The Denver Post has done a great public service by educating the public about a proposed ballot measure that would require Colorado's pubic school to allocated at least 65% of their current operating expenditures to classroom instructional activities.
Thousands of well-intentioned Coloradoans have signed petitions to get the measure on the ballot. Governor Bill Owens became the 100,000 signers. I was asked to sign the petition at my local grocery store. The person collecting signatures wasn't too happy about the questions I asked.
On the face of it the proposal makes sense. Who wouldn't be in favor of requiring school districts to spend at least 65% of school funds on instruction? The Post's February 23, 2006 editorial lays out the arguments against the proposal:
(1) It eliminates flexibility in how local officials budget their tax money.
(2) It doesn't include counselors as a "classroom" expense. I would add it also excludes other support personnel (e.g., media specialists) whose efforts help students learn.
(3) It’s foolish to expect small rural school districts to budget money under the same formula used by large urban districts that have different challenges and expenses.
(4) If a community decides its schools aren't spending enough on classroom instruction, it can elect a new school board.
The Post also highlights the absurdity of a Democratic proposal to require schools to spend 75 percent or operating expenditures on the classroom. That proposal would include the costs of counselors, principals and food service.
The 65% solution is further proof that for every problem there's a simple solution that's wrong.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Friday, February 17, 2006
NRCRES Website
The other day I was wondering whether the National Research Center on Rural Education Support (NRCRES) had gotten a website yet. Son of a gun, they do! It's a pretty good-looking site. The site contains information about the center's work and articles for downloading from what appears to be work done under previous contracts.
One downside to the site is that it doesn't quite have a national feel to it. A major concern has been that the center would focus a disproportionate amount of attention on rural education issues in the southeast since it located at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Lending credence to this concern is that the majority of articles available for downloading in the Journal Article Gallery focus on studies involving African American students in the Southeast. While research on educational issues facing rural African Americans are of great importance, it would be helpful for us in the west to have access to similar types of studies focusing on Hispanic and Native American populations.
Adding to the regional, rather than national, feel of the NRCRES website is a slide show of scenes that look to be in the east and southeast. Adding some slides from the Southwest, Rocky Mountains, West coast, and Northwest would help create a national feel. Adding some pictures of people and schools would add an education feel to the site.
Another curious thing about the site is that it highlights an inconsistency between what NRCRES says is a research priority and its research program. The very first research topic listed by NRCRES is the "retention of qualified teachers." Yet there's no mention of teacher retention any of the three current research programs. Is this example of a federally funded project saying one thing and doing another? Having worked on other federally funded projects I've learned that what people do is more important than what they say.
The other interesting thing is that the center's work will focus on the "retention of qualified teachers" rather than on the retention of quality teachers. Anyone who has been a teacher knows that just because someone is qualified doesn't mean that they’re effective. I'll take effective over qualified every time.
Take a few minutes and visit the NRCRES website http://www.nrcres.org/. It's a pretty good start.
One downside to the site is that it doesn't quite have a national feel to it. A major concern has been that the center would focus a disproportionate amount of attention on rural education issues in the southeast since it located at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Lending credence to this concern is that the majority of articles available for downloading in the Journal Article Gallery focus on studies involving African American students in the Southeast. While research on educational issues facing rural African Americans are of great importance, it would be helpful for us in the west to have access to similar types of studies focusing on Hispanic and Native American populations.
Adding to the regional, rather than national, feel of the NRCRES website is a slide show of scenes that look to be in the east and southeast. Adding some slides from the Southwest, Rocky Mountains, West coast, and Northwest would help create a national feel. Adding some pictures of people and schools would add an education feel to the site.
Another curious thing about the site is that it highlights an inconsistency between what NRCRES says is a research priority and its research program. The very first research topic listed by NRCRES is the "retention of qualified teachers." Yet there's no mention of teacher retention any of the three current research programs. Is this example of a federally funded project saying one thing and doing another? Having worked on other federally funded projects I've learned that what people do is more important than what they say.
The other interesting thing is that the center's work will focus on the "retention of qualified teachers" rather than on the retention of quality teachers. Anyone who has been a teacher knows that just because someone is qualified doesn't mean that they’re effective. I'll take effective over qualified every time.
Take a few minutes and visit the NRCRES website http://www.nrcres.org/. It's a pretty good start.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Update on Colorado HR 1150
Last week the Colorado House Committee on Education voted down HR 1150, a bill to establish statewide standards for when public schools in Colorado could start and end the school year. The bill would have required all of Colorado’s public schools to start school the Tuesday after Labor Day and end no sooner than the Friday before Memorial Day. To gain some insight into the bill, it's instructive to look at who testified in the hearing on both sides of the debate. See the previous post "Today's Nominees for Worst People in the World" for more information on the bill.
The first person to testify was one of the bill's sponsors, Representative Lynn Hefley (R). Among her comments were that having different dates set by local school districts hurts businesses and families. She also noted the impact of the current school district schedules on attendance at the Colorado State Fair—keep that point in mind.
Also testifying in support of the bill were Jerry McLain, representing the American Camp Association; Bill Darrough, representing Camp Timberline, Inc.; Kitty Clemens, representing herself; Craig Reed, representing the Broadmoor Hotel; Ilene Kamsler, representing Colorado Hotel and Lodging; and Christie O'Donnell, representing the Colorado Restaurant Association. Providing the best insight into the catalyst for the bill may have been Jim Snook, representing the Colorado State Fair as a State Fair Commissioner. Mr. Snook testified on the impact of school calendar on participation and attendance at the Colorado State Fair. Now we're getting to the real issue.
Testifying against the bill were Paula Stephenson, representing the Rural Schools Caucus; Phil Fox, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives; Jane Paxtun, representing herself as a member of board of education of Boulder Valley Schools; and Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards.
To review, those in favor of the bill represented interests in the tourist industry and those who testified against it represented education organizations. Now lets not forget that tourism is very important to Colorado and to the state's children, youth and families. Until I took my first teaching job I lived in tourist areas my entire life and appreciate the importance of the industry to rural communities. But local communities are in a better position to make a determination about when their schools start and end.
A special thanks to Paula Stevens, Executive Director of the Rural Caucus, for keeping an eye on things at the state legislature and for helping defeat this terrible bill.
The first person to testify was one of the bill's sponsors, Representative Lynn Hefley (R). Among her comments were that having different dates set by local school districts hurts businesses and families. She also noted the impact of the current school district schedules on attendance at the Colorado State Fair—keep that point in mind.
Also testifying in support of the bill were Jerry McLain, representing the American Camp Association; Bill Darrough, representing Camp Timberline, Inc.; Kitty Clemens, representing herself; Craig Reed, representing the Broadmoor Hotel; Ilene Kamsler, representing Colorado Hotel and Lodging; and Christie O'Donnell, representing the Colorado Restaurant Association. Providing the best insight into the catalyst for the bill may have been Jim Snook, representing the Colorado State Fair as a State Fair Commissioner. Mr. Snook testified on the impact of school calendar on participation and attendance at the Colorado State Fair. Now we're getting to the real issue.
Testifying against the bill were Paula Stephenson, representing the Rural Schools Caucus; Phil Fox, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives; Jane Paxtun, representing herself as a member of board of education of Boulder Valley Schools; and Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards.
To review, those in favor of the bill represented interests in the tourist industry and those who testified against it represented education organizations. Now lets not forget that tourism is very important to Colorado and to the state's children, youth and families. Until I took my first teaching job I lived in tourist areas my entire life and appreciate the importance of the industry to rural communities. But local communities are in a better position to make a determination about when their schools start and end.
A special thanks to Paula Stevens, Executive Director of the Rural Caucus, for keeping an eye on things at the state legislature and for helping defeat this terrible bill.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Today's Nominees for Worst People In the World
With apologizes to Keith Olbermann and the staff at Countdown, today’s nominees for Worst People in the World are Colorado State Representative Lynn Hefley (R) and State Senator Peter Groff (D). The two legislators have sponsored a bill that requires all of Colorado’s public schools to start the Tuesday after Labor Day and end no sooner than the Friday before Memorial Day.
What great educational purpose does this legislation serve? Hefley and Groff claim that the primary purpose of the bill is to reduce significant burdens on families. Parents who move into a district may not realize that schools in their new district starts earlier than their previous school and, as a result, their children may miss a week or two of school. Establishing a standard beginning date would ease the burden of finding out when school starts and would increase flexibility in planning family activities.
Those reasons would seem to affect a relatively small number of children, so why would the legislature take up a bill that will dictate the start and end times for all of Colorado’s public schools? The tourism industry needs child labor. According to House Bill 06-1150, “an early-August or mid-August start date for the school year places a significant burden on employers in retail, the food industry, and especially the tourism industry who are forced to work short-handed during what is for many businesses one of the busiest times of the year.”
Evidently local communities are unable to determine what dates work best for them in establishing the starting and ending dates of the school year. Luckily the Colorado Legislature has the time to help them out.
Representative Lynn Hefley and Peter Groff, sponsors of the bill to standardize school calendars to help Colorado’s tourism industry. Today’s, with apologizes to Keith Olbermann and the staff at Countdown, Worst People in the World.
What great educational purpose does this legislation serve? Hefley and Groff claim that the primary purpose of the bill is to reduce significant burdens on families. Parents who move into a district may not realize that schools in their new district starts earlier than their previous school and, as a result, their children may miss a week or two of school. Establishing a standard beginning date would ease the burden of finding out when school starts and would increase flexibility in planning family activities.
Those reasons would seem to affect a relatively small number of children, so why would the legislature take up a bill that will dictate the start and end times for all of Colorado’s public schools? The tourism industry needs child labor. According to House Bill 06-1150, “an early-August or mid-August start date for the school year places a significant burden on employers in retail, the food industry, and especially the tourism industry who are forced to work short-handed during what is for many businesses one of the busiest times of the year.”
Evidently local communities are unable to determine what dates work best for them in establishing the starting and ending dates of the school year. Luckily the Colorado Legislature has the time to help them out.
Representative Lynn Hefley and Peter Groff, sponsors of the bill to standardize school calendars to help Colorado’s tourism industry. Today’s, with apologizes to Keith Olbermann and the staff at Countdown, Worst People in the World.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Atta Boy Bob!
It’s difficult to craft a presidential address of any kind that captures my attention. They typically either set the bar so low that achieving the goals is virtually meaningless, or set the bar so high they’re essentially meaningless because there’s no way an organization can accomplish them.
An exception is Bob Newhouse’s presidential address to the National Rural Education Association that was excerpted in the Winter 2005 Rural Education News. In his address, Bob laid out his goals for his year as president:
1. To do everything required to continue building the performance, stature, reputation, and resources of NREA.
2. To ensure that the work of NREA is recognized by it’s constituency as vital matters that affect every citizen.
3. To focus intensively on maintaining access to NREA as a gateway of opportunity to the loyal members of NREA and the education community at large.
4. To ensure that NREA will be a positive model of diverse people working together
Bob’s aspirations for his presidential year reflect his skills as a researcher. His goals are clearly stated, understandable, measurable and achievable. He doesn’t over promise what he can deliver nor does he lower expectations.
Congratulations Bob, you got my attention and support. Not an easy thing to do.
An exception is Bob Newhouse’s presidential address to the National Rural Education Association that was excerpted in the Winter 2005 Rural Education News. In his address, Bob laid out his goals for his year as president:
1. To do everything required to continue building the performance, stature, reputation, and resources of NREA.
2. To ensure that the work of NREA is recognized by it’s constituency as vital matters that affect every citizen.
3. To focus intensively on maintaining access to NREA as a gateway of opportunity to the loyal members of NREA and the education community at large.
4. To ensure that NREA will be a positive model of diverse people working together
Bob’s aspirations for his presidential year reflect his skills as a researcher. His goals are clearly stated, understandable, measurable and achievable. He doesn’t over promise what he can deliver nor does he lower expectations.
Congratulations Bob, you got my attention and support. Not an easy thing to do.
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