Last week the school committee gave Superintendent Maria Geryk a positive review, rating her as "proficient" in management and operations and family and community engagement, "near-exemplary" in curriculum instruction and assessment, and "exemplary" in her professional culture standard.

This evaluation was written by Pelham school committee member Debbie Gould, the spouse of a teacher at Amherst Regional High School, and was based on the comments of eight of the nine members of the committee, only three of whom live in Amherst. (Steve Rivkin resigned from the committee on Jan. 1 and was therefore not asked to submit a review, and comments by Rob Spence were submitted late and were therefore not included).

The Bulletin article on this evaluation also noted that the discussion regarding Geryk's performance included "none of the dissension that marked her selection a year ago," since neither Steve Rivkin nor I remained on the committee.

Certainly if I had remained on the School Committee, I would have used a different criteria for evaluation - perhaps because unlike any of the eight members who completed the evaluation, I actually have children attending the Amherst elementary schools. I believe at least some portion of Geryk's evaluation should reflect the current objective reality of education in those schools, since she has served for nearly two years as their leader.

In 2011, the Amherst elementary schools failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) on the state MCAS test in both English Language Arts and Math. This failure in both subjects was for the schools as a whole, and for every single sub-group measured by the state: Asian/Pacific Islanders, whites, special education students, low-income students, Hispanic/Latino students and students with limited English proficiency.

In 2011, the Amherst elementary schools performed worse than the state average on the English Language Arts MCAS test in virtually all sub-groups. Fifty-nine percent of low-income students in the Amherst elementary schools failed to reach proficiency, compared to 51.5 percent of such students in the state as a whole. Similarly, 59 percent of African-American students in Amherst were not proficient compared to 50 percent statewide, as were 61 percent of Latino/Hispanic students compared to 55 percent statewide. Of particular concern, given Superintendent Geryk's long-term leadership in special education, 82 percent of Amherst special education students failed to reach proficiency, compared to 70 percent in the state as a whole.

In 2010-2011, enrollment in the Amherst elementary schools was 1,186 compared to 1,258 students the prior year, and 1,314 the year before that. This drop in enrollment of nearly 10 percent is larger than projections based on demographics, and likely reflects families with means making other choices. This exodus is also seen in the regional schools in which a number of families with high involvement in the schools (former PGO leaders, School Council members, Amherst Education Fund board members, principals, former School Committee members, leaders of the 2010 override effort) have opted out of the public schools for their own children.

Despite the declining enrollment, the budget for the schools continues to increase.

In 2010 Amherst schools spent $16,413 per student at the elementary level and $17,144 at the regional level, considerably more than the state average of $13,055 per student, and substantially more than the $12,068 per student spent by Northampton, $10,141 in Hadley, and $12,158 in Longmeadow.

Over the last two years, Geryk has instituted many programs designed to improve school performance, paid for in part by the passage of the 2010 override. These programs include hiring two additional administrators (making over $110,000 each) and incorporating an expensive coaching model. Unfortunately, these programs have no track record of success elsewhere. In implementing them, the superintendent has explicitly ignored the recommendations of the outside expert hired to evaluate the math program.

As a parent with three children in our public schools, and a taxpayer in Amherst, I hope that in the future School Committee members will not be satisfied simply with personable plans to improve achievement in our schools but instead expect objective data showing improved outcomes and results.

Catherine A. Sanderson, a professor of psychology at Amherst College, is a former member of the Amherst and Regional School Committees.