Wendy Costa is the first to say she has been disappointed that, after almost eight years of serving on the Kent County’s Board of Education, she and her colleagues had not met the high standards she set for herself when she first ran for office in 2014. While there have been some wonderful highlights during that time, the fact remains that Kent County Public Schools, like almost every school district in the country, still struggle with test scores and finding qualified teachers.
Those are just a few of the candid observations Wendy discussed with the Spy in advance of voters going to the polls on July 19th for the Maryland primary. She will not be running for reelection. In our chat, she also talks directly about the realities of a small rural region’s governing board, parents’ lack of participation, and the dangers for Kent County as a growing number of children flounder with basic reading skills.
Costa’s observations are particularly valuable given her impressive background. The product of Vassar College; a Masters from Columbia; one of only a handful of women in the early 1980s who won a seat in Texas for her local school district; and a co-founder of one of the most successful charter schools in the country in California, Wendy shares her thoughts about American education as well as some of the challenges that will face the Kent County School District for many years to come.
This video is approximately ten minutes in length.
Jere Lucey says
Wendy for Secretary of Education! Rational change to an education system stuck in the 1950’s.
susan newton-rhodes says
i really appreciated your comments Dr. Costa and would love to see your involvement and participation in the PTSA…i agree that it is significantly important to have families and communities involved! thank you for your insights!
David A Turner says
Costa talks a good analysis. Equity goals supposedly aimed at bolstering African American and other poor kids actually are destroyed by the so-called Equity measures enacted by our system’s Administration. For example: tenure and raises for nothing-much teachers; a policy that discourages homework reading assignments (intended to drag down high achieving students to match the levels that low-achieving Black kids supposedly can reach — actually just hurt all students), Kerwin objectives don’t help Kent County students. Costa targets equity measures two or three times in her interview. Yet, when I heard candidates at the forum for School Board election, not one even raised this concern. McGee is a great institutional memory, but in addition to her, KCPS need some change agents on the Board to challenge the Administration.