Showing posts with label Public Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Public Education. Show all posts

It Would Be Funny If It Weren't So Sad
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5:34 PM | Posted in ,
As a public educator I am acutely aware of the constant refrain from the right that I and my brethren are engaged in a super secret liberal scheme to indoctrinate children into the liberal ideology. While I am an unapologetic liberal, I take offense to these accusations as I pride myself on remaining neutral in the classroom and presenting as many sides to an argument as possible. In fact, during my time as a civics teacher I argued nearly every side of every issue imaginable.

I want my children (both my own and those that I teach) to be able to analyze the various issues out there and determine for themselves what it is they believe. It does not matter to me whether they become liberals or conservatives. It matters to me that they are able to think for themselves.

That is precisely why things like this are so sad:

MISS KITTY IS A CONSERVATIVE PRIMER
Her story teaches children the elemental components of freedom in a humorous, entertaining and fashion. When Miss Kitty is made to appear before the House Too American Activities Committee (HTAC) for her protest of the National Mandatory Indoor Cat Act of 2008, her conservative principles are put to the test with the often ludicrous questions and comments she must bear at the hands of five far left Democrat congressional representatives.

MISS KITTY EXPOSES THE LUNACY OF LEFTIST IDEOLOGY
Miss Kitty, however, not only holds her own with the committee, she exposes their hypocrisy, and the idiocy of leftist political ideas such as the disregard for property rights, the thievery of wealth by those in control, nationalization of private companies, and other current day phenomena such as media bias, America bashing, disrespect of the office of the presidency, the ridicule of patriotism, etc.

I get that you want to protect your children from the evil public school educators such as myself, but at what point do you realize that this is every bit the indoctrination which you decry from the left? There certainly must be a better way to teach conservative principles in comparison to liberal principles without demonizing one side of the political spectrum. You have got to believe that your ideology is strong enough to withstand an honest examination of both sides.

Additionally, if your young child is super excited to hear about the story of the conservative kitty defeating the evil liberals, or vice versa for that matter, then your young child needs to get out more and socialize with other children because I can guarantee that children aren't out there worrying about these things. Like I said, it would be funny it weren't so sad...

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Whatever Happened To Local Control?
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At my recent Education Minnesota Lobby Day there was a bill that caught my eye:

SF372/HF0586: Instituting a freeze on salaries and wage rates for government employees

Essentially, the bill would freeze pay for ALL government employees, including teachers, for a period of 2 years. Once this time period has expired, the bill even makes it illegal to retroactively make up for any lost wages incurred by the freeze.

While I am not necessarily opposed to a pay freeze as a method of saving money and more importantly saving jobs within school districts, it seems somewhat hypocritical for a party which touts local control as its mantra to begin dictating salary to local units of government across the state.

There are districts throughout the state with extremely healthy fund balances. For them there is no reason to institute a salary freeze. There are other districts in dire trouble. For them there will most likely be no other option than a salary freeze. If we are so often told to institute a business model, then we must recognize that businesses across the state are not a monolithic group. There are businesses hiring and there are businesses increasing employee salaries. There are also businesses cutting back and freezing pay. Why should school districts be treated any differently?

Shouldn't these decisions be negotiated in good faith between local school districts and their local union? Does the Republican Party have so little respect for school boards and their union counterparts that they would try to circumvent them and abandon their local control principles?
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Do Teacher Unions Deserve The Bashing?
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That is the question posed by educator Clay Burell at Change.org...


My answer as Co-President of my local is obviously a resounding no but my realistic nature requires me to say, well of course they do from time to time. No organization or group of people is wholly perfect and above a bashing from time to time. Unfortunately, the bashing is usually in the form of wholesale blame for all the problems within the education system.

Take, for example, this relatively innocent article from the St. Cloud Times about proposals to suspend or do away with state laws that require schools to start AFTER Labor Day. There is no indication in the article that Education Minnesota opposes the measures to change start dates and I can tell you that they DO NOT. Does that matter? Apparently not given that the comments are devoted to blaming unions for this provision:

This is such bull! This is about faculty, staff and administrators wanting to get to their cabins early!! Don't these people have ENOUGH time off!!! So, we should cut our summer short and the kids (in some schools) suffer without air conditioning so they can "get out early" in Spring.

GOOD!!!! 1. The teachers would have to work a full year for their pay! (However, no raises should be given)
2. We need year round school, maybe our stupid kids could catch up to the rest of the world. Too many are falling behind. One of the main problems is that parents are basically on dates with their kids, they don't parent, they don't discipline or set high enough expectations for their kids.

YEAH, year-round school.
i blame the school system for caving to the union so they get a 3 month vacation on top of all their breaks.

The teachers and the union become a convenient scapegoat for an issue which they do not oppose and which is generally speaking, out of their control. At no point have I ever heard the union to which I am a proud member proclaim opposition to changing the school calendar or creating a year round school system. I only wish that these people making these comments would realize that the summer vacation is not a byproduct of unions but rather a historical construct left over from our agrarian society.

Another example comes from an editorial in the St. Cloud Times bashing Education Minnesota for commercials that ask the state to spare education funding as they look to make deep cuts in government spending.

Are they asking for more money for their union members or for the school districts in general? Every time we turn around, our public school systems are begging for more of our money. When is enough ever enough?

I have yet to see the commercial in question but it seems somewhat combative to immediately use words such as begging. Any increases in funding would be used to keep crucial programs running and fund initiatives that help children learn. Would some of the money pay teachers? Certainly, but one would hope that teachers have as much right to earn a decent living as the next person. Also, this question of when is enough ever enough consistently comes up and I always wonder if they could define what it truly should cost to educate a child in a world where we are consistently being asked to take on more responsibility. So, what should be the perfect amount of money be to educate a child?

Yes, education is important. But where is the accountability for how that money is spent? For example, do the unions base teacher salaries on performance or merely on how long a teacher has been working?

Interestingly, this leads to a speech given by President Obama today in which he touted the need for merit pay. While I have no problem with the basic concepts of merit pay in which teachers are paid more based on a set of accountability standards, there needs to be a long discussion of what we mean by accountability and performance. Reading the above editorial you might think that the evil union would have screamed bloody murder at the initiative laid out by Obama today. Yet, what you got was a measured response that makes me proud of my union:

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a union with more than a million members, said in a statement that "teachers want to make a difference in kids' lives, and they appreciate a president who shares that goal and will spend his political capital to provide the resources to make it happen."

"As with any public policy, the devil is in the details," Weingarten said. "And it is important that teachers' voices are heard as we implement the president's vision."

There are many times when the union must look inside itself and make sure it is being reasonable but the same must be asked of those people who automatically attack the union. It is difficult to take a measured position when those opposing you stake out such a virulent and mean spirited stance against you.

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When Money Matters...
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Of all the conservative memes that I love the most, there are few more endearing than the one in which money doesn't matter when improving our education system. Apparently, all other endeavors in life take money and investment in order to grow and prosper but this is not the case for education.

Such is the crux of Phil Krinkie's mini rant today in the St. Cloud Times:

Dubbed "the New Minnesota Miracle" — referring to a major change to K-12 funding in the early 1970s labeled the "Minnesota Miracle" — it proposes to increase state funding of K-12 education by a whopping $2.6 billion per year according to the State Department of Education. That amounts to a 37 percent annual increase.

Unfortunately, what Mr. Krinkie conveniently leaves out of his editorial is that this money can and will be phased in through a number of years that have yet to be determined. In communicating with my state legislator, Larry Haws, it was made clear that this money is also meant to replace levy referendum around the state which would make part of the cost quoted by Krinkie revenue neutral. Yet this little tidbit of information is also kept from the reader.

Krinkie goes on to provide the classic conservative meme:

That being said, study after study shows there is no direct correlation between education spending and test results.


First, there is no mention of even one of these studies. Second, a few things occurred to me when reading this particular sentence. What if I don't care about "test results"? What if I find tests to be an evaluator of the most trivial forms of knowledge and thus not all that valuable an indicator of success in life? What if I want my children to be successful higher order thinkers and analyzers? Then is there a "direct correlation" between education and money?

Additionally, if there is no "direct correlation" might there be so many indirect correlations as to make increased funding an invaluable tool for improving education? Certainly, more money does not guarantee success but it is a fallacy to believe that money cannot then EVER bring success. Krinkie and his conservative brethren define success through the most narrow scope of success. That scope being through standardized testing. They fail to consider the successes money generates when it creates an after school program that will keep a kid feeling safe and secure from the streets. They fail to consider the successes that come from expensive technologies that open the eyes of a student who doesn't particularly do well in those standardized test types of classes. They fail to consider that money provides time and money provides resources that can oftentimes create positive yet intangible results.

There is more to education than money and there is even more to education than testing but I can tell you this, without testing we could spend a lot more time really educating but without money education becomes significantly more difficult.

By the by, Mr. Krinkie, I found a study that runs counter to your particular claim. While it is not a silver bullet, I would like to point out that I have thus far provided ONE study supporting my claims while you have provided ZERO:

Of course, it's absolutely true that equal funding doesn't erase the acheivement gap on its own. But that doesn't mean money doesn't matter. A new study released (PDF) by the Illinois-based Center for Tax and Budget Accountability divides schools into three distinct categories based on their local property wealth:

- "Flat Grant" districts, which have the greatest amount of available local property wealth.
- "Alternative Formula" districts, which have the second greatest amount of available property wealth.
- "Foundation Formula" districts, which have available local property wealth that ranges from very low to just above average.

And what does the research show? Academic performance -- measured by data from the Illinois State Achievement Test -- is "strongly correlated" with mild increases (between $1,000-$2,200) in spending on instruction. The academic growth is evident in both school districts with low poverty (3-8 percent low income rates) and significant poverty (27-32 percent low income rates).


While the study examines Illinois specifically, there is little reason to believe that the evidence would not hold true here in Minnesota.
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The NEW Minnesota Miracle
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Earlier this month I posted a DFL press conference introducing House File 2 which will drastically change the way public education in Minnesota is financed. In order to get a clearer picture of this legislation, I sent off some questions to one of the bills co-authors, Representative Larry Haws. I have taken the liberty of mixing his answers with some of my own commentary:

The key benefit of this new system will be a simplification of public school funding coupled with increases in state aid and reductions in property taxes. The current system creates a situation in which those areas that can continually raise the property tax revenue to adequately fund schools are doing so while those economically impoverished areas are left with substandard services, not because they don't care about education but because their populations simply cannot handle property tax load. It is creating a system of haves and have nots in public education.

One of the key components that I like and that Haws explained in his response email is the phase in portion of the legislation. Rather than a simple switch over and influx of money into the system, the new Minnesota Miracle is open ended and its phase in period will be determined as it travels through committee and floor analysis.

Sec. 41. PHASE-IN.
Subdivision 1. Baseline revenue. A school district's baseline revenue equals the
revenue amounts for the aid appropriations calculated under Minnesota Statutes, section
126C.20, calculated using the current year's data and the revenue formulas in place in
Minnesota Statutes 2008.
Subd. 2. New revenue. A school district's new revenue equals the revenue amounts
for the aid appropriations calculated under Minnesota Statutes, section 126C.20, calculated
using the current year's data and the revenue formulas in place under this act.
Subd. 3. Phase-in schedule. A school district's revenue amounts for the revenue
formulas listed in subdivisions 1 and 2 equals the district's baseline revenue plus the
percent of the difference specified in subdivision 4 multiplied by the number of years
of the phase-in specified in subdivision 5.
Subd. 4. Percentage. The phase-in percentage equals ... percent.
Subd. 5. Years of phase-in. The new revenue under this section is phased-in over
.. years.
EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective July 1, 2009.

Directly from the email:

Here are a few specifics and benefits of the bill:

  • Increases formula allowance to $7500, indexed to implicit price deflator.
  • Uses a scalable blueprint that can be phased in over several years.
  • Equalizes the pupil weighting system for students in kindergarten through high school to 1.0.
  • Enhances compensatory aid and funding for English language learners.
  • Fully funds voluntary all-day kindergarten
  • Fully funds state special education costs by removing existing caps.
  • Includes a levy referendum offset of $500 per pupil in districts with levies; provides $500 per pupil to districts without a levy in place.
  • Accounts for declining enrollment in every geographic region of the state.
  • Includes innovation and accountability measures including a requirement that a district use 5 % of its basic revenue for innovative, research-based programs to improve academic performance.
  • Creates a new school bond agricultural credit equal to 66 percent of the property tax on agricultural properties attributable to school bond levies. This will help promote equitable funding to rural districts, as it will help rural districts more easily pass referenda--if school districts and voters agree that they are needed.

Unfortunately, in this economic climate I am not sure how much enthusiasm there will be to this kind of wholesale overhaul of the current system. The bill appears to be sound and take into account just this kind of issue with its phase in but only time will tell if it can gain momentum in the state legislature. My hope is that my representative, Larry Haws, will help make this bill happen.
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To Educate Or Not To Educate, That Is The Question!
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5:03 PM | Posted in ,
As an educator, one of the things I am constantly striving for is innovation and improvement in my classroom. As such, I attended a literacy workshop today aimed at improving reading strategies and reading skills within my room as well as within my building.

While the workshop was well done and provided me with several new and innovative ways to bring literacy into my history class, there was one thing that struck me from the opening statements of the presenter. She made the claim that because China and India are increasingly dominating us through their education, then we must not throw away any of our children. According to her we must educate all of our children in order to compete with these countries and that it requires increased literacy.

I see her point given that the population advantage China and India have means they have more HONOR students than we have students but I think there is a problem we must address in the United States. China and India and a whole host of other countries DO NOT educate all of their children to the degree that we do in this country.

We may need to address this belief and come to the conclusion that equity in education is great but if we really want to compete there will need to be division of education into those that truly want to succeed and those that choose to fail. I may lose my liberal membership over this idea but it is clear to me that the kids that fail in this current system are those that need and want to be challenged.
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Public Schools Looking Better All The Time...
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11:22 AM | Posted in
Having taught in the public school system for six years, I have been an opponent of judging students based upon one particular test score or judging an entire school system on the test scores of small subsets of students. However, two recent articles merit mention as they demonstrate once again that our public schools are doing their job despite the constant nattering nabobs of negativity that come from the woodwork to chastise our every move and demand privatized education.

The first data, test scores coming out this past week showing that kids in the state are improving toward the arbitrary goals of NCLB.

The 2008 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, which the state made public this morning, show slight statewide gains in a number of grade levels in reading and math.


The second data, an audit showing that charter schools touted as the magic bullet for students in apparently failing schools, are doing no better than their public school counterparts at educating children. In fact, they are posting below average test scores:

Minnesota's charter schools need more oversight and post poorer test scores than their regular district school brethren,


While I am not opposed to the existence of charter schools or private schools, it needs to be constantly said that these schools are no more a magic bullet to educating children than public schools are a magic bullet. However, the one thing that public schools provide that these others do not is a guarantee to ALL citizens that they will have the opportunity to be educated. A for profit education system as touted by extremists such as Edwatch would simply leave an increasing number of children out in the cold with no hope for improvement.
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Tim Pawlenty: I Know Education Because I Attended School
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9:37 PM | Posted in ,
One of my all time favorite campaign commercials is of our illustrious Governor standing in front of a school (presumably his school) and proclaiming that he understood education because he was a product of the education system. Like most educators, I laughed and laughed as two important points struck me: first, given that nearly everyone in the state is a product of the education system, they must all be experts in education according to Pawlenty so what makes him so special and second, very few people who have not been involved in the business of education truly understand what it takes or what it entails.

That being said, part of the veto threat made by Pawlenty over the Education Finance Bill recently passed through the legislature is that it:

“The DFL education bill stops our nation-leading program to pay teachers for performance and revokes other key education accountability measures.”


Tim Pawlenty never did get the pay for performance initiative (QComp) he wanted. Rather, the legislature passed ATPPS (Alternative Teacher Professional Pay System). Since that time the Governor and his Department of Education has done everything they could to deny those districts who offered almost identical programs to the ones initially accepted. Why? Because in the beginning they needed to approve as many districts to show that the system was working. Now, because of the obstinance of this administration, many districts have been denied because Pawlenty demands pay tied to arbitrary test scores. Well, Mr. Pawlenty, districts are no longer interested in your little system of judging us based on one test score. So, you can either stop being obstructionist and allow districts to develop their own pay systems or you can take that money and allow it to be spread across a hurting education system.

So, Mr. Pawlenty, just because you went to school does not mean you have even the most basic understanding of how best to educate students.
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How Safe Is Your Bus?
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10:38 AM | Posted in ,
A recent study by the Office of the Legislative Auditor on School District Student Transportation found that since the change in how the state funds student transportation (prior to 1997 it was a separate fund while after 1997 it was rolled into general operating budgets), school districts have been less likely to update school busses and have become lax in their oversight of privately contracted bus drivers.

Major findings of the report include:

School districts vary significantly in how they provide, manage and oversee student transportation. For example:

  • Only 7 percent of districts have a written school bus replacement policy.
  • Few districts have a maximum vehicle age.
  • Some districts do not keep maintenance logs.
  • Several districts do not ensure their drivers are qualified, whether it be through verifying drivers’ licenses, drug testing, or conducting required evaluation or training.

School district oversight of private contractors also varied significantly. For example:

  • 19 of the 24 school districts visited that used contractors did not verify that drivers were subject to random drug and alcohol tests or learn the results of tests.
  • Some districts have no written contracts and do not open transportation contracts to new bids.
  • Few districts have vehicle requirements in place.

On the private contracting issue, I found this part of the report truly astonishing:

"a superintendent from another district said part of why the district contracts for transportation is to have one less thing to worry about."


Really? You pass the buck to some private contracting company and then stop "worrying" about it? This is an egregious dereliction of duty as the cargo on those buses, whether privately contracted or district controlled, is precious human life and if we have school districts across the state handing off responsibility to private contractors in an attempt to have "one less thing" then we have truly lost sight of what we need to be worried about.

The other issue is with the performance of the Department of Public Safety and its Pawlenty appointed Commissioner, Michael Campion. According to the report, the DPS has been at least lax and at most wholly negligent in their primary duty of inspecting school district transportation throughout the state.

DPS’ data system is of limited use and the date is incomplete and inconsistent. DPS has used three data systems since 2002. Their system contains no comprehensive analysis of inspection points or violations.

The OLA found that DPS does not adequately document out of service vehicles. For example, 25 percent of vehicles that should be out of service were not properly recorded as such.
One has to wonder if this is yet another example of the abdication of responsibility by this Governor and his Commissioners putting saving a buck over responsible oversight.

Senator Rick Olseen is planning to introduce legislation that solves some of these oversight inadequacies.
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Bachmann, Quist, and Edwatch: A Theocratic Triumverate!
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5:11 PM | Posted in , ,
This week we learned that Julie Quist of Edwatch will be joining the Bachmann team here in the 6th District. As an educator, I could not be any more disappointed in this decision. Public educators throughout the district should take this as a signal that the work they do is neither supported nor welcomed by the person who represents them in Washington.

What is Edwatch?

This organization is among the most extremist groups you can find in the field of education research and policy. Their mission is a wholesale destruction of the public education system in the United States.

  • Parents are the primary authority in the education and rearing of children.

  • Accessible, nonpublic education without government interference is essential to a healthy education system.

    • For Edwatch, it is not enough to simply improve public education through more local control or fewer unfunded mandates. They would like to see the entire system of public schools demolished. It is one thing to make this statement, as Bachmann has on her website:

    For that reason, I'm a strong supporter of local control for our schools to ensure the most important decisions are made by parents, classroom teachers, and members of the local community where our children live and attend school.

    It is quite another to take that one step further and denounce a system that has been in operation for over 100 years in various parts of this country. People need to understand that Michele Bachmann, in hiring the likes of Julie Quist, has gone beyond the above statement and a vote for her does not mean a vote for a fighter in local control of public education but rather an assault on public education itself. Conservative educators throughout the 6th District need to take a good long look at what message Bachmann is sending by connecting herself so directly to someone who is vehemently anti-public education.

    A Theocratic Agenda

    Edwatch claims to support the Constitution and its principles:

    Good education in the United States promotes the American Creed (Principles of Liberty) as defined by the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution, including national sovereignty, natural law, self-evident truth, equality, God-given inalienable rights of all people, the right to life, liberty and private property, the consent of the governed, and the primary purpose of government being the protection of citizen's inalienable rights. The American Creed creates "e pluribus unum" (out of many, one), i.e. people from many nations gathered under one American Creed.

    Good education accurately teaches the political heritage of western civilization, including the Judeo-Christian worldview, as America's historical foundation.

    The American Creed?

    I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed, a democracy in a republic, a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

    I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.

    Yet, a knowledge of history escapes their grasp!

    If edwatch would abide by the American Creed they would realize that Americans have, for 100 years and more in places, given their consent to a public education system. If they truly understood the concept of "consent of the governed", they would understand that there never would have been a public education system without the "consent of the governed" and it would not have lasted this long without that same "consent of the governed". The people of the United States have spoken and although they would like to see changes or improvements made to public education, it is clear they continue to consent to public education.

    Incidentally, someone really ought to let the people at edwatch know that the Declaration of Independence does NOT say life, liberty, property (let alone PRIVATE property). If edwatch cannot even be honest about the wording of the founding document of this country, how can one possibly take this organization at its word. Even John Locke, who first described the concept incorporated into the Declaration, didn't use the phrase "private" property. Rather, he used the phrase "life, liberty, & property". The question is, then, why would an organization Also interesting, is that those unalienable (not inalienable), were described by a man who also advocated the separation of church and state.

    So, despite wanting an "accurate" portrayal of western heritage, they themselves choose to misinterpret the very document they accuse others of misinterpreting.

    Another item of contention is this:

    Good education teaches a thorough understanding of the world in which we live, but also reinforces the sovereignty of the United States and American exceptionalism.

    Good education understands that truth exists, and that it can be discovered, understood, and taught.

    On the one hand edwatch advocates teaching the "true" heritage of the United States. Yet, on the other hand, they would like us as educators to "teach the controversy" in respect to intelligent design vs. evolution.

    So, which is it?

    If, as they claim, we should be teaching of the debate between intelligent design and evolution, then we should also be teaching of the various historical interpretations with concern to the founding of the United States. Unfortunately, they want it both ways. They want to insert their version of the truth into one debate but demand only one version in the other debate. Or, even more insidious, they want to chip away at the teaching of evolution until they can completely usurp it with the teaching of religious doctrine.

    Also, this idea that we ought to teach of American "exceptionalism" is both disingenuous and a great disservice to our ancestors. Teaching about the warts in American history does not amount to hating America nor does it "blame" America first. It amounts to a nation that has not necessarily lived up to its billing as a shining city on a hill but one that has tried its very best to reach that goal.

    Our ancestors fought with one another, oppressed one another, made mistakes together, and even killed one another and we still survived. To simply look past the bad times as if they never happened or even to gloss over them out of some sense of guilt is to spit on the strides this country has made to live up to its founding documents. I refuse to allow our history to be revised because some group wants their child to only learn of American greatness and not American faults. It is our faults and the pains we have suffered to solve those faults which make us great!

    What is the point of this diatribe?

    If Michele Bachmann wants to tie herself to an organization whose goal is the destruction of public education, revisionist history, and questionable research with regards to mental health issues, then she has every right to do so. However, she needs to be honest about what that agenda is so that the people of the 6th District can see what sort of extremism they have aloud to walk the halls of Congress. I encourage everyone to contact Michele Bachmann, write letters to the editor, and call her local offices to see if she is going to continue to soften her views on public education for the sake of winning elections or if she is truly honest enough to stand by the views of edwatch and her new employee, Julie Quist.

    Cross Posted on Dump Bachmann
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    Tarryl Clark & School Levies
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    5:47 PM | Posted in ,
    Tarryl Clark, whom I proudly count as MY State Senator, understands what we need to do in this state in order to fix the situation in which wealthy areas are able to afford larger and larger referendums while poorer areas simply have to sacrifice their schools so that they can continue to survive financially. However, I would go one step further than Tarryl and say that this situation began with the Ventura Administration and has been continued by Pawlenty.

    Clark: School levy votes point to need for better state support

    Senate Assistant Majority Leader Tarryl Clark said today that there are messages from the results of 99 school levy referenda in Minnesota on Tuesday.

    “Property taxpayers are overburdened with requests to cover the gaps created by Gov. Tim Pawlenty,” said Clark. “Those gaps are the result of policies that shift more and more of the cost of government from wealthy people to the middle class.”

    “For many districts, the top levy questions involved asking property taxpayers to make up for the funding that ought to be coming from state government,” said Clark. “That shouldn’t be the case. Every school district ought to expect enough funding from state government to pay for public education – after all, it’s in our state constitution.”

    According to the Minnesota Constitution, state government “… shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state.” Clark says that constitutional requirement isn’t being met. “Nearly 100 school districts asking taxpayers to make up for state government’s neglect is proof that isn’t happening. In years past, school funding was there, and referenda questions dealt with construction of new buildings and enhancements. Now they’re asking for enough money just to hang on.”

    “Property taxpayers are at their limit. They support public education – but it’s increasingly difficult to pay for schools through a tax that isn’t based on the ability to pay. It’s time for Gov. Pawlenty to end the march to mediocrity and properly fund our schools through a fairer system of taxation.”

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    School is right around the corner...
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    As a new school year draws ever closer and work begins to pile up on my desk I notice that the AYP results are out for my school. While some tout these scores as a key indicator of success in various schools around the state and around the country, I see them as a means to stifle true acquisition of knowledge. They evaluate the lowest level of human understanding (rote memorization) and almost entirely ignore evaluation skills and higher order thinking. Students are being taught the art of the bubble test rather than Art. Certainly there is a place for accountability and assessment but I wonder when memorization became the definition of intelligence. I wonder a lot of things...

    *I wonder how many other professions are judged upon the results of other people on one day in a particular year.

    *I wonder when we will understand that money may not directly improve student performance but the lack of it certainly doesn't improve it either.

    *I wonder when society will tackle the inequities of poverty which is the root of the problem.

    *I wonder when parents will begin to realize that they have the power to influence MOST of their child's success.

    *I wonder when people will realize that a 1% increase in funding of education is not an increase when the inflation rate is at roughly 2%.

    *I wonder how many connections I will make with students this year. Something crucial in the education of kids but unmeasurable on an AYP scale.

    See the results at the Department of Education website

    Education Minnesota has a nice response to the roll out of AYP:

    State educators explain what AYP designation really means for local schools

    The president of Education Minnesota, the state educators’ union, cautioned today against judging the quality of a school using the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report issued Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Education.

    “Many parents are shocked when they see their school on the failing list because it just doesn’t reflect their personal experience,” said Tom Dooher, president of Education Minnesota. “In fact, some of the schools listed as failing to make AYP this year are on the 2006 Newsweek list of the top schools in the country.”

    Education Minnesota wants parents to understand what the results mean for the local schools where they are sending their kids in just a few days. “It is important to understand that Adequate Yearly Progress is a misnomer because it actually is based on proficiency and not progress,” said Dooher. Under No Child Left Behind, AYP status does not reflect the tremendous growth most students make during the school year, but instead provides a snapshot of their proficiency.

    “This way of labeling schools is too simplistic. School accountability cannot be reduced to a simple rating like a movie or dining review. Schools and students are much more complex and cannot be evaluated by a one-time snapshot. Consider your driver’s license photo. That is a representation of you at one moment in time but in no way accurately represents who you are. The same is true of the AYP results,” Dooher stated.

    Education Minnesota and its national affiliates, the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association, are seeking significant change in this area as the No Child Left Behind law is reauthorized. “We are not against accountability,” said Dooher. “But we want accountability that makes sense, accurately represents our schools and gives parents and teachers the information they need to improve student performance.” Priorities include:

    · Using growth models to measure changes in each student’s performance

    · Shifting AYP from a system that labels and penalizes schools to one
    that rewards growth

    · Providing a fair and equitable system for assessing and counting test
    scores for students with disabilities and English Language Learners

    · Reducing class sizes to improve learning and allow for more individual
     instructional time

    · Ensure teachers have appropriate professional development to enhance
     instructional skills and tailor lessons to help students grow.

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    Congratulations Central Minnesota Schools!
    Comments
    12:31 AM | Posted in ,

    It seems as though congratulations are in order for Central Minnesota Schools!

    From the St. Cloud Times:

    Most area schools pass tests
    By Dave Aeikens, daeikens@stcloudtimes.com
    Published: June 26. 2007 12:30AM

    Most area high schools scored near or above the state average in state writing tests.

    Results were released this morning for the 2007 Basic Skills Tests and the new Graduation-Required Assessment for Diploma test, which students must pass to graduate.

    The state average for the BST writing test for 10th-graders was 92 percent of students passing. In the GRAD test, for ninth-graders, 91 percent of students who took the test passed.

    In Upsala and Eden Valley-Watkins secondary schools, every student who took the Basic Skills Test passed. All 10 of the St. Cloud Area Learning Center students who took the GRAD test pass.

    St. Cloud Technical and Apollo, the area's largest and most diverse high schools, finished below the state average in both tests, with more than 82 percent passing.

    The tests assess how well students' writing demonstrates the skills needed to graduate, and results show schools how students in some specific categories are performing. Those categories include gender, ethnicity, low income, special education and English language learners.

    This year, Minnesota tested both ninth- and 10th-graders as the state moves the writing test from grade 10 to grade 9.

    The state's 2007 overall passing rate of 92 percent for the 10th-grade writing test was similar to the overall rate from 2006.

    The St. Cloud ALC was the only school in the region to have all students who took the GRAD test pass.

    "I'm so proud of the work they did on their writing," said Julia Espe, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment.

    Most districts topped the state average of 91 percent. Kimball topped 98 percent, with one student out of 60 not passing the test. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa had one student of 64 not pass, coming in at 98.4 percent. Melrose and Sauk Centre hit 97 percent.

    In Kimball, two ninth-graders got the highest possible score.

    "I think at the secondary level, we've got some instructors that are very good at teaching writing and work with the students very well, giving them good background on how to write," Superintendent John Tritabaugh said. "I attribute a lot to the secondary staff."

    Sartell-St. Stephen, Sauk Centre, Rocori, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, Sauk Rapids-Rice, Little Falls, Swanville, Becker, Big Lake, Holdingford, Kimball and Melrose all topped the state average.

    In the BSTs, Sartell-St. Stephen hit 99 percent, with two out of 209 not passing. Sauk Centre and Becker topped 97 percent. Rocori had more than 96 percent of its students pass.

    Apollo had 83 percent pass and Tech had 86 percent pass.

    Compared with other area high schools, Tech and Apollo have relatively high ratios of students who don't speak English as a primary language and who are low-income, which studies have shown can be a factor in academic performance.

    The ALC, which serves students who have trouble fitting into traditional school settings, had 75 percent of its test-takers pass.

    Espe said she is pleased with the results in St. Cloud's high schools. She said plans call for more work and program development for students who are still learning English.

    "It is a process we believe where continuous improvement is key. We will do more work. We will be focusing efforts to improve these as we do other scores," Espe said.

    Milaca, Foley and Pierz all finished slightly below 90 percent in the BSTs.

    The Legislature repealed the state's math and reading basic skills tests in 2005. State graduation requirements are being phased into Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment-II tests in 10th-grade reading and 11th-grade mathematics.

    Beginning next year for reading and 2009 for mathematics, selected questions on each test will be included in requirements for student graduation.

    *While I will not divulge which of these is my school, I do want to say excellent job!

    *Now for the politics of the whole thing! I found it remarkable how quiet the story chat was on this particular story. The naysayers seem quick to point out failure but hard pressed to offer praise for our public schools.

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