Questions raised on school critic's motives

I am writing in response to John M. Comer’s letter in the Feb. 2 issue of the Apalachicola and Carrabelle Times. As a Franklin County graduate, a parent, and an educator, I am obviously offended. As condescending as some of the comments in Mr. Comer’s letter were, they were actually not as abhorrent in nature as his previous communications with the school administrators of Franklin County. In one of the communications in which he gives the subject “FCSD is an archetype of community cannibalism,” he describes himself as an outsider “whose educational experience, qualifications, and references are far superior to anyone in FCSD” and that FCSD staff members are “cannibalizing the children” of Franklin County. He goes on to question whether “something is in the Franklin County water that is dumbing-down Franklin County students” and finishes by asking faculty members “how do you sleep at night after spending the day cannibalizing your students, their parents, and your community?”

For starters, I have never eaten a student – I promise. I had to ask myself what Mr. Comer’s motive was in sending such communication. It quickly became apparent: He would like to offer a program to turn “fix” our students and make them all Level 4 performers. What a great idea! Although Franklin County has made great strides in educating its students, there is always room for improvement and those of us who dedicate our lives to that very mission would be very anxious to learn of any program that could produce such results, particularly from a man who claims to have his home phone on the Harvard Admissions Office speed dial and evidently is a very important person in the Channel Islands.

So, I visited one of Mr. Comer’s websites, www.SchoolingForAllStudents.com, which has some fabulous charts and graphics, but does not give any references from those who have used and improved because of this “program”. On another of Mr. Comer’s websites, www.retrac.com , Mr. Comer expresses his discontent with public schools, stating that “US schools have created a whole new segment of American society – Professional Parasites” and again offers his “program” as a solution.

I just had to find out more information about this program. So, in this digital age, I “Googled” it. Alas, I only found the same two websites already mentioned, so I amended my search asking for information on places where this program has been used and found to be effective. I got the same two websites. So, I looked, and I looked, and I looked some more. You get the picture.

Well, as one who always gives the benefit of the doubt, I attempted to contact Mr. Comer directly. I called the number given in his previously mentioned correspondence and was greeted by a female who identified herself as Mr. Comer’s wife. I told her that I was intrigued on several levels about Mr. Comer’s comments and “statistics” and asked for references. She said that she was unable to provide any. I said that I didn’t understand and asked her for assistance. She stated that Franklin County was asked to try something “new” and that if it was something “new” then there wouldn’t be any references, now would there? She was not able to provide me with the name of a single school district, school, or individual student who could attest to this “program.” Not one single letter of praise, not one single testimonial from a school district. Does anyone else reading this feel like this is too much to ask under the circumstances? I left both my personal and work phone numbers, as well as my email address, and was promised that Mr. Comer would contact me soon to answer my questions. To date, I have had no response.

Now, Mr. Comer may be quite the intellectual. He follows his name with EA-4. Again, Google doesn’t recognize it. Self-created? Who knows? But to state that the socioeconomic status of a student has little to do with student achievement is ludicrous. Both the American Psychological Association and Health Services Research by PubMed Central go to considerable lengths to describe many of the differences experienced by students on the high end and on the low end of the spectrum. Are there exceptions to any rule or generalization? Of course there are, but to suggest that students in regions where average incomes are very high as opposed to regions where they are not have the same experiences, and often expectations, is questioning common sense. The bottom line is that I work diligently every day to help to make up those differences for my students, as do my colleagues, administrators, and many of my students’ parents.

Franklin County schools have graduated many professional, successful people and will continue to do so. Will every one of our students go to college? Probably not, but many do. In addition, many are happy, healthy, productive members of society who have taken paths different than college.

I’m not a PollyAnna; I do, however, question Mr. Comer’s motives and his refusal to acknowledge the positive things taking place in Franklin County Schools. As if I could possibly end this letter on a better note, I just had to pause to read a text from my son telling me about the 101 that he just made on his college math exam. Yes, he is a Franklin County graduate.

Respectfully,

Donna Barber