There you have the Public School Problem in a nutshell.
An AAA "Administrator," who cannot pass an insultingly simple language exam, that I daresay the most keyboard/syntactically challenged freeper could ace after several cocktails.
This demonstrates how we have let political correctness steal our money, and how we are responsible for not doing to this idiotic part of the public sector what happened a long time ago in the private sector: downsizing. The education establishment is soaking up the school money with bloated layer upon layer of meaningless and completely ineffectual "middle management."
Look at the org chart of your Board of Ed. What exactly is a "curriculum coordinator?" Why does it take 5 administrators (and more) to supervise one teacher. How can some parochial school systems deliver uniformly better results at 1/4 the cost per pupil, and with 1/3 the administrative personnel per student? If you think this worthless Laboy is overpaid, check out what your school district pays for custodial services.
Does this Laboy really deserve a salary that would support three actual classroom teachers? Has anyone suggested firing him? I would bet not. He is a member of the vast AAA network of Federally Protected Ethnic Species. Folks, this kind of thing is largely our own fault on the local level. I ran for schoolboard (a lot)... and typically only 15% of the eligible voters among my fellow citizens bothered to show up. When you take into account the bloated school bureaucracy who voted to preserve their meal tickets, it's not exactly the voice of the people.
And that ain't sour grapes, as I have been elected to other posts... it's just that when it comes to our schools, good people have given up and common sense does not apply.
You hit it on the head, sir.
I am a teacher in Massachusetts, and I had to take the exact same test that this dolt can't pass. I can tell you that this test is passable for middle schoolers, let alone superintendents.
The test consists of 3 parts.
First, you listen to a spoken essay on a tape recorder (played for the whole room-god help you if you are sitting in the back). They play it a few times, once very slowly, and you write what you hear, adding punctuation, capitalization, etc.
Second are some multiple choice and fill-in questions that your 8th grader could ace.
Lastly, they give you some writing prompts, and you write a couple of essays.
As I recall, one of mine was a persuasive essay, and I forget the other.
I make no apology for the state of public education, because I know first hand that many teachers and administrators are complete idiots. Instead, I switched careers and became a teacher in an effort to make a difference.
Freepers here who declare open season on teachers could consider doing the same.
Parochials can take who they want...deny entry if desired, public schools are forced to take everyone from willing students to felons.
Parochials do not suffer from "PC over common sense" disease
Parochials have an effective discipline program
Parochials can expel students, public schools will undoubtedly face lawsuits if they do so, and will likely end up being forced to take the kid back...rendering discipline meaningless
Parochials are not free..."that which is valued too cheaply is esteemed too lightly" (TJ) - those who go to parochials have parents who value education more, generally speaking - hence parochials have better product to work with from the get-go.
Parochials can, if they're bad, close/go away/out of business.
The problems in public schools are a result of a monopoly system. The symptoms we all see are the results of that monopoly.
Want to improve education? Fix the problem, don't treat the symptoms. Get government out of education; make education a competitive industry.