I have not been ignoring the news for a week in case anyone does read this... My mother passed away suddenly last week and I was pretty much out of touch for most of that time. I am back in ND and ready to roll till school is out now. I will be attending the Obama event in Grand Forks next week. That should certainly get some attention in a lot of corners of this world.
I have now begun to read the Picus/Odden report that was delivered to the Adequacy Committee last week and find a lot of it pretty refreshing. There are some missing pieces and some wrong headed conclusions but by in large... lets get after it. It needs to be dissected by educators and put into legislation. Our superintendent of public instruction should be in front of this process not spectating as he has for so many years. It looks like the Governor will once again be forced to take the lead.
I have decided the next step of my advocacy for kids is that I will be distributing petitions to be signed to run for this office. I have no concerns about doing the job. My concern is that change is so hard for North Dakota. It is still not decided if I will actually file or not. But as Teddy Roosevelt says " the honor only goes to those who are willing to stick their neck out and get bloody fighting for what is right." or something like that!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Adequacy Consultant
The adequacy commission met last week and heard the report of their hired consultant. He suggested that if ND would do as they suggested we would be able to "double" our test scores. He was doing just fine until he arrived at that statement. No one has proved that we can effectively raise test scores as they are presently configured much less "double" them.
The Commission may need to revisit the consultants credentials before they move on to the legislature for approval of his plan.
Test scores for students, because of the nature of humans, just don't move that far at any time no matter what we do. We want to do the best for every child but to make a blanket statement like that is on the verge of ludicrous!
The Commission may need to revisit the consultants credentials before they move on to the legislature for approval of his plan.
Test scores for students, because of the nature of humans, just don't move that far at any time no matter what we do. We want to do the best for every child but to make a blanket statement like that is on the verge of ludicrous!
The President's Budget
Just one item in the Presidents budget tells it all for me. What used to be called vocational education and is now called Career and Technical Education was proposed to be funded in this budget at 0. Yes, I said zero. A program that has been around forever in education terms was zeroed out! This program has provided excellent career training at the k-12 level for students for many years and is a proven success. Why would we do this now? Other than because he can.
It is SO time for and change!
It is SO time for and change!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
School Boards and property taxes
The GF school board debated with themselves last nite just how much property tax to cut. It is getting to be comical to see which one of them will propose the next increase in cuts. Of course, they will say that they really do care about programs and kids. Yet, they tell the super to "right size" by cutting numerous positions and no one knows how many programs.
This cutting game is getting a little ridiculous. No one seems to be worried about the "what" part. We just cut. Maybe we should start with "what" instead of ending with that. What do kids need that we don't have? What do kids need that we do have? What should we plan for the future for kids and then build a budget around that concept. We might also ask what do the adults need to keep doing the job they do for with kids ?
These board members are so busy listening to the talk shows and the gadflies that they seem to forget who their constituency is. It is the students!
How about a school board member coming into a school during the day, sitting down with the entire staff and asking..."What should be done to make you a more effective employee?" I am tired of never seeing a board member nor hearing them ask real questions about schools except at board meetings.
This cutting game is getting a little ridiculous. No one seems to be worried about the "what" part. We just cut. Maybe we should start with "what" instead of ending with that. What do kids need that we don't have? What do kids need that we do have? What should we plan for the future for kids and then build a budget around that concept. We might also ask what do the adults need to keep doing the job they do for with kids ?
These board members are so busy listening to the talk shows and the gadflies that they seem to forget who their constituency is. It is the students!
How about a school board member coming into a school during the day, sitting down with the entire staff and asking..."What should be done to make you a more effective employee?" I am tired of never seeing a board member nor hearing them ask real questions about schools except at board meetings.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
New Superintendent
Well, we finally have a new superintendent in GF. He has not yet even taken the job and Duane Sand has begun attacking the School Board for his salary. Give the poor guy a break. He negotiated in good faith with our board and that is what they settled on. The longevity of our former super created the higher wage scale not Mr. Nyblad.
What business Duane Sand has in a discussion about the salary of the GF superintendent is beyond me.
On the other side of the coin there was a time when we tried really hard to keep the gap between the average teachers salary and the superintendents salary pretty close from year to year. We lost that concept in about 1990 and don't ever expect to get it back.
Administrative salaries have scooted way beyond teachers salaries on a comparison basis. The have made the same case only better that there is a shortage of administrators and the school boards have bought it. Plus, paying fewer people more money seems to be less costly than the total for an entire teaching staff. When humans work with fewer zeros we seem to take more comfort in the conversation. Thus, administrators by comparison have gained much greater wage increases over the last 20 years than have line staff. I am not whining. It is a fact and there is little I can do about it. The wage gap is wider than ever and going the wrong direction.
A simple math problem that is real.....give the super a 4% raise on $100,000 and give teachers a $1000 raise on $40,000. The final totals will present a clear picture of what has gone on for 30 years in education. The gap widens every year just in this simple math comparison.
What business Duane Sand has in a discussion about the salary of the GF superintendent is beyond me.
On the other side of the coin there was a time when we tried really hard to keep the gap between the average teachers salary and the superintendents salary pretty close from year to year. We lost that concept in about 1990 and don't ever expect to get it back.
Administrative salaries have scooted way beyond teachers salaries on a comparison basis. The have made the same case only better that there is a shortage of administrators and the school boards have bought it. Plus, paying fewer people more money seems to be less costly than the total for an entire teaching staff. When humans work with fewer zeros we seem to take more comfort in the conversation. Thus, administrators by comparison have gained much greater wage increases over the last 20 years than have line staff. I am not whining. It is a fact and there is little I can do about it. The wage gap is wider than ever and going the wrong direction.
A simple math problem that is real.....give the super a 4% raise on $100,000 and give teachers a $1000 raise on $40,000. The final totals will present a clear picture of what has gone on for 30 years in education. The gap widens every year just in this simple math comparison.
Monday, March 03, 2008
DPI ND....!
After spending a week frustrated I have concluded that not all of my thoughts were invalid. Thinking tends to clear the air...to a point.
I have come to the conclusion that we have at the head of our DPI a well paid spectator of the process. By virtue of simply begin a spectator he appears to know what is going on. With his happy "know everyone" personality he can repeatedly pull off winning elections.
I am of the opinion that we need more than a spectator. Voters have repeatedly disagreed with me. Kids lose!
We need a current and respected "go to" DPI. Not one that is to be circumvented and avoided at all costs.
We need less regulation and more respect.
We need an advocate. Someone who is willing to leave the spectator gallery and work hard to make ND the gem of all rural education systems in the world.
We need a DPI that is connected with all of the players and player groups in education. Not one that many years ago abandoned all relationships with those in the field who can drive change.
We need something new, a fresh face, a new agenda! While it is doubtful that it will happen, I need to remind anyone who reads this that this office is not about politics. It is about what is best for students in public schools. We are not offering them the best we have today.
I have come to the conclusion that we have at the head of our DPI a well paid spectator of the process. By virtue of simply begin a spectator he appears to know what is going on. With his happy "know everyone" personality he can repeatedly pull off winning elections.
I am of the opinion that we need more than a spectator. Voters have repeatedly disagreed with me. Kids lose!
We need a current and respected "go to" DPI. Not one that is to be circumvented and avoided at all costs.
We need less regulation and more respect.
We need an advocate. Someone who is willing to leave the spectator gallery and work hard to make ND the gem of all rural education systems in the world.
We need a DPI that is connected with all of the players and player groups in education. Not one that many years ago abandoned all relationships with those in the field who can drive change.
We need something new, a fresh face, a new agenda! While it is doubtful that it will happen, I need to remind anyone who reads this that this office is not about politics. It is about what is best for students in public schools. We are not offering them the best we have today.
I was right!
In the oped I just posted from the USA Today it was made perfectly clear.....Nobody is talking about education as an issue in this campaign. That is not good news! It seems that the whole political machine has turned toward NCLB and forgotten that there are big issues that need to be resolved and that the public cares! This is crazy that every campaign just wants to tweak or do nothing with NCLB and everything will be fine. It is time for some educators to get indignant and begin to talk about this. If we don't no one else will. NCLB is bad law and should be repaired.
I have said it before and will again throughout this campaign. We need to press candidates to commit to changes in NCLB and their view of education in general.
I have said it before and will again throughout this campaign. We need to press candidates to commit to changes in NCLB and their view of education in general.
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