Winnequah 10K...

A special thanks to the Meriter Foundation whose $5000 Donation, along with $2500 from the Monona PTO and a $2500 capstone donation from an anonymous donor, has helped the Winnequah endowment fund reach its initial goal of $10,000 with the Monona Grove Education Foundation.

The MGEF has set up an endowment fund for each of the schools in the district with an initial goal of $10,000.  When this amount is raised the funds will be administered by the Madison Community Foundation.  A $2500 "capstone grant" from an anonymous donor will be contributed to each fund when it reaches $7500 to put it over the top.

Winnequah school is the first to reach the $10K goal.  You can find the MGEF on facebook or the MG website  to contribute!

Whither Madison Prep...

The proposed Madison Prep Charter School was voted down by the Madison school board on Monday.   A bold proposal to address the achievement gap in Madison, Madison Prep supporters have a very good point- the status quo is not working for minority students.

There wasn't any magic to the Madison Prep proposal:  longer school year, extended school days, smaller class ratios, additional support services, we know these things work, and taken together these things would likely make a significant impact on student achievement.  But all these things cost significant amounts of money which is ultimately the problem.  What distribution of resources is the most effective and fair?

Personally I would like to see Madison Prep with a contract to operate for a fixed period of time of 3 to 5 years,  with an evaluation against pre-defined goals at the end of that time.  A cost-benefit evaluation could then be made of whether or not Madison wanted to raise the resources to extend the model across the board, or drop it in favor of another model.

Last meeting of the year...

Is tomorrow evening in the High School IMC. You can find the agenda here. Items of Note:

I. Unfinished Business
1. Report on Monona Grove Education Foundation Endowment Funds

Last year the Monona Grove Education Foundation inaugurated endowment funds for each of our schools, with the goal of reaching a $10,000 initial investment in each fund. A capstone grant is available for the last $2500. The MGEF will provide the board with an update of the fundraising.

2. Discussion and Possible Approval of MGHS Parking Lot Concepts

Hopefully we will give approval to the modifications to the parking and entrance to the lot on the South Side of the High School

4. Discussion and Possible Approval of the Budget Process and Budget Calendar

The proposed calendar for finding $1.2M in savings next year can be found here.

J. New Business
1. Discussion and Possible Approval of Superintendent's Contract
2. Discussion and Possible Approval District Administrators' Contracts

Good news and bad news...

Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?  OK, I’ll start with the good news: according to the PMA budget projections the district is “only” facing cuts of $1.2 Million for next school year.  How is that “good”? – It’s about ½ what we were anticipating.  Still brutal, but not as bad as I thought.  $1.2M is about 3.5% of our total operating fund, about the cost of 21 teachers.

So if that’s the good news what’s the bad news?  In 2014 the deficit is additional $875K, in 2015 an additional $540K, in 2016 another $500K, in 2017 another $500K – through 2017 the cumulative total deficit $12.5 million dollars vs. our current cost to continue.  Each year our capacity to provide a quality education is reduced an incremental amount, and the deeply corrosive effects of Wisconsin’s school funding system continue to degrade our children’s future.   And don’t think for a minute that this is, in the long run, saving you money.

I hear people talk of a referendum to balance the budget?  To do so would require a referendum that starts at $1.5M and grows by at least $650K each subsequent year.  (For every dollar we raise in an operating referendum the state reduces our aid by 30 cents, so we would have to compensate)   If you can tell me how to structure an acceptable referendum that meets these conditions, I’m all ears.  Of course then we have the funding cliff at the end to deal with.

Eventually we will need additional revenue sources to adequately fund our schools. Perhaps we can expand on Newt Gingrich’s repugnant idea and hire out low income students to clean other people’s buildings as well as our own.  (Please note the sarcasm in that last comment!)

Moving into the 21st century...

Effective with the Nov. 22 meeting the board is away from paper copies of board agendas and documents to the  web based  "Board Docs" system.  Board Docs provides tiered access over the web to documents for the board, administrators and the public.  The public portal can be found here:  http://www.boarddocs.com/wi/mgsd/Board.nsf/Public.  A list of meeting agendas is found in the column on the right hand side of the screen, click through to see the item as well as additional information and attachments.
_________________________________________________________________
The next board meeting (and first electronic one) will be on Tuesday the 22nd.  Items of note:

J. Unfinished Business
1. Discussion and Possible Approval of High School Course Proposals for Physics and Honors Physics
2. Discussion and Possible Approval of High School Course Proposal for Introduction to College Writing
3. Discussion and Possible Approval of High School Course Proposal for AP Music Theory  . 4. Discussion and Possible Approval of High School Course Proposal for After School At-Risk Program

The board will be considering three new courses at the high school.  The Physics/Honors Physics class is a continuation of the Biology/Chemistry track for freshman and sophomores recently instituted.  The college writing course is for students who need to improve their writing skills to the college level, the course is aligned with a Madison College writing course and college credit is available upon successful completion.  The AP Music Theory course will be the only non-performance music course offered at the high school and is intended for students interested in a career in music or strongly interested in composition.   The After School At Risk proposal is for a program to provide additional instruction and mentoring for students in need.   This will be funded from dedicated Title 1 monies, not general funds.

5. Discussion and Possible Approval of MGHS Parking Lot Concepts  

The board will consider options for realignment of the driveway to the staff parking lot onto Monona Drive as part of the Monona Drive reconstruction project.

7. Discussion and Possible Approval of Concealed Carry Signage

Wait, what?  Under WI new concealed carry law the carrying of weapons in schools and on school grounds is still illegal, and constitutes a felony.  However those with CC permits may now carry a weapon up to the edge of the school property, where previously weapons were prohibited within 1000 ft of a school.  In addition weapons are now allowed in vehicles on school property provided they are unloaded and locked up.  The board will consider signage on school buildings to provide a reminder of the prohibition of weapons.

9. Budget Reduction Discussion

Sigh.  A proposed outline for this year's process can be found here.  A draft timeline here.

Meanwhile in the IMC...

State Superintendent of school Tony Evers held a press conference in the the MG High School IMC this morning to announce the results of the DPI's annual survey of Wisconsin School districts.  Craig, Sue Fox, Susan Howe and an Administrator, parent and student from across the state participated in the press conference  This year the survey highlights the impact of reductions to school budget across the state.  An interactive map of the results can be found here.

Most districts have reduced staff and/or increased class size and reduced programs. Although the complicated state funding formula means that the impact is different in each district, in general the savings from compensation reductions mandated by Act 10 do not fully offset  the reduction in funds.  In MG the budget deficit exceeded the savings by more 2.5x, resulting in various cuts.  2/3rds of school districts report they are expecting to make even deeper cuts next year.

I'll say it again: what concerns me most is the cumulative corrosive effect of the loss of time, resources and energy spent on the annual budget scramble that should be deployed in the quest for school improvement.  

Upcoming issues:

Wednesday's meeting is a "Committee of the Whole" - we will discuss but not act on any items.  Here are some significant ones:

E.  Discussion Items/Policy Review
1. Presentation of the Parking Lot Concepts for Monona Grove High School and Access Changes to
 Monona Drive – Tom Lynch, Strand Associates      

As the reconstruction for Monona drive goes past the high school the entrance to the parking lot on the south side of the building needs to be relocated to make room for a protected left turn feature in the center of the road.  The board is considering some of the options, which include moving the drive north so that it is opposite Lofty Ave, or moving it south so it is midway between Lofty and Springhaven.  This second option would likely result in the removal of some of the trees in the corner of the lot.  In either case we would need to reconfigure the parking, but it is possible to add several spaces.

3. Update on Employee Handbook  Process       (10 Min)

Our current contracts with employees will expire in July of 2012.  By that time the district has to have a "handbook" in place that replaces the current contract and codifies in policy the relationship between the school district and its employees.  I view this document as the most important project before the board as it will impact all aspects of operations for the foreseeable future.

7. High School Course Proposals: Paul Brost and High School Teachers
  Physics, Honors Physics , Introduction to College Writing , AP Music Theory, and After
  School At-Risk Program       (30 Min) 

Paul Brost and the High School staff will be presenting information on these proposed classes.

Looking for something to do this afternoon?

Playtime Productions Children's Theater starts their fall tour of http://www.playtimeproductions.org/schedule.htm this afternoon at 2pm in the Monona Library auditorium.  Other nearby shows on the schedule include the MG High School Auditorium Friday, Nov.11th at 7pm and the Barrymore Theatre Sunday, Nov. 20th at 6pm. 

Founded by Monona's Teddy Studt, Playtime Productions has been providing great children's entertainment as well as terrific opportunities for young performer for 32 years!

Here we go again...

This year's budget reduction process (for the 2012-13 school year) starts now. The familiar and seemingly endless cycle of budget reductions will start again this month as the board will consider the Superintendent's recommended process timeline.  We must be prepared to act by the Feb. 22 board meeting.

How big a deficit do we expect for next year?  We are estimating about $2 million.  Although this is a bit less than last year's, the last time around there were some easy savings: we took a million out of staff compensation and spent $800K from stimulus funds.  So if your kid isn't in high school Calculus or one of the other classes with increased size, or a patron of some of the other services we trimmed, you might not have noticed much difference

But this year there isn't any more low hanging fruit, and it doesn't look like there will be any more help from Washington.   That means the majority of the cuts are going to be noticeable reductions in services- and some of this will inevitably come out of the classroom, as that is where the great majority of money is spent.  $2 million represents the compensation of more than 30 teachers.

http://www.herald-independent.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=21&ArticleID=2949

MG21 Open House this week

The "Monona Grove Liberal Arts Charter School for the 21st Century" (MG21) is  holding their annual open house this Wednesday (Nov. 2nd) from 6:30 to 8pm in their facility in Nichols.

As you may know, MG21 was awarded a $175K Implementation Renewal Grant in August.  The grant will be used to develop the curriculum and expand its program.  Currently the program has room for 30 students in grades 10-12 but plans to double its capacity.

MG21 uses a project based learning model to teach an integrated curriculum.  More information can be found at www.MG21.org.





http://www.mg21.org/events-dp4

More numbers...

UPDATE: According to Jerrud, part of the drop in property values was due to a miscalculation of the value of property associated with a TIF district in Monona last year. The property was over valued last year and the property has been undervalued this year to compensate.


With the final numbers from the state now in hand Jerrud has finalized the levy calculations. The total property tax levy has dropped $250K from the estimate to $18,188K. At the same time the state reports that the total property value in the district has decreased 5.6%. Together this means that the Mill rate will be $13.08. Note that the total dollar amount of the tax collected hasn't changed, just the relative components of the calculation.

The bad news is that the state is saying your home lost 5.6% of its value last year. To find tax and valuation information about your property you can go to http://accessdane.co.dane.wi.us/.

____________________________________________________


A constituent today asked about the Governer's new website reforms.wi.gov where one can find the statement "Monona Grove School District Taxpayers will save $2,085,400 due to Act 10 reforms, according to media reports."

If you have been following along here you know the district has saved $1,009,000 by reducing staff compensation consistent with the Act 10 provisions. So the report is more than double the actual value.

The oddly specific number makes it easy to Google, and we find the only source is the website of the advocacy organization the MacIver Institute - not exactly a "media report". MacIver does point to an article in the Herald-Independent, but the HI article only mentions the $1.09M number. It seems the accounting of the effects of Act 10 have been outsourced, but not to a reliable source.

Local educational news roundup...

A couple of other interesting articles in the WSJ today: Wisconsin schools have been historically known for their quality (we choose to Wisconsin after studying this issue), but that was coupled with higher spending per pupil. Coincidence? I think not! But now funding is slipping toward the national average.

"It's been a big change in a very short period of time, there's no question about it," says Dale Knapp, WISTAX research director. "In the late ‘90s to around a decade ago, Wisconsin's spending per pupil on schools was typically around 10 percent above the average nationally. In the last eight years, we've been moving more toward the middle."
Salaries for instructional staff (primarily teachers) ranked 21st nationally in 2009, or 1.5 percent below the national average. Wages for all school personnel ranked 29th in 2009, or 7.4 percent below average

If you want average schools, then average funding will do.

We also find a report on the Madison Preparatory Charter School where some operational details have been revealed. The plan calls for a adding 20 days to the school year (200 vs. 180) by adding a summer semester during the month of July, lengthening the school day to 8 to 5 and mandatory sports and extra-curricular. Its a bold proposal and an excellent example of how the charter school model is best used: to provide a laboratory in which to develop innovative educational models. I won't speculate on the success of this model but the empiricist in me would like to see how will it works. The down side is of course cost. A significantly extended school day and year come at a significantly greater cost. However reducing the achievement gap and better preparing young people for success has significant value to society, and over the long run could have a significant return on investment.
---------------------------------------------------
Note to Sunny: Class size guidlines are set by the board, balancing costs vs. educational considerations and public support. They aren't in the teacher's contract. Never were. In fact, you might be surprised by the things that aren't in the contract!

Sunny's point that small class sizes aren't a panacea is accurate, but we have in hand a stark example of how class size can make a difference. The high school AP Calculus class, with 34 students, is 2.5 weeks behind the point in the curriculum that last year's smaller classes were.

More on the annual meeting.

The Herald-Independent covers the Annual Meeting here.  It has a rundown on the numbers and budget challenges facing the district:

Our expenditures such as utilities increased by 5 percent, 7 percent, health insurance by 9 percent,” Rossing said. “The district has worked very hard [to balance the budget]. We had to cut $811,000 out of the budget to get to the balanced budget tonight.” 
Last year, the district cut $929,531 from the budget. “It’s definitely changing the way we’re educating our students,” Rossing said.

I would add that the $811K cut in services is on top of a $1.1M reduction in staff compensation.

On a related note Jerrud reported last night that our September count of district resident students has decreased by 36 over last year.  This will negatively impact funding over the next few years.

I agree with Mike Mikalsen's point about the decision process at these meetings.  With the small number of residents present voting on the levy and property dispositions, it is not particularly democratic and may not reflect the wishes of the district as a whole.  But whether we use a special meeting or the annual meeting the same process is the one dictated by the state law.  This needs to be fixed.

The article does misstate the number on the tax levy, the $126 figure given is the reduction in property taxes on a $200K home compared to last year's taxes.  The estimated levy for that home would be $2462.

Annual meeting follow-up

Thanks to everyone who attended the annual meeting last night -

After significant debate the community approved the motions authorizing the board to lease the Maywood property and sell or lease the Nichols property.  Concerns were raised about capacity for future growth, appropriate use of the sites, and the facilities for MG21.  These are all issues the board will have to consider before taking any action.   The district doesn't have any "deals" pending, but the authorization will IMHO increase the chance that we will be able to take advantage of any appropriate interest that comes along.

Authorization is only the first step in the processes that will involve the district, community and the municipal governments, and any agreements would have to conform to local zoning and use provisions.

Slightly more interesting than usual

This year's MG school district annual meeting will be held Wednesday, Oct 5th at 7pm in the IMC at Glacial Drumlin school.

In addition to the usual budget approvals three items will be put before the electorate for approval.  These items give approval to the board for the sale or lease of the Nichols building and site, lease of the Maywood site and sale of 2 residential properties on Jerome Street across from the high school.

The Madison School District has expressed interest in leasing the Maywood site for their Nuestro Mundo Elementary Charter School.  This would be a great opportunity for our district to cut costs while maintaining the building and provide a different opportunity for MG students.  We don't have any prospects for the Nichols property, but by getting authorization it will communicate to potential developers that we are serious about moving forward.

Update:  the meeting booklet can be found by clicking here. 

Credit where no credit is due--

In this week's Herald-Independent Tom Reason delivers kudos to the school board for the decreased mill rate taxpayers we'll see in next year's bills. But no thanks are necessary, really - because it's not up to us! The tax levy and mill rate are essentially determined by the state funding formula.

This is how it works: the state has a complicated formula based on enrollment and previous funding which dictates the "revenue cap": the maximum revenue each district can raise. The state then tells the district how much of that revenue the state will provide. The difference between that state aid and the revenue cap then can be levied on local property. The mill rate ends up being the amount the district can levy divided by the total value of property in the district. (If property value goes up the mill rate will go down and vice-versa, because the total amount is fixed.)

So the slightly smaller levy this year is a natural consequence of the state budget which cut $650 per pupil from the magic funding formula for the revenue cap, nothing we on the board did.

Of course the school district could choose not levy to the revenue limit, but even after the million dollar reductions to compensation related to the "budget repair bill" the district was still more than $1.5 million in the hole. The deficit was made up by using all our federal stimulus funds and more than $900K in cuts.


--------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of budget cuts - the administration reported that there are 29 class sections in the high and middle schools that exceed class size guideline of 30 students.  Last year that number was 4.

We can argue about how to best manage the situation, but the big picture is that we can't cut the budget a million at a whack without reducing services to students.

MG retirement in the news

The Christian Science Monitor reports on the wave of teacher retirements in the Wisconsin with coverage of the MG district and an interview with retiring history teacher Tom Howe. MG has seen 17 teachers retire this year, considerably more than average.

I do think the article falls short on a couple of points:

1) It fails to explain why many teachers are retiring this year: Teachers eligible for retirement are doing so for guaranteed access to retirement benefits that are part of existing contracts, these benefits will be at the sole discretion of school boards in the future.

2) The recent changes to WI law will result over the next several years in less turnover of senior teachers, not more, even including the increased retirements this year. The reduced pay and retirement packages will have teachers working longer before retiring. This will result in actually slowing the "changing of the guard" that the article identifies as a silver lining.

3) I think the idea that replacing senior teachers with new teachers might improve student outcomes is speculative and unproven. While it may be true that younger teachers have attitudes more aligned with current school reform efforts, this isn't necessarily better than experience. In fact we know there is a positive correlation between the level of teacher experience and student achievement.

It should be noted that early retirement benefits were initially introduced to save districts money by encouraging senior teachers at the top of the pay scale to retire. The explosive growth of health care costs, the major early retirement benefit, has significantly changed this equation, although I estimate we still at least break even.

Budget time again

At Wednesday’s (9/14) meeting the Board reviewed the 2011-12 budget that will be presented for approval at the District's Annual Meeting (Oct. 5th). Although the numbers aren’t final until the September enrollment counts and the certification of state aid in October, the estimated general fund expenditures for the year will be $33,753,104. Due to factors including a $650 reduction in the per pupil revenue limit and a $1.4M reduction in state aids, the budget started with a deficit of approximately $2.75M (about 8%) relative to "cost to continue".

The operating fund deficit was closed in three ways:
1)About $900K in cuts that were approved by the board last spring, these include the consolidation of Maywood and Winnequah Elementary schools as well as staff reductions: your student may have noticed larger class sizes, particularly in the high school.
2) Use of $850K in federal ARRA (stimulus bill) funds. The $850K is equal to the cost of about 15 teachers that the district can continue to employ. The ARRA funds have to be used this year and next, we chose to use the entire amount this year.
3) Just over $1M reduction in compensation for the teachers and staff. A teacher will see a reduction in take home pay equal to 12.8% of the health care costs plus half the WRS pension contribution.

Total local property tax collections for general fund revenues are limited by the revenue cap and should be down slightly, but less than 2%.

Fact checking

Update: the version I submitted to the Herald-Independent can be found here. The links to the data I reference are here:

WI pK-12 spending as a % of GDP:

WI pK-12 spending in inflation adjusted dollars:

1998-99 School year expenditures per pupil:

FY2008 Expenditures per pupil:

____________________________________________________________
Original Post:

Total Wi school funding in 1998 was $7,527, not the $4,956 reported by Sunny in her recent column. Corrected for inflation that's $9899. In 2008 average spending was (correctly reported) $10,791. In real dollars that's an 8% increase, less than 1% per year, not the whopping 64% increase reported by Sunny.

So were did that 1%/year go? Not into the pockets of teachers, who have been losing ground to inflation in the last decade, and not into smaller class sizes (average class size has been creeping up in Wisconsin.) No, any employer will tell you that health care costs have been increased by more than 50% over this period - and school districts feel the same effects. The fact that cost increases are slowly squeezing the life out of our schools is another reason we need to fix the broken health care system in this country.

On with the facts: In 1998 scores on the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) ranked WI in the top 3 among states- but Wi scores have stagnated while the rest of the nation has (on average) been improving significantly. In the latest results WI ranks 15th and falling. These results mirror the funding situation: In 1998 WI had schools among the best funded in the nation, but since then funding has stagnated while on average other states have increased spending. Between 2000 and 2009 average spending in the US on education has increased 17.9%, while in Wisconsin spending has been flat since 2003. As Wisconsin funding for schools sinks to the national average, our test scores have also.

More facts: spending on schools has been sinking as a share of GSP (Gross State Product) for more than a decade. The education "piece of the pie" is smaller than it has been. That means public schools are more affordable now than in 1998, and educational professions are becoming less attractive compared to other endeavors. The recent changes to WI school funding will probably put us below the national average - we should not be surprised when our test scores follow.

These facts reinforce something simple I learned long ago: You get what you pay for. Education is not exempt. I wish our politicians could learn it too.


PS: Apparently Sunny got taken in by CNS news- a Conservative "news" organization which falsely reported the 1998 number - using a slight of hand to link to the wrong report from NCES.

Real Estate:

By law and policy the district can only sell or lease real estate with authorization from the electorate at a public meeting. At last Wednesday's board meeting we unanimously approved three measures to be placed on the agenda of the October 5th annual meeting. The three measures seek authorization from the public to:

1) Sell or lease the Nichols property
2) Sell the two residential properties on Jerome street across from the high school
3) Lease the Maywood property

None of the proposals require we do anything with these properties, but the give the board the authority to take advantage of any opportunities that might come along.

I have said before that I think the district would be better off with the Nichols property working for the community rather than sitting (largely) idle. It is a prime piece of real estate in Monona and could be of significant value to the community. To my knowledge there are no plans or proposals in the works, but finding the right project for the property is likely to take some time. Public approval will let potential developers know we are serious, and makes it more likely that someone will invest the time and effort to develop a proposal.

The Jerome street properties are two houses adjacent to the District tennis courts across the street from the high school (these are actually in the city of Madison.) We've been talking about doing something to upgrade the tennis facility for years - and the neighbors would prefer something to these unoccupied residences. The houses are used by the district for storage, but they aren't really of much value to us - selling them could provide some revenue for much needed facilities maintenance and upgrades.

No one is interested in selling the Maywood property, I think we should keep it for potential future needs. But finding a paying occupant would be of financial benefit to the district, better maintain the building and address some of the community concerns associated with an unoccupied school. As I noted we have seen some interest from the Madison school district as a location for their Nuestro Mundo charter school. An arrangement could be substantially mutually beneficial.

Nuestro Mundo

Today the WSJ covers Madison's Nuestro Mundo charter school and its search for new space. Nuestro Mundo combines (50/50) English language learning students with traditional students to provide a "dual language" program. This enables ELL students to progress in English proficiency and an foreign language immersion program for the traditional students. The data appear to indicate that this program is quite successful and it is popular in Madison.

The Madison School District is looking for more space because the program is crowded into Allis Elementary alongside the traditional elementary program. To that end Madison has contacted us about the possibility of leasing space in the Maywood or Nichols buildings. Nothing has been decided, but I think an appropriate arrangement that provides a financial benefit to the district, additional opportunities to MG students and "keeps the lights on" in one of our unoccupied buildings is certainly worth pursuing.

Two articles on the topic are in today's WSJ - but they aren't available on-line. I'll link to them when I can.

On a personal note - my summer hiatus from writing this blog wasn't intentional. It just happened that way. I have to say its been a big relief to take a break after the intensity of last spring's debates. I'll try and get back in the swing.

WiscNet to be eliminated?

In addition to dramatic cuts in school funding the WI state legislature is taking steps that will increase costs of operating public schools. The latest budget amendment would eliminate "WiscNet" the non-profit internet service provider used by most schools (including Monona Grove) and libraries across the state. WiscNet provides low cost internet service that is significantly less than privately funded alternatives.

The argument for the amendment is that public entities should not compete with private business. But this is not about competing with the private sector, but an effort to divert taxpayer dollars from a public non-profit to private businesses. What it should be about is providing essential services to taxpayer supported public institutions at the lowest cost. Eliminating WiscNet will result in fewer dollars in our classrooms or higher taxes.

State Superintendent Tony Evers notes

it will prohibit any UW campus from participating in advanced research networks linking research institutions worldwide.

The internet as we know it was created by public research networks and organizations like WiscNet - what future revolutionary inventions will we pass up by getting out of this game?

This doesn't seem like the right direction...

The Legislature's budget-writing committee on Tuesday signed off on a proposal by Gov. Scott Walker to phase out a program designed to help students -- especially those from low-income families -- find a path to a college degree.

You can find the full story here.

Wisconsin Covenant scholars who follow the program's guidelines -- and earn at least a B average in high school -- are guaranteed spots in the University of Wisconsin System, the state technical college system or one of the state's 20 private colleges.

Education isn't an expense, its an investment.

P.S. Sorry for the posting hiatus...

More changes...

Adam Mella, managing editor of the Herald-Independent has announced in this week's edition that he is leaving us.  Over the last several years Adam has provided excellent coverage of local events and government affairs, and I think the quality of the reporting has only improved under his leadership.  Adam's tenure has also seen the development of a frequently updated web presence that has provided a new and valuable level of service to our communities.

 Thanks for your good work Adam, and good luck in your future endeavors!

Election results

In a shocking upset Dean Bowles and Susan Fox win seats on the Monona Grove School board.

Congratulations! and welcome to the board Dean!

Belated board meeting wrap up...

The board approved the charter school planning grant application after a presentation by Nancy Gagnon and some of the other proposers, although many questions remain to be answered during the planning grant period.  The charter school proposal as presented calls for up to 180 seats (3 grades of 2 sections of 30 students each), very preliminary budget numbers were about $950K/year in operating costs.  The proposal calls for a school that is an "instrumentality" of the district: although it has a separate governance board it would not be a distinct fiscal entity - this is the way our current charter school (MG21) is operated.  The school would use a "project based learning" model and feature an environmental and health sciences curriculum.  Ann Schroeder raised concerns that there was not sufficient room n Winnequah for 180 Middle School students.

The next step would be to negotiate and agree to a charter in December of next year.  IMHO any agreement would have to be budget neutral - the costs of the charter school should not exceed the differential savings of taking those students out of our existing program -  anything more would result in fewer resources for students in our existing programs. 

The board also approved open enrollments for next year.  Out of a total of 206 applicants we accepted 125 based on available space.  This includes 55 4K, 20 Kindergarten students at Winnequah, and 30 high school students. 

We also got a look at an updated budget forecast: we are anticipating a $3.1M deficit representing a proposed budget reduction of 5.5% per student.  The deficit can be offset by projected savings of $1.1M in WRS and Health insurance payments (the pay cut to teachers), $100K revenue from open enrollment, $850K in Federal Jobs Bill revenue, $245K savings from the Maywood/Winnequah consolidation,  $340K from staffing maximization (reducing staff and moving them around to match student needs) and $362K in program and services reductions (more on those next time).  This leaves us with a projected negative $88K balance on the year, plus whatever is required for remodeling in Winnequah due to the consolidation.


P.S. The H-I website embeds my cell phone video of the 1812 overture played by the combined 4th-12th grade orchestras at the bottom of the front page:  http://www.herald-independent.com/, check it out!

March 30 meeting

The board will meet tomorrow Wednesday with a few items on the agenda.  In closed session the board will:

III. Motion to Move into Closed Session Pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes 19.85 (1)(c)
(e) for Consideration and Deliberation Regarding Administrative Contracts/Salaries,
Superintendent Evaluation,  Possible Contract Extensions for Support Staff,
Possible Negotiation of Resignation Agreement with an Employee and Strategies
for Real Estate Practices Regarding School District Properties.

In open session the board will:

A. Discussion  and Possible Approval of Planning Grant Application for School of
      Health and Environmental Sciences - Nancy Gagnon and Stephanie Ramer   (30 Min) 

The board will review the planning grant application proposed by a group of Monona residents for "the Monona Grove Environmental and Health Sciences Charter School" designed to serve as many as 75 middle school students with a project based learning environment.  You can review the document here. 

B. Discussion and Possible Approval of Open Enrollment Recommendations    (30 Min)
C. Discussion of 2011-2012 Budget Reduction Items.                                          (60 Min)

The proposed 2011-13 state budget puts the district in need of significantly more budget cuts than we had planned- the board will consider recommendations for the administration for different directions we can go.

Expand vouchers because...?

From today's WSJ:

The test results show the percentage of students participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program who scored proficient or advanced was 34.4 percent for math and 55.2 percent for reading.


Among Milwaukee Public Schools students, it was 47.8 percent in math and 59 percent in reading. Among Milwaukee Public Schools students coming from families making 185 percent of the federal poverty level — a slightly better comparison because voucher students come from families making no more than 175 percent — it was 43.9 percent in math and 55.3 percent in reading.

That is a gap of 9.5 percent in the math proficiency between the MPS students and voucher school students.  At the very least the state should stop to look at the Milwaukee voucher program and seriously consider if and under what conditions it should continue- because what is happening now is not working. 

3/16/2011


The Honorable Senator Luther Olsen
The Honorable Senator Mark Miller
The Honorable Representative Gary Hebl
The Honorable Representative Joe Parisi
Madison, WI

Gentlemen,

Thank you for taking the time today to allow me to express my concerns about the impact of the Governor’s 2011-13 budget on education in the Monona Grove School District and the state of Wisconsin.

As I noted to some of you, according to the website //www.usgovernmentspending.com, K-12 education spending in Wisconsin over the past decade has shrunk from 4.5% of GDP in 1990 to 4.05% in 2010. In other words the education “piece of the pie” has shrunk more than 12% in a little over 10 years. To the dubious extent that Wisconsin is “broke” it is certainly not the fault of public education.

Those of us involved with public education don’t need to be told of this statistic because it has become part of our way of life: Year after year we adjust and cut, increase class sizes here, reduce a student service there, and always defer maintenance of our infrastructure. At the same time our ability to compensate qualified staff has increasingly slipped behind inflation. On top of the corrosion over the last decade I fear the significant cuts in the proposed budget will do irreparable damage to our schools. Wisconsin is known for one of the best education systems in the country (although it admittedly has problems), but the proposed budget now places that system and our reputation at risk.

Please contact me for additional information or if I can be of any assistance.

Regards,

Peter Sobol
Member, Monona Grove School Board

The pesky spam filter

blocked a half dozen comments.   They are in now, but hopelessly out of date.  Thanks for commenting anyway!

Board agrees to MGEA contract extension (with modifications)

The MG school board met in special session this afternoon and approved an extension of the current contract with MGEA for the next school year with several important modifications:

1) Teachers will contribute 1/2 the WRS pension contributions from their salary.  This is the same requirement as the "Budget repair bill".

2) Teachers will pay 12.6%  of their health insurance costs.  This is the same requirement as the "Budget repair bill".

3) Only teachers currently eligible for retirement within the next 5 years will retain the current retirement benefits.  No provisions for retirement benefits for teachers retiring beyond the next 5 years are provided in the contract, these will be up to the board to provide in policy.

4) There will be a 0% increase to the salary schedule, although step and lane increases will occur.

5) The district calendar will be determined by the board and is no longer a subject of bargaining, teacher transfers also become a management prerogative. 

Estimated Fiscal impact:  The WRS and Health care contributions will save the district about $1M a year.  The salary schedule freeze will probably cost less than the possible CPI salary increase that would be the subject of bargaining under the "budget repair bill".   The agreement also allows the board to very significantly reduce retirement benefit liability in the future.

Question:  Why would the board agree to this contract when the "budget repair bill" would allow us to "do anything we want" next year?

1) Without a contract, disputes regarding employment are governed by applicable (and complex) state law, which means they end up in court, which can be expensive.  Considering the vast changes in the law there is considerable risk of litigation - this contract protects the district from that risk because it establishes the working conditions and compensation and procedures for resolving disputes.  Private companies frequently establish agreements and systems which minimize recourse to the legal system in the event of disputes.

2) In the event that the new law is overruled in court, or repealed in whole or in part (either of which is a possibility) it is a very distinct advantage for the district to have an established contract with these terms (especially reduced retirement liability) in places as a starting point for any new contracts. 

3) The operating structures of the district are long established through our contract - this extension provides the district and the staff with a bridge that allows us to adapt to both the new law and other budget changes with some degree of security and structure, while giving the board significantly improved flexibility. Continuity of operation is critical to good management of any organization. 

5) Establishing a cooperative environment through a voluntary agreement rather than the adversarial relationship that will result from a one-sided imposition of conditions will go along way towards helping us adapt to the new realities.  The relative goodwill is a significant advantage to the district.

Once the "budget repair bill" becomes law (no later than March 25th) we would not have the opportunity to enter into this contract and would therefore be unable to obtain the risk protections afforded.  This is a good deal that provides important benefits and reduced risks to the district.

1 meeting 2 meetings ...

Meeting 1: Last night's board meeting, recap in brief:

A Update and Discussion on Open Enrollment (30 Min)

We have received about 210 open enrollment applications including a significant number for 4K. We have room to accomdate about 50 of those applicatants.  The board debated the possibility of adding an additional sections of 4K students in one of the CG off site 4K programs.

Discussion and Possible Approval of a Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of Approximately $3,895,000.00 General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2011

We approved a refinancing of some of the High School construction bonds that will save some $25K per year. 

D. Discussion and Possible Approval of Proposal to Make-up Loss of Instructional Time

We approved a plan to make up lost educational time (although we weren't required too, we have enough hours) by extending days for a few minutes and using some 1/2 day releases reserved for professional development.

A. Discussion and Possible Approval of Two Sections of Second Grade Students Remaining at
Taylor Prairie School for the 2011-2012 School Year. (15 Min)

The board approved splitting next years CG elementary 2nd grade elementary students, leaving 3 classes in TP and 4 classes in CG.  This move helps balance the students with the building capacities.

B. Discussion of State Proposed Biennial Budget (30 Min)

C. Discussion of Budget Reduction Proposals (30 Min)

Given the current budget proposal the district will have a $3M projected deficit for next year.  We anticipate a $1M savings from teachers WRS and health care contributions, in addition we have $850K in stimulus money we can spend and $500K savings in proposed cuts.  This leaves an additional $500K we will have to find.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meeting 2: The board will meet in both closed and open special session tomorrow to consider a possible extension to our current contract (with modifications) with MGEA.

Dear Senator Miller-

Welcome home.

My family and I would like to thank you and Jo for the personal sacrifices you have recently made in the service of our community and the people of Wisconsin. 

Best wishes,

The Sobols.

A tale of two governmental bodies...

Last night the school board met in both closed and open session. In compliance with the WI Open Meetings law our meeting was properly noticed more than 24 hours in advance and accommodations were made for the public to attend and participate. Our closed session stuck rigorously to the topics that were noticed and are allowed exemptions.

Another governmental body of the state also met last night at the same time.  However that body betrayed a contempt for both the open meetings laws and the public interest in open debate and transparency. 

Why the double standard?

Wississippi

The Christian Science Monitor (I'll repeat myself: one of the best sources of news in the US) asks the question: If Gov. Scott Walker Prevails will Wisconsin look more like the South? and discusses the "southern strategy" of economic development: low services resulting in low taxes that make the region attractive to businesses and job creation. The article does correctly point to a migration of people from northern & eastern areas to the south and west in pursuit of jobs. But I think the article misses a key factor. This strategy works because the educated american worker is highly mobile and can follow the jobs south. Why invest in local education when you can just import brains for other areas that do?

I noticed this effect first hand in California. We hired a lot of people, but virtually none of them were the product of the by then poor quality CA public schools. This was contrasted with the senior management of the company which included a number of native Californians who had been educated in the 60's and 70's when CA public schools were considered the nations best.

In essence job growth in the south and west of the US is subsidized by the taxpayers in the north and east that provide the educational infrastruct.

Dear Governor...

The following is a copy of the letter sent by MG School Board President Susan Fox. I agree wholeheartedly.

Governor Walker,

Speaking as a local school board president, I appreciate some of the required contributions to health care benefits and even the retirement system, although I would not have enacted the level you chose all at once. That level of salary cut is very difficult for teachers and other public employees and it will have a significant negative impact on the local economy in the form of reduced discretionary spending. I do not support some other provisions of your "repair bill."


With regard to your budget proposal, the only interpretation possible is that this is an all-out attack on public education. The so-called "tools" you give us, in the form of employee contributions to benefits (salary cuts), will not come close to filling this hole. Additionally, if you really believe that we can lay off our most senior (expensive) teachers and replace them with people right out of college, or even those with a master's degree, you need to collect information from people working with schools. The negative impact on schools caused by the loss of this knowledge/experience base (these are the people who mentor our beginning teachers) is huge, to say nothing of age discrimination lawsuits. Schools improve in a collaborative culture with accountability built in.

We have worked hard at Monona Grove to build a collaborative process of using student performance data to inform teaching, and to build a process by which teachers share best practices. We are seeing positive effects, in early reading, for example, as well as in other skills. Your funding reductions threaten the gains we are making. When we increase class sizes to more than 30 (our current middle and high school max), we reduce the time teachers have to grade papers and provide meaningful feedback and re-teaching experiences for students. When we increase the number of classes teachers have to teach, we increase the exhaustion level, in addition to the number of students with whom to form relationships. Studies show that relationships between staff and students have a significant impact on student achievement. I seriously would like to see the critics of teachers spend just one day teaching a full class load, and of course a week would be even better.

I recognize that we need to make changes. We need to come up with a more equitable funding plan and re-invest in public schools. This is crucial to the economic success of our state as well as our country. How many businesses will want to locate in Wisconsin when the public school system has declined? Schools are a part of the high quality of life here. Private charter schools do not have any better track record over all than public schools. The method of school governance is not what determines school effectiveness; rather, the crucial elements are the teaching and the learning. At Monona Grove, we have worked with other districts on a curriculum model that uses data heavily and which works to improve student performance. We use the research-based benchmarks set by the ACT, and are incorporating these with the national core standards. With the loss of the public school system comes a situation of increasingly random acts of improvement.

Please invite us to the table to talk about these issues. These sweeping changes will be devastating and cause damage that will be hard to fix when the pendulum swings the other way in a few years. When making significant changes, thought must be given to all the ramifications. Compromise is usually the best course.

Respecftully,
Susan Fox

Global warming comes to Madison...

As you can see in this video from Fox news the Capitol Square now is lined with Palm Trees:

A tale of two departments...

Wisconsin has a Department of Administration:

16.003 Department of administration. (1) PURPOSE. The department shall carry out the purposes of this chapter by improving the techniques used for such management specialties, not limited by enumeration, as budgeting, accounting, engineering, purchasing, records management and fleet management; by coordinating and providing services which are used by more than one agency, and by reviewing agencies’ programs and management to identify problems and suggest improvements.

And a Department of Instruction under the State Superintendent of Schools whose first responsibility is:

(1) GENERAL SUPERVISION. Ascertain the condition of the public schools, stimulate interest in education and spread as widely as possible a knowledge of the means and methods which may be employed to improve the schools.

Guess which one is to implement Walker's new 3rd grade reading program?

And the other shoe drops...

Scott Walker today released his budget proposal for the 2011-13 biennium.  The proposal includes a 5.5 reduction in the revenue limit for schools.  For the Monona Grove school district this works out to a reduction of about 1.7 million dollars - this will be somewhat offset by mandatory reductions in teacher compensation, but it will add an additional ~$700K to our projected budget deficit which is already $750K plus in the red (all numbers are approximate until we get the details!)  The total spending cuts needed for next year will be on the order of $1.5 million.

To give you an idea $1.5M is the equivalent  of more than 25 full time teachers.  Elections have consequences and the last general election made it pretty clear that the electorate didn't want the budget to be balanced by raising taxes.  This, of course, is the alternative.

Breaking news...

The MGEA has ratified the contract agreed to earlier today by the board. This contract is for the 2009-2011 school year and will expire June 30th.

The contract mostly maintains the status quo to allow us to complete the year in an orderly fashion even if the current budget repair bill passes. Hopefully it will give us enough time to deal with the implications of the yet to be released state budget and make layoff and staffing decisions with enough knowledge to minimize disruption. The same is true of senior teachers with the option to retire. It also minimizes risk: in the absence of a contract we would be governed only by the complex state statutes if the "budget repair bill" becomes law, and there is a risk that any disputes would end up in litigation without this settlement.

The agreed upon contract provides for 0% salary increase in the first year (2009-10) and 1% in the current year. This is significantly less than inflation and saves the district money relative to what had been budgeted.  Given that the MGEA would retain the right to negotiate salaries up to the rate of inflation under the "budget repair bill' this is probably a deal for the district.  A teacher who started in the district this year with a bachelors will receive $31,695 in salary (including the new teacher stipend), a teacher with a master's and 16 years experience will receive $51,717.

 The contract makes no movement on our OPEB ("Other Post Employment Benefits") liability, but because it only extends through June and it was unlikely we would have made changes to the retirements retroactive this won't impact the bottom line.

The long sticking point over the negotiations to this point has been the OPEB liability. The MG district has OPEB benefits that are much higher than our peer districts. The major cost was due to generous retirement health care benefits which were first negotiated decades ago at a time when health care was cheap. The rapid growth of health care costs had not been anticipated. The other part of the OPEB benefits is the TEP - a payout equal to the one year's salary. The TEP was originally implemented to reduce district costs by encouraging higher paid senior teachers to retire, however the high costs of health benefits in retirement now makes this less of a deal for the district.

It is past time to adjust these OPEB benefits to be more in line with other districts': The board's proposals did reduce the OPEB benefits considerably, by $200K or more per teacher - and as such were understandably difficult for the MGEA to swallow. Although we hadn't reached an agreement (and were in the process of arbitration) I feel we had made significant progress and both sides were finally at least reading from the same page. These issues will have to be resolved by the board or in negotiations (depending on what happens with state law) during the next biennium.

I do feel that this agreement has been reached at the point of a gun, and that is not an environment conducive to developing the cooperative relationships we need to move forward. But I do want to thank Superintendent Gerlach and the MGEA negotiations team for the difficult work necessary to move this forward in the last few days.

Meeting Sunday:

The board will meet in special session on Sunday at 11am with one item on the agenda:

New Business
A. Discussion and Possible Approval of an MGEA Collective Bargaining Agreement for 2009-2011

The district is currently operating under the terms of the last contract which expired in 2009, the new contract has been in negotiations for nearly 2 years. A new contract would extend only through June 30th of this year - but it would provide staff and the board a little bit of continuity that will allow us to continue to operate while the budget mess is sorted out.

Update: After a 2 hour discussion the Board unanimously approved a contract with the MGEA. The MGEA will meet this evening for a ratification vote, I will comment more about the contract and negotiations but only after they are concluded. So please withhold judgement!

After much debate...

Last night the school board created and approved by unanimous vote the following statement:

We believe that we need to keep the educational needs of the children in the forefront of all that we do.

Given the significant challenges facing our state, we believe that it is in the interests of the Monona Grove School District to maintain respectful partnerships and cooperative relationships that preserve rights and dignity for all. We agree that there is room for improvement in the laws governing the relationship between local governmental units and public employees. In our judgment, the proposals in the "Budget Repair Bill" give too little consideration for the possible disruptions that invariably result from such sweeping changes.

As such, we believe the collective bargaining provisions in the "Budget Repair Bill" should be reconsidered in a more collaborative process.

Our commitment must continue to be that of providing the best educational environment for our youth.

Monona Grove Board Of Education

Speaking for myself I would comment the continued statements by Gov. Walker that the collective bargaining provisions are intended to provide local governments with "the flexibility to deal with impending budget cuts" does compel those local governments to respond to the question of whether they want or need those provisions. While a number of local governmental units have approved statements in opposition to Walker's proposal, none (to my knowledge) have come out in support. This appears to me to significantly undermine the justification for the bill.

President's day...

Monona Grove Schools should be open tomorrow, (weather permitting!)

The Monona Grove School District will be open for school on Monday, February 21. Kristine Wollerman, Monona Grove Education Association (MGEA) President, representing the leadership of their association, will direct all MGEA members to attend school beginning Monday, February 21, 2011.

Teachers who were absent without a legitimate reason will have a proportionate deduction taken from their pay.

The board has received many communications, some in support and others critical, concerning the teacher's actions over the last few days, thank you for your comments.

On another note, I haven't commented much on the budget process as yet this year - 1) I've been busy, and B) the "budget repair bill" and governor's proposed budget (which hasn't been released, but may contain a $500 per pupil cut) has thrown the whole thing up in the air. So its difficult to plan, or comment.

Former board member Mary P. has a thing or two to say...

To the Monona Grove School Board,
The group of people in this school district who have sat across the bargaining table from the MGEA is rather small, and I am one of them. Bargaining with the MGEA was, hands down, the most bizarre and surreal trip through the looking glass I have ever experienced. I could drone on about a myriad of frustrations, but all else aside, I could never understand their complete and utter failure to realize the MG school board was not only not their enemy, but we also lacked the statutory power to improve their wages and benefits. While we could partake in rearranging the deck chairs on our own little Titanic, purchasing additional life boats was not within our power. Simply put, they directed a whole lot of energy toward a group who was essentially powerless all the while engaging in job actions that did little but harm students, demoralize many of their own members and generate ill will among the public. At times my own children were targeted, so please understand what I say next comes within this context.
Things are different now. Finally, the members of the MGEA have directed their energy toward the group of people who hold all the power, and all I can say is that it’s about damn time. For this reason, I urge the MG board to be measured in your response to the recent job actions that shut down our schools. I do not have knowledge of the relevant contract language, and while docking pay of those who did not report is reasonable, I urge you to not take disciplinary actions. Quite frankly, I find the message to the community on the MG web page today to be unsupportive of what our teachers are doing. I would have hoped for a more neutral statement.
What is going on right now is bigger than this district. Isn't it amazing to be living through this extraordinary time in Wisconsin history? I have seen nothing like this since I was a child in the 60’s. What happens in the coming days will certainly have an impact on Wisconsin public education for years to come. We should be proud that our teachers are standing up for what is right, and our Senator Miller is one of the brave individuals standing in front of the bulldozers. On the flip side, I don’t see organized buses of school board members pouring into Madison, so let’s support the teachers who are turning out by the thousands. Further, this may not end this weekend. This will take as much time it takes, and public educations stands to lose too much to blink first – however long this takes. If this grows more difficult, I beg of you to hang in there.
Last, while I suppose it’s too much to ask for the board to pass a resolution supporting the teachers’ actions, there is nothing stopping individual board members from expressing a little old fashioned solidarity, explicitly, and in a very public manner. It may not make you popular among some folks, but so what? I’m guessing most of you have long quit worrying about that and besides, what’s the worst thing that could happen? Not getting re-elected? I’m gonna go out on a limb and make another guess that most of you wouldn’t see that as the end of the world.
Thanks for your service. I wish you all the best as you grapple with the challenges of the coming months.

Mary Possin
4509 Midmooor
Monona, WI 53716

Closed tomorrow...

Because a large number of the teaching staff have notified the district that they will be absent tomorrow the district's schools will be closed. All teacher's are expected to report for work tomorrow, and those who don't will be docked a day's pay.

Several other districts in the area have made the same decision and have cancelled classes.

$1.8 million further in the hole

According to a WASB (Wi Association of School Boards) Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget will reduce the per pupil revenue cap by $500 per student. For MG this would be a net reduction of $600/student from our current budget process - increasing our budget deficit for next year by $1.8M over and above our current estimated $750K deficit.

WASB's Executive Director John Ashley has also issued a letter expressing opposition to the "budget repair bill" in that it goes too far without adequate deliberation.

"We are concerned that the provisions in the budget repair bill that prohibit collective bargaining over everything but wages go far beyond helping school districts control costs."

In which I go over the top.

The last time the WI governor called out the National Guard against his own people it lead to the infamous Bay View massacre. Then, as now, the people Governor Walker threatened Friday with National Guard troops aren’t an invading army, but among the hard working citizens of Wisconsin that he is supposed to protect and serve

I’m not a member of any union, indeed I serve on a school board involved in contentious and drawn out negotiations asking for substantial concessions from the teachers in our district. And although it makes this job difficult and frustrating (and I wish for a more collaborative process that could result in better outcomes for both sides) I don’t question for a moment the right of the teachers to associate and as a group negotiate for fair compensation for their labors.

My attitude does not just derive from idealistic notions of our rights as citizens in a country founded for the people, but also from a practical interest in what is best for the education of my children, our state and nation. A comparison of student achievement as ranked by the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows those states without teacher’s unions nearly uniformly rank at the bottom of in terms of student achievement, while those with healthy unions, including Wisconsin, rank at the top. We don’t know all the reasons for this correlation but it is more than a coincidence, I fear the “budget repair bill” will deliver us speedily to the bottom of this list. Yes, a teacher’s union can create impediments to reforms in our schools, but at the same time they create a rewarding work environment that in the long run attracts highly qualified people to the profession.

I do think that the public unions of this state are much to blame for the fact that they enjoy so little public support that their existence hangs in the balance. They have enjoyed considerable power and influence, and yet they have often appeared tone deaf to the greater concerns of the state. Unions need to demonstrate their relevance by working collaboratively for change for the better, and help adapt to (not fight) new realities.

But we all know that these proposed measures gutting union rights have no business in a “budget repair bill”– and the pure ugly political nature of these provisions is revealed by the exemptions given to the police and fire unions. If we wish to debate the nature, status and conditions of public employee unions lets have that discussion on its own merits, not undo 50 years of work in a single week with little debate and less thought.

We all understand the need for austerity measures in the face of an economic downturn. Although one wonders why, when headlines show that corporations are turning their tax breaks into record profits rather than jobs, that austerity means belt tightening primarily for the working families of this state. A healthy, prosperous middle class is the ultimate strength of our state and the hundred thousand teachers, if they are anything like my community, stand at the heart of that class and the guardians that prepare its children for their future.

Yet our Governor refuses to even meet with the representatives of these tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens and public employees, an act that can only be described as dereliction of duty. What is he afraid of? In his refusal the Governor claims that he has nothing to offer the unions – and yet he entirely exempts unions representing other groups from his proposals. Teachers are every bit as important to the state of Wisconsin as police officers and firefighters – don’t they deserve the same rights and respect? The governor says the state is “broke”, but our $3.6 billion shortfall over the next biennium represents much less than 1% of the Wisconsin GDP. According to usgovernmentspending.com education spending (preK-12) as a percentage of GDP has shrunk more than 12% since 2002. If the state IS broke, it is not because of education.

The Governor says he is committed to creating jobs in the state of Wisconsin, I have a news flash for him: employers are not going to come here for the weather, and they will never find the labor costs of India or China. The only thing that will attract employers is a well-educated, creative and productive workforce. That is a race we can win, but we can’t even compete in a race to the bottom, nor should we want to. The teachers of the state must be at the core of our efforts to win the race that Wisconsin needs to run.

We live in the most prosperous country ever known to history- we need to remember that we got here neither by magic nor chance, but in part because our grandparents made the sacrifices necessary to adequately support universal education and allow teaching to become a rewarding and respected profession. When we turn our backs on those values, we turn our backs on prosperity for our children.

Governor Walker versus teacher unions...

According to the AP Walker's budget proposal includes the following sweeping changes:

Under Walker's immediate plan, all collective bargaining rights would be removed for state and local public employees starting July 1, except when it comes to wages. But any salary increase they seek could be no more than the consumer price index, unless voters in the jurisdiction affected approved a higher raise.

Contracts would be limited to one year and wages would be frozen until the next contract is settled. Public employers would be prohibited from collecting union dues and members of collective bargaining units would not be required to pay dues.

Local law enforcement and fire employees, as well as state troopers and inspectors would be exempt.

...The ban on public employees striking would remain, Walker said.

Collective bargaining rights would only extend to wages, and that would be limited to the consumer price index. I would note that public sector already receive less total compensation than private sector employees with equivalent education and responsibility - limiting raises to the consumer price index would further increase this gap each year.

2/9 Board Meeting:

The public portion of tomorrow's meeting starts at 7pm in the Nichols District Office Board room.  Items of note:

X. New Business


A. Presentation and Discussion of the Proposed School of Health and Environmental Sciences, a project-based learning charter middle school serving grades 6-8.- Nancy Gagnon and Stephanie Ramer (10 min)

We will hear a report on the progress being made by the group proposing a charter middle school in the district. 

B. Discussion on Paperless Board Meetings – Jason McCutchin & Bill Herman (20 Min)

At last months WASB convention I talked to one vendor who specializes in software for "Paperless Board Meetings" and has a package available for $2K/year.  Aside from the convienence of not having to deal with all the paper, the main goal would be to reduce the time and effort required by the staff to support board meetings.

D. Discussion and Possible Approval of Final Notice of Nonrenewal of One-Year Administrative Contracts and .5 FTE Diversity Coordinator Position (5 Min)

F. Discussion and Possible Approval of Preliminary Non-Renewal Notices of Teachers (15 min)

Until we finalzie the budget, we can't say who will be employed by the district in the next year.  To accomodate potential reductions we need to provide notice of non-renewal to these employees to prevent their contracts from rolling over for next year.

H. Discussion of Location of Second Grade Students in Cottage Grove Elementary Schools for 2011-12 (15 min)

Taylor Prairie has about 372 K-1 students while Cottage Grove has 485 2-4 students.  Shifting some 2nd graders from Cottage Grove to Taylor Prairie will provide a better balance of space for our elementary students.

XI. Unfinished Business

A. Discussion of Budget Reduction Proposals and Process (20 min)

We should be hearing specific proposals for budget reductions - although without the governor's budget proposal we don't know how much we will have to cut. 

B. Approval of Staff Resignations/Retirements


Barbara Berg, Principal – Cottage Grove School, effective at the conclusion 2010-11 school year.

CG elementary principal Barbara Berg is retiring at the end of the year.  Barb has done a wonderful job running our largest elementary school - she is an important part of the management team and will be missed!

I find this is interesting:

A "meta-analysis" collates and the results from multiple independent research studies of a single subject to provide a more reliable evaluation of the tested hypothesis.  Increasingly common, meta-analyses are an important way of sifting through often contradictory or confusing results from multiple studies reported independently. 

This meta-analysis in the news caught my eye because it reported an average increase in academic achievement by 11 percentile points associated with "Social and Emotional Learning" programs.  A gain of 11 percentile points is huge when compared to effects from other strategies employed in schools.   The analysis included a review of a whopping 213 studies involving 270K students K-12, and noted improvements in student attitude and behaviour as well.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x/full

What is "Social and Emotional Learning"?  SEL programs seek to teach children "to recognize and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, appreciate the perspectives of others, establish and maintain positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle interpersonal situations constructively"

Snow Day Tomorrow...

Just came back from walking the dog - its quite the blizzard out there.  Stay warm!

What the Governor Said...

Last week in Milwaukee Governor Scott Walker briefed the Wisconsin Association of School Boards annual convention about what to expect from his administration. He started with the message that he would like to implement reforms that empower local school boards to more flexible in staffing decisions "to hire and potentially fire” and move toward “pay for performance”- Walker made a comparison to a stint he had with IBM where he earned commissions on sales.

On the budget Walker warned that reductions in state aid were coming but they “won’t affect what goes on in the classroom” because cuts would be offset by reductions in benefits to school employees. Walker indicated that he wasn’t “picking on teachers” – that similar cuts will apply to other public employees.

Walker also took time to re-iterate his campaign position that all 3rd graders should be reading at grade level before promotion to 4th grade. The problem I have with this proposal is that a significant body of research and experience that indicates such a policy is detrimental to student achievement. In many controlled studies students who were retained at 3rd grade had lower levels of achievement in subsequent years than equivalent students who were promoted. Down the road the retained students are more likely to drop out than their peers.  (Read more here  or here). 

I think this idea is flawed in the same way as NCLB (the No Child Left Behind law): An educational system whose primary focus is getting everyone over a minimal bar can’t excel and will under serve those students who aren’t near that bar. Obviously we can’t ignore the problem of under achieving students but we have to respond with what works. In certain cases retention is appropriate, but those decisions need to be made by teachers and parents familiar with the interests of the child – not by politicians.

When an 8 year old can’t read at grade level it is not the fault of the child.  What students need is early, focused and effective interventions to bring them up to grade level.

No Contest...

Two school board seats are up for this spring's election.  The seats are currently occupied by Susan Fox and Jill List, but Jill has decided not seek re-election.  Susan Fox and Dean Bowles have filed nomination papers before todays deadline - so the election will be uncontested. 

Click through for Susan's and Dean's press releases.

MG Teacher in the news...

Today the WSJ fronts the seagoing tale of MG science teacher Juan Botella's research trip to the antarctic:

MONONA — Next month, Juan Botella will spend more than 60 days aboard a ship in the Southern Ocean to learn firsthand how scientific research is conducted — knowledge he will bring back to his classroom along with new information on how the southern polar region has changed.

Read more here.


Note to WSJ Editors: the daylight might last longer in the antarctic summer, but the months don't!