Tucker a great choice

As a self-proclaimed award-winning journalist, it’s ironic that Joy Overbeck has omitted some relevant facts in the discussion of Dr. Thomas Tucker’s qualifications to lead the Douglas County School District.

He is the country’s only superintendent to be named National Superintendent of the Year by both the NABSE and AASA.

In his first year as superintendent (2008-09) at Licking Heights (Ohio) Local School District, Dr. Tucker led the district in moving up two grades to earn its first “Excellent” rating. In 2012, the Worthington City (Ohio) School District earned “Excellent with Distinction” and was ranked in the top 5 percent for value-added gains (growth) in 2014. Princeton City School District, Ohio’s most diverse, boasts the highest four-year and five-year graduation rates of African Americans, one of the highest in the country. Its overall graduation rate for the Class of 2017 exceeded 94 percent.

In Ohio, performance grades for district and charter schools are assigned for the previous year. In 2016-17, with 80 percent of the students needing to be deemed “proficient” under the new grading system of 26 state tests, less than 4 percent of the state’s 608 traditional public school districts achieved As.

Despite this implicit bias against public education, school districts under Dr. Tucker’s leadership have continued to thrive, advancing student proficiency across the board, a fact not overlooked by the seven-member DCSD board of education when reviewing the field of more than 1,100 applicant inquiries nationwide.

Nicole Summerall

Castle Rock