Canon-McMillan administrators join governor-elect’s education team
Tom Wolf already toured the halls of Canonsburg Middle School, and now he is asking Canon-McMillan administrators to step into his world. The incoming governor of Pennsylvania extended an invitation to district Superintendent Michael Daniels and middle school Principal Greg Taranto to join his “transition team” for education as he prepares to take office Jan. 20.
“I said ‘absolutely,'” Taranto said of his response to the invitation he and Daniels received this month. “I was quite surprised, and we’re happy to help out in any way. Any time someone at that level asks for local input, you can’t turn that opportunity down.”
The transition teams will work with the outgoing administration of Gov. Tom Corbett to identify issues and challenges in several areas including environmental protection, veterans affairs and transportation, according to Wolf’s website. Twenty people were named to the education team, but only Daniels and Taranto work in Washington County.
The two administrators became acquainted with Wolf when he and members of his campaign toured Canonsburg Middle School in September. Wolf was particularly interested in the district’s “unique” technology initiatives. The middle school has three technology labs and provides students with an 18-week course in robotics, programming, game design and computer-aided design.
Taranto said he isn’t entirely sure yet what his duties will entail, but he looks forward to providing input. He said he would like to address what he sees as an overemphasis on standardized testing, which he feels is not the best measure of a school’s talents and potential.
“Schools do so much more than give standardized tests. All those things that are essential in developing a student are not calculated in the score,” he said. “That cookie-cutter approach of evaluating schools has to change, because it’s not working.”
Daniels said he was “pleasantly surprised” to be invited onto the transition team.
“I look forward to analyzing the issues and challenges that were identified by the current administration,” he said in an email. “My contribution to the transition team will be to establish realistic priority goals for the Wolf administration to achieve positive advances in public education for all students in Pennsylvania.”