Time for school board to stop charade (part 1) — John Freshwater controversy

[gunzaspawn]

I love how everybody gets loud on "under god!" like it wasn't added in the early 1950's

[josh18207]

Mt. Vernon used to be compared to Mayberry... Now we're in the shadow of Dover, PA... or are they in our shadow?

[edelfrink1]

It's a shame that it's so difficult to fire someone who is obviously incompetent, dangerous and pushing a religious agenda. Hopefully other school districts will learn from this and have a low tolerance for these fundamentalist religious shenanigans.

[mountvernon1805]

Mr. Freshwater is not "obviously incompetent" if you look at the test results of his students. His students met and exceeded state standards on the OAT test.

[BuffyJoi]

@mountvernon1805 In fact, Mount Vernon grade 8 science scores have never been at the minimum required by the state of Ohio, which is 75%. When Mr. Freshwater was teaching, 67% passed the test in 07 and 71% passed in 08. Students did not meet, let alone exceed state minimum requirements.

[mountvernon1805]

@BuffyJoi Your information is incorrect. In 2008 Freshwaters students passed the OAT at the rate of 77 percent. (See my article, School Overlooked Key Information.)

[mountvernon1805]

@BuffyJoi Also, according to judge Gregory Frost, (12-08-09):

"During the 2007-2008 school year, Freshwater's students, as a group, earned the highest proficiency scores on the standardized Ohio Achievement Tests when comparing Freshwater's students scores to all of the other eighth grade groups taught by any other teacher employed by the Board of Education"

[mountvernon1805]

@BuffyJoi Continued judge Gregory Frost:

"Freshwater was the only Mount Vernon Middle School science teacher who achieved a 'passing' score on the Ohio Achievement Test despite Freshwater having the most students with individualized education plans. Eighty-nine percent of Freshwaters students achieved a passing score on the topic of 'Evolutionary Theory,' a topic within the 'Life Science' curriculum."