Restructuring Duval County Public Schools

[Jaxson]

I read the Times-Union article about the superintendent's plans to reorganize the schools from a 'cluster' system back to the old 'regional' model.
I agree with Dr. Vitti about the need to return to an emphasis on 'feeder patterns' that focus attention on the relationships that elementary, middle and high schools have in their respective communities.  I participated in a series of workshops that encouraged our middle school to collaborate with the elementary and high schools with whom we shared common students.  We shared our thoughts about what students needed to progress from Kindergarten through graduation.  Dr. Wise's unwise work at creating 'clusters' in which elementary, middle and high schools worked in three different directions with little opportunity for vertical alignment.
Dr. Vitti is also making a constructive choice as he streamlines the administration - from the school board building to the school level.  The climate of too many chiefs and not enough Indians forced layers of supervisors to maintain their jobs through excessive scrutiny and blatant micromanagement of school administrators, creating the added pressure for teachers to carry the weight.
Dr. Vitti is the right person for the right time because he has been able to see our system for what it was instead of taking the safe route of rearranging our deck chairs and perpetuating our crony system.  Good for Dr. Vitti!