An exit interview with the acting Superintendent of Education
3rd January 2012 · 0 Comments
By J. Kojo Livingston
Contributing Writer
In December of last year, Ollie Tyler announced her resignation as Superintendent of Education for the State of Louisiana. She assumed the post when Paul Pastorek stepped down. Tyler’s long history as an educator and education administrator includes a stint as superintendent of schools for Caddo Parish. Her record made it seem almost inevitable that she would rise to that level, even under a governor known for excluding Blacks and females from important posts in the state.
The Louisiana Weekly spoke with Ms. Tyler about her reasons for stepping down, her assessment of her career and her plans for the immediate future.
Tyler
TYLER: I feel like I have actually done what I came to do at the department which was to help put in place a good infrastructure to help educate every child in the state. I think that’s been accomplished.
WEEKLY: How did you feel about taking on this job under the challenging circumstances that education in this state has been in for some time?
TYLER: I stayed on to serve when the previous superintendent stepped down and we had a lot of challenges there to face. We were able to get through it with a lot of success. We have a great team here and we’ve been working and focusing on schools and school districts, making sure that we are doing our part to improve student outcomes.
WEEKLY: You’ve gone as far as anyone can go at the state level. You’ve been in the difficult field of education for 40 years. Do you actually want more of this, or is it time to call it quits?
TYLER: It’s been a great career. It’s time for me to step away and get some time for myself and my family. I’ve not done that in a long, long time. Then I will decide if God has another plan for me. I think I’ve earned a break after four decades.
WEEKLY: When we look at cuts in education across the country and politicians even talking about eliminating the Department of Education, is education becoming a low priority in the United States?
TYLER: It’s really not a low priority, there’s a lot being said about education across the nation and across Louisiana. Since President Obama first came aboard that was one of the first things he addressed and he actually put money into his education plan. We got millions of dollars right up front. He inherited an economy that so devastated when he came aboard but he stilly allocated funds. I was at the state level at the time and we were able to get the money out to the districts. The funding was not put there as a permanent fix. The cliff came this past year and school districts had to redirect funds and address priorities. I thought President Obama’s plan would cause us to focus more on how to maximize student achievement and student outcomes. He put money out there for several years for us to at least see how we could maximize.
WEEKLY: What about education funding at the state level?
TYLER: I know that both K-12 and higher education have been hit hard by budget cuts. In K-12 the largest fund, the MFP (minimum foundation) has not been cut yet. The increases that districts were receiving each year in addition to the basic MFP formula were cut. This did cause some hardships because school districts were accustomed to getting the extra money to address rising costs. The economy hit them really bad. This administration actually tried to reduce very little in K-12. There were other funds not associated with MFP that were cut but overall there was an attempt by the legislature to limit the cuts to K-12 education.
WEEKLY: Could more have been done?
TYLER: We probably could have looked at some other ways to continue to enhance education. But I can tell you that it’s been a very challenging environment.
WEEKLY: There’s been a lot of talk about failing schools. How do you address those who feel that the failure rate is evidence that the state is headed in the wrong direction?
TYLER: The real number of schools that received an “F” or “Academically Unacceptable” grade is not 40%, not that I think a “D” is acceptable. Since 1999 when accountability first went into place we were struggling for awhile but there has been significant progress. Over the past three or four years we have had extraordinary progress, even with the standards being raised. Each state sets its bar and our bar has gone up. When the bar is raised schools really start looking very seriously at what changes and reforms are needed to address what students need and try to provide them with those interventions and supports to help them perform at or above grade level. We’ve got some people who are really struggling to get the students what they need.
WEEKLY: There is a lot of concern among teachers about teaching only the test. Many argue that this is not real education.
TYLER: Those concerns have been out there for a long time. I’ve been a teacher and I know what it means to be able to address other things than the content to get you to pass the test. Many teachers want to be able to put in things that will help the students become more well-rounded and there’s a lot to be said for that. Of course we try to encourage them to find other ways to include those areas. However, you have to look at real-life situations and the competitiveness that students must face when they leave us.
WEEKLY: What “real-life” situations are we talking about?
TYLER: If we don’t prepare them and they’re not able to demonstrate with paper and pen on assessments, we have failed. You can’t get into a decent college if your ACT or SAT scores are not good. You cannot become an attorney if you don’t pass the bar. You can’t become a doctor. The tests drive almost everything in life when it comes to demonstrating that you have the knowledge and expertise to perform.
WEEKLY: But what about learning beyond the test? Is there more to life and even employment than taking tests? How can teachers address this?
TYLER: I understand how teachers feel because I am a teacher and always will be. We give the test in April, you’ve got several weeks that you can do other creative things. At the end of the day we’ve got to prepare our youngsters to take these assessments because they’re going to be competing with people that are not in our public schools that know how to take these assessments. I know that a teacher may have a passion for teaching other material but we have a responsibility to make sure that they are ready to take these tests.
WEEKLY: In New Orleans some are bragging that nearly 80% of students are in some type of charter school, is that a good or bad trend for this state?
TYLER: I think the jury is out on that. I’d like to see more data. They need to be in operation a little while longer before we can determine if the data says they are better or not.
WEEKLY: Education affects everyone but not everyone is involved. What do you believe is the role of the community in charting the course of education?
TYLER: I would encourage the community to get involved with helping the young people with the challenges we are facing in society today. We’ve got to have other folks outside of the guardians to really step up because they are our children whether by blood or not. They are in our community and they can help us to have a great community and a great quality of life. We all are stakeholders in ensuring that our children receive a quality education. If we don’t provide them with our best, we are going to continue to build prisons and not schools.
This article was originally published in the January 2, 2012 edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper
