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.
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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.

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. 

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.