‘Talent absent utilization and action has no value if the talent is not employed to enhance the skills and abilities of the district’s clients — enrolled scholars,” said Goliath Davis. Boca Ciega High School Principal Jennifer Gil is shown with Goliath Davis.
GOLIATH J. DAVIS, III, Ph.D. | Contributor
PINELLAS COUNTY — I am writing this column with great regret. Last school year, I served as a community advocate for a parent whose child was enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) English Language Composition at Boca Ciega High School. Advanced Placement courses fall under Goal 3 of the Bridging the Gap Plan, designed to close the achievement gap in Pinellas District Schools. Scholars pursue AP courses to prepare for Advanced Placement examinations, which, if passed, will allow them to earn college credit for the course and waive the need to take the course in college, thereby saving money for both scholars and their parents.
In preparation for the parental grievance, I conducted research and confirmed the parents’ allegation that the AP teacher in question was ineffective. Sample data for the 2023-24 school year comparing AP teacher pass rates for Boca Ciega and other AP teachers in the district indicated Boca Ciega’s AP English Comp pass rate was five percent, compared to 15 percent for Gibbs and Lakewood, 46 percent for East Lake, 40 percent for St. Pete High, and 71 percent for Palm Harbor High. Even when compared to schools with similar demographics, Gibbs and Lakewood, Boca Ciega’s pass rate was atrocious.
Ninety-two scholars enrolled in the Boca Ciega AP English Teacher sat for the AP College Examination. Only five students passed: one Black female, three non-Black females, and one non-Black male. Of the 39 Black students who tested, 34 were female and five were male.
The teacher in question had taught AP English for approximately 10 years. She had previously taught at Bay Point Middle School, where her performance was also an issue. Research also revealed that the principal at Bay Point was less tolerant of the teacher’s inability to serve students properly and removed scholars from her classes. Frustrated by the constant oversight and accountability, the teacher transferred to Bogie, where appropriate oversight and accountability have been nonexistent.
When brought to the deputy superintendent’s attention, appropriate measures were taken to remove the teacher in question from the AP instructors’ position. I commend the action. However, I recently received a disturbing call indicating the teacher was still teaching. I argued with the caller, who insisted the teacher was still active, but in the freshman and sophomore grades. I also disputed that assertion because I know the teacher had been removed from those grades, given that they are foundational, and poor scholar performance impacts the school grade.
Further inquiry proved I was wrong and the caller was correct. The said teacher is no longer teaching AP English but has been given a section that includes tenth-grade scholars.
My loyalty and duty are to my constituents, the most important of which are Black students, specifically, and all students in general, enrolled in Pinellas District Schools. No student should be adversely impacted by poor teaching and ineffective school policies, procedures, and practices. The teacher in question readily turns to the teacher’s union and, given the teacher’s many years of service, does not fall under the law enacted by the legislature that abolished tenure. However, something must change. The teacher is hurting scholars, and we cannot allow that to continue. I am told the teacher is capable, but I am not impressed. Talent absent utilization and action has no value if the talent is not employed to enhance the skills and abilities of the district’s clients — enrolled scholars.
No scholar is expendable, and I call on everyone in the line of authority to ensure scholars striving to be their very best are not continually subjected to inadequate teaching and instruction. I believe it is morally reprehensible to knowingly subject scholars, regardless of race, gender, or economic status, to less than effective instruction by the proven ineffective teacher at Boca Ciega High School. District — It’s your move.
To contact Dr. Goliath Davis, please call 727-348-5757 or email him at GoliathDavis3@gmail.com.
Dr. Goliath Davis, a former St. Petersburg police chief and deputy mayor, advocates for education in Pinellas County, with a focus on improving Black student achievement.
So, let’s actually get into this with some hard truths. Not a whole lot of power is given to teachers to deviate/scaffold/“meet the students where they are” without a pretty hefty hand slap (which is what said educator does each and every day they step foot on that campus, they give their absolute best. I’ve personally sat in on a few classes). And, that is the whole point of education, is it not? Not only do teachers try their very best for their students with accommodations but often as well for those that don’t (and probably need them but that’s a soapbox for another day).
The “AP for All” business is a nasty one where every student regardless of ability could be (and often are) placed in the course just for a school grade (again, a soapbox for another day). You compare Boca Ciega to those other schools where their numbers for AP courses per class, especially in English Comp, aren’t as large as Bogie’s, because trying to grade 50+ essays per assignment is not conducive, effective, or efficient (or prolly not legal and definitely not recommended by College Board) but I digress. Maybe it’s time for some introspection that maybe, just maybe, the teacher isn’t inept but my student…may not be “advanced” which OKAY and something that parents have to come to terms with (it’s okay for your kids to be REGULAR, they’re not ALL special…I’ll step back down now).
Now, let us address the TWO elephants in the room: 1) I find it very ironic in a “pot calling the kettle black” kind of way that this particular former principal at Bay Point has more grievances against themselves than this one teacher at not one but TWO schools in PCS (that I know of) to the extent that they were placed at Transportation (grievances there too) until the district could figure out something to do with said “principal” (You’re Welcome PTech). 2) The same former principal is your fraternity brother… If this was the stock market, we would call this insider trading and we all know what happened to Martha Stewart (That comeback though *claps*). So, Readers, I’d be asking questions of the accessibility of the “data” and “facts” in this puff piece because it’s all supposed to be confidential…? Maybe they’ve sprung a leak somewhere hm…?
Queen checks the King.
There is absolutely an issue with students in AP classes they are not prepared for, but placing the responsibility on a teacher and not the program you referred to is where your inquiry fell short. Bridging the Gap program should be called “Putting Band-aids on the Problem” program. Renaming a course “Honors” is not mending the gaps that students have. When the district is hyper-focused on data, courses curriculum is built around passing a test and not the long term skills that are required to be successful in college and careers. There has been no interventions to the foundational skills students are behind in, and instead placed into advanced courses that are meant to build on skills they should have when entering the door. When students who can’t read are placed in AP courses, you can not expect them to pass the end of the year exam. How many of the students enrolled in Boca Ciega’s courses scored a level 3 or higher on their FAST ELA scores? How many passed the FAST writing assessment? What about their attendance percentage? How many failed a classes and retook the credit through credit recovery, which they completed in 3 days? How much of the said teachers year is spent scaffolding and teaching the basic skills that should have been established, instead of starting day 1 with actual AP curriculum? Their socioeconomic status? Now compare those numbers to Palm Harbor. Instead of blaming an educator who spent more time scaffolding AP lessons to overcome the gaps of students who walk through her door, hold the district accountable for moving numbers around to meet the data requirements, but not actually fixing the problem. Since you have loyalty and duty to these students, It’s Your Move!
Dear Goliath Davis,
I am writing not only as a teacher, but as a daughter. The article you published on November 12 was about my mother — a woman who has devoted her entire life to her students and her community.
I grew up watching my mom pour her heart into teaching. She stayed late, bought supplies out of her own pocket, and treated every child in her classroom as if they were her own. Her life’s work is about shaping young minds — and in a few paragraphs, your article attempted to diminish 30 years of dedication.
Your statistics fail to show that my mother’s humanity is what makes her extraordinary. The connections she has built and the lives she has changed cannot be captured by data points. Educational research supports the limits of such statistics. The Economic Policy Institute found that test-based teacher ratings fluctuate due to factors beyond a teacher’s control, and the Brookings Institution shows that observation scores and student test data correlate weakly with actual teaching effectiveness. Numbers alone rarely tell the full story.
For nine consecutive years, she has been rated Highly Effective by Pinellas County Schools. It seems illogical that in just a few months her teaching has become “inadequate,” as you suggest in your article. The “research” you conducted is based on opinions, not in truth. Your claims rely on misinformation and one angry parent’s complaint. The student you mentioned maintained an A in her class and passed the AP exam, key facts that you deliberately left out.
And with all due respect, I question your authority to make such claims. As a former police chief and mayor, you have never stood in front of a classroom full of students — never had to teach a child who is hungry, or comfort one who is hurting, or inspire one who has already been told they won’t succeed. You don’t know what that takes. Yet you chose to publicly judge a woman who has devoted her entire life to doing exactly that.
The version of my mother you described is incomplete. You ignore her years of sacrifice, the hundreds of students she has inspired, and the difference she has made in countless lives. In your article, you wrote that “Black students are the most important.” That statement alone reveals a lack of perspective: all students matter, regardless of race — a principle my mother has lived by every day.
I have seen her impact firsthand. Watching her teach as a child inspired me to become a teacher myself. Her patience, passion, and dedication shaped not only her students but also me. My mother is not a statistic. She is a mentor, a role model, a light. She has earned respect, not ridicule from someone who does not know her, or her profession.
With respect and resolve,
Shannon Avila
Goliath Davis does not report the facts! The teacher in question is very qualified and has the scores to prove it. Not only does she have the scores to prove it but the parent that he so-called advocated for, their student passed the AP exam last school year and wrote a letter to that teacher to thank her for her professionalism. How can you make judgement of what you believe to be an unqualified teacher if you have never been a classroom teacher. Boca Ciega does an excellent job putting the right teachers in the right places. What he is reporting in this article is false and detrimental to the teachers character of whom myself and others can vouch for as being an excellent teacher.
Chasing relevance is hard. Attacking educators to get clicks, likes, and shares is no way to achieve a constructive solution to an issue, that’s the Republican way. How difficult is it to call together those who have an ability to effect change and sit down to have a conversation with some solutions or a desire to work towards a solution? That, productive activity, is something to strive for. Solutions that are student centered should be actively sought, not just spoken about publicly. Plainly said, Sir, either we came to do something or talk about it…I’d rather do something and if you do “care” about your “constituents” (considering how many young Black males you incarcerated) then stop being performative and DO something.