Superintendent flunks literacy test – 3 times

The superintendent of a Massachusetts school district has failed a required English literacy three times, even though he has put two dozen teachers on unpaid leave for failing a similar exam.

Gov. Mitt Romney will give Wilfredo T. Laboy of the Lawrence schools one more chance to pass the test by December before taking action, via the state Board of Education, to remove him, reports the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune.

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Laboy, a native Puerto Rican whose original language is Spanish, has flunked the Communications and Literacy Skills Test three times.

According to the paper, Laboy blames his failures on a deficiency in grammar and punctuation, and the schools chief now hopes to get tutoring help from district teachers. At least one school committee member, however, thinks he should pay for the tutoring out of his own pocket.

Calling his failure "frustrating" and "emotional," Laboy blamed it partly on lack of preparation and concentration, reported the Eagle-Tribune.

"If you're not an English teacher, you don't look at the rules on a regular basis," Laboy told the Lawrence paper. ''It bothers me because I'm trying to understand the congruence of what I do here every day and this stupid test. That's what, emotionally, I'm so upset about.''

The superintendent plans to skip a chance to take the test in September in favor of a November date.

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"Just like we encourage kids not to walk away from the challenges, I will not walk away from this," Laboy told the paper. "I intend to stay on course and get done whatever I have to get done."

According to the Eagle-Tribune, Laboy is the highest-paid city employee, taking in $156,560 a year.

State Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll defended Laboy.

"The (literacy) test is not easy, particularly for someone whose first language is not English," Driscoll told the paper. "His extensive job responsibilities have made it difficult for him to properly prepare."

The test Laboy failed assesses fundamental reading and writing skills expected of all entry-level teachers, including vocabulary, punctuation, grammar, spelling and capitalization.