During his short tenure as superintendent of Kansas City's Public Schools, Anthony Amato earned his share of detractors. Since he wasn't around long enough to develop ideas, it wasn't clear if the programs he implemented would have long-term results or if they were prepackaged methods designed to provide a quick academic bump that would wear off within a year or two.
It didn't help that about half the school board hated him, as well as many teachers. Were they mad a necessary reformer wouldn't accept their disastrous methods? Or was he just a good salesman who didn't like dissent? Amato recently finished his first semester at his new job running the Stockton Unified School District in California. We know this for sure: It helps if the people you work with don't hate you.
Regarding Amato's public persona: He seems to have avoided most of the pitfalls he fell into here. An editorial in the Stockton Record praises Amato for delivering "Big Time" on his promises to improve the district's performance. The article lists a few good PR moves that might've helped his image here -- like coordinating city churches to ring their bells as a symbolic wake up call and announcing the district's poor education stats that hadn't been made public before his arrival. He's getting more than three times as many students to take the SATs, and test scores seem to be rising. A search of Stockton's local media finds almost no criticism of Amato from his new school board, unlike Kansas City officials who publicly took shots at him.
Amato has also made the same moves he was criticized for in Kansas City. Some teachers claimed Amato's push of the multimillion dollar Success For All reading program was simply a canned move that he'd repeated in every district he'd run, regardless of its long-term effectiveness or the district's needs, because he knew it looked good. Several called the program's training process here rushed and chaotic. Immediately upon taking the Stockton position, he announced that district would adopt the program.
Amato started the Kansas City job in July 2006, and announced his resignation in January 2008. By then the board had given him a critical performance review. Others accused him of calling female board members "bitches" when talking to staff.
We hope Amato gets to run his programs in Stockton for the rest of his current, four-year contract. Before Kansas City, he'd typically go into a desperate district, have a honeymoon period and leave after fewer than three years, with the words like "stand-offish" and "aristocratic" thrown around in his wake. It'd be nice to see whether his ideas really work in the long run. -- Peter Rugg
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Um, you do realize that this was written in January 2009 when Amato was still superintendent. Just because you didn't find it until January 2010 doesn't mean it was not valid when it was written. Use your brain!!!! Look and read before you write stupid and asinine comments.
Amato's no longer the superintendent in Stockton... from one writer to another: Check your sources, Mr. Rugg!
I did... after reading this blog, and since I am currently working on a piece re: the KCMSD, I decided to put in a call to Stockton's BoE to see if I could clench a quick chat with Amato about the key pieces he's put in place that he would have done here, should he have been given the same chance as you purport he had been given there.
No go. Amato was canned in late September:
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/...
As lovetoteach says, there are big problems in Stockton too. www.savesusd.com says it all. Bets on how long this 4 year contract will actually last? May the next district do the research first!
unfortunately the "success for all reading" (SFA) is not that successful. It is truly a waste of taxpayers dollars. Because of this program coming into play. Other curriculum had to suffer. Its really nothing new. A teacher could of been given information to how to better to teach kids to read and understand and implement into her/his curriculum, instead of wasting taxpayers money on the extra materials and books this SFA. The SAT prep courses that is being spent from taxpayers money($1000 per student) is also a waste. The only reason kids are taking the course is because they are force to take it. The only reason they take the test because Anthony Amato makes it free for them, with tax payers money. In reality even though of all the kids who take the SAT how many honestly will go to college? If 1200 kids take the free SAT and 1000 goes to college that would be a great investment for the kids. However that's not reality. Because of the changes Anthony Amato has made to Stockton Unified School District, it is now in a deep hole. On top of it he requested a $30,000 raise during this time, which got approved since it was in his contract. How could he ask for a raise at this time of crisis, while others are getting laid off in the district. He is having problems here in Stockton, California.
We be real conservative around here and not much fer change *spit tobacco*
That Amato guy wuz tryin' ta change the schools, which, like I wuz sayin', we don take too kindly to *scratch crotch*
So we sent 'em head off to the land of fruits and nuts and edumacate dem dere Cali-queers *burp*
We now gots just what we need what with our sophistamacated KC School District folk, so who's the biatch now, Anthony *mount farm animal*
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