Former Lynchburg schools chief resigns post in N.C.
Former Lynchburg City Schools superintendent Jim McCormick
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By Annie McCallum
Published: July 1, 2008
Former Lynchburg City Schools superintendent Jim McCormick, who left the division in 2005, resigned from his post as a schools superintendent in North Carolina on Monday.
The reason for the unexpected resignation is unclear, officials in Lee County said when reached by phone today.
Before leaving Lynchburg, McCormick was at the helm of the city school system for 14 years.
Lee County School Board Chairman Bill Tatum said today that during McCormick’s four-year tenure there he reduced the dropout rate and increased test scores. McCormick was evaluated as recently as May and his contract was extended at that time until 2010.
For more information on the circumstances surrounding the resignation, check back with NewsAdvance.com or see Wednesday’s The News & Advance.
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( markluvslabs ) on July 09, 2008 at 2:42 am
If he was a demanding boss and had high expectations and standards for his teachers, then you can bet they were happy to see him go. Teachers never want to be held accountable and produce a very substandard product as a whole. Yet they never cease to beg and whine for more money, waste taxpayer money, and not only belly ache for constant pay increases but always demand them. If teachers were held accountable and parents could have a choice as to where to send their kids to school, you can bet that Jim McCormick’s school would be right at the top. My contact with him was always at a distance, but he was very professional, answered questions, and seemed to be driven to do a good job. It’s a real shame that the liberal, do-nothing, excuse ridden mentality of the NEA has permeated itself all the way throughout the local level of education.
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Posted by ( bigjimm ) on July 02, 2008 at 4:32 pm
And there you have it folks, teachers are not to be discussed in a public forum. They are much too sensitive for that.
You want me to talk about firemen, police, etc., when the chiefs leave and I have a comment, I will make it but no public employee is above discussion. Besides, what has that got to do with this?
Teacher this is the most ridiculous thing I have read yet on this site. I was discussing my admiration for Jim McCormick and for the relief felt by the teachers at the three schools I was involved with at the time and let me tell you, at those schools the sentiment was almost unanimous. He was a demanding boss, he was in charge, and the teachers were happy to see him go.
I have sat across the table from him more times than I can count discussing just the things you have attempted to instruct me about.
Further, I have run three children through Lynchburg City Schools and I don’t need your advice on how to deal with less than satisfactory teachers. I find your advice about dealing with my children’s teachers to be insulting and condescending and if this is how you react to criticism and how you read people I pray that my children had no contact with you.
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Posted by ( teacher ) on July 02, 2008 at 12:33 pm
“Teacher is it your position that all teachers are above criticism and do a credible job? There are a lot of bad ones and they just stay year after year. Why is that?”
Teachers are not above criticism, but that criticism needs to be between the teacher and the parents and the supervising administrator, not in a public forum. We are all human, and there are certainly those who work hard and those who need to work harder in all places of employment. My arguement with you, Big Jim, is that this criticism isn’t about the Kroger employees or our firemen, it’s a negative toward the LCS teachers. Your comments toward teachers is a generalization and even though you may not intend it, it is offensive. Complaints about your child’s teacher should be shared with the principals after talking with the teacher first. To make broad statements like you have only causes parents to have unnecessary fears and may even cause them to not even give public education a chance. As for the “bad ones” remaining, the only person who can explain that is the supervising administrator who has observed the “bad” teacher. The LCS policy is that the teacher or employee has the right to a plan of assistance prior to dismissal when a fixable problem is observed. If improvement has not been made, then dismissal follows. Certainly, there are some behaviors or reasons that would be grounds for automatic dismissal, but everything is stated in the employee handbook. LCS is doing a lot to improve instruction. All employees will be trained using Skillful Teacher beginning this fall, and a new evaluation plan will be used. Big Jim...you may want to take a look, and if you have specific concerns, talk to your child’s principal. As for Dr. McCormick, I hope he is happy no matter why he chose to leave. He is a nice person.
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Posted by ( bigjimm ) on July 02, 2008 at 8:18 am
hawkeye and teacher please, I was offering an opinion on his support based upon the schools and teachers I knew at the time. Of course I haven’t polled all 1600 teachers and it’s a stupid assertion that you hate generalities. Life is a generality and if you only like facts then you will be very unhappy.
It was his way or the highway and he got results and the teachers GENERALLY did not like it a bit.
The statement about teacher credibility is in itself rather incredible. So now criticism of teachers is off of the table. There is plenty of blame to go around but if the teachers want more credibility then they should look in the mirror and do a better job. Administration should work to get rid of the bad ones instead of promoting them and giving them tenure.
Teacher is it your position that all teachers are above criticism and do a credible job? There are a lot of bad ones and they just stay year after year. Why is that?
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Posted by ( monroe ) on July 02, 2008 at 12:50 am
As a parent I was glad to see him go away from Lynchburg. The farther the better.
We have a great administrator now, although I was skeptical at first. He is a man of integrity something his predecessor lacked.
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Posted by ( teacher ) on July 01, 2008 at 10:32 pm
“Most of the teachers were happy to see him go and that in itself is an indication he was doing something right."…
What do you mean by this?? I think he was probably ready for a change after being here for so long, and I would agree that some teachers were ready for change too. We all need fresh ideas and perspective and with a change in leadership, you get that, but the connotation with your comment doesn’t sound very favorable toward teachers. I hope that wasn’t your intent. I really appreciate when comments are made to support and improve public education, not undermine teacher credibility.
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Posted by ( hawkeye ) on July 01, 2008 at 3:43 pm
bigjimm,
I agree with you on Mr. McCormick’s skill and leadership ability. Your last statement however I’m not so sure about. Were you associated with the LCS during his tenure? And of the 1600 employees of the system, were MOST happy to see him leave? (Maybe 1000 or so?) Generalizations kill me! Let’s wait and see why he resigned.
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Posted by ( bigjimm ) on July 01, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I worked with Jim McCormick for several years on different committees and groups and he is a man a great skill and leadership ability. You may not always agree with him but he led from the front and had no problem making decisions.
Most of the teachers were happy to see him go and that in itself is an indication he was doing something right.
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