The Legislative budget chief recently informed legislators that they could have a significant cash surplus to work with as they convene this 2012 legislative session. That is good news but it also poses problems for legislators as they contemplate how to spend it, as every legislator will have their own “remedy” to deal with the excess cash.
What choice should legislators make? What choice will best accelerate our State’s economy? What choice will get the most bang for the “buck?” The case can certainly be made to return the full amount to the people who provided it and to scale back the personal and corporate income tax.
Others will insist that the money be used to refund our public schools. But if that happens, the money will merely be distributed to the school districts, no strings attached! We will basically be funding the same broken education system we had prior to the economic downturn – a system that focused on adults and not the educational needs of students.
Consider a couple of options: First there was a time in the not too distant past when schools were in session 180 days, with prescribed hours. There was some uniformity across the State. Now, with the latitude provided in law, no school has 180 days of instruction. The school year, while technically adhering to some time requirements, is significantly shorter than 180 days, due to furlough days, 4-day school weeks, parent teacher conference days, in-service days, athletic events, etc. This is the system that the education establishment wants to throw money at and maintain!
If we are serious about “putting students first, rather than the adults, then we need to have those students in school, with a teacher and not “on vacation.” If a student’s time with a teacher is important, and it is, then that is what the money should buy.
Secondly, in order to advance school choice in Idaho and at the same time provide some tax relief to those parents who are now paying double for their child’s education, expand our current tax credit statute to give those parents a tax credit for some of the tuition expenses they have. This would truly be a win-win situation for parents and for k-12 education. Parents whose students are presently enrolled in a private school would be the obvious beneficiaries. However, there also would be additional parents who might take advantage of tax credits by taking their student out of the traditional school and enrolling them in a private school, thus reducing the enrollment in the traditional school system. Stated another way, tax credits will be “budget positive” in that the State will lose less in tax revenue than it would have to pay if those students attended public schools.
John Kennedy once said, “the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable.” Those who support status quo in the education system hope the days of reform are over because the education system is unchangeable. They are wrong! Now that money has returned to the state’s coffers, I’d argue that now is the time to focus on larger reforms and expansion of education choice.
JFK also said, “There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.”
Posted on this blog over the past few weeks has been a question/answer interview with Becky Stallcop. Becky is currently the principal and superintendent at Liberty Charter School in Nampa. She is the founder of the Harbor School Method which is used in whole or in part, not only by Liberty Charter but also a host of schools in Idaho. These Harbor schools are some of the very highest academic achieving schools in the State.
Prior to her current position at Liberty Charter she served as principal at Nampa’s Lincoln, Iowa, and Central Elementary School where she improved the student’s test scores to be the best in that school district. She has also served as a second, third, fifth grade & Title I teacher.
Becky has tremendous insight as to what it takes to have a successful school. Stallcop stated, “You make kids think they can do anything and they do, It is all about effort and attitude!” The current catch phrase in the education arena today is “Putting Kids First.” Becky has been putting kids first her entire career.
Darrel Deide
Posted on this blog over the next few weeks will be a question/ answer interview with Becky Stallcop. Becky is currently the principal and superintendent at Liberty Charter School in Nampa. She is the founder of the Harbor School Method which is used in whole or in part, not only by Liberty Charter but also a host of schools in Idaho. These Harbor schools are some of the very highest academic achieving schools in the State.
Prior to her current position at Liberty Charter she served as principal at Nampa’s Lincoln, Iowa, and Central Elementary School where she improved the student’s test scores to be the best in that school district. She has also served as a second, third, fifth grade & Title I teacher.
Becky has tremendous insight as to what it takes to have a successful school. Stallcop stated, “You make kids think they can do anything and they do, It is all about effort and attitude!” The current catch phrase in the education arena today is “Putting Kids First.” Becky has been putting kids first her entire career.
Darrel Deide
Posted on this blog over the next few weeks will be a question/ answer interview with Becky Stallcop. Becky is currently the principal and superintendent at Liberty Charter School in Nampa. She is the founder of the Harbor School Method which is used in whole or in part, not only by Liberty Charter but also a host of schools in Idaho. These Harbor schools are some of the very highest academic achieving schools in the State.
Prior to her current position at Liberty Charter she served as principal at Nampa’s Lincoln, Iowa, and Central Elementary School where she improved the student’s test scores to be the best in that school district. She has also served as a second, third, fifth grade & Title I teacher.
Becky has tremendous insight as to what it takes to have a successful school. Stallcop stated, “You make kids think they can do anything and they do, It is all about effort and attitude!” The current catch phrase in the education arena today is “Putting Kids First.” Becky has been putting kids first her entire career. read more…
Darrel Deide
Posted on this blog over the next few weeks will be a question/ answer interview with Becky Stallcop. Becky is currently the principal and superintendent at Liberty Charter School in Nampa. She is the founder of the Harbor School Method which is used in whole or in part, not only by Liberty Charter but also a host of schools in Idaho. These Harbor schools are some of the very highest academic achieving schools in the State.
Prior to her current position at Liberty Charter she served as principal at Nampa’s Lincoln, Iowa, and Central Elementary School where she improved the student’s test scores to be the best in that school district. She has also served as a second, third, fifth grade & Title I teacher. read more…
A number of Idaho school districts have decided that due to declining resources, reducing the number of school days in a week and a much shorter school year is the answer to their revenue problems. Recently in the Nampa, Idaho Press Tribune there appeared an article where the Notus School District was touting the benefits of the shorter week. The district’s superintendent cited many benefits including: saving money, more time for staff collaboration, fewer students failing, more academic advising for students, and more time for tutoring of students. Additionally, the new 4-day a week schedule will reduce transportation costs, energy costs and allow a reduction in hours of support staff from 40 to 32 hours per week. To the school superintendent’s credit he stated, “We will continue if its best for kids. But it’s not set in stone.” read more…
Parents across Idaho will now play a role in whether or not their child’s teacher gets a pay raise. More than two dozen Idaho school districts, in their plan to incorporate the pay for performance requirement in the new law, have decided that performance pay will be at least partially based upon how many parents the teacher entices to come to parent teacher conferences. Even how many parents the teacher happens to meet in the grocery store might earn the teacher a bonus. While parent involvement is important it has little to do with how well the kids perform in the classroom. The important factor is the quality of the teacher in the classroom and what the student learns and is able to do. This is what performance pay should be about. It is not about what the teacher does but what the student is able to do! For decades we have been paying and evaluating teachers based upon what they do. I thought this new law would change that and start paying and evaluating teachers based upon what their students can do. If this new law is that permissive it would be better to amend it. read more…
Recently the governing board of an Arizona Community college announced a change in the entrance requirements to their college. These changes were met with much resistance and the U. S Representative from that Congressional District described the changes as hurtful to many of his constituents and even suggested that the new requirements were racially motivated. These new standards or requirements tell us a great deal about the status of our K-12 education system, not only in Arizona but around the Nation. read more…
I have been associated with Idaho elementary and secondary schools as a teacher, counselor, administrator, legislator and school choice advocate for over a half century. The changes I have witnessed in that span are many and significant, but not all for the better.
The most obvious changes are the physical condition in which our students attend school. For the most part schools have been modernized with better lighting, heating and in general are much more attractive places than at any time in our history. Today they are better equipped. Class sizes are significantly smaller. Additionally, our teachers are much better compensated than ever and certification standards for teachers are higher than ever before.
read more…
According to the leaders of Idaho’s education labor union, the Idaho Education Association (IEA), online education is wrong for Idaho students. If you have followed the testimony offered at the public hearings, recently held around the state, you might have come away with the same belief. In reality, the union’s objection to digital learning has nothing to do with the quality of education. It has everything to do with the union’s desire to maintain it’s monopoly. The movement to require a couple of on-line courses in order to graduate is not, in and of itself, revolutionary. But the IEA knows it has to block online learning. Why? read more…
