the budget crisis gets personal

Governor Gregoire's 2009 budget proposal includes a six percent across-the-board cut at the community college level. Since last summer, my wife had been working at Pierce College in Lakewood, assisting adult students in their transition from GED programs to a college education. We had held off major financial changes this winter, knowing that although she had survived the first round of cuts, her job status in June was iffy.

Turns out it was even iffier than we thought. Yesterday she was given her walking papers, since her position has been eliminated as of January 16th. She's over the initial shock, frustrated by having to look for new employment, more irritated than anything, as is her soon-to-be-slammed supervisor.

Our plan to help the U.S. out of the recession was to purchase a home in December. Not anymore. But we can't complain too loudly. We can scale back our dreams a bit, pinch a few more pennies, and weather the storm. And I still have a job in the Olympia School District.

For now.

everybody hurts: the Gregoire Budget

Governor Gregoire has released her budget recommendations for the upcoming legislative session. Cue Michael Stipe, singing on a freeway:

Gov. Christine Gregoire released an austere state budget proposal this morning that slashes more than $3.5 billion in funding for public schools, higher education, social services and other areas to help close the biggest budget shortfall in state history.

Gregoire proposes filling the gap, projected at more than $5 billion, by making scores of cuts and using untapped pots of money, including $600 million from the state rainy-day fund.

In addition, the governor is banking that the federal government will send Washington at least $1 billion as part of an economic stimulus package.

Among the cuts proposed by Gregoire: $682 million in pay increases for state workers and teachers; $500 million in health care for children, the poor and the disabled; and $178 million in funding for Initiative I-728, which was approved by voters in 2000 to reduce class sizes in public schools.

The proposed budget also would change how state pensions are funded, and reduce contributions to the worker-retirement programs by $400 million over the next two years. No cut was too small to pursue. The governor proposes closing 13 state parks to save $5.2 million, shuttering the visitors center at the state Capitol to save $1.7 million and eliminating toll-free numbers to the state Department of Revenue to save $260,000.

The governor said the cuts were necessary, but that she "hates" the budget and expects legislators and lobbyists will as well. "There's something in there for everybody not to like."

I'd strongly recommend reading the entire recommendation [pdf] to get a sense of the uphill battle ahead.

I'll post analysis later this week.

(Oh, and it almost goes without saying that "advocacy groups" are upset.)

Added: And then there's Ryan's take.

The Solution to the Education Budget Crisis!

Governor Gregoire and Superintendent Dorn can thank this guy:

Tom Farber gives a lot of tests. He's a calculus teacher, after all.
So when administrators at Rancho Bernardo, his suburban San Diego high school, announced the district was cutting spending on supplies by nearly a third, Farber had a problem. At 3 cents a page, his tests would cost more than $500 a year. His copying budget: $316. But he wanted to give students enough practice for the big tests they'll face in the spring, such as the Advanced Placement exam.

"Tough times call for tough actions," he says. So he started selling ads on his test papers: $10 for a quiz, $20 for a chapter test, $30 for a semester final.

San Diego magazine and The San Diego Union-Tribune featured his plan just before Thanksgiving, and Farber came home from a few days out of town to 75 e-mail requests for ads. So far, he has collected $350. His semester final is sold out.

As a first grade teacher I can easily see how this could be brought down to my grade level:

"What letter is this, Johnny?"
"P!"
"And what does P stand for...?"
"P'Zone, available only from Pizza Hut!"
"Good boy! Here's a coupon."

The branding opportunities abound. Yay!

Bergeson's last "state of education" address

"Mend it, don't end it."

I wonder if Bergeson is actually a little glad to be done. Her successor, after all, has to do all the hard work of fixing her mistakes, as well as repairing the funding system she inherited and did little to change.

But I hear a committee is looking into it.

the state of Washington education in two sentences

OSPI's Jennifer Priddy:

“I have other bad news to share with you,” she said. “I don’t think it’s disputed that the state is underfunding basic education.”

1. Lots of bad news.
2. An underfunded system.

Are those going to be the final grades of the Bergeson era?

what's the lesson here?

Consider this year's Seattle Mariners, proud owners of this abysmal factoid:

First team with a $100 million payroll and 100 losses. With one bonus loss for good measure.

You make the inference.

control the information, control the discourse

It's not profound, at least not anymore, and certainly not shocking that those who maintain the databases run the show.

At last night's community forum to discuss the Olympia School District's budget cuts, I saw exactly how that works. In the utter absence of malice, the district has inherited a system of budgeting that hierarchizes and decentralizes information so that only a handful of people know the scope and character of the entire district budget.

So, when 200+ people sit down to go over cuts, they're at a huge epistemic disadvantage. They don't have each building's budget in front of them--where the real details hide--and the district-provided handouts are vague, excepting the specific proposed cuts. How much cash would it save to trim 5% from every WIAA sports or activity program? How much would it raise to implement a $5 pay-to-play increase? How much does Marshall Middle School spend on photocopies? Unless we're the assistant superintendent, we don't know.

I've tried to make things easier on the average citizen by creating an interactive spreadsheet so they can try balancing the budget on their own, but I've only included proposals that I've heard about. Anything truly novel has to spring up out of the void of imagination, rather than the rational crunch of numbers.

District officials, when shown the spreadsheet, have been uniformly excited by it. My next goal is to work with them in an official capacity, to bring the power of information to the masses. Someday, I hope that every district in this state--and everywhere--would be that data-transparent.

a freeway, a freeway, my COLA for a freeway

Dino Rossi's transportation plan is all over the news today, the candidate pushing for new projects to the tune of $15 billion dollars.

"The bottom line is we need these projects. We have no choice," Rossi said. "We have to do these projects ... or we'll be stepping on our own economic air hose in the future."

Rossi, who is running against Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire, proposed paying for the work in part by spending 40 percent of the state sales taxes on new and used vehicles for transportation projects — a total of $7.7 billion in 2007 dollars projected over the next 30 years.

He also would eliminate state sales taxes on transportation projects, thus lowering their cost.

That tax revenue currently goes to the state's general fund where it's spent on other programs. Rossi doesn't say how he'd make up that loss in revenue, but he says he would not raise taxes or cut programs supporting education, nursing homes and the developmentally disabled.

The opposition isn't buying the no-education-cuts angle. Debra Carnes, communication director for the Gregoire campaign, notes,

It looks like he’s back to proposing some of the same things he’s done before. Much of the revenue to fund his plan comes from the general fund, more specifically to the tune of $10 billion. That’s real money that looks like yet another attempt at suspending funding for COLAs and class size reduction.

In yesterday’s press conference, Robert Mak of KING 5 asked this question:

Q: Should teachers write off their COLA's?

A: We'll have to look at where we are at that point. I fixed the problem in 2003 and can do it again if necessary.

Apparently, his “fix” in 2003 was to suspend the COLAs. Overall, it’s a bad plan that isn’t good for Washington and may be even worse for educators.

If Carnes is right, is it worth it? Should teachers sacrifice their cost of living adjustment to keep gridlock's foot off the economic air hose?

still need a majority

Ryan is right: by and large, the simple majority measure boosted schools all across the state.

Makes losing even harder for those who still couldn't muster the requisite 50.01%. Blame it on underwhelming electioneering, rising property values and taxes, or, in some cases, the lingering effects of the deluge. Sorry, Rochester, Centralia, and Yelm. (Oh, and let's not forget Lacey, home to the North Thurston district, another victim of booming development, I'm guessing.)

Update: Centralia passed. In my haste, I forgot to check the Lewis County results, where most of that district's constituents live. Good for them, and duh for me.

Ack

The Reading First cuts could cost Washington State $10 million dollars, says Education Week ($). That’s a lot of money that won’t be going to struggling learners, and that’s a shame.

Are you in a Reading First school? If so, how has it worked out for you?

The Funding Gap 2007

The Education Trust has released their annual report looking at the difference in the amount of money that states spend on high and low poverty school districts; Vermont, for example, spends more than $2,000 a child less per student in high poverty districts. I think there's a big flaw in their analysis because they take teacher salaries into acccount--a method pioneered by the University of Washington's own Marguerite Rosa--but it's still a voice in the chorus that we should be aware of.

The good news for us is that Washington State comes off pretty well; the gap between the low and high poverty districts is $23 in favor of the high poverty, a testament to the equality (but not necessarily the fairness) of our funding system.

The report is a short, interesting look at an area of school finance; you can find it at the first link above.

support your local librarian: part II

Permanent funding for librarians not coming from levy dollars? Sounds crazy enough to work.

[Rainier's Steve] Coker is set to testify today in support of Senate Bill 6380, which would provide state funding — $12 per student — for materials, and require a certain number of certified-teacher librarians based on the size of the district.

Hope that went well for you, Mr. Coker. In today's techno-climate, we need teacher-librarians--and a stable funding structure--more than ever.

support your local librarian

School librarians: a vanishing breed?

This year, Federal Way cut 20 librarian positions. Spokane reduced 10 librarians to half time. Darrington cut two librarians. A school in Marysville eliminated its half-time librarian.

Libraries are open fewer hours, programs minimized, jobs combined. In many cases, part timers with little formal library training are replacing skilled veterans. In Pomeroy, Garfield County, a school employs a combination custodian-librarian — she opens the library after cleaning the locker rooms.

At one school, parents said, enough is enough.

Click through to read how parent activists are pressuring the legislature to make librarians legally recognized as equally valuable contributors in education, to which I say, "Amen and amen."

educational legislation: 2007 House Bills in review

In 2007, regional media types paid all kinds of attention to the fate of various Washington State educational laws. Joint Resolution 4204, which passed by a Gregoire-thin margin to allow simple majorities for levies, was probably the best-known, while HB 2079 was the most controversial. But lots more were passed. Here are the highlights from the House's year in educational legislation. (I've focused on the elementary and secondary level, with a few postsecondary bills thrown in there as they relate to high school instruction. If I've missed one, let me know.)



Kevin's Law: ESHB 1050
IEP students must be allowed to walk in a grad ceremony with their peers, even if all they receive at the time is a "Certificate of Attendance."


Completing High School at a Community College: HB 1051
The most concise summary comes from Governor Gregoire's partial veto:

Sections 1 through 8 of this bill provide for the development of two pilot programs at community or technical colleges. The programs are intended to support certain students as they work to meet the State's academic standards in reading, writing, mathematics or science. For these students, demonstrating proficiency in one or more of these subjects is the final step in meeting their high school graduation requirements and obtaining a high school diploma. The legislation outlines the student eligibility and program criteria, authorizes the financial support, waives student tuition and fees, and provides for a study of the program's results in two years' time.

Section 9 of the bill creates and recognizes a new state certificate for high school students who do not meet the requirements for a high school diploma, the Certificate of Academic Completion (Certificate). The Certificate may be conferred by school districts to students who meet all state and local requirements for graduation with the exception of passage of one or more of the high school assessments in reading, writing and mathematics. Our students are working very hard to achieve the skills necessary for success in their endeavors beyond high school. By creating the Certificate of Academic Completion we will be sending a message to these students that they do not need basic skills required for the high school diploma. This is wrong.

Get Students Involved: HB 1052
This little bill provides greater access for middle and high school students to the Legislative Advisory Council, plus grants for students to participate in civic education competitions such as Model UN.


Postsecondary Opportunities: HB 1096
Globalization, according to the legislature, requires need-based grants for workers to gain certification or skills training in "high demand occupations" from community or technical colleges.


Book Savings For All: HB 1224
Community colleges were added to the ranks of institutions that must pursue policies that keep book and material costs down, or, at the very least, make options and alternatives publicly known.


Cash for Computers: HB 1280
If I understand this correctly, this bill allows districts to pay for major technology upgrades out of existing "capital projects" levies, instead of having to run a special techno-levy. (Another minor bill, HB 2357, would allow districts to use timber money for capital projects, too.)


Service Credit for ESAs: HB 1432
Might as well quote the bill itself:

Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, the calculation of years of service for occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, nurses, social workers, counselors, and psychologists regulated under Title 18 RCW may include experience in schools and other nonschool positions as occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, nurses, social workers, counselors, or psychologists. The calculation shall be that one year of service in a nonschool position counts as one year of service for purposes of this chapter, up to a limit of two years of nonschool service.

It's only for the salary schedule; retirement counts only school service.


Dealing With the Dropout Problem: HB 1573

Sections 1 through 7 of this bill provide for the development and implementation of a grant program that, through collaborative school district, family and community partnerships and services, support vulnerable students who are at risk of dropping out of middle or high school. The grant program will be called the Building Bridges Program.

This is perhaps the most ambitious attempt the state has made at reducing the dropout rate. I still see this as the problem at the high school level, come low or high WASL.


Defining a Counselor: HB 1670
Up until this year, for all legal intents and purposes, school counselors didn't exist. Now they do.


Agency Shop Fees Clarified: HB 2079
10 + 10 - 10 = 10. Now, which 10 is left? This bill says: not yours, shop fee payer, that the Supreme Court may be mollified. Whew. That was a dire emergency.


Add a Little Spice: HB 2154
Now ESD board members will come up for election in odd, rather than even, years. That oughtta bring out the vote.


Bonus Bonus: HB 2262
Become certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, collect $5,000--or more, if you teach in an impoverished district. For me, this was the incentive that tipped the scales away from ProCert to NBPTS. Apparently, a lot of other teachers feel the same way.


Investing in the Common Schools: HB 2396
On the same day she signed the Rainy Day Fund into law, Gregoire also allowed the state to invest its permanent common school fund in equities, in hopes that it would earn at a rate at least equal to inflation.


Killing Gainsharing: HB 2391
On that same day, gainsharing died, and teachers mourned.


Let's Have a Poet Laureate: HB 1279
Why not? By the way, it's Samuel Green.

On the Job vs. In the Classroom Learning

Cross-posted from "What It's Like on the Inside":

Ryan, a/k/a "The School Policy Nerd" over at I Thought a Think, recently posted about the Washington School Funding Taskforce. But there's more over at KOMO 4 news in Seattle regarding findings about what influences student success most: teacher experience or teacher degrees?

Combining the results of 15 studies on teacher pay, the researchers found a dramatic improvement in student achievement between one and five years of teacher experience and a more gradual boost in the years following. Student achievement in these studies was mostly tracked through scores on standardized reading or math tests.

A similar analysis of studies concerning teachers getting graduate degrees found the degrees seemed to have little or no impact on student outcomes.

The report makes a preliminary recommendation that any changes in the way teachers are paid should emphasize financial rewards for experience rather than higher pay for teachers with graduate degrees...

The task force has until early 2009 to make its recommendations, in part because that's when a state court plans to hear arguments on an education funding lawsuit brought by school districts and education organizations across the state.

Researchers at the Washington State Institute for Public Policy are still working on their analysis of the effectiveness of other financial incentives for teachers, such as bonuses for completing a national certification program; proposals for extra pay for teaching in high-poverty, low-performing schools; or higher pay for teaching certain subjects like math and science.

The institute also will study the effectiveness of voluntary all-day kindergarten, smaller classes, professional development for all staff, focused instructional support, and extended day and school year options.

My original reaction was "Duh." in terms of more experience in the classroom leads to be better success for kids. Would it not be true for nearly any job that the more time you spend learning it, the better you get at it? But then I also thought about the "dead wood" teachers that litter classrooms---the ones who have quit learning and growing as professionals. Is there a point where the effect experience has maxes out...perhaps even declines? As for degrees, I also agree that more letters after one's name does not make someone a better teacher.

As it stands now, the state salary schedule for teachers is based on both: experience and education. What's the answer, I wonder. Do we continue to pay beginning teachers paltry salaries because they're not effective yet? Do we continue to have a maximum pay rate, regardless of the number of years a teacher has been in the classroom? As it stands now, someone with 30 years experience makes the same as someone with 16 years experience.

I'm glad Ryan is willing to tape and watch these hearings. I might not be as interested in the small pieces of process that he is, but the outcomes are definitely worth watching.

simple majority passing by Gregoire-esque margin

As of 4:46, the Simple Majority measure has 50.2188% of the vote.

Maybe--just maybe--my initial pessimism was unwarranted. But Ryan had better start checking out asbestos underwear.

funding lawsuit clears next major hurdle

Big news out of King County Superior Court:

Judge Michael Heavey wrote in an opinion attached to his order granting summary judgment that uneven distribution of state money to school districts violates the state constitution because it is not general and uniform, and violates the equal-protection rights of Federal Way teachers, students and taxpayers.

The judge said he expects the case to be appealed to the Washington Supreme Court. The state has 30 days to file an appeal. A call to the state attorney general's office seeking comment was not immediately returned.

The school district's lawsuit was filed in November 2006 against the state, the governor, the superintendent of public instruction and other officials.

Heavey, a former state legislator, said he believes lawmakers had been making progress toward a more equitable distribution of school money, but there is still some work to do. For example, most school districts get $32,746 from the state per teacher, although a few get as much as $4,000 more.

The state distributes school money based on the number of students in each district. Under a formula, the money is split among teachers, administrators and other staff, with employees paid within a range for each category.

"Because of the 'ranges,' there are 258 different funding levels for the state's 296 school districts," Heavey wrote.

He called the formula "arbitrary and wholly irrelevant" and said it was left over from an old system.

This is a tentative but satisfying victory for not just the WEA,who has pressed the suit forward, but for all Washington educators. If the lawsuit is appealed to the Supreme Court, which seems all but certain, and, bigger if, it succeeds, it becomes a matter of legislative remedy. That'll be interesting.

Update: In my sleep-deprived mind, I connected this lawsuit with the other state funding lawsuit, which is still in the works.

throw me the money

In Joanne Jacobs' discussion of the educational failure of a housing voucher program--a lottery for impoverished families that let them move into better neighborhoods--comes this surprise.

Well, what about moving poor kids to better schools?

That's been tried too with no effect on academic achievement. The journal Education Next reports on a study of families who moved out of public housing projects and into better neighborhoods in Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York: "A randomized evaluation of the 'Moving to Opportunity' (MTO) program—a federal housing program piloted in five major U.S. cities that sought to relocate poor families by providing housing vouchers—shows that, contrary to expectations, moving families out of high-poverty neighborhoods has no overall positive impact on children's learning."

Why might this be the case?

In Baltimore, parents who used vouchers to move often didn't enroll their children in better schools[.] Johns Hopkins researcher Stefanie DeLuca writes, "Many MTO parents told us about frightening conditions in their children's schools and their concern for their children's well-being. Yet these fears and realities did not always translate into efforts to remove their children from these environments. Poor mothers and their children juggle myriad extreme conditions, and schooling is not always on the top of the list."

Educational voucher systems are justified in part by a premise of rational economics: give them the money, and people will make the best choice. But Jacobs' finding refutes that premise. That could explain why straight-up voucher programs have, overall, made little difference.

That doesn't mean schools can't have an impact, though:

In my book, Our School, I describe the struggles and triumphs of a charter high school in San Jose, California, that recruits 'D' and 'F' students, works their butts off and sends all graduates to college. Downtown College Prep succeeds because it targets instruction to struggling students who come from low-income and working-class families; most are the children of poorly educated Mexican immigrant parents.

Jacobs worries that trying to mix in "middle class whites" would "dilute the focus." (So long, Brown v. Board.) Yet for every Downtown College Prep there's a Charter School Fraud, making suckers out of those who need the most help.

It's not the money, really. It's the ethos.

Shoreline teacher strike: just the quotes

Via the Times article. The strike begins--and ends--tomorrow. But the hurt will last until summer, at least.

"The reputation of the district is in jeopardy with the actions of the association. There wasn't a town here originally, there was a school district, and people moved here to be a part of that."

--Sue Walker, Superintendent


"[Ben] lost it. He said, 'Why me? Why me? Why did they pick me?' The right that we have to a good education, by this decision by the administration, has been hindered."

--Sharon Reijonen, parent


"We're trying to use our resources more effectively than we have in the past."

--Dan Mann, School Board member


"Before we do something this instructionally damaging, we believe we should have exhausted all possible avenues for revenue generation and for cost reduction."

--Elizabeth Beck, Shoreline EA co-president


"This is the first time in my teaching career I have ever been embarrassed to be in this district. They're sucking the soul out of Shoreline."

--Kaydee McGillivray, longtime elementary teacher


"There's definitely a sense that in this whole struggle to bring the financial picture back into line, there's been a certain callousness and overlooking what's happening in the classroom. It's past the eleventh hour, it's past the twelfth hour. It's the third week of school."

--Ed Coleman, parent


"I don't think the strike is going to change what's going on, and I think it sends the wrong message to the community. Frustration and disappointment are my primary emotions at this point."

--Mike Jacobs, Board president

The administration could at least make some sort of conciliatory gesture: move into tents to save on building costs, and fight the budget battle as if it's a real war. We're all in this together, right?

Not So Super-majority

If you've been haunting this blog, you know that adequate funding for schools is a major issue in this state (as in, the state doesn't pony up what it should). One result of this is that districts have come to rely more and more heavily upon local levy dollars. And if that weren't enough of an issue to manage, a levy can only be passed by a supermajority (60%+) of voters.

The supermajority requirement was in place long before NCLB, technology, and many modern school needs. It was originally conceived in 1932 and became a part of the state constitution in 1944. This makes changes to the rule much more difficult.

Washington state is one step closer to overturning this practice. State legislators were able to work together enough to have an amendment added to the voters' ballot in November. (There only needs to be a simple majority to pass it, oddly enough.) Many districts are gearing up for public relations efforts in order to get the message out that children and schools need their help.

There is plenty more to read in an article in The Columbian. How will your district encourage voters to make themselves more easily taxed in the name of providing a quality education?