These Are Not the Droids You Are Looking For...

'Nuff said.

2010-11 Budget Prep: What Others are Doing But SPASD is NOT

Last November, citizen representative to the Finance Committee Rick Mealy requested that the district immediately begin planning--and share with the public-- budget information for the 2010-11 school year. Of course, that request was ignored.

We've all heard bits and pieces of clandestine conversations. And none of the news is good. No wonder why the board doesn't want to discuss it: talk is that the tax levy increase will be between 15-18%. Rumors about the size of the pool? Sheeeah! People aren't talking about the pool being short a few inches (which it is not). People want to know HOW BAD IS THE BUDGET ?

Of course, maybe the board isn't worried. After all...SPEA has declared that they will attend the electors meeting in force to ensure that whatever levy is needed to keep their jobs and salary increases will be voted in.

Good luck with that. A significant percentage of SPEA members don't even live in the district---and thus cannot vote. And if SPEA doesn't think the community heard the gauntlet being thrown down last week....tsk tsk! Sure is nice that the new high school auditorium seats 2100!

What has Sun Prairie done so far? NOTHING...at least that its willing to share. In fact, the Finance Committee didn't even have time at its meeting this week to "review" (not COMMENT ON, mind you) the budget calendar. It does seem a tad odd that after all the grandstanding about personnel costs representing nearly 85% of the budget, and knowing that we have the SPEA contract settled already...shouldn't the budget be 85% complete??? And isn't that enough to share as a DRAFT proposed budget?


Just so you get a flavor for what OTHER similar size districts are doing already--and sharing with the public, we offer these capsule summaries. As always...don't believe us...believe the facts. Read for yourselves. Then YOU decide if the school board should be doing more...NOW!

Stevens Point
Stevens Point Journal article, 1-26-10.

Stevens Point School Board additional $917,000 cut from 2010-11 budget.
Jan. 26, 2010. The Stevens Point Area Public School District School Board on Monday cut an additional $917,500 from next year's budget.
The board unanimously approved the cuts, which include transferring some administrative salary costs to federal money used for special education students, delaying its technology equipment replacement plan and reducing the amount of money the district pays into the post-employment benefits.

Wisconsin Rapids
WI Rapids Tribune article, 1-26-10

Jan. 26, 2010. Superintendent Bob Crist delivered nearly $2 million worth of proposed cuts to the school district's 2010-11 budget Monday night during a board workshop.
The list included proposals to move grade levels to new buildings and reduce staff, services and programs in the district, which has a total budget of about $60 million. Like many school districts in the state, Wisconsin Rapids has faced annual budget deficits as staff costs increase at a faster rate than state aid.
For the second straight year, board members will consider moving some or all Pitsch Elementary students to Howe Elementary next fall.

Appleton
Letter to public from Appleton "Superintendent"

The Appleton Area School District (AASD) has begun budget preparation for the 2010-11 school year…. In order to balance the budget and account for projected increases in expenditures, it will be necessary to reduce the EXPENDITURE side of the budget by $2.4 million. While the budget will not be finalized and approved by the Appleton Board of Education until October of 2010, it is necessary to make initial staffing plans at this time in order to meet course scheduling and contractual timelines.
To balance the budget for the current 2009-10 school year, the district reduced non-personnel related expenditures by $1.2 million and reduced a total of 31.5 positions across all employee groups.
At this point, we have identified $2.82 million dollars in INITIAL REDUCTION RECOMMENDATIONS (Non-Personnel & Personnel). Community and staff feedback regarding proposed budget reductions as well as suggestions for other budget areas to consider for reduction will be sought at FOCUS GROUP sessions throughout the month of January

Tomah
Tomah Journal; article 1-22-10

Tomah Journal. Friday, January 22, 2010
School district faces $1.2 million structural deficit

The board established a timeline for hammering out the 2010-11 budget. The tentative calendar is as follows:
*Feb. 16. Special board meeting to review the proposed budget repair recommendations.
*March 16 - Special board meeting with possible action on budget repair recommendations.
*April 15 - Regular board meeting with budget repair on the agenda.
*May 20 - Draft of 2010-11 budget completed.
*June 30 - Special board meeting for preliminary budget presentation.
The school district’s annual meeting is Monday, Aug. 9. The final budget must be approved by Oct. 31.


Middleton-Cross Plains
MCPASD News
Future Projections:The financial picture for our school district will be challenging over the next several years. A recent budget forecast projects structural budget deficits of approximately $1.2 million in 2010-11 and $1.7 million in 2011-12. In addition, the budget forecast projects a 15% reduction in state general aid each year for the foreseeable future. The anticipated reduction in state aid will definitely impact future school tax levies in our District which are estimated to increase from 4 to 6 percent annually over the next five years

BBall CoachGate Part II - Title IX arrives

We're hearin' 'tings... Who needs Chad Ochocinco (soon to be renamed Chad Hachi Go)? We have our own prima donatellas --and you can hold the Versace. It appears that what we learned for CoachGate Part I is that (s)he who whines gets what (s)he wants. If this all pans out, once again we ask: exactly what lessons are we teaching here?

We hear: the Varsity Girls basketball team and their parents are not happy with the varsity coach and her assistant ( they yell at the girls too much!!! )

We hear that in response: the athletic director (with help from our "superintendent " )
has put both of them on administrative leave and has appointed two teachers from the High School as our new coaches.

Sources indicate that: the girls met with our AD (he of the 7% raise) and informed him that they would not play another game for the present coach .

Drama, Drama, Everywhere
There seems to be a whole weeks worth of drama involved in this decision. We're wondering how the contract of all the parties involved are affected and where do we find the new dollars to make sure that the girls feel good about themselves!!

Disclaimer
-----------
Of course, this is just rumor at this point (although information comes from quite credible sources). Of course we cannot reveal sources due to potential for unpleasant reprisal. And of equal certainty is that the district is keeping a tight lid on this....though at some point there have to be closed door meetings and official personal documents (hint, hint).

School Board Candidate Double-Speak

Dontcha just hate it when all year long an elected official presents a certain "face" only to suddenly put on a completely different face as election season arrives?

We offer this first look at such posturing by school board incumbent Jim (you know him as "Seabass") McCourt.

McCourt sits on the Human Resources committee and therefore was involved in contract negotiations for the teachers union (SPEA).

June 2009

Last June, he supported that contract--although knowing full well the impending budget squeeze. As the STAR reported:

The agreement contains a 3.8 percent increase in the total salary and benefit package for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school year. "The 3.8 percent increase is not a straight raise on salary", said McCourt.

"The first year it will be the salary, because the health care costs are staying down," McCourt added. "But those are expected to go up in 2010. When you look at the total package it gets a little deceiving."

He said if the district and SPEA didn't settle on 3.8 for the next two years, the increase for the total package could have been much higher for the 2010-11 school year.

Coulda...Shoulda...Woulda. As Judge Judy likes to say, "...and if my parents had been taller, I would be 5 foot 8".


Summer 2009
As several citizens fought to restore the 5% cut that had been imposed on school building budgets (before the electors set the levy), McCourt went on the record numerous occasions during Finance Committee meetings, stating that teachers do not need anything beyond what they are provided.


October 2009
Then the bottom fell out of the budget as electors declared that the school board was spending too much and raising property taxes too much in a down economy. Oh...wait...McCourt wasn't even present for that meeting. That was in addition to his missing ONE out of every FOUR school board meetings in 2009.


Nov-Dec 2009
Suddenly, when the board needed to find $1.2M in budget cuts, McCourt suggested furloughing teachers was in order: "We could furlough teachers…Maybe that's a direction form us to you--have Annette Mikula look into furlough possibilities." Gee...he wouldn't even SECOND a motion made by David Stackhouse to furlough administrators 5 days each. But here he is in December supporting a vote to ask teachers to give back one day of pay on each of 2009-10 and 2010-11.

January 2010
Just as suddenly, when SPEA rejected district advances to renegotiate, McCourt came back on the side of the teachers proclaiming that, “[Teachers are] already contributing above and beyond…”

----------------------------
Is is any surprise that McCourt suddenly is back to courting favor of the teachers union, now that it's election season, and with4 people on the ballot for three seats, when the music stops somebody is going to be without a seat?

Batman always feared the infamous Two-Face....and you should be equally wary of elected officials who get caught trying to keep one foot on each side of the fence. We've had enough of pocket candidates. We need to elect people that will speak for the electorate--NOT the administration.

Fahrenheit 69

So..the big ole' mean ole school board and administration have cut building temperatures by 2 degrees to 69 (although we wonder if the same applies to the District Office). We hear reports of kids and teachers freezing in their classrooms. Maybe now we know why the school board and administration focus so heavily on Reading and Math, and never on Science (until Obama's "STEM program that is) or Language Arts.

You see...all it takes is a little scientific ingenuity to thwart the all powerful and temperature controlling tamper-proof thermostats. It seems that several teachers and students have already Googled their way to toastier classroom. All one has to do is place a cold damp cloth--or better yet, a cloth with ice--over the thermostat. Presto! Change-O! The dumb ole thermostat is "tricked" into thinking that the room is cooler than the setpoint, and the heat comes on. Bill Nye would be quite proud. em>

" My sister’s college apartment had a thermostat with a lock on it so that only the landlord could adjust the temperature. During the winter the
girls taped a bag of ice to the thermostat to increase the temperature in the
rest of the apartment. "

But...won't that impact the budget reductions?!!!

You'll recall that last November the school board approved a "plan" to come up with $1.2M in budget reductions. Built within that November 23 plan were two seemly innocuous items:

1. Reduce room temperatures by 2 degrees; from 71 to 69 in all classrooms and offices. Expected Savings: $ 40,000 (Based on estimates provided by Princeton Energy Resources, $40,000-$50,000 of the natural gas cost can be avoided by reducing the temperature 2 degrees district-wide. Of course, classes may be less comfortable for learning. )

2. Raise air-conditioned temperature by 2 degrees. Expected savings: $ 15,000 Based on estimates provided by Princeton energy Resources, cooling accounts for $150,000-$200,000 of the district’s $800,000 electrical expenditures. A 2 degree increase in cooling temperature should net a $15,000-$20,000 reduction in those expenditures. Classes could be less comfortable, especially summer school classes.

Leveling the Playing Field- The Power Cost Adjustment
Of course....they made these plans back in November and THEN, come January, they release this little unsettling factoid:

"After meeting with SPW&L and WPPI, the electrical supplier to SPW&L, it was explained to us that the Power Cost Adjustment was used to adjust for any needed revenue to cover their costs of operation. One of the reasons that the June PCA was so large was that the amount of [sic]electricitiy used throughout the system was significantly lower than anticipated. Overall, through November of the current base year, we have used about 30,000 KWH less than the same period last year. We have paid about $20,000 more than last year for that reduced amount of electricity. One of the main reasons is the additional cost generated by the Power Cost Adjustment. "
--from a Situation Report submitted by Tom Brooks, Buildings & Grounds
Manager

If the Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) cost us $10,000 (20% of the "projected budget reductions down the you know what) of unplanned costs in November, what do you suppose the PCA will cost us in the the next four months, which include three of the coldest months of the year?

Remember...we only started cutting BACK on the temperature in November. And the more we save on power consumption, it appears the more we PAY on the back end in terms of the PCA.

So much for spending $432,000 on an energy contract for the last 4 years. So much for having an Energy Manager at a cost of over $200,000 in salary and benefits for the past 4 years. That $630K could have bought us a school supplies for struggling parents, a grand piano AND lights on the new sports fields.

Now, of course, electricity isn't all of the cost. There's also the gas cost. But do remember that the thermostat triggers all finds of fans and blowers...so electric power IS involved.

The Problem is the Budget Process
We're not blaming the power utility. They gotta make a profit...right? The problem is that the district needed to make $1.2M in HARD budget cuts. Instead, they chose the route of "soft", temporary "fixes" backed by a wing and a prayer.

But we don't even think you should blame the district. After all...they are only guilty of proposing these unrealistic reductions. It's your elected leaders, the school board, who can't find the time to do a little research...or even offer some independent thought...and back it up by making administration accountable.

Is 2 degrees Really Such a Big Deal?
You know...we hear frequently about how teachers and kids are "freezing" in their classrooms as a result of lowering the thermostats.

First of all...IT'S TWO $#%@ DEGREES PEOPLE! It's not like the kids' snot bubbles are freezing solid.

More to the point, we're betting (confirmed by a highly non-scientific poll) that at least 95% of the kids and teachers set their thermostats at home even lower.....like at 65 to 67. A large number of these kids spend much of their at home time sitting in front of a computer or some other electronic device. How do they stay comfortable enough there to do homework?

The (BIG) Bucks Start Here....

see the video!

At this coming Monday's Human Resources Committee meeting, one agenda item being kept on the down low is the discussion of a JOB DESCRIPTION for a Performing Arts Center Director/Manager!

Hello! Have we not been discussing the (still) looming budget crunch? Speaking of which...anyone seen even a DRAFT of a budget proposal for 2010-11? The school district always tells us that the budget is about 85% personnel costs, and seeing that they settled a 2-year contract with the teachers union (SPEA)....doesn't that mean they should AT LEAST be able to show us a draft? Probably, but they know we wouldn't like what we would see. But that's another story.

This whole PAC Manager thing...for a PAC in a school that won't even open for another 7 months brings to mind the infamous gun rack scene from Wayne's World...remember it?

[Stalker girl friend Stacy presents Wayne with a gun rack as an "anniversary present"]
"A gun rack? I don't even own a gun. Let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire gun rack. What am I going to do with a gun rack?"
-Wayne Campbell from Wayne's World.

Didn't the school board direct administration to hold the line on new personnel?
And what exactly would the salary (and benefits) be for a "Performing Arts Center Manager"?
Oh....and get ready for MORE such new positions. Like a Pool Director...perhaps a "Fieldhouse Manager"...perhaps even a Sports Field Coordinator?

These are all the "hidden" costs we incur when we open a new school, particularly a high school. They go to referendum asking for $100 MILLION dollars, but then conveniently avoid any discussion regarding the costs of new personnel.

And isn't it REALLY convenient that we're having these discussions BEFORE we even talk about the new teaching positions that will be needed? The teachers are an absolute necessity, so let's get the frivolous add-ons taken care of so people won't say no later.

What Are Other Districts Doing?
Yes, some districts have hired a "Performing Arts Center Manager/Director/Coordinator"...but others such as Waunakee, have offered the duties/responsibilities to an existing staff member in return for an additional salary-boosting stipend....much like is done with coaches, club advisors, teacher mentors, and building councils. Gee...there's a novel idea.... Instead of hiring a new $100K club staff member for what amounts to limited responsibilities...why not offer the role to a teacher with an interest in drama? In fact, if you check the websites for some of these districts, you see that they have pretty simple, but effective web-based PAC scheduling pages.

How about Engaging the Chamber of Commerce?
Let's see. Holding some event in the new PAC would be sure to help out local businesses, right? You know...as event patrons go to eat or shop before or after the event? So why not solicit the Chamber of Commerce to assist in the scheduling of events at the PAC? That is what we call a mutually beneficial arrangement.

We were not a big fan of the Chamber charging the district $1300 for annual membership given that the district is not a profit-seeking venture. But...most certainly, there can and should be a partnership between the district and the chamber.

How about playing this one by ear?
We vote "NO" to rushing ahead to create another overpaid administrative/administrative support position. Let's see how the PAC plays out before even considering such a thing. We do give a thumbs up to using existing staff in the interim and to opening a dialog with the Chamber of Commerce about a joint venture to secure events for the PAC.

Wait a minute
How do we even book events at the PAC when it doesn't even have a piano?

Other People's Money

Times are tight. MOST of us find ourselves scrimping where we can. Cutting things flat out of our household budgets...less eating out (or none at all)....using coupons...

The bottom line is that we are making do with less.
Our school district administration, however, sees things differently. Despite TALK of cuts, it appears that it's business as usual.

Administration, and school board members like Jim (Seabass) McCourt will shake their head ans say...we're taking about a few (or ten...or twenty) dollars here. And expect you'll stop right there an d agree with them.

What we want you to do is to consider the principle.
The reality is that these dollars...or tens...or hundreds DO add up.
More importantly, every dollar we "waste" is one less dollar we have to spend where it counts...the kids.

Teachers and parents are complaining that administration lowered building thermostats 2 degrees as a cost-cutting measure. Well? Trim more of the fat from the budget, and the temperature might only need to be lowered 1 degree...or none at all.

It has to end here, folks. And the only way it ends is if enough community residents attend meetings of the school board Finance committee...or the full school board meeting and TELL THEM WHAT you think.

You see...your silence has long been viewed as acceptance/ agreement with whatever votes the school board takes. Sure...after the vote, you read about it in the paper and grumble amongst friends and coworkers. But what are you DOING about it.

The simple reality is that this school district has to be run as a business and the community needs to tell the board to stop viewing our tax dollars as Other Peoples' Money.


You've heard about the infamous $436 hammers purchased by the federal government? Or the $600 toilet seats. We can't point to anything as grandiose. But we do have one recent purchase that underscores a whole host of others. Again...get past this as an isolated issue, and see it as the problem that it is: the principle seems to be that the district administration spends frivolously because its just Other Peoples' Money.

Recently the school district purchased a date stamper for $69.49. The district indicates that " The stamp is a specialty item that stamps "Received", "the date" and "Staff Development"."

The purchase was questioned at the Finance Committee meeting, but...as usual...there's never enough time allotted for those meetings to really explore these issues. And that's not a coincidence.

A follow-up question was asked why we used the vendor we did. A question was asked as to whether we had a discounted purchasing contract with an office supply store.

The answer we got was this:

" We are currently participating in the US Communities program with Office Depot. This is a national bid program that a lot of school districts participate in or piggy back on. It is an overall savings with a price plan and contract that varies in pricing from 40% to 80% off of suggested list price.
The program is supported by the Association of School Business Officials and offers a broad span of school and office products for next day delivery. There is also a rebate each year based on Internet ordering and volume rebate for larger accounts. "

A 30-second Google search yielded dozens of less expensive options.
Perhaps more importantly, we spent 5 minutes on Office Depot's website and identified an option that was available for less than half the price paid from an non-standard vendor. Even with a salary of over $36/hour, a 5 -minute Google search costs only $3.00 of staff time.

Remember: It's NOT just about $25-$40 savings on this one item.
It's about two very basic principles:

1. Is the district serving as good stewards of the taxpayers' money?

2. Is the district doing ENOUGH to minimize costs such that the spending can be focused on the end result: education of the kids?

3 Very Simple Questions

• Do we even NEED this? (How is a date stamper for a small group of Administrators helping our kids achieve? And hey...it's not like we employ 1000 staff development people)
• Couldn't we get a viable solution for less? (It sure seems that way...or were they just being "particular" because , after all, it's just Other Peoples' Money)
• And even at 50 cents less from Office Depot, shouldn't we have purchased it from there to secure a larger volume rebate?
  

This is NOT an isolated issue
Last but not least, we need to focus on the principles at hand because this is NOT just an isolated issue. Over the past several years, we've encountered dozens of questionable expenses...and we're just beginning to scratch the surface. Sure. some save small amounts of money, but others cost us substantial sums. And with respect to small amounts, there's an old adage that it's difficult to find solutions that save 10%...but 100 savings that each save 1% result in 100% savings. It won't stop until the school board is forced to make it stop.

How do they spend Other Peoples' Money...let us count the ways

• Not one but TWO district office newspaper subscriptions.
• Kit Kat bars for employee birthdays (recently discontinued after being exposed)
• Memorial flowers when any employee's family member passes
• Pizza! Subs! ad nauseam
• "Thank You" Coffee mugs for bus drivers at one school, but not the others, despite the fact that ALL bus drivers receive something from the district at the end of the year. Ahhh...that "Principal's fund"!
• Let us not forget Jim McCourt's infamous seabass (and shrimp!) dinners on the taxpayers dime
• The $425/month we pay Dr. Culver for "miscellaneous expenses" and "travel within Dane county"...for which NO receipts are required.
• The $1500 travel "stipends" paid to other administrators.
• What are we REALLY getting for the $7300/month paid to our "construction manager"?
• We paid $9,000 per month for FOUR years to an "energy management" consultant firm who basically told us we could save money by turning lights off and lowering thermostats. Genius!
• We didn't even bid out the architects for recent school construction! (Creekside, Horizon, the new high school). For the high school alone, the architects fees, at 5% cost $5M.


• ...and that is but a mere sampling

It adds up, folks. Believe it.
And to those that say it doesn't...methinks thou dost protest too much!

A Tale of Two Taxing Authorities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,... it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...
-- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Here in Sun Prairie, we play out our own little Dickensian tale. On the one hand, we have District Administrator Tim Culver, who must have at some point had rose-colored contact lenses surgically attached to his eyes. And of course, our elected school board comes along as a package deal with Culver. On the other hand, we have the Sun Prairie City Council.

Both are taxing authorities, but their approaches to budgeting, and their ability to empathize with the struggles of community residents could not be more diametrically opposed.

The Sun Prairie City Council had one, very simple directive for the 2009-10 budget: draft a budget with a zero-percent city property tax increase.

The School District, under Kind Culver's reign, used a "put the pedal to the metal" approach when crafting its budget.

It was only an 11th hour packed house at the annual elector's meeting that rained a little grim reality on the school district's spending parade. Armed with the only weapon at their disposal when their elected representatives--the school board-- failed them miserably, community residents attended the meeting in force, and successfully voted by an overwhelming 2-1 margin to reduce the tax levy by $2M.

While statute prevents electors from adjusting the budget, the community did what it could and sent a message to the board and the district that enough was enough. This move forced the school board and the district to go back to the drawing board and reduce the budget by $2M. Oh...they didn't accept defeat easily, mind you. Al Slane and Jim McCourt--who are now running for re-election--- talked boldly about using a loophole in the statute to overturn the voice of the public and refuse to reduce the tax levy. In the end, discretion seemed to be the better part of valor, and neither Slane nor McCourt made such a motion. They reluctantly agreed to reduce the tax levy.

That Was Then, This Is Now
The larger concern last October was not the 2009-10 budget, however, but the 2010-11 budget, which should be established prior to this July 1. We emphasize "should" because our crafty school board and district waffles and weasels and delays putting together any concrete budget information until as late as possible....mid-August this year. They hide behind weak statements such as "we won't know hard and fast numbers until late October". Sure. That's technically true. But the "rest of the story" is that MANY school districts DO set a budget by July 1. Their highly paid administrators are, well...highly paid...BECAUSE they are intuitive enough and connected enough to have a very good business sense of what state aids and enrollment projections will be.

So...after alluding to how much WORSE this next year's budget would be--with the costs of opening the new high school, upper middle school, and pool--why haven't we heard even a PEEP about budget projections? Shouldn't they be working round the clock to put together...and SHARE WITH THE COMMUNITY...some budget projections? The old adage goes that you share good news as soon as possible; but you hold bad news until forced to give it up.

Then, come yesterday, we received another piece of the puzzle. You may recall that the school board "invited" SPEA, the teacher's union, to come back to the table to accept two unpaid furlough days over the next 2 years (You'll also recall that state employees got no polite request...instead they were force-fed SIXTEEN furlough days over the biennium).

SPEA's response came in the form of a lengthy letter from Brad Lutes, SPEA president, that can be succinctly summarized as:

"Negatory on the furlough days, good buddy.
But...tell ya what... you guys tax the community to the max next fall, and the SPEA membership will commit to attending in force to ensure that any tax levy you set gets approved. "

--Sun Prairie Teachers Union

Why won't the Sun Prairie School Board work as diligently as the Sun Prairie City Council when it comes to holding the line on taxes. They are BOTH our elected representatives. So why does one work for us and the other against us?

" It's not just this budget; the electors spoke. They did not want a 12.5% increase in taxes. And they won't want it next year. We already know free and reduced lunches are up significantly. There are going to be tax increases this year and next year. New school or not, we're going to have to have an alternative plan for next year. It may mean dropping SAGE next year, it may mean looking at significant increases in the number of students per class, so think about that. "
--school board member Terry Shimek 10-26-09


" My personal feeling is not taking anything out of fund balance. I will accept taking $800,000 out of fund balance. I won't go for anything if we take more than that, if we blow our own policy.

I've got to say, when I look at the high school, we've got two principals and four assistants. Duh. Surely they can be given a day off in rotation. I want you to furlough some administrators and some certified staff. Sit down and figure it out, how much it will get and round up a couple hundred thousand dollars. "
--school board member Caren Diedrich 10-26-09

" I wasn't at the annual meeting, but from what I've heard in all the discussions, it was not about cutting budgets as much as it was about we've got a rainy day fund, let's use that rainy day fund to pay for the rainy day we have today. "
--school board member Jim McCourt 10-26-09


" I'd like to know next month, are we even going to get close [to making $1.2M in cuts]? I think if we nickel and dime it along the way all year, you're kind of fooling yourself. "
--school board member Al Slane 10-26-09

Caren Diedrich: Who Dat!

Drew Brees and the Saints are on a roll.
And they come complete with the entire Who Dat Nation.

Here in Sun Prairie we have a school board election coming up.
Three incumbents (Diedrich, McCourt, and Slane ) are up for re-election with community resident John Welke mounting a challenge for one of their seats.

We have our own Who Dat! in incumbent Caren Diedrich.
The school District website has a nice "Meet the School Board" page.
Only you can't really "meet" Caren Diedrich, because she refuses to have her picture taken!
So it's really an issue of Caren Diedrich? Who Dat!
It has her e-mail address as well, but all reports indicate that in addition to not doing photo ops, Diedrich doesn't "DO" e-mail either.

The Sun Prairie school board voted several years back to have their pictures posted on the website in a small gesture of community engagement. Diedrich voted against the motion, which passed 6-1.

So, here we have an official vote, which becomes tantamount to POLICY....and Diedrich refuses to comply because...she doesn't like her picture. Oh boo hoo!

Diedrich wants to run for re-election---for like her eleventeeth 3-year term--she just doesn't want you to know what she looks like.

Nice. Anybody else thinking eleventeen terms is enough?

SPEA Responds: "Tax 'em To the Limit; We'll Just Out-Vote 'em at the Annual Meeting"

Forget about the Brett Favre - Drew Brees showdown in the Superdome on Sunday. Or even the possibility of a Brett Fave vs. Peyton Manning (c'mon...you KNOW the Jets ain't gettin' past the Colts) showdown in the Superbowl.

Put Monday October 11, 2010 on your calendars, people. Because THAT is the date of the 2010 Annual Electors Meeting.

And like locker room fodder, SPEA's response to the school board's request to take 2 furlough days is to challenge the community,

"We double-dog dare you to try to reduce the tax levy at next fall's annual meeting!"

Instead of simply politely declining the school board's request to take 2 days of without pay, SPEA take the offensive approach and holds the school board accountable for not taxing up to the revenue limit each year. So this year, they say, "Go ahead and tax the community to the maximum allowed. We'll get all our members to attend the meeting and out-vote those darn community members that caused all this ruckus last fall. "

Taxing at the full revenue limit and including the $350K in excess of the limit the community voted on for pool maintenance, we're likely looking at 15-20% increase in the mill rate.

As ELO once sang, " Looks like it's gonna be a showdown. "

Read the complete text of SPEA's response

Readers Write: Administrative Audacity

Sp-Eye,
I can't help but raise a few questions as a result of reading your recent post "Whatever Happened To No Take Backs". I am perplexed at the timing and quite frankly the audacity of this request by the Administration.

Is this request being made by the same Administration/School Board that ridiculed and thumbed it's noses at the those who pleaded with them to recognize the seriousness of the financial circumstances that the citizens of this community are experiencing? Is this request being made by the same Administration/School Board that has the gall to claim that the citizens of this community do not understand the budgetary process and funding procedures necessary to run the SPASD? Is this the same Administration/School Board that sends home notes to Parent's that give the impression that "the community" is making them turn down the thermostats in schools in order to save money. (I personally found that note particularly juvenile). Isn't it funny how "the community" can make budget cuts when necessary? That was a poor attempt to stoke the fires of class warfare in this community.

I just don't understand. Maybe its because I am not as highly "educated" as those running the SPASD and the School Board, but if all the indicators were there regarding the current financial climate, the reduction in State aid, knowledge of the QEO being repealed, etc. why would anybody agree to the contract in the first place and then force a double digit tax increase up the back side of tax payers?

My personal opinion is that this Administration and School Board have taken their cue from our State and Federal "representatives". One only need to openly and honestly look at the reckless way money is being spent and the lack of representation of "we the people". It is a little understandable, after all, Government employees, like those in the SPASD Administration, as well as the School Board, are not responsible for producing anything tangible. Their salary and budget funding sources as well as their salaries come from a magical pot of money that they have the "power" to tap into on a yearly basis. This past year should serve as a wake up call to the citizens of Sun Prairie. There needs to be some significant change in the way business is conducted or we can only expect double digit increases in our bill to support this out of control cash cow that the SPASD has become.

Wow, talk about leadership. Where's that "lead by example" spirit? Where's all that talk about caring for the Teachers? All of the faux compassion that was demonstrated at the Electors Meeting when outrage was expressed over the lack of foresight by this Administration and School Board in the contract negotiations. I've got a funny feeling that even by forcing a furlough day or two on the Teachers won't affect the Administration's wallet one dime!

A supportive reader.

RIP: Writing Skills? (Part 2)

As the letter we received suggests, writing skills, indeed appear to have passed away. No family members or mourners were in attendance. Occasionally a few stalwarts throw up a Hail Mary in empty hope that someone might hear their cry. But inevitably, the education system marches forward with no visible concern about the sad state of our very basic communication skills. We focus on reading and math, with some undiscussed faith that emphasis on reading will somehow osmotically translate to learning how to construct sentences of one's very own.

Yes, reading and writing are forever linked like twins separated at birth. But just as the age old argument of Nature vs. Nurture remains unresolved and unproven, so too does the theory that focus on reading will manifest itself in improved writing skills.

Is it the Teacher? Or the Curriculum?
This is the classroom version of the nature vs. nurture controversy. Is English a part of the Sun Prairie (or any other district) curriculum? Absolutely. Unfortunately, the English language doesn't get the press that reading and math do. English is boring, right? No one wants to diagram sentences anymore...right. Hell...many you may not have even heard of diagramming sentences.

So...is our problem the curriculum? Or the teachers? Or is it a little bit of both? Certainly, one cannot expect the average teacher to focus on something (English) which is not highlighted by the district curriculum, as math and reading are. It would be career suicide. And everyone judges results by the WKCE...again the Reading and Math portions. The Language Arts have been cast aside somewhere along the way.

The other reality we have to face is that not all teachers are created equal. Sadly, the old joke that SOME doctors have to come out of medical school with less than stellar grades unfortunately applies to teachers (and every other profession) as well. And perhaps more to the point, success in college and achieving a teaching degree does not always translate to success in the classroom. So what we have to do is cultivate the bright shining examples, like Ms. Coulthard, who performed the classroom equivalent of a goal line stand. She was able to teach a child in one class what didn't stick in 11 years of education. Like researchers in the quest to isolate a miracle drug, Administration needs to identify the essence of Ms. Coulthard's teaching skills that allowed her to succeed where others had not. And then innoculate alldistrict teaching staff with that essence. Call it...say...lessons learned.

On to the next
But that isn't going to happen. Because like some adolescent fashionistas, instead of perfecting what we already have, this school district is obsessed with quickly moving on to the next fad. It's as if they get easily bored with core curriculum and are constantly searching for something different. Not necessarily better, mind you, just something new. There has to be balance between seeking out new ideas and maintaining the core foundation of what exists. That, of course, is the school board's role. But, in this district at least, they have consistently chosen to adbicate theoir throne and let Dr. Culver have his way with the district.

We do not mean to paint Dr. Culver in a negative manner. Certainly, he is highly educated, and has had successes. But research has shown that district administrators tend to plateau after about 10 years in a given position. We've crossed that line. It's equally clear that Culver is growing frustrated with a community that's starting to show signs of exhaustion from constantly tossing money at the school district and yet Sun Prairie remains no better than middle of the pack of Dane County school districts. Instead of continully renewing his contract, shouldn't Culver be looking for his next stepping stone? And shouldn't we be looking for the leader that can take us to the next summit? Oh, please....like THAT's going to happen.

As several school board members mentioned Monday night, it's time to stop chasing after every new program and focus on advancing what we have.

How About a "Celebrate Our Language" Charter School?
Dr. Culver has gotten school board support to "begin researching" the "idea of " a charter school. Right. We know how that works. We're betting he's already done a LOT of backdoor wheeling and dealing and likely has a plan ready to spring upon the board. And it will probably be some crazy idea like building a "school within a school" (that's not the crazy part) charter school in some elementary school and then focus the charter on learning a foreign language such as an obscure Slavic dialect or the Cantonese dialect of China. (OK, that's the crazy part) It's like we teach Spanish and then take the kids on a trip to Spain only to realize that Spaniards don't speak "Spanish" as we know it. There are two main dialects in Spain: Castilian (Madrid) and Catalan (Barcelona). And neither bears much resemblance to the "Spanish" we learn in schools. Just ask any kid that's taken Spanish for 5 or 6 years and then takes a trip to Spain. Think Borat.

Whatever it is, certainly it will be something beyond anyones' wildest dreams. The only sure thing is that no matter what Culver comes up with, board member Caren Diedrich is sure to fawn over it like a blushing schoolgirl.

Age Quod Agis
How about the school board step up to the plate and direct what the focus of the charter school should be? Let Dr. Culver research how to develop it and how to fund it, but let the school board direct what the emphasis shall be. And how about a foundation based on celebrating our own native language. Imagine a charter school whose emphasis is to embrace our language and all its roots to truly develop an understanding of how to communicate clearly and succinctly? The teachers could then build in communication skills, such as public speaking (another lost art). Perhaps there could even be an opportunity to (gasp!) bring back Latin as a "foreign" language! There are countless studies that show that Latin is one of the easiest languages to learn, and that it has great value in helping studients understand our own grammatrical constriucts. More importantly, nearly all words in our language are rooted in Latin, and understanding Latin provide immense assistance in understanding new words. Gee...it will help improve vocabularies too!

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Further reading:

Warren Roberts, Distinguished Teaching Professor, University at Albany

" I read about accountability in our schools all the time. The
metric for accountability, it seems, is scores on standardized exams. The result
is that teachers teach their students how to score well on standardized exams, a
distortion if not perversion of proper education. In the meantime, students
aren’t taught grammar, much less how to use the English language with clarity
and assurance. Why not make our schools responsible for teaching grammar, and
proper use of the English language? '

The High Cost of Poor Writing Skills October 16, 2009 By Bill Kozel

E-Mail and the Decline of Writing, December 2004 :

" It should also be noted that reading and writing are inseparable. From this, we can extrapolate a lesson for corporate America and the country in general -- read so that you can write. The positive effect of clear, concise written communication is obvious;the opposite may catalyze inadvertent negative consequences. "

The Latin Road to English Grammar

Yahoo Answers: Do People's writing skills appear to be on the decline?

Was This Culver's Dream?

Is it possible that District Administrator Culver suddenly decided that the 'timing was right' to start/build a charter school to simply compete with other area school districts to "be first" at doing something?

We hear rumblings that Culver's "dream" is not only to have a charter school in Sun Prairie, but also to have the charter school be 'the first to do something'.

Now we see the following announcement from Verona on Channel3000.com's website, and we just have to wonder. Did Culver get scooped?

Verona School Board To Vote On Proposed Charter School
Vote Scheduled At Monday Board Meeting January 18, 2010

The Verona Area School District Board of Education will vote on adding a third charter school to its district on Monday night. The proposed school would offer the state's first Mandarin Chinese for a language immersion program. The program would consist of one class to start with. That class would enroll [sic]kidnergartners and first-graders, who would spend half their days learning in Chinese and the other half learning in English. The school would open in the fall of 2010.
The board meeting is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.

File this in your rapidly expanding "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm" folder.

Does Tim Culver Suffer from Title Envy?

Do a search with your favorite engine: Yahoo, Google, whatever....on the words "Superintendent Tim Culver" and you get a bunch of hits.

Only problem is...there IS no Superintendent Tim Culver. The job title, as it appears in ALL official documents, AND his quite lucrative contract we might add, is "District Administrator".

It seems Culver, in addition to being one of those types that likes being called "Doctor", is not happy with his current title. So he's creating a new one for himself. Even his 'anti'blog declares that the blog is " Sun Prairie School Views via Blog from Superintendent Tim Culver".

There are over 426 school districts in Wisconsin. Care to guess how many of them employ a "Superintendent"?

Trick question. The answer is NONE of them!

(Don't believe us...believe the facts. Download the complete list of ALL public school district administrators and scroll through the "Position Title" column.)

Geee...maybe because that's because there is only ONE Superintendent....and that is State Superintendent Tony Evers.

Hmmm...is Culver setting his sights on the top spot?

What is it with this guy?
Dontcha think the school board needs to curb its dog?

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search results

InspirED
Sun Prairie School Views via Blog from Superintendent Tim Culver ... Together we have made many improvements to public schools in Sun Prairie over the past decade. ...inspired-sunprairieschools.blogspot.com - 88k

Church sues Sun Prairie School District - WKOW 27: Madison ...
"I've seen gun safety training, boy scouts, churches, political groups, different youth activities, day care," said Superintendent Tim Culver. ...

WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Securing the facility is "just common sense," said superintendent Tim Culver. This year even the students' seating arrangement has been tweaked. ...www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/452286

The Madison Times - Articles
"The statement is often made, 'It takes a whole village to raise a child,' and ... guests including Nerad, Sun Prairie Area School District Superintendent Tim ...themadisontimes.com/articles/local-news/...

Spirit of Piece-Keeping Award - Sun Prairie Area School District
Sun Prairie Area School District ... Sun Prairie superintendent Tim Culver stated, "Ms. Manthey, Mr. Lessor, and the team at Westside exemplify connectedness. ...www.sunprairie.k12.wi.us/do_ws_piecekeeping_309.cfm

Whatever Happened to "No Take-Backs"

At this week's school board meeting, one very prominent agenda item was dubiously listed as, "6.02 Request of the Sun Prairie Education Association to re-open the 2009-2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement regarding furlough days and/or other reductions in the total compensation package "

What a professional way to do business...er....cover up your own errors. NOT! The issue at hand is a memorandum, drafted by Tim Culver for the school board members' signatures, requesting that the teacher's union (SPEA), agree to re-open their contract to include one furlough day each in 2009-10 (yep, the year that's half over) and 2010-11.

Clearly the school board and Culver understood the economical climate.
Clearly, they knew they would be receiving a large cut in state aid.
Clearly, they knew that the QEO was being repealed effective July 1, 2009.
Yet, they rushed forward to reach an agreement before the QEO was repealed.
Yet, they rushed forward without even a hint of a district budget in place.
And then they patted themselves on the back for making the deal.

And now they want to "take it back"?
We don't think so.
How DARE they!

What this is all about is that the board --and Chief Culver-- were so busy patting themselves on the back, they didn't have a spare hand to put a finger on the pulse of the community that was struggling in the deepest recession of our lives.

It is simply unconscionable that the elected school board, who refuse to do their jobs and serve as the voice of the people instead of the voice of Culver, would now resort to "calling out" the teacher's union to "give back" some of the contractual monies that they negotiated on in good faith. It's more than that. What unmitigated gall Culver and the board have to use their "board meeting" to put public pressure on the teachers to give back what Culver and the board gave them 6 months ago.

At the risk of violating politically correctness, we had a phrase for this when we were growing up...it's called "Indian giving".

Getting a little more "PC", we had another idiom for it. Remember when we were young and we were making a "deal" with a neighbor kid? Perhaps over baseball cards or a treat? These "deals"--contracts, if you will-- even involved the pittance of allowance we received back then.


We frequently sealed these deals with the firmly stated, "NO Take-Backs!".

From the "Urban Dictionary"
No Take Backs

The command that instructs another party that once they have given you something they cannot change their mind.

Call it whatever you wish: renege, breaking your word, go back, welshing, backing out, repudiate, break a promise...it's all the same thing. And it's despicable.

YES...we have a budget crisis. But did you see anything on either the school board or committee agenda about the 2010-11 budget? If things are in crisis, shouldn't we have a standing agenda item to address these growing concerns? Especially when citizen representatives of school board committees (ahem!) have stated on record the need to begin openly discussing the 2010-11 budget TWO MONTHS AGO!!!

YES...perhaps the board should not have been so generous when agreeing to the contract they did.

YES...it's perfectly understandable why Culver and administration would have supported--recommended--the contract because it is school board policy that administrators are "entitled" to the percentage increase that the teacher's union received in the previous year!!! Gee...there's a term for that, isn't there? Ummm...perhaps conflict of interest?!

YES these are our ELECTED (so called) leaders (and three of them...Diedrich, McCourt, and Slane) are running for re-election in April. Keep THAT little note on your refrigerators.

But...all that being said...a DEAL IS A DEAL. A contract is binding. (Unless you are the Governor, of course).

At the heart of the issue is this:
" ...If the SPEA agrees to a furlough day in 2009-2010, it would save $165,508 in the 2009-2010 school year. If the SPEA agrees to a furlough day in 2010-2011, it will save approximately $170,239 in the 2010-2011 school year. This will significantly help address the budget deficit in 2009-2010 and the budget challenges for 2010-2011, which in turn will maintain the educational opportunities for students that our community has come to expect. "

YES...SPEA agreeing to take a furlough day in both this year and next year would "save" the district $336,000. And that would certainly help out the budget challenges.

But it's not right. It's wrong to publicly hang the teacher's union for a contract at least THEY negotiated in good faith. The blame here lies squarely with the school board (and administration) for not doing their jobs six months ago. Hopefully, this will be a lesson learned in the future.

In the meantime, it's time for administration--and the school board-- to put on their big boy (and girl) pants and fix this on THEIR OWN BACKS.

Before any of you rush to judgement on ole SP-EYE.... Let us be clear. We firmly maintain our stance that the contracts negotiated last June were unacceptably generous. Did any of you catch today's State Journal that wages nationwide were DOWN 1.6% in 2009??? This is a different issue. This is about wrong and wrong. The board was WRONG to agree to those contracts, and they are equally WRONG to request they be re-opened NOW.

Besides...there's a quiet element of contract discussions that most don't understand, but should be known. In fact, it would have never been discussed save for district resident (and school board candidate, we might add) John Welke speaking out during the meeting. Welke asked Culver and the board to clarify whether or not the SPEA contract was just like state employee contracts in that once re-opened, discussions are not limited to the "intent" of the re-opening. They reluctantly revealed that, once open for re-negotiation, ALL parameters in the contract are subject to negotiation.

Oh...and one other thing neither the board nor Culver mentions: the teachers are being asked to give up a furlough day in BOTH this year AND next year. We have heard no mention that the board will impose an equivalent sanction on the Administrators or Admin Support groups for next year. Geee...we guess the teachers just are supposed to TRUST them, eh??? Trust. Yep that's something we just have oodles of in this district. NOT.

Whether you agree with the teachers' contract or disagree, put yourself in THEIR shoes. Given this situation by YOUR employer...would YOU be amenable to renegotiate? We don't think so. You don't have to like that...but you have to agree that it makes no sense to do so...so let's not judge SPEA should they (as we expect they will) decline this magnanimous offer to renegotiate their contracts to give back wages which were negotiated in good faith.

Sorry school board, but you're going to have to put a little firmer hand on that budget knife. And do NOT even attempt to threaten "the kids" before you tap into the rich veins of administration.

Letter: Are Writing Skills Extinct? (Part 1)

Dear SP-EYE...

We hear about the new high school, the new upper middle school, and now a charter school. When is the school board going to instruct district administration to stop spreading ourselves too thin with multiple--costly--programs and focus on the basics? Every year we hear about Reading and Math. Sure, they are part of (ex) President Bush's 'No Child Left Behind' legacy. But don't we have a new president? When did we take the "Writing" out of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic? Isn't Writing still one of the foundations of education?

Now I see that, with the 'Race to the Top', we have a new acronym...STEM....which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Again, I ask...where are the basic writing skills? Who speaks for them anymore? Colleges and universities will tell you horror stories about how unprepared incoming freshmen are in basic English skills. Many now require a pre-test during orientation to prove the lack of preparation.

We live in a world where text messaging is the principle form of communication. Like that does anything to advance the concept! I also read recently, with great sadness, that the school board approved administration's request to discontinue the CAPPComp course at the high school. Presumably for (A) lack of interest and (B) the AP English course provides a cheaper, equivalent option. Great...but which students are choosing to take AP English? Certainly not your average kid!

I cannot imagine how my son would have fared were it not for teacher Vicki Coulthard, who taught his CAPP English composition class. Prior to this class, despite 11 years of schooling and excellent grades, my son's writing and grammatical skills were horrendous (and that's being kind). Subject? Predicate? (verb for those of you younger than 40). He had no clue. When he was assigned a “research paper”, we cringed. Of course, no matter how poor a paper he put together (as hard as it was, we wouldn't actually write it for him!), he got great grades. We even questioned these with a teacher and then with both the teacher and administration. They didn't care and seemed aghast that we expected a lower grade. True story.

You might be surprised at this response from the parents of a kid with a high IQ, and test scores consistently in the high 80% to 98% level on national tests. He even got scores of 28 and 29 on the ACT, which aren't world class, but they're pretty darn good. But his writing skills were just not adequate. In addition to a lack of basic grammar skills, he had never learned how to organize a research paper. Before Ms. Coulthard’s CAPP Composition class, that is.

From the initial writing assignment, I was intrigued with the exercises designed to develop basic research paper writing skills…something critical to a student preparing for college. As the semester progressed, we were able to watch Kyle’s understanding of organizational writing develop. With each major writing assignment, we found that we had to work less and less with him. Sure , there were still the age-old grammatical issues we had to identify for him, but the structure was much better.

As a result of taking that class, in 2005, my son was one of TWO incoming freshmen at UW-Stevens Point who were not required to take remedial English. All through his college years, professors were impressed with his writing skills. As he closes in on graduation, I remain thankful for Ms. Coulthard's teaching and the curriculum she taught. She was the last line of defense against poor grammar.

This all leads me to a question which I've asked numerous times, but of course the school board ignores me. Will the school board ever put forth a directive to administration to get basic writing skills back onto the radar screen?

Rick Mealy

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Sadly, Mr. Mealy...we have to say we doubt it. The school board in Sun Prairie has historically been filled with people who love to issue predictable soundbites like "anything for the kids" or "education is the foundation of success". But the simple reality is that most of them don't take the time to review their board packages or even do some independent research of their own.

It's easy for them to just come to the meeting every 2 weeks, vote "Aye", and collect their $300 monthly check.

Real leaders don't serve as mouthpieces for the people they employ to run the show. Real leaders lead. And real leading sometimes mean doing something which no one else is doing.

Too Many Irons in the Fire?

A fundamental philosophy of life is that it's far better to do a few things really well than to perform many things at a mediocre level.

Yet, here we are again with two pretty massive undertakings on the school board agenda tomorrow night. And...as we well know...whatever the administration wants...the school board votes in favor of. There is no independent thought or assessment. Certainly no "checking in" with the community. Sure...a few of them will check with their cronies that are part of the grand flock. But this board does not really serve the people. It hasn't for years.

And so here we go:

1. Chasing after the almighty dollars that come with the Race to the Top, and
2. Let's start a Charter School.

Where is the "Gee...we started 4K this year, we traded in security guards for Youth Advocates at the high school, and we are both opening a new high school and opening a whole new concept: "upper middle school" this fall...maybe we have too much going on.

Nope. You see...the more the =administration pads its resumes, the better positioned they will be to parlay what "they did" here in Sun Prairie to even bigger salaries and titles elsewhere.

Oh...and we note with a Spockian eyebrow raise that the official agenda item seeks a school board member to join the administrations "Charter School Team".

Culver writes in his "Situation Report":

We have begun to assemble a representative team to study possible implementation of a charter school. We anticipate this team meeting quite frequently in late afternoon/early evening and possibly on occasion for up to half a day.

There will be a lot of reading, attendance at conferences if opportunities present, and likely site visits to other charter schools that will take a whole day.

We will first be preparing a charter school planning grant application within the next few months to seek funds for the school development during the 2010–2011 school year.

When fully assembled, this team will work over the next 12 to 18 months putting together periodic reports, recommendations, and grant applications in this area for consideration by the School Board.

Ultimately, the School Board may accept or deny the proposed charter for the school that will be developed.

Forgive us a moment, but we just a rhetorical question here:

Who the hell authorized anyone to even THINK about a charter school?

Hello! Certainly the school board never discussed it. Can you say, "Open Meetings" laws?
And don't we have this minor nuisance thing called a BUDGET on which we should be spending our efforts?

A lot of reading...
A lot of conferences...
...site visits
12 to 18 months...

Does anybody on the school board even read this stuff? No wonder it took so long to get the budget documents put together. The Admin is simply chasing its own dreams...to hell with running the business at hand.

Dear school board... you MIGHT want to think about (A) voting NOT to add a school board member to this boodoggle, and (B) directing administration to put that little pie back in the sky.

Would a charter school be nice...some day...sure...maybe. But these things aren't free...to either develop or implement. Why don't we get a handle on the budget and start doing what we do BETTER before chasing any more dreams.

Dash For the Cash!

aka "Race to the Top".

Is the 4.35 BILLION dollars available in federal money through President Obama's "Race to the Top" education reform initiative really going to reform education?

Or is it just a pile of cash that has school districts scrambling over themselves in order to jockey for position to get the biggest slice of the pecuniary pie?

Sun Prairie has on its Monday 1-11-10 school board agenda
a letter indicating "intent" to apply for a share of the bonanza.

Strings attached?

There is no free lunch folks. This cash is not just going to handed out like treats on Hallowe'en. It comes with a cost. And a lot of questions. Questions like....

Thanks for the cash....but is this like a bottomless cup of coffee? Or does the spigot get turned off at some point [Yup] . And who pays for this stuff once the cash is gone? [John Q. Taxpayer, that's who].

Can existing programs qualify for the cash? Nope! It requires new programs or expansion/enhancement of existing programs. And guess what? That means an investment of additional resources...likely HUMAN resources. And we know what that means...right?

Is it true that teachers must be evaluated based on their performance? Yes...but. And it's a rather lardacious but. Yes, it is true that school districts who want the money must incorporate a teacher evaluation system which " ". But that doesn't mean WKCE scores will or have to be used. The other catch is that each district must NEGOTIATE the performance measures to be used with its teacher's union.

A WSPRA (Wisconsin School Public Relations Association article states:

All state applications require attention to a comprehensive approach to four key education reform areas: standards and assessment, improving data collection/use, improving teacher effectiveness, and support for struggling schools.

Applications must also emphasize science, technology, engineering and math; expansion/adaptation of statewide longitudinal data systems; and school level conditions for reform/innovation.

[State School Superintendent Tony] Evers acknowledged that linking teacher evaluations with student test data is “a thorny issue” and added, “There seems to be a real interest in firing teachers or principals and that the school will improve – that’s simplistic and I worry about that type of rhetoric.” U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan said it was “ridiculous” that a state would prevent the use of test data for teacher evaluation. Currently, Wisconsin law prevents this, and state legislators must make this statutory change.

Evers identified other legislative reform changes for Wisconsin including, expanded authority for the state superintendent to intervene directly to improve schools, higher standards for charter schools, and a state requirement for three years of math/science for high school graduation.

Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) opined, “Sometimes I worry this is a ‘race for the money,’ not a Race to the Top.” The state will receive more federal clarifying guidance on the application in October, with a December application deadline. Awards will be announced in March 2010. A second grant opportunity will be available in June 2010, with awards given in September 2010.

What others are saying about the Race For The Top

Obviously, I’ve been playing the lecturing schoolmarm about RTT, warning that we have to increase our skepticism and manage our expectations.
I’ve been looking for a pithy way to summarize my concern that states are much more interested in getting these federal funds than in pursuing the reforms those funds are meant to support.

I’ve tried “Trojan Horse” applications and other formulations but nothing has stuck. Fortunately, a state representative from Wisconsin has stepped
up. Rep. Steve Nass pointed out that his state’s firewall legislation that caught the Obama administration’s attention actually will do little by way of reform.

Noting that under the just-passed law, data can’t be used to remove the worst teachers from the classroom and that any evaluation process must be agreed to by teachers unions, Nass questioned the real intent of the legislation....

" This bill does nothing for quality education...This is basically a race for the money, not a race for the top. "
- Flypaper article

Read more: Education Week article

Read more: Flypaper (Fordham's Education Gadfly team) article

Madison wrestles with the thought of 4K

Wisconsin State Journal- Madison looking at 4K program

So...isn't this a great time to look at some feedback on what our school district has accomplished?
A Sun Prairie "SP4K" parent writes this to the Wisconsin State Journal:

mikefromsunprairie said on: January 9, 2010, 1:26 pm
My child is currently in a 4k program and I must say we are very disappointed in the program. The curriculum is based on play, and after asking my child everyday how was your day and did you learn anything it really doesn't sound like it is very helpful in preparing kids for [sic] kindergarden at all.There is very little contact between the daycare center and the school district and there is a total lack of communication. I would be very upset to be a tax payer paying for this program and after going through this [sic] expireance this year would not [sic] recomend the program at all to other parents.

Why is Madison looking at 4K now, despite projections that it will increases costs and property taxes? Gee....it seems that in order to chase the $4.35B in "Race To The Top" money, a district has to meet certain criteria, like, as in having a 4K program!

" Madison schools might need to commit to launching a four-year-old kindergarten program as part of the state’s application for $254 million in federal “Race to the Top” stimulus money, state officials said Wednesday.
Madison and four other large urban Wisconsin districts would need to agree to fulfill two of four “early childhood initiatives,” along with other requirements, to qualify for some of the money the state has promised should Wisconsin actually win any “Race to the Top” dollars. "

...and the 2010 School Board Race Kicks Off!

By the 5:00 pm deadline this evening, FOUR sets of nomination papers were turned in for school board. Of course...who knows...maybe John Whalen will up the ante on his penchant for deadline violations and accept papers late from some heretofore unknown candidate.

Coming as no surprise, the three incumbents (Caren Diedrich, Jim McCourt, and Al Slane) all submitted their nomination papers. We wonder if McCourt had his papers left at the Beans and Cream counter as he did last time.

The fourth candidate is none other than John Welke, who was unsuccessful as a write-in candidate last year, although he created quite a buzz within the community and managed to entice over 800 people to write his name in on the ballot. That's an incredible number.

There are 3 seats and 4 candidates, so there will be no primary. Our bet is that all three of the incumbents are a little nervous tonite. This time they face the formidable challenger Welke with his name ON the ballot. Welke has only served to strengthen his candidacy through his recent appointment as the school board's citizen representative for the Facilities, Technology, and Transportation (FTT) committee. He also serves as the Town of Bristol's liaison to the school board.

Next Monday night, the candidates will draw for the order in which their names appear on the ballot. Let the games begin!