POLICY POSITIONS

Sheldon Fishman supports the
principles of the Parents’ Alliance:

• coherent, content-rich curriculum standards

• high expectations coupled with timely and appropriate remediation and acceleration

• educational options

• transparency and accountability

• meaningful community input 

Click here to see the principles in their entirety

With these principles in mind, Sheldon will work
to achieve the following policy goals:

• STRONGER OVERSIGHT OF PROGRAMS—A $1.6 billion operation should not innovate on the fly. It is the job of the Board members, as representatives of the voters, to oversee the system’s use of taxpayer dollars. Sheldon will take this responsibility to heart by insisting that the only programs implemented systemwide are those that have stood up to rigorous assessment, either in school systems comparable to MCPS or through systematic MCPS pilots. In addition, programs already in effect should be subjected to independent cost-benefit analysis.

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• EMPHASIS ON INDIVIDUAL PROGRESS—The current system of accountability compares the average scores or pass rates of one group of third-graders (for example) to the average scores or pass rates of last year’s third-graders. Such comparisons can be misleading, and they tell teachers and parents little to nothing about the progress of individual students—especially if those students started below or above grade level. Our schools should be focusing on the progress of individual students and groups of students, from month to month and from year to year. Sheldon will push vigorously for a computerized value-added reporting system to keep parents and teachers informed of students’ progress and the community informed of how schools are performing with respect to this crucial indicator.

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• OPTIONS FOR STUDENTS AND PARENTS—Sheldon knows that one size does not fit all. He also realizes that in the vast majority of cases, parents know best which size fits their own child. Sheldon will make it his mission to ensure that all families are empowered to choose among a variety of educational options to find the best fit for their children. These options should include the full range of special education placements, signature programs, International Baccalaureate programs, charter schools, and if possible, varying bell times. The right to choose should not be limited to certain groups or certain areas of the county.

• A QUALITY CURRICULUM—The job of the Board of Education is to realize a vision of continuously improving education on behalf of the community. But the recent emphasis on alignment to state tests has made such a vision irrelevant. It has led to the sloppy development and premature roll-out of our current K-8 math curriculum while driving out such promising programs as Singapore Math, and it threatens all our children with the specter of uniform mediocrity. In a recent column, Karin Chenoweth said, “I now call the [Algebra High School Assessment] a ‘pretend algebra’ exam and fear that it will undermine mathematics instruction throughout the state.” As a member of the BOE, Sheldon Fishman will ensure that promising programs have a chance to fulfill their promise and will put parents’ ambitions for their children ahead of rigid alignment.

• DECENTRALIZATION—MCPS needs to hold all of its schools to certain standards. Yet without some leeway for individual variation and innovation, continuous improvement is impossible. A highly standardized system tightly controlled by a huge central bureaucracy is a prescription for waste, stagnation, and mediocrity. MCPS should encourage schools to serve as laboratories for promising new programs, including proven curricula like Singapore Math and later or flexible bell times for high school. In addition, it should begin to decentralize control over transportation to allow for greater flexibility, efficiency, and responsiveness.