District Administration - March 2010 - (Page 41)

Kathy Cox poses with Jeff Foxworthy, host of the show Are You Smarter Than a 5th-Grader and five fifth-graders who are cast members of the show and help contestants answer questions. “As a Christian, a trained engineer and scientist, and a professor at Emory University,” Carter wrote, “I am embarrassed by Superintendent Kathy Cox’s attempt to censor and distort the education of Georgia’s students. … There is no need to teach that stars can fall out of the sky and land on a flat Earth in order to defend our religious faith.” During her campaign, Cox had not masked her feelings on the matter of creationism versus evolution and wanted to make sure teachers were well prepared to deal with the controversy. But after a week of public outcry, Cox quickly reversed her stand. Today, evolution is in the curriculum, and Cox says, “If anything, the discussion around evolution gave us an even stronger science curriculum.” She cites the approval of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C.based nonprofit think tank that reviewed state curricula in 2006. Georgia received an overall grade of B+. The science review stated, “Life science is done brilliantly. The treatment of evolution is straightforward, too. It’s a peach of a document.” Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader Cox’s enthusiasm and popularity among the state’s residents could also be evident in her one-night appearance on the telewww.DistrictAdministration.com vision game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th-Grader, during the 2008 season. Before her debut, she was confident she’d win and had promised her winnings to “enhance the educational experience for students” at three schools: The Georgia Academy for the Blind, the Georgia School for the Deaf and the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf. She won $1 million by answering the final question: “Who was the longestreigning British monarch?” (Queen Victoria). But the question of if and when the schools will receive the money has been held up due to bankruptcy claims. Kathy and John Cox are $3.5 million in debt. The bulk of that debt is related to John Cox’s home-building business in Fayette County. And now, creditors and lawyers insist that the contract Cox signed with Fox TV says the money is hers, and they are seeking their share of the prize money to help repay the debt. “I have made it clear that I went on television as the state superintendent of schools and always intended to give the money to the state schools,” Cox says. She is determined to see all of the money being used at the three schools. And state officials have vowed to fight for the money. The question still remains if it will affect Cox’s bid for re-election. Virtual Tech Counts An early advocate for the Georgia Virtual School (GAVS), which makes rigorous courses available online to all students in Georgia, Cox believes “technology is a key component to improving education and preparing Georgia’s students to be competitive in the 21st century.” In 2005, Gov. Perdue signed GAVS into law in part as a way of leveling the playing field for students across the state. More than 6,000 students have received high-school credit since 2005 through the program. It is particularly valuable for students unable to attend school traditionally, and it can enable them to graduate on time. GAVS, which will cost the state $5.2 million this fiscal year, offers 21 Advanced Placement courses, a half-dozen languages (including Chinese and Japanese), and a credit recovery program, which was established in 2007. A total of 127 GAVS courses are offered online. “Our main purpose,” says Pat Blenke, Georgia’s interim director of virtual learning, “is to provide access to courses. A smaller school system might not have enough students or a teacher for calculus or German.” Belton of the Morgan County Board of Education is pleased with technology advancements made under Cox’s administration. “Thanks to our challenging AP and IB curriculums, 25 percent more seniors took at least one college-level course, and 30 percent more passed them than both the state and the nation. One in five of our sophomores are taking and passing AP classes through GAVS,” he says. Kudos for Cox Forsyth County Superintendent Buster Evans, who served as a state superintendent for 13 years, says Cox increased the rigor of Georgia’s performance standards and created an assessment program that matches the state curriculum. “Superintendent Cox has taken on some significant challenges and made some fantastic achievements over the past eight years,” he says. “She has done an overwhelming job with the performance standards, which are fueling the increases we are seeing.” March 2010 41 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - March 2010

District Administration - March 2010
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Curriculum Update
Conversations
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Toward a More Perfect Union
The Moxie of Kathy Cox
Logging On to Learn
Battling Sexual Abuse
Supervisor’s Opinion
Problem/Solution
Crisis Response
Product Focus
New Products
Tech Disruptions

District Administration - March 2010