Jerry Weast Retires

Today, Superintendent Jerry Weast announced that he will be retiring when his contract expires at the end of June 2011. I wanted to hear how he would summarize his tenure at MCPS: the aspects he was proudest of, whether he had any regrets, and his advice for the next superintendent. Therefore, I went to the press conference at the Carver Center. Never one to miss an opportunity to hold a press conference, Jerry Weast spoke about his service for thirty years as a superintendent, and repeatedly expressed pride in his employees. He stressed that he felt like he had empowered staff to have the commitment to close the achievement gap, and that while we were not there yet, the staff was ready to go to the next level. He advised the next superintendent to “fight for every dollar you need, and fight hard.” If critics disagree, Weast said, “quit responding to everything that comes at you.”

I waited to hear Jerry Weast mention the 12% percent of MCPS students who receive special education services. One student out of every eight in MCPS has an Individual Education Plan. But while Weast touted his accomplishments with students of every race, ethnicity, and poverty status, he was silent as to special education students. Why? Perhaps it is because his record doesn’t stand up to scrutiny in that area. Of the schools that failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), most of them fell short because of special education. During his tenure, Jerry Weast decimated the full continuum of special education programs and services while the current Board of Education stood by and let it happen. It is not surprising, therefore, that he didn’t mention progress for students with disabilities among any of his accomplishments.

The lagging achievement of students with disabilities is a problem that our county cannot afford to ignore any longer. We need to establish a true continuum of high quality special education programs and services. We must involve parents and families in the decisionmaking process about the education of their children with special needs, and our schools must be held accountable for providing the required services. And the new Board of Education needs to find and hire a superintendent that will give special education the attention it has long required.