Nobody (well...almost nobody) reads these things, but we found an interesting tidbit buried within the questions regarding checks issued by the school district at this week's Finance Committee Meeting. We believe that district resident Roger Fetterly gets credited with asking the question about the district's Visa card bill for $2,689.95. Part of that bill included $907.20 for Dr. Culver to travel to ...China! The following information about that expense was provided by Business Services Manager Rhonda Page:" Chinese Bridge 2011- Dr. Culver has been selected as part of the College Board's 2011 China Bridge Superintendent's Delegation. This means he will have the opportunity to visit schools in Beijing and one other city in China and learn about opportunities to set up collaborations between schools and the teachers of Mandarin exchange program with the College Board and the Hanban Institute. He will travel to China November 3-11, 2011. There is a cost of $900 which he is covering out of his professional development stipend in lieu of attending a national conference. Otherwise the program pays for all other costs of the trip. The Board president has approved the application for this program. The extra $7.20 is an international tax ($907.20)"We have some very important questions:
- Why was this authorized? We don't even HAVE a Chinese Program (read further for more on that!)
- Shouldn't this require FULL school board approval? Who gave John Whalen the keys to the castle? Where does he get the solitary authority to approve such a boondoggle?
- Culver has pretty much told the board that he's winding down his career...so why are we supporting this?
- Has anyone looked at the eligibility criteria? You have to be developing a Mandarin Chinese program. News to us!
We checked out this "China Bridge Superintendent's Delegation". First of, all, and for the umpteenth time, Culver is NOT a --or the-- superintendent! His title is "District Administrator! Nevertheless, we looked into it, and found that,
The College Board is pleased to announce the 2011 Chinese Bridge Delegation, a week-long program in China for educators to start or strengthen their institution's Chinese programs and partnerships. School and district leaders are invited to attend this unique education trip to China as guests of Hanban (Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters).
the eligibility criteria are:
Who is eligible?District and school leaders from institutions developing new Chinese programs.Educators from institutions already offering Chinese language and culture programs are encouraged to apply. Note: All selected participants are expected to be actively involved in, and able to speak about, their institution's efforts to build or expand a Chinese language and culture program.
Sun Prairie Does not have and is not developing a Mandarin Chinese program
...except, perhaps, in Tim Culver's mind. He did, however, say this last Thursday night,
"Quality school districts have Mandarin Chinese programs; we're falling behind..."We're not on Culver's wavelength. And neither, apparently, is the school board. At the January 10, 2011 school board meeting, Culver himself presented the following situation report:
---Tim Culver, SPASD District Administrator
Jan 10, 2011 - REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING Category - Informational Items Subject = Update on the study of the development of charter schools Report prepared by: Tim Culver in discussion with the Steering Committee, there was also a growing consensus that “chartering" a school “outside” the district, at least by district personnel, was an intriguing solution but perhaps not the one that makes the most sense at this point in time. “Some concepts have been discussed generally, or even explored, but have not (yet) obtained traction to become fully implemented improvements, for example, instruction in Chinese and looping.”
But the, as part of the April 25th Board meeting, the following nugget was buried in an "informational" item regarding plans to support board Goals 4 (Develop a highly qualified, diverse, and culturally proficient district workforce. ) and 5 (Transform instruction, classrooms, and schools to ensure that equitable learning opportunities are accessed by all students, including those from diverse cultural, linguistic, or ability backgrounds):
May 2011 Goal 5 B 1 - Develop Chinese language program - planning year.
$2,500 for time and materials.
What exactly does it mean, and how could this seemingly important tidbit be presented merely as an "informational" item? More to the point...that's it? A solitary $2,500 commitment secures Culver a free trip to China? Something smells funny here. An you know what that means! We're not eating it!!!
Why are we so fascinated with Chinese anyway?
Once again, we challenge the accuracy of statements made by district leaders. Culver stated, "Quality school districts are offering Chinese programs". Really, Tim? Really! Can you please identify a source for this opinion which you presented to be fact? How many school districts (other than Verona) offer Chinese? What percentage of districts nationwide do so?
More to the point...why would they? We asked that question of the Google-o-saurus and found this interesting site which offered the following analysis:
1)Chinese
will
probably not help your kid get a job.
2)Chinese is not an international language and unlikely to become one.
3)
Chinese is difficult.
4)
Learning the Chinese writing system is time consuming.
5)
There is little chance to use Chinese.
6)
The rush to Chinese is being pushed by the Chinese government.
So...why are we spending ANY dollars on a Chinese program when the programs we have now are struggling? At every board meeting, it seems that Jim McCourt likes to some how slide in the statement, "We're falling behind...". Here's where we agree, Jim. We ARE falling behind. But not like you think: in terms of new initiatives. Our test scores are falling, the achievement gap is widening, not narrowing. Why don't we right the ship we have instead of working on building a new one?
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