Teachers Provide Feedback to Key District Leaders

Press Release

The Charleston Teacher Alliance is releasing the results of its annual school leadership survey. 

The survey was completed by 682 Charleston County teachers. The results provide feedback on the leadership skills of principals, the superintendent, and the board of trustees.

A detailed report can be found here. The raw data can be downloaded here.

Highlights: 

• Teachers rated Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait as “Minimally Effective” with a score of 2.23 (out of 4). This is the 4th consecutive year the score has increased.
• The school board was also rated “Minimally Effective” (2.05 out of 4), its highest designation since the ratings went into effect in 2016.
• 40 schools were rated “Effective” (up from 32 in 2019), 14 were rated “Minimally Effective” (down from 23 in 2019), and 2 were rated “Ineffective” (down from 4 in 2019).
• Charleston teachers designated 16 schools as “Honor Roll Schools” for having principals who demonstrated outstanding leadership.
• 2 schools were designated “At-Risk” for overall ineffective principal performance.
• 75% of CCSD teachers agreed that the climate at their school is positive, and they are happy with the working environment.

Statement from Charleston Teacher Alliance Director, Jody Stallings: 

This year was all about managing the pandemic, and the survey shows that principals, the superintendent, and the school board exceeded expectations.

From the beginning, administration, board, and teachers (by a slim majority) agreed that kids needed to be back in school. The district, under the leadership of Dr. Postlewait, did not fly by the seat of its pants. Before anyone stepped foot on campus, the superintendent gathered input from teachers and had an action plan in place. Critically, individual schools were given the flexibility to adapt plans to meet the needs of their students.

When teachers said midway through the year that safety measures weren’t being carefully implemented, the district stepped up and made necessary improvements.

Teachers worked extraordinarily hard all year, most teaching to both in-person and online students. The district supported us, giving us the flexibility and resources necessary to do our jobs effectively. CCSD rewarded teachers with $1000 tax-free bonuses and provided all teachers with raises going into 2022.

While survey ratings are on the upswing, there is still room for improvement, particularly when it comes to school discipline, removing unnecessary non-instructional burdens, optimizing class sizes, and supporting teacher decisions in the classroom.

Overall, teachers in CCSD are blessed to have made it through the year as we did, and much respect is afforded to principals, the superintendent, and the board for guiding us through.

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