. He won the Republican nomination but lost to Democratic incumbent Rep. Barney Frank.

 

His final job before going to work for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools was as president and CEO of the Commonwealth Corporation, the $31 million nonprofit organization in Boston.

 

 

This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Region

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A Conversation on Accountability with

Jonathan Raymond,CMS’ New CAO

 

If you’re wondering what a CAO is, the best person to answer that question is Jonathan Raymond. Mr. Raymond is the newest addition to the senior staff of CMS donning the title of Chief Accountability Officer (CAO).He earned a law degree from George Mason Law School in Arlington, VA in 1991, earned his bachelor of arts cum laud from Tufts University in Medford, A, and a master of arts degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. He is also a graduate of the Executive Management Program at the Harvard Business School and was named fellow at the Broad Superintendents Academy in November of 2006.Jonathan came to CMS from Brookline, MA, as the President and CEO of the Commonwealth Corporation. While working for Commonwealth, he spearheaded a successful program which targeted children who had either dropped out of high school or were at risk of dropping

out. After completing the “Diploma Plus” program a whopping 70% of participants went on to graduate from college! During a recent interview with Jonathan, we got his thoughts and opinions on the needs of the district and how he intends to shape his new position. I: Tell us about your family. JR: My wife, Julie, and I have three children: Sylvie Kate is five, Joey is three and a half and Gabrielle Rose is two weeks old! Julie loves being a stay-at-home Mom, but also enjoys her part-time interior design consulting business on the side. I: Have you settled in Charlotte or are you still looking for a permanent residence? JR: We have purchased a home on Strawberry Hill Drive off of Providence Road. My wife and children will move down here at the completion of

the preschool year. I: What was the last movie you saw? JR: I saw about one-third of “Happy Feet” over Christmas break with my children Sylvie Kate and Joey. We left early because Sylvie Kate was bored and Joey was scared. I: What do you feel are the key educational issues currently facing this community? JR: Student Achievement in that it prepares all of our children for a post-secondary education and for success in life. We are competing in a global economy with the best of the best, and we need to reach further! To do this, we need to hire the best principals and teachers. I: What is your role within CMS, and the main focus of the Accountability department? JR: I am not on a “witch hunt”; I am on a TreasureHunt. We need to “catch” teachers doing great things, and replicate them at other schools.  There are so many wonderful things going on in our CMS classrooms; our job is to find them. The Accountability department of 30+ people will oversee testing and the local and state services required by schools, data analysis, educational trends and research, and new theories and methods in education.  I am responsible for designing and developing a new accountability system, one which provides our community with easy to understand answers, as part of the 2010 Strategic Plan. (Please see note at end regarding the Accountability System Committee.)

I: I read that part of your job will be to help Dr. Gorman administer rewards to successful schools and sanctions to failing schools.  What will determine success?  What will determine failure?  Is this determined solely by the numbers and/or data?  What other factors will be considered?

JR: Many factors will be taken into consideration in addition to testing data.  I fully recognize that a school’s success, and more importantly, a student’s success, is more than just numbers.  We will look at qualitative measures and indicators of success to tell the whole picture:  how do the teachers differentiate?  How do they engage parents and community members? What are they doing to improve student attendance?  Rewards for successful schools may include increased freedom and flexibility as it relates to curriculum and assessment; and sanctions to those schools in need of improvement may include decreased freedom and flexibility.

I: How would you describe CMS in the context of education nationally? JR: This community has a great passion on all issues, tremendous diversity, urban, suburban and rural settings and we enjoy growing international influences.  For these reasons, I feel that sets us apart from other districts in our country.  Our community’s economic future depends on CMS getting the job done right; we cannot do a so-so job and achieve success within our community.  We have some very unique challenges to meet and a great sense of urgency to do so.

I: You said that schools are a “critical investment by the public.  But to be fully successful, they can’t do it by themselves.”  Is there any replacement for parent involvement?, i.e., Can any ONE factor overcome the lack of parental involvement in a child’s education?

JR: No, there is no substitute for an engaged parent.  A parent who is involved in their child’s education is the most important partner our schools can have.  There is NO substitute for this and without a caring, involved parent for every child; we are merely trying to patch it to-gather.

Note:  As part of the 2010 Strategic Plan, Jonathan Raymond will be forming a committee to design and develop the new Ac-count ability system, and would like to include parents in this process. If you are interested in participating, please contact Jonathan Raymond at Jona-than.Raymond@cms.k12.nc.us. 

P T A Council Con n e c t i o n s

 The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Council of PTAs & PTSAs, Inc. January 2007

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 Sacramento City schools hire new superintendent


mgutierrez@sacbee.com
Published Friday, Jul. 24, 2009


Sacramento City Unified School District trustees ended their secretive search for a new superintendent Thursday night, naming a top administrator from North Carolina.

The school board approved a contract for Jonathan Raymond, chief accountability officer for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. He will start Aug. 21.
Raymond's name was leaked two weeks ago, but Sacramento City Unified trustees and administrators would not confirm that he was their final pick or even that he was a candidate.

In a 6-0 vote, the cloak around Raymond's appointment was lifted.

"We've been very transparent from the very beginning," said board President Roy Grimes. "Everything that could be open meeting was open meeting. The salary, we advertised at $260,000 and came in at $245,000. If you look at the net package it will be a little lower than that."

Raymond replaces Susan Miller, who took over the superintendent position on an interim basis when former Superintendent M. Magdalena Carrillo Mejia left last July.

Raymond, who earns $169,363 a year in North Carolina, signed a four-year contract to make $245,000 annually in Sacramento to run the district of 48,110.
He will be allocated $700 a month in incidentals and $30,000 in one-time moving expenses, and the district will pay $11,500 per year toward his tax-sheltered annuity.

Miller's salary as an interim superintendent was $215,000. Mejia earned a base salary of $230,000 in 2004, was allocated $1,000 a month for incidentals and received $20,000 in moving expenses. Mejia's salary at the time of her retirement in 2008 was not available Thursday night.

Raymond's salary will be on par with those of superintendents at Elk Grove Unified School District and San Juan Unified School District.

Elk Grove Superintendent Steven Ladd earned $246,406 in 2008-09, and his contract calls for a 3.5 percent raise each year if the board gives him a positive evaluation. Ladd's contract calls for the district to contribute $26,700 to his tax-sheltered annuity plan each year. Elk Grove has 62,821 students.

San Juan's Patricia Jaurequi, who was hired in September to run the district of 47,107, signed a three-year contract worth $230,000, with $1,000 monthly allocation for incidentals and up to $10,000 for moving expenses. Jaurequi will make $237,000 during the upcoming school year.

After three people criticized the size of Raymond's salary at the board meeting, trustees defended their decision by saying they wanted the salary to be competitive.

"We have to look at what the market bears," said trustee Jerry Houseman.

"We have much less (in the) contract for this gentleman than our outgoing superintendent (Mejia), who had lifetime benefits for her and her spouse. Are all superintendents paid too much? They probably are."

Sacramento City Unified's search for Raymond was swift. Trustees hired the search firm Ray and Associates in May and accepted applications for 14 days.
The search firm hosted two community meetings on May 21 to find out what the public wanted in a superintendent.
They also met with Sacramento City Teachers Association and other labor and community groups that day.

Families and teachers were invited to take a survey about a new superintendent online and on forms mailed to homes.
Public involvement ended there.

The district did not release the names of candidates as the pool narrowed from 50 down to eight and ultimately to one.
Jim Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, said the secrecy comes down to a battle between the public's right to know and the privacy rights of the applicants.

"There is a sense of public frustration," Ewert said.

"Even school boards who have the best of intentions to involve the public, they run into the problem that they are their own worst enemy. You have viable candidates who may not throw their hat in the ring, because they don't want to jeopardize their current position."

A television station in North Carolina broke news in early July that Raymond had been offered the Sacramento job. Raymond would not comment.
Neither Grimes nor district administrators would confirm until Thursday that Raymond had been offered the job. At the time, two high-ranking school sources confirmed on the condition of anonymity that he was the selection.

Raymond takes over a district that has cut $34.5 million from its budget for the upcoming academic year after eliminating 172 teaching positions, closing four schools, increasing class sizes and adopting other economy measures.

"He was a front-runner," Grimes said. "He's low-key, but no nonsense. … He intends to be very active in this community. He has committed to have his three kids attend our schools and live in the district."
 


This story is taken from Sacbee / Our Region / Education

 

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Raymond named superintendent, will begin in August

JONATHAN RAYMOND

By Susan E. Miller
Interim Superintendent



Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education members voted unanimously Thursday evening to name Jonathan P. Raymond superintendent. Raymond is currently chief accountability officer for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) in North Carolina. The Board chose Raymond after a nationwide search, citing his commitment to diversity, community engagement, professional experience, and his work in Charlotte using data to increase academic achievement. 

 “Jonathan will bring wide-ranging and relevant experiences coupled with a strong commitment to diversity, students, parents, community engagement and data-driven decision making,” said Board president Roy Grimes. “I was pleased that he was attracted by our district’s urban nature. I’m proud of the nationwide search our Board conducted. It was an inclusive and thorough process that attracted more than 50 applicants.”

            Raymond joined CMS as chief accountability officer in 2006. His work there has included a Microsoft award-winning data system that brought increased transparency to district results and school performance. He has also worked on major initiatives such as performance management, school quality reviews and school progress reports.

             “Every child can learn to high levels, and it is our responsibility as adults to make sure that every child does learn,” Raymond said. “Accountability is a key element in building trust and respect for any public school district. I look forward to working with our Board, the community, our employees and our students to help Sacramento City Unified School District increase academic achievement.”

Raymond will lead a district that serves 48,132 K-12 students, with more than 71 percent eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Sacramento City Unified is one of the most diverse school systems in the nation. Hispanic students make up 32.9 percent of its K-12 student enrollment; 21.3 percent are white; 21.1 are African-American; 20.1 percent are Asian and 1.7 percent are Pacific Islander. The district also includes 1.3 percent Filipino students and 1.2 percent American Indian or Alaskan Native. Raymond will become the 25th district superintendent. SCUSD is the state’s 12th largest district. SCUSD is the state’s 12th largest district.

Raymond’s contract runs for four years. His annual salary will be $245,000. He will begin his superintendency in Sacramento Aug. 21.      

Before joining CMS, Raymond was president and chief executive officer at the nonprofit Commonwealth Corporation in Boston where he focused on innovative education and workforce development programs. He developed an industry-driven job training program, expanded a successful program for at-risk youth and worked with the state of Massachusetts to increase adult literacy. He also began the Center for Research & Evaluation to train 16 districts in data-driven decision making.

In addition, Raymond served as legislative counsel to the U.S. Trade and Development Agency in Washington, D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill for U.S. Rep. Tom Lewis and Senator Orrin G. Hatch. 
Raymond earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Tufts University, a master’s degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a law degree from George Mason Law School. He is a 2006 graduate of the Broad Superintendents Academy and is a member of the Massachusetts and Florida bar associations. 

During his three years in Charlotte, Raymond was active in civic and community affairs. He served on the board of directors of the Urban League of the Central Carolinas and the Mayor’s International Council. 

Raymond, a native of Newton, Mass., is married and has three children. 

 

 

Superintendent’s Message

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From the  SCUSD Observer 

 
Raymond emerges from closed session tonight
 
A special board meeting tonight will introduce Jonathan Raymond as SCUSD's next superintendent. Susan Miller, who did not apply for the position, comments in the Sacramento Bee this morning:

"I look forward to a new superintendent coming in with fresh eyes," said Miller, who will return to her role as associate superintendent.

 

Miller said the next superintendent will walk into a difficult position because of limited resources and ongoing budget issues. She said she wonders what the effect of dwindling resources will be...Continue reading this story at the SCUSD Observer 

 

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Jonathan P. Raymond

 

Raymond

Jonathan P. Raymond brings a strong background in the private sector, not-for-profit work and government service to his position as Chief Accountability Officer. He has a longstanding interest in education and brings to his work a strong belief that accountability can lead to improvements in achievement. “It means doing the hard work of driving improvements in performance, without forgetting that education isn’t the same as manufacturing millions of widgets that are exactly alike,” Raymond says.

Before joining CMS in November 2006, Raymond had been President and CEO of the nonprofit Commonwealth Corporation in Boston since 2000. Commonwealth Corporation, focused on innovative education and workforce development programs, has 78 staff members, operates in seven states and has an annual budget of $31 million. Raymond earned a law degree from George Mason Law School in Arlington, VA, in 1991. He earned his Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Tufts University in Medford, MA, and a Master of Arts degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. He is also a graduate of the Executive Management Program at the Harvard Business School and was named a Fellow at the Broad Superintendents Academy this year. At Commonwealth Corporation, Raymond worked on a number of financial and education projects. Under his leadership, the corporation moved from a $400,000 deficit to a surplus of $750,000, diversifying its funding base and doubling its private funding. Raymond also developed an industry-driven job training program, expanded a successful program for at-risk youth and worked with the state of Massachusetts to reduce adult illiteracy. He launched the Center for Research & Evaluation to train districts in data-driven decision-making, and the center serves 16 districts.

Before joining Commonwealth, Raymond worked for two years as the Deputy Director of Workforce Development for the Massachusetts Department of Labor. In 1996, he secured a contested Republican nomination to run in Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District, challenging a seven-term Democratic incumbent. He has been an associate with the law firm of Cushner & Bloom in Boston, served as legislative counsel to the U.S. Trade and Development Agency in Washington, D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill for Congressman Tom Lewis and Senator Orrin G. Hatch.

Raymond is active in a number of civic groups and professional associations. He is a member of the Massachusetts and Florida bar associations, a member of the Young President’s Organization, adjunct professor at Bunker Hill Community College, on the board of Trustees at Mt. Wachusett Community College and on the board of directors at Boston Children’s Chorus. He is also a certified kayak instructor with the American Canoe Association and a first responder with Wilderness Associates.

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JONATHAN RAYMOND

The Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2006
Chief Accountability Officer
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, N.C.


 

“There is no one magic solution to fixing any broken organization, including a public school system. The solution will require both the strategic and tactical aspects of leadership and management. That means having a vision of what the schools should be, and having the ability to communicate that vision in a compelling way to all constituencies—teachers, parents, kids, elected officials, union leaders, the media. It means doing the hard work of driving improvements in performance, without forgetting that education isn’t the same as manufacturing millions of widgets that are exactly alike.”

 

In October 2006, Jonathan Raymond was appointed chief accountability officer in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, N.C., a district with more than 126,000 students in 150 schools. Previously, he served as president and CEO of the Boston-based Commonwealth Corporation, a non-profit organization with a mission of building stronger communities through innovative education and workforce development programs. Prior to joining Commonwealth, Raymond served as deputy director in the Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development, overseeing job training and employment programs.

 

Earlier in his career, he was in private law practice, focusing on business and labor law. While earning his law degree, Raymond served on the staffs of Florida Congressman Tom Lewis and Senator Orrin Hatch. He later held the position of legislative and public affairs director at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. His ongoing civic involvement includes running for the U.S. house of representatives in the fourth congressional district in Massachusetts in 1996. Raymond has a bachelor’s degree in history from Tufts University, a master’s degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a law degree from the George Mason Law School.

  

 

 

Broad Center Announces New Board of Directors

 

 

 The Charlotte Observer
 
CMS's data chief gets Sacramento bid

By Ann Doss Helms
ahelms@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009

Jonathan Raymond, who has been in charge of testing and data for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for three years, has been offered the superintendent's job in Sacramento, Calif., The Sacramento Bee reported today.

Raymond, CMS's chief accountability officer, did not return calls Tuesday and this morning.

The Sacramento City Unified School District has about 48,100 students and 5,000 employees, compared with 134,000 students and about 19,000 employees in Charlotte. The Bee reports that a board member there confirmed that Raymond has been offered the top job, which pays about $260,000, but said the contract is being negotiated.

Before coming to CMS, Raymond had been chief executive officer of a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that worked with education and workforce-development programs. In addition to overseeing testing and school ratings, Raymond has helped CMS develop on online “data dashboard” that gives the public access to an array of data on schools, as well as school-quality reviews that have offered in-depth reports on teaching and learning.

If he lands the job, Raymond will be the third member of Gorman's inner circle leaving to become a superintendent in the past year. Maurice Green, who was deputy superintendent, took over Guilford County Schools last summer. Former Chief Academic Officer Ruth Perez became superintendent of Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District in suburban Los Angeles in April.

Another departure would likely spark talk about saving money on top salaries during tight times. When Green left, Gorman abolished the title and replaced him with a lower-paid chief operating officer. Gorman had assigned most of Perez's duties to Associate Superintendent Ann Clark even before Perez left; afterward he consolidated the jobs and gave Clark the title.

Raymond makes $169,363, putting him in the five highest-paid administrators at CMS.
 
 

 

 

CMS launches Data Dashboard

Groundbreaking technology makes in-depth district data available to public

 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools introduced the Data Dashboard, a Web tool that provides unprecedented public access to district data, at the Sept. 23 meeting of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.

The Data Dashboard was developed by the district’s Office of Accountability in partnership with Mariner, a Charlotte-based consulting firm. The Data Dashboard fulfills a reform governance policy passed by the Board in 2006 that directed the district to make performance information more readily available to the public.

Parents, teachers and administrators can see specific measures of student achievement, such as End-of-Grade scores and year-over-year trends. In addition, parents can easily compare the performance of their children’s school with other schools in the district. The information is provided in an easy-to-understand scorecard format.

“The Data Dashboard is a powerful online tool that can be used by the public, educators and parents to monitor progress at CMS,” said Dr. Peter C. Gorman, superintendent. “Accountability and performance management are key issues in education, and the Data Dashboard gives direct access to current district data in a user-friendly format. It will allow our parents, our administrators and anyone who’s interested to see how we are meeting our goals and how well our students are learning.”

The Data Dashboard provides in-depth data on a wide range of information, including test scores, financial performance, bus punctuality and school safety. The Data Dashboard can be accessed from the Internet browser on any computer by going to the CMS Web site at www.cms.k12.nc.us.

“The Data Dashboard puts CMS on the leading edge in accountability and education,” said Jonathan Raymond, chief accountability officer for CMS. “It represents a new approach to managing data to benefit our students and our district, because we’ll be able to use the latest data and performance indicators to drive decision-making and policy.”

The Data Dashboard provides a broad overview as well as the capacity to examine a wide range of data in depth. An opening page gives the status of 18 key performance indicators, including composite test scores, the district’s financial audit, bus punctuality and progress toward goals in the CMS Strategic Plan 2010.

Users may also look at scores and other data for specific schools, subgroups of students and proficiency gaps between groups of students.

Such close comparisons of test data will allow the district to identify which groups of students are struggling, and then adapt instruction to address the gaps. However, Mariner and CMS emphasized that while very close comparisons are possible, the privacy of individual students has been protected. Users will not be able to identify individual students in the Data Dashboard.

The Data Dashboard also gives the most recent progress measures, with data being added when it is compiled and verified. Some performance information is gathered yearly, such as the End-of-Grade test scores. Other measures, such as End-of-Course tests, are collected on a semester or quarterly basis. The Data Dashboard even monitors a few key performance indicators daily, such as emergency work order response time.

The advanced technology of the Data Dashboard also makes it easy for users to compare data sets. The district said that from a technology standpoint, the proficiency gaps in test scores are among the most powerful metrics in the Data Dashboard. Users can compare scores based on economic and ethnic disparity and analyze gaps in a number of ways.

“For example, we can view the gap between Hispanic kids in free and reduced lunch programs and those Hispanic kids that live in affluent areas,” Raymond said. “Or we can see how the End-of-Grade reading test scores compare for kids overall in the district to those at FOCUS schools, which serve kids who need individual attention and extra support. We can compare the performance of our African-American students to other ethnic groups, or compare groups of students between schools.”

It is also a tool that will evolve as the district begins to use it, said Mariner’s David Fitzgerald.

“The Data Dashboard is truly a groundbreaking measurement tool,” said David Fitzgerald, education practice leader at Mariner. “It offers stunning ways to look at CMS progress and fulfills the promise of transparency.  Transparency for educators, administrators and the community is needed to align everyone’s efforts toward making our children globally competitive. I know other districts will want to use the CMS Data Dashboard experience as a model.”

Click here to access the Data Dashboard.

About Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is a nationally recognized, countywide school district serving more than 134,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12. During the past decade, CMS has won widespread acclaim as one of America’s best school districts. Now, CMS and its 19,500 employees are focused on making sure all students are globally competitive. For more information, visit www.cms.k12.nc.us. 

About Mariner

Mariner, Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner of the Year for 2008 in Performance Management Solutions, specializes in business intelligence, data warehousing, business scorecards and performance dashboards to help clients improve productivity and decision making in the education, utility, healthcare, manufacturing and financial industries. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with specializations in Business Intelligence and Performance Management Solutions, Mariner helps organizations translate strategy into action. Mariner-Realizing Visions with Technology. www.mariner-usa.com.

 
 

 

A Conversation on Accountability with

Jonathan Raymond,CMS’ New CAO

 

If you’re wondering what a CAO is, the best person to answer that question is Jonathan Raymond. Mr. Raymond is the newest addition to the senior staff of CMS donning the title of Chief Accountability Officer (CAO).He earned a law degree from George Mason Law School in Arlington, VA in 1991, earned his bachelor of arts cum laud from Tufts University in Medford, A, and a master of arts degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. He is also a graduate of the Executive Management Program at the Harvard Business School and was named fellow at the Broad Superintendents Academy in November of 2006.Jonathan came to CMS from Brookline, MA, as the President and CEO of the Commonwealth Corporation. While working for Commonwealth, he spearheaded a successful program which targeted children who had either dropped out of high school or were at risk of dropping

out. After completing the “Diploma Plus” program a whopping 70% of participants went on to graduate from college! During a recent interview with Jonathan, we got his thoughts and opinions on the needs of the district and how he intends to shape his new position. I: Tell us about your family. JR: My wife, Julie, and I have three children: Sylvie Kate is five, Joey is three and a half and Gabrielle Rose is two weeks old! Julie loves being a stay-at-home Mom, but also enjoys her part-time interior design consulting business on the side. I: Have you settled in Charlotte or are you still looking for a permanent residence? JR: We have purchased a home on Strawberry Hill Drive off of Providence Road. My wife and children will move down here at the completion of

the preschool year. I: What was the last movie you saw? JR: I saw about one-third of “Happy Feet” over Christmas break with my children Sylvie Kate and Joey. We left early because Sylvie Kate was bored and Joey was scared. I: What do you feel are the key educational issues currently facing this community? JR: Student Achievement in that it prepares all of our children for a post-secondary education and for success in life. We are competing in a global economy with the best of the best, and we need to reach further! To do this, we need to hire the best principals and teachers. I: What is your role within CMS, and the main focus of the Accountability department? JR: I am not on a “witch hunt”; I am on a TreasureHunt. We need to “catch” teachers doing great things, and replicate them at other schools.  There are so many wonderful things going on in our CMS classrooms; our job is to find them. The Accountability department of 30+ people will oversee testing and the local and state services required by schools, data analysis, educational trends and research, and new theories and methods in education.  I am responsible for designing and developing a new accountability system, one which provides our community with easy to understand answers, as part of the 2010 Strategic Plan. (Please see note at end regarding the Accountability System Committee.)

I: I read that part of your job will be to help Dr. Gorman administer rewards to successful schools and sanctions to failing schools.  What will determine success?  What will determine failure?  Is this determined solely by the numbers and/or data?  What other factors will be considered?

JR: Many factors will be taken into consideration in addition to testing data.  I fully recognize that a school’s success, and more importantly, a student’s success, is more than just numbers.  We will look at qualitative measures and indicators of success to tell the whole picture:  how do the teachers differentiate?  How do they engage parents and community members? What are they doing to improve student attendance?  Rewards for successful schools may include increased freedom and flexibility as it relates to curriculum and assessment; and sanctions to those schools in need of improvement may include decreased freedom and flexibility.

I: How would you describe CMS in the context of education nationally? JR: This community has a great passion on all issues, tremendous diversity, urban, suburban and rural settings and we enjoy growing international influences.  For these reasons, I feel that sets us apart from other districts in our country.  Our community’s economic future depends on CMS getting the job done right; we cannot do a so-so job and achieve success within our community.  We have some very unique challenges to meet and a great sense of urgency to do so.

I: You said that schools are a “critical investment by the public.  But to be fully successful, they can’t do it by themselves.”  Is there any replacement for parent involvement?, i.e., Can any ONE factor overcome the lack of parental involvement in a child’s education?

JR: No, there is no substitute for an engaged parent.  A parent who is involved in their child’s education is the most important partner our schools can have.  There is NO substitute for this and without a caring, involved parent for every child; we are merely trying to patch it to-gather.

Note:  As part of the 2010 Strategic Plan, Jonathan Raymond will be forming a committee to design and develop the new Ac-count ability system, and would like to include parents in this process. If you are interested in participating, please contact Jonathan Raymond at Jona-than.Raymond@cms.k12.nc.us. 

P T A Council Con n e c t i o n s

 The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Council of PTAs & PTSAs, Inc. January 2007

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JONATHAN RAYMOND

The Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2006
Chief Accountability Officer
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, N.C.


 

“There is no one magic solution to fixing any broken organization, including a public school system. The solution will require both the strategic and tactical aspects of leadership and management. That means having a vision of what the schools should be, and having the ability to communicate that vision in a compelling way to all constituencies—teachers, parents, kids, elected officials, union leaders, the media. It means doing the hard work of driving improvements in performance, without forgetting that education isn’t the same as manufacturing millions of widgets that are exactly alike.”

 

In October 2006, Jonathan Raymond was appointed chief accountability officer in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, N.C., a district with more than 126,000 students in 150 schools. Previously, he served as president and CEO of the Boston-based Commonwealth Corporation, a non-profit organization with a mission of building stronger communities through innovative education and workforce development programs. Prior to joining Commonwealth, Raymond served as deputy director in the Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development, overseeing job training and employment programs.

 

Earlier in his career, he was in private law practice, focusing on business and labor law. While earning his law degree, Raymond served on the staffs of Florida Congressman Tom Lewis and Senator Orrin Hatch. He later held the position of legislative and public affairs director at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. His ongoing civic involvement includes running for the U.S. house of representatives in the fourth congressional district in Massachusetts in 1996. Raymond has a bachelor’s degree in history from Tufts University, a master’s degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a law degree from the George Mason Law School.

  

 

 

Broad Center Announces New Board of Directors

 

 

 The Charlotte Observer
 
CMS's data chief gets Sacramento bid

By Ann Doss Helms
ahelms@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009

Jonathan Raymond, who has been in charge of testing and data for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for three years, has been offered the superintendent's job in Sacramento, Calif., The Sacramento Bee reported today.

Raymond, CMS's chief accountability officer, did not return calls Tuesday and this morning.

The Sacramento City Unified School District has about 48,100 students and 5,000 employees, compared with 134,000 students and about 19,000 employees in Charlotte. The Bee reports that a board member there confirmed that Raymond has been offered the top job, which pays about $260,000, but said the contract is being negotiated.

Before coming to CMS, Raymond had been chief executive officer of a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that worked with education and workforce-development programs. In addition to overseeing testing and school ratings, Raymond has helped CMS develop on online “data dashboard” that gives the public access to an array of data on schools, as well as school-quality reviews that have offered in-depth reports on teaching and learning.

If he lands the job, Raymond will be the third member of Gorman's inner circle leaving to become a superintendent in the past year. Maurice Green, who was deputy superintendent, took over Guilford County Schools last summer. Former Chief Academic Officer Ruth Perez became superintendent of Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District in suburban Los Angeles in April.

Another departure would likely spark talk about saving money on top salaries during tight times. When Green left, Gorman abolished the title and replaced him with a lower-paid chief operating officer. Gorman had assigned most of Perez's duties to Associate Superintendent Ann Clark even before Perez left; afterward he consolidated the jobs and gave Clark the title.

Raymond makes $169,363, putting him in the five highest-paid administrators at CMS.
 
 

 

 

CMS launches Data Dashboard

Groundbreaking technology makes in-depth district data available to public

 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools introduced the Data Dashboard, a Web tool that provides unprecedented public access to district data, at the Sept. 23 meeting of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.

The Data Dashboard was developed by the district’s Office of Accountability in partnership with Mariner, a Charlotte-based consulting firm. The Data Dashboard fulfills a reform governance policy passed by the Board in 2006 that directed the district to make performance information more readily available to the public.

Parents, teachers and administrators can see specific measures of student achievement, such as End-of-Grade scores and year-over-year trends. In addition, parents can easily compare the performance of their children’s school with other schools in the district. The information is provided in an easy-to-understand scorecard format.

“The Data Dashboard is a powerful online tool that can be used by the public, educators and parents to monitor progress at CMS,” said Dr. Peter C. Gorman, superintendent. “Accountability and performance management are key issues in education, and the Data Dashboard gives direct access to current district data in a user-friendly format. It will allow our parents, our administrators and anyone who’s interested to see how we are meeting our goals and how well our students are learning.”

The Data Dashboard provides in-depth data on a wide range of information, including test scores, financial performance, bus punctuality and school safety. The Data Dashboard can be accessed from the Internet browser on any computer by going to the CMS Web site at www.cms.k12.nc.us.

“The Data Dashboard puts CMS on the leading edge in accountability and education,” said Jonathan Raymond, chief accountability officer for CMS. “It represents a new approach to managing data to benefit our students and our district, because we’ll be able to use the latest data and performance indicators to drive decision-making and policy.”

The Data Dashboard provides a broad overview as well as the capacity to examine a wide range of data in depth. An opening page gives the status of 18 key performance indicators, including composite test scores, the district’s financial audit, bus punctuality and progress toward goals in the CMS Strategic Plan 2010.

Users may also look at scores and other data for specific schools, subgroups of students and proficiency gaps between groups of students.

Such close comparisons of test data will allow the district to identify which groups of students are struggling, and then adapt instruction to address the gaps. However, Mariner and CMS emphasized that while very close comparisons are possible, the privacy of individual students has been protected. Users will not be able to identify individual students in the Data Dashboard.

The Data Dashboard also gives the most recent progress measures, with data being added when it is compiled and verified. Some performance information is gathered yearly, such as the End-of-Grade test scores. Other measures, such as End-of-Course tests, are collected on a semester or quarterly basis. The Data Dashboard even monitors a few key performance indicators daily, such as emergency work order response time.

The advanced technology of the Data Dashboard also makes it easy for users to compare data sets. The district said that from a technology standpoint, the proficiency gaps in test scores are among the most powerful metrics in the Data Dashboard. Users can compare scores based on economic and ethnic disparity and analyze gaps in a number of ways.

“For example, we can view the gap between Hispanic kids in free and reduced lunch programs and those Hispanic kids that live in affluent areas,” Raymond said. “Or we can see how the End-of-Grade reading test scores compare for kids overall in the district to those at FOCUS schools, which serve kids who need individual attention and extra support. We can compare the performance of our African-American students to other ethnic groups, or compare groups of students between schools.”

It is also a tool that will evolve as the district begins to use it, said Mariner’s David Fitzgerald.

“The Data Dashboard is truly a groundbreaking measurement tool,” said David Fitzgerald, education practice leader at Mariner. “It offers stunning ways to look at CMS progress and fulfills the promise of transparency.  Transparency for educators, administrators and the community is needed to align everyone’s efforts toward making our children globally competitive. I know other districts will want to use the CMS Data Dashboard experience as a model.”

Click here to access the Data Dashboard.

About Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is a nationally recognized, countywide school district serving more than 134,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12. During the past decade, CMS has won widespread acclaim as one of America’s best school districts. Now, CMS and its 19,500 employees are focused on making sure all students are globally competitive. For more information, visit www.cms.k12.nc.us. 

About Mariner

Mariner, Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner of the Year for 2008 in Performance Management Solutions, specializes in business intelligence, data warehousing, business scorecards and performance dashboards to help clients improve productivity and decision making in the education, utility, healthcare, manufacturing and financial industries. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with specializations in Business Intelligence and Performance Management Solutions, Mariner helps organizations translate strategy into action. Mariner-Realizing Visions with Technology. www.mariner-usa.com.