Davis End-of-Year Statement

APS Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr. has posted his view of 2011 and plans for a success 2012 in the Atlanta Public Schools system.

Dear APS students, parents, employees and supporters,

As we close an especially tumultuous and difficult year and embark on what is shaping up to be perhaps an equally challenging and eventful New Year, I thought this would be a good opportunity to pause and reflect on what we have all been through during 2011 and also venture a look ahead at what is in store for us in 2012.

We all have been through a lot over the past six months at APS, managing a major test cheating scandal that made international headlines; successfully resolving an accreditation challenge; launching the new school year with new leadership in nearly half of our schools and at district headquarters; and initiating a major culture change driven by a focus on ethics and transparency.

Looking ahead, we will be navigating through rough seas for a considerable time, including implementing a major redistricting initiative; realigning financial and personnel resources to the district’s primary mission; and continuing to infuse culture change and process improvements throughout the organization.

While our challenges have certainly been numerous and major over the past year, we are managing them in a measured and responsible manner, while keeping our primary focus on the main task of providing a rigorous, nurturing and quality education for all of our students. The recent release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores in reading and math affirms that we have not been swayed from our main mission by these challenges and events. These results show that APS students had the most gains in 3 of 4 categories tested compared with other urban reporting districts. This is a truly significant achievement that clearly shows that our student academic improvement is real and sustainable over a long period of time.

I hasten to point out however, that while the data show that our teachers are providing tremendous value, it also indicates that we are not close to where we need to be on absolute achievement levels.

As we move into the New Year, my main focus will be on ensuring that APS continues to escalate this level of student academic performance into the future, regardless of emerging challenges and events. This is the bottom line for us, because it constitutes a quantifiable measure of how we are preparing today’s children for tomorrow’s world. The foundation of this preparation is a good, solid education that can take a student virtually anywhere he or she is capable of going in life. In this effort, failure is not an option. In fact, it is not in our vocabulary, when it comes to positive results in the area of student achievement.

Lastly, the New Year will also see an escalation in the safety and security of our schools, as we will increase spending in this area for enhancements in personnel and equipment to ensure a safer and more secure learning environment.

I thank each and every one of you for your unwavering encouragement and support over the past six months. I look forward to your sustaining hard work and assistance as we continue to effectively manage our way through the challenges that lie ahead.

With a sense of gratitude and best wishes for the season,

Erroll B. Davis, Jr.
Superintendent