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Massachusetts Superintendent in Hot Water over Writing Test

Ohanian Comment: A lot of people e-mailed me the previous article about this flap: a superintendent who can't seem to pass the English proficiency exam required of educators. It's the kind of thing that evokes laughter, but I think I read the piece differently from other people. I read it with sadness. And then anger.

I have no way of knowing if Wilfredo Laboy is a good educator. What I do know is that the ability to write a Standardisto essay has nothing to do with performing that job. Writing a Standardisto essay has nothing to do with being able to perform most jobs.

I'm not laughing about Superintendent Laboy's troubles.

Yes, teachers should be proficient in English, but let's have a serious conversation about proficiency means before excluding some. And Laboy is a superintendent: different skills required there.

How many people passing judgment on Laboy have written an essay since graduating from college?
I've written lots: It's what I do for a living. Anyone who has read my essays, however, can see that I might well have trouble passing a Standardisto 5-paragraph theme requirement.


The embattled school superintendent in Lawrence is passing up the next chance to try to pass an English proficiency exam, opting instead to give himself more time to study.

The delay means Wilfredo Laboy's results will be available just two days before the end of 2003, the state deadline to pass the test.

Laboy, 52, whose first language is Spanish, has been under fire over revelations he has failed a basic English proficiency exam three times. All Massachusetts educators have been required to pass the test since 1998.

With his $156,000-a-year job on the line, Laboy told city officials he wants to take a pass on the September exam. The next exam is in November, with results due Dec. 29.

``As a practical matter, we need to get this resolved by the end of the calendar year,'' said state Board of Education Chairman James Peyser.

If Laboy does not pass the exam, said state Department of Education spokeswoman Kimberly Beck, then Peyser ``is seriously going to have to look at opening up recruitment for the position.''

Lawrence School Committee members were unaware the leader they hired to restore credibility to their troubled district couldn't pass the proficiency exam, said board member Amy C. McGovern.

``When he was hired, I think our entire community was hoping we would finally end the circus of events that has sort of plagued the school system for years,'' McGovern said. ``I believe the only way that that can be done is by paying attention to detail, and that's something that in this case was overlooked.''

Also of concern is Laboy's statement that he planned to use Lawrence public school teachers to tutor him. Laboy did not return repeated calls for comment.

``I don't think he should get tutoring through our school department. I think it's something he pays for on his own,'' McGovern said.

The flap comes at an awkward time. Just a few weeks ago, the superintendent placed more than 20 bilingual teachers who failed a different English proficiency test on paid leave.

Kathleen Kelley, head of the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers, said there is a double standard at play.

``(The teachers) don't have the option if they haven't passed the test, and they've had only a few weeks to prepare, if that, not three years,'' she said.



— Kevin Rothstein
Educator on hot seat in plan to skip retest
Boston Herald
2003-08-06
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/lawr08062003.htm

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