Candidate Sicoli was very careful to repeatedly mention during the interview that the Students and Parents are the RAS customer. I don't know if he was being sincere, playing to the room or if I misinterpretted his comments, however I whole heartedly disagree with this !!! To meet the "Primary Customer's" expectation: it is important that RAS work well with Students, Parents, Employees, Communities, etc. Otherwise they will fail to delivery per the "Primary Customer's" expectations. This is critical to understanding my pragmatic grading criteria.
The "Primary Customer" of RAS and it's services is the group that pays the bills. This would be the American Citizens. With this in mind, here are the priorities I believe the typical capitalistic American citizen would support:
- All students graduate with the core knowledge necessary to pursue further education or begin employment at a typical American institution/company. (ie English reading, English writing, math, science, history, social studies, ~2 yrs foreign language, etc) (ie basic values, work ethic, citizenship, personal health, personal finance, etc)
- Student's are challenged in these subjects per their physical and mental capability. (ie special education limitations, standard, pre-college, etc)
- Basic broadening and appreciation experiences are provided. (ie basic art, basic music, typical sports, early language/culture awareness, etc.)
- Special skills and knowledge training is offered if all of the above are being met or exceeded. (ie 2nd language fluency, atypical sports, artistic expertise, etc.)
RAS is doing the following well:
- Starting to work the Goals and Deliverables process. (not perfect but it is directionally correct and appreciated)
- Reallocating non-productive excess resources to activities that support the priorities. (ie facility closure, personnel shifts, etc)
- Holding public forms where people get a chance to voice their opinions.
- Caring for the children and enabling the majority of students to meet or exceed expectations.
- Offering academic levels and challenges based on student's capability (ie general education, AVID, Advanced Placement, etc)
- Employee accountability and engagement. (ie deal with poor performers aggressively and actively work to improve the morale/knowledge/engagement of the remaining employees)
- Listening and acting based on the "Citizen" voice, and not just the "Parent/Teacher" voice.
- Improve capabilities, offering and performance of all schools and eliminate "Special skills and knowledge training" until priority 1, 2 and 3 are met. (ie offer solid common curriculum, and cancel Spanish Immersion, IB, transportation and other priority 4 offerings until these perks can be afforded)
- Encourage competition to raise the bar for performance of all community kids and schools. (ie sell buildings to charters)
The reality is that America is in a global competition, and we had best perform or our kids will not experience the good life we have. This all starts with improving American education and reducing American attitudes that motivate politicians to support wasteful spending. Here is some light reading to help you understand my perspective. (World is Flat)
Thoughts encouraged as always...
8 comments:
"Listening and acting based on the 'Citizen' voice, and not just the 'Parent/Teacher' voice."
John, as usual, I generally agree with what you said, but would like to comment on the above statement. I agree with it, though think it's more that the 281 leadership needs to think in terms of what's best for all kids and what's the best use of taxpayer funds. The "signature programs" are the tail that wags the dog in 281. Those very vocal parents are generally the only ones that the admin and board hear, and it's hard to be objective only hearing from a minority and nothing from the rest. As we've seen, many parents hardly pay attention to what's going on, let alone people without kids in school.
I agree.
From my view, somewhere along the line people forgot that having RSI, IB(choice), transportation, etc are a privelage and not a right.
And given the current achievement gaps, I am not sure our community deserves these privelages for the few at the cost of the many. Therefore the community needs to come together to fill the gap and keep the "Signature Programs". Or work to fill the gap by closing the "Signature Programs" and improving our focus. Either way, the gap needs to close for the good of the RAS community and America.
I say this knowing the opposing arguments. We need the "Signature Programs" to keep the kids, funding and pride. The district can not overcome the family life and mobility issues... Etc.
An analogy I would raise is General Motors, they tried to stay large and diverse instead of focused like some of their competitors. A sure way to fail is to spread yourself too thin and lose focus.
I'm probably not very intelligent but after reading this entry of yours, John, I have no clue what it is you want from the school district.
"1. All students graduate with the core knowledge..."
What needs to change to accomplish this?
"2.Students are challenged in these subjects..."
What needs to be done differently to accomplish this?
"3. Basic broadening and appreciation experiences..."
By now I've lost the will to live.
"4. Special skills...if all the above are being met"
Eliminate IB, AP, Spanish Immersion. This one I actually get. I'm not arguing against this point of view--yet.
Sue,
I am not sure what needs to be done, and I certainly don't want to take away your will to live... So let me try a couple of examples and see if it clarifies my thoughts.
Just like our personal households, the school district has a somewhat limited/fixed/uncertain budget and unlimited wants. In our household we prioritize our needs and wants to ensure that money is available to fund our "needs". We typically know what to cut back on when a family member is laid off or job security is at risk.
From my perspective, RAS has no clear priority list as to what gets cut when the funding fluctuates or is at risk. They seem to cripple many/all programs rather than killing the Priority 4 programs. Often this is perceived by the Vote NO crowd as a conscience manipulative effort on the part of RAS to engage/anger the "majority" of parents in order to raise funds. Not a good way to build trust.
Proposed general process:
- Identify the Priority 1 - 3 gaps
- Create detailed plans to close the gaps
- Estimate funding necessary to achieve these goals.
- Create a rainy day funding plan
- Manage and offer "Signature Programs" per remaining funds. (if $0, they end)
Some specific ideas:
- Per P1: Drive and fund proven academic gap reduction processes at non-AYP compliant schools. Apparently Forest provides some good benchmark data and I am a huge believer that lower class sizes are required in classes with a more disruptive student body.
- Per P1: Remove poor teachers/staff from the classroom/district. (ie can not maintain discipline, disorganized, poor communication skills, etc.) They are a demotivator and drain on the whole system.
- Per P1: Buy/lease technologies that are proven to improve educational productivity and efficiency. (within reason)
- Per P2: Ensure Continental Math, accelerated Math and accelerated Reading are funded at all elementary schools in order to try and challenge kids to their level.
- Per P3: Ensure each elementary has basic art, music, language(ie Spanish), etc.
The first step in beating alcoholism is to admit there is a problem. The first step to improving RAS is to admit we may not be able to afford all the programs. Once RAS accepts the need for well defined priorities, then we can further discuss what specifically fits in P1 - P4.
A favorite rationalization of mine is repeatedly voiced by District personnel. "Each child is getting at least one years worth of learning." Well the reality is that the goal for many of these kids should be 2+ years worth of learning per yr. Now how do we make this happen with the funding we have available ??? Or do we let these kids continue in their cycle of poverty ??? Where they offer questionable benefit as an American citizen ??? (ie some cost more than they generate)
I thank you for your patience in explaining your ideas.
I agree with a lot of what you suggest. There are too many bad teachers out there who we should be able to get rid of. I also think that low class sizes and individual attention are the best way to help the neediest students and make a difference in test scores.
How much would we save if we got rid of IB? We could get rid of the transportation for kids outside the attendance area, I wouldn't argue against that. Beyond that does it cost us a lot? I guess I don't know.
How much would it save to get rid of RSI? Again, we could eliminate transportation and save there. Other than that do we really come out much ahead to end that program? It's 600+ kids so we can't close a school building.
I am not sure anyone really knows the marginal/extra cost of offering the Priority 4 programs.
I'm guessing IB & RSI alone cost ~$2 mil/yr. My rationale is that we know cross district transportation is ~$400k,then add:
- Admin and staff to manage the unique student bodies, curriculum, logistics.
-Admin staff to manage the unique teacher training and requirements. Along with managing/helping RSI TA's.
- Selecting and purchasing unique curriculum and supplies in lower volumes.
- The folks we have grant writing for these programs.
- Any additonal cost of having teachers with unique skill sets.
- The general loss of focus on Excellence by Administration due to having too many variations to manage.
Beyond IB and RSI, there are many other offerings that may fit into P4 from the view of a typical citizen.
I am not wise enough to know if my P1 to P4 definitions are correct,or what truly are the P4 programs? However, I do know that most organizations will fail if they do not focus, prioritize and know the cost/benefit of their activities. The power is in making it visible and helping the majority to rally around it.
By the way, I think RSI would probably survive the exercise because people really like having something that unique/special in the district. (ie community pride)
As for IB, I think we should drop it and convert the district to pre-AP and AP as the pre-college/high achiever track. My rationale is that AP is ala carte, meaning kids can be in one or all, depending on their capabilities. Whereas from my limited understanding, IB is like running a school within a school. (ie segregation of capable / less capable)
Please correct me if I have erred in my guesses or my understanding of IB.
I'm one of the parents who annoys you because I have children in IB and RSI, AND I put them on district buses to get to school.
If the busing were to ever go away, I would cheerfully figure out how to get my kids to school and if I heard anyone complain about the busing being taken away I would tell them to be quiet and sit down.
I have a middle-schooler in the IB program but I don't know about the program costs as well as I should. I'm suspect she would be satisfied if she were in the preAP program.
Regarding RSI, its another elem. school, I don't see how it costs more in admin. to run this school vs. the other elem. schools. The teachers get paid according to the same pay scale as the other district teachers. I don't know about the curriculum costs.
These two programs address your Priority 2: challenge students per their capability. I think this is why many parents want their kids in IB, AP and RSI. They want a challenging education for their kids.
Very few things really annoy me anymore...(and certainly not you) Though I am still often puzzled... And NO, parents using the programs that are offered definitely does not annoy me. It is the right thing to do.
Now lobbying and hounding RAS to create new P4 programs is another topic. Or creating a big stink to keep them when there are other P1 problems...
I agree we need IB or AP to meet P2. I just don't think we need both, and am more supportive of AP.
Though I think RSI is a great school with a unique curriculum, it is definitely a P4 from my perspective.(ie very very small minority of American schools/jobs have fluent in Spanish as a pre-requisite) Hopefully you are correct that the marginal cost of offering it is a lot lower than my guess.
Maybe someday Gary will find a way to publish the $140+ mil operating budget by activity. That level of accounting is above my capabilities due to all the costs that need to be apportioned across facilities, activities, etc...
Post a Comment