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I'm sorry to see you're seeing some of what we've seen. As for state testing, I had a principal flat out tell me that they do nothing but teach to the state tests so they don't lose funding if grades are down. Now I'm no rocket scientist but even I've figured out that those tests don't teach everything these kids need to know or even the basics I was taught as a child.
You can hardly fault the principal in cases like these. EVERYTHING schools do today are based on faulty testing practices through NCLB. Wealthier schools are better off because not as much as their funding comes from federal sources but you get out into the smaller, rural areas and the budgets are in serious jeopardy if they don't perform on the tests that measure nothing to begin with. Add to the fact that school referendums are failing more often then passing and it puts the principal between a rock and a hard place. Even well off schools are not immune. One district near us has to cut $30 MILLION dollars out of their budget due to changes in the funding model our state uses and the fact that the community voted down their referendum. Now all the whining commences as these cuts are becoming a reality.
I don't blame the principal at all for that since he doesn't set the curricula the district does. We are having school funding levies fail here as well, but that has more to do with the perception that the district doesn't spend what they get properly to begin with.
I don't blame the principal at all for that since he doesn't set the curricula the district does. We are having school funding levies fail here as well, but that has more to do with the perception that the district doesn't spend what they get properly to begin with.
I know a lot of people think that but have they ever really examined your district budget? THere is very little waste in most school's budgets. MN is proposing to repeal NCLB. The federal money they will lose from that would be significant but they have also discovered that most of that shortfall will be made up by simply not taking the NCLB testing that is required and going back to the testing models they used before. That is pretty sad that the testing takes up so much of their budgets.
We lived in a community where the schools had to fight for every dime they got. They had a middle school building that should have been condemned and it took over 10 years to pass a bond referendum to build a new school. There was a lot of the 'that school was good enough for my dad, good enough for me it is good enough for my kids' attitude. Then you ran into the 'it's an historic building you can't tear it down'. Well, ok, but the MOLD throughout the school isn't really good for the students. The basketball games that have to be played around buckets catching water leaking from the roof isn't really all that safe either. Then they turn around and whine when their sports team gets cut or they don't have the classes their kids need. I think people think that schools are immune from inflation and price increases.
Actually the problem here IMO is that we've got many real small school districts, some with only one or two schools that have a full district administration staff. As an example, albiet a gross one, there's a 1 school district where the superintendant was being paid over $100k a year. Thankfully this district was "outed" about a week ago and the guy was terminated for an $85K person.
We've got 4 schools and ours is getting around $100k plus bennies. This frustrates people along with the fact that they spend so much on sports. I have no argument with sports in general but I do have some issue with how it's funded. Many here question why 100% of the population have to pay for what 1-3% of the students get to use.
I keep banging the drum for district consolidation. Get rid of all the districts in the county and put them under our county superintendant and take that money and put it in the general fund to raise teacher pay and programs. Needless to mention I'm not the most popular person at the district office.
Actually the problem here IMO is that we've got many real small school districts, some with only one or two schools that have a full district administration staff. As an example, albiet a gross one, there's a 1 school district where the superintendant was being paid over $100k a year. Thankfully this district was "outed" about a week ago and the guy was terminated for an $85K person.
We've got 4 schools and ours is getting around $100k plus bennies. This frustrates people along with the fact that they spend so much on sports. I have no argument with sports in general but I do have some issue with how it's funded. Many here question why 100% of the population have to pay for what 1-3% of the students get to use.
I keep banging the drum for district consolidation. Get rid of all the districts in the county and put them under our county superintendant and take that money and put it in the general fund to raise teacher pay and programs. Needless to mention I'm not the most popular person at the district office.
So you would prefer that everything in your school be done by the lowest bidder? You do realize that a superintendent, at least in our state, has a doctorate in education and someone that is willing to take a job for $85,000 id doing so because the couldn't find a job elsewhere--what does that tell you. Also, do you really only have 1-3% participation rates in your activities? Around here the participation rate is in the 90% range--not only sports but music, theater, etc. too.
Our district has 5 high schools, something like 8 middle schools and a dozen or so elementary schools. The staff our superintendent has to manage and the budget he deals with is more then most corporations yet you expect them to settle for $85,000/year salary where in the corporate world that salary would be close to a million or more?
So you would prefer that everything in your school be done by the lowest bidder? You do realize that a superintendent, at least in our state, has a doctorate in education and someone that is willing to take a job for $85,000 id doing so because the couldn't find a job elsewhere--what does that tell you. Also, do you really only have 1-3% participation rates in your activities? Around here the participation rate is in the 90% range--not only sports but music, theater, etc. too.
Our district has 5 high schools, something like 8 middle schools and a dozen or so elementary schools. The staff our superintendent has to manage and the budget he deals with is more then most corporations yet you expect them to settle for $85,000/year salary where in the corporate world that salary would be close to a million or more?
I think you missed the part where a ONE SCHOOL school district with no more than probably 300 students was making $100k+ a year. I'd expect that if the county superintendant took control of all the schools that yes, they should be paid in relation to the job requirements and have the proper credentials for the job, not just be low bidder. What I don't agree with is all these little "fifedoms" that exist at a great expense to the public and to the detriment of the budget.
As for the activities thing, if you really have 90% participation I commend your school, in my experience that is generally not the case. In a school of 500 that would be what 450 kids playing football,baseball etc?
Y'all must have one heck of a sports/music facility
I think you missed the part where a ONE SCHOOL school district with no more than probably 300 students was making $100k+ a year. I'd expect that if the county superintendant took control of all the schools that yes, they should be paid in relation to the job requirements and have the proper credentials for the job, not just be low bidder. What I don't agree with is all these little "fifedoms" that exist at a great expense to the public and to the detriment of the budget.
As for the activities thing, if you really have 90% participation I commend your school, in my experience that is generally not the case. In a school of 500 that would be what 450 kids playing football,baseball etc?
Y'all must have one heck of a sports/music facility
I didn't miss the point, the educational requirements are the same and maybe $100,000 is a lot of money where you live, here it isn't, especially for a superintendent of even a small district.
Yes, we do have a nice music/sports facility. Around here having huge participation rates in extracurriculars is very common. Our marching band alone has close to 200 members (1200 students in the school 9-12). We have 6 concert bands, 3 full time band directors, several small ensemble groups, etc.--just for the band program--there are over 600 kids in the band program all together. Our track team had almost 200 kids, boys and girls, this year. There is one school in our conference that has something like 200 boys on their football team. Anyone that goes out for the team is on the team--they don't all get to play and they don't all get to go to away games but they do get to practice with the team and dress for home games. They also have the most successful program in the state too (no contact practices no less).
I'd love to hear how you guys did that. Can you give a basic overview?
Ohio's educational funding, based on property taxes, was declared "unconstitutional" like a decade ago and still nothing has been done about it.
Sorry to be so late in answering this, I kind of gave up on this thread when nothing was happening for a while.
A brief overview of the Colorado School Finance Act:
The state has a formula that sets the per-pupil allotment for several types of districts, e.g. urban, suburban and rural. There is a state portion of the per-pupil allotment and a local portion. The poorer districts in each category get more money from the state to make up the difference. No district can spend more than 15% over the state allotment, per pupil, meaning weathy districts can't just keep raising taxes indefinitely. Schools can issue bonds for building facilities without regard to the above. The state has occasionally kicked in some money for some poor districts to build schools.
I have been teaching for 25 years and have three kids who are going, or have gone through the public school system. Though there are other factors, I think for the most part the grades of the schools are determined mostly by the socioeconomic level of the surrounding neighborhoods, and/or by those who are bussed in. Those schools tend to have more children entering school who have had travel experiences, been read to, talked to, played with and who have attended pre-school, and the list goes on. They have more parent involvement because overall there tends to be more stay at home moms/dads available, or more parents with flexible work schedules (if you don't have transportation or you work at McDonald's you are not going to be able to volunteer much if at all in your child's school). I am not blaming these parents by any means. It is hard to think about taking your child to story time at the public library or sitting down to play a game with your child when you are worried about how you are going to pay the rent next week. I also know there are some schools who fare pretty well with school grades and who are in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods, but that is not nearly as common. And I have also found over the years that you can find some of the most talented and dedicated teachers in schools who are located in those lower income areas. At my former school, a Title One school with close to an 80% free and reduced lunch rate and more than a 50% transient rate, many of us would drive around and pick up parents who had no transportation and bring them to special school programs and PTA meetings. When I moved to my new school, located in a more middle class area, many teachers were surprised that we had that many parents who needed that kind of help to participate.
Nancy
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