Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Excel Spreadsheet
Patrick Phillippe (Kinston cohort) has created an Excel spreadsheet for your use in completing the final project for the course. You will find it under the Blackboard site for the course and under "Assignments" for "Class 10". Many thanks to Patrick for his willingness to develop this shortcut for all of you.
Stimulus Funding Cliff
How Big Is the Stimulus Funding Cliff? $16.5 billion. That's the amount of money that 36 states combined will need to find, somewhere, to get back to their 2008 K-12 funding levels after stimulus money runs out. That amounts to about 10 percent of these 36 states' combined budgets, according to my own calculations of figures presented in a White House report out yesterday on the impact of the stimulus package on education jobs. This is the funding cliff that states and school districts have been warned about.
States will need to replace this money at a time when the national economy only now is showing glimmers of a recovery, and state tax collections are still tanking by record amounts. Of course, when it comes time for states to write their budgets for fiscal 2011 and beyond, they have the ability to move money around, or rob other programs to help fill in K-12 budget gaps. But will there be enough money to go around? Looking at the size of these gaps, probably not.
Some states have a bigger cliff than others. California wows with its sheer dollar amount. Its fiscal 2010 K-12 state spending is $32.9 billion, or 14 percent less than it was two years ago. ($5 billion in stimulus money filled in that gap.) But proportionately, other states are in just as bad, or worse, shape.
Oregon reduced state funding by half-a-billion dollars in fiscal 2010, or 16 percent below fiscal 2008 levels. Illinois reduced its state contribution to education this fiscal year by nearly $600 million, or 14 percent. Utah reduced its contribution by $300 million, or 13 percent, below 2008 levels. All of those holes were filled, or will be filled, with money from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, the largest single chunk of stimulus money available to states for education.
As state policymakers face frightening budget gaps, folks are getting desperate. In Kentucky, state legislators are considering raiding the "rainy day" funds of individual school districts, which includes money raised from local property taxes. That's unprecedented in the state--and maybe in the country.
A recent report by the Education Department's inspector general called attention to this problem, maintaining that the real effect of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund was to reduce a state's own funding contribution to schools, rather than prod states to invest more in K-12 education. Even the IG, however, acknowledged this was allowable under the law. Posted by Michele McNeil on October 19, 2009 3:07 PM | Permalink
States will need to replace this money at a time when the national economy only now is showing glimmers of a recovery, and state tax collections are still tanking by record amounts. Of course, when it comes time for states to write their budgets for fiscal 2011 and beyond, they have the ability to move money around, or rob other programs to help fill in K-12 budget gaps. But will there be enough money to go around? Looking at the size of these gaps, probably not.
Some states have a bigger cliff than others. California wows with its sheer dollar amount. Its fiscal 2010 K-12 state spending is $32.9 billion, or 14 percent less than it was two years ago. ($5 billion in stimulus money filled in that gap.) But proportionately, other states are in just as bad, or worse, shape.
Oregon reduced state funding by half-a-billion dollars in fiscal 2010, or 16 percent below fiscal 2008 levels. Illinois reduced its state contribution to education this fiscal year by nearly $600 million, or 14 percent. Utah reduced its contribution by $300 million, or 13 percent, below 2008 levels. All of those holes were filled, or will be filled, with money from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, the largest single chunk of stimulus money available to states for education.
As state policymakers face frightening budget gaps, folks are getting desperate. In Kentucky, state legislators are considering raiding the "rainy day" funds of individual school districts, which includes money raised from local property taxes. That's unprecedented in the state--and maybe in the country.
A recent report by the Education Department's inspector general called attention to this problem, maintaining that the real effect of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund was to reduce a state's own funding contribution to schools, rather than prod states to invest more in K-12 education. Even the IG, however, acknowledged this was allowable under the law. Posted by Michele McNeil on October 19, 2009 3:07 PM | Permalink
Next Week
In preparation for next week's class, please review the course pack pp. 182-219 and you may find some assistance in determining which PRCs are to be included in the budget reduction exercise. When you come to class, you will need to sit with your team and you will have some time together to discuss the list of PRCs further before you submit a final list.
Please also read the material behind the tab for Class 10 as we will have some discussion about the principal's role in Capital Outlay expenditures.
Please also read the material behind the tab for Class 10 as we will have some discussion about the principal's role in Capital Outlay expenditures.
Rewritten GS 115C-105.41
Please replace the section (p. 124) in your course pack with the following rewritten section:
SECTION 1. G.S. 115C-105.41 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-105.41. Students who have been placed at risk of academic failure; personal
education plans. Local school administrative units shall identify students who are at risk for academic failure. Identification shall occur as early as can reasonably be done and can be based on grades, observations, State assessments, and other factors that impact student performance that teachers and administrators consider appropriate, without having to await the results of end-of-grade or end-of-course tests. No later than the end of the first quarter, or after a teacher has had up to nine weeks of instructional time with a student, a personal education plan for academic improvement with focused intervention and performance benchmarks shall be developed or updated for any student at risk of academic failure who is not performing at least at grade level, as identified by the State end-of-grade test and other factors noted above. Focused intervention and accelerated activities should include research-based best practices that meet the needs of students and may include coaching, mentoring, tutoring, summer school, Saturday school, and extended days. Local school administrative units shall provide these activities free of charge to students. Local school administrative units shall also provide transportation free of charge to all students for whom transportation is necessary for participation in these activities.
Local school administrative units shall give notice of the personal education plan and a copy of the personal education plan to the student's parent or guardian. Parents should be included in the implementation and ongoing review of personal education plans.
No cause of action for monetary damages shall arise from the failure to provide or
implement a personal education plan under this section.
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with
the 2009-2010 school year.
SECTION 1. G.S. 115C-105.41 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-105.41. Students who have been placed at risk of academic failure; personal
education plans. Local school administrative units shall identify students who are at risk for academic failure. Identification shall occur as early as can reasonably be done and can be based on grades, observations, State assessments, and other factors that impact student performance that teachers and administrators consider appropriate, without having to await the results of end-of-grade or end-of-course tests. No later than the end of the first quarter, or after a teacher has had up to nine weeks of instructional time with a student, a personal education plan for academic improvement with focused intervention and performance benchmarks shall be developed or updated for any student at risk of academic failure who is not performing at least at grade level, as identified by the State end-of-grade test and other factors noted above. Focused intervention and accelerated activities should include research-based best practices that meet the needs of students and may include coaching, mentoring, tutoring, summer school, Saturday school, and extended days. Local school administrative units shall provide these activities free of charge to students. Local school administrative units shall also provide transportation free of charge to all students for whom transportation is necessary for participation in these activities.
Local school administrative units shall give notice of the personal education plan and a copy of the personal education plan to the student's parent or guardian. Parents should be included in the implementation and ongoing review of personal education plans.
No cause of action for monetary damages shall arise from the failure to provide or
implement a personal education plan under this section.
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with
the 2009-2010 school year.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
No Appeal
Attorney General Roy Cooper's office will not appeal a Superior Court judge's decision that State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson has the legal authority to run the state education agency, according to a spokeswoman for Cooper's office. Gov. Beverly Perdue had hired Bill Harrison to run the state Department of Public Instruction, going around Atkinson, who had twice won statewide elections for state superintendent. Atkinson, a Democrat, hired former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, a Republican who runs the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, to fight the decision in court. She sued Perdue and the State Board of Education, and won. Cooper's office said immediately after the Superior Court ruling in July that it would appeal. But the office decided last month not to, said spokeswoman Noelle Talley. Harrison said he told Perdue soon after the decision that he thought an appeal would be distracting. He retired from the paid job of state education CEO, though he is still the school board chairman. (THE NEWS & OBSERVER, 10/12/09).
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Why Schools Need to Be Better
While reviewing the law cases assigned as a part of Class 6, one group ran across the following quote (from the Serrano decision), which clearly states why we need to improve our schools and offer our children the very best we can:
"A child of the poor assigned to an inferior state school takes on the complexion of a prisoner, complete with a minimum sentence of 12 years". (Coons, Clune & Sugarman, spra, 57 Cal. Law Review, p. 388.
"A child of the poor assigned to an inferior state school takes on the complexion of a prisoner, complete with a minimum sentence of 12 years". (Coons, Clune & Sugarman, spra, 57 Cal. Law Review, p. 388.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sexual Misconduct
Nearly half of the 289 teacher license revocations and suspensions in North Carolina over the past decade were for sexual misconduct, the Wilmington Star-News reported Saturday. A database made public by the North Carolina Board of Education details teachers in the state whose licenses to teach were surrendered, suspended, denied or revoked in the past decade and the reason. But the problem may be worse than as indicated by the database, which only includes people who were caught. Currently, the state does not require background checks for teacher's license applicants. The state board of licensure relies on self-reporting - just two questions that trust the applicant to be honest about past suspensions and convictions. It's only when a would-be teacher applies to work in a local school district that a background check requirement kicks in.
But experts say those checks don't always catch teachers who resigned from their last school under a cloud. They note that past employers are often wary of passing on negative information for fear of a defamation lawsuit. Experts also say the myriad behaviors that lead up to molestation aren't currently covered by rules requiring schools to report sexual misconduct by teachers. Those behaviors, such as frequent or inappropriate text messaging, are difficult to police but are important to report. Repeat offenders usually have a host of subtle techniques that build over a long period of time. Reporting those behaviors is a way to cut off improper relationships before they become damaging. Another problem, according to experts, is that administrators do not disclose inconclusive investigations out of fear of risking a lawsuit by passing on a false accusation.
A state task force of veteran educators and legal experts has been meeting for more than a year to examine problems with the current licensure system and reporting practices. Their report is not complete, but its recommendations so far include fingerprinting of teachers when they apply for a state license and upping the number of ethics questions on the application from two to 20. It would also increase the standards on reportable offenses to inappropriate interaction of a sexual or romantic nature, instead of just sexual. By requiring that schools report the behaviors that often lead to sexual contact, hopes to discourage teachers from taking any chances. June Atkinson, the state schools superintendent, said Wednesday that she had not yet seen the task force's report, but she supports improving the licensing process while keeping it fair to educators. The final report will be presented to Atkinson later this month.(Chelsea Kellner, WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS, 10/03/09).
But experts say those checks don't always catch teachers who resigned from their last school under a cloud. They note that past employers are often wary of passing on negative information for fear of a defamation lawsuit. Experts also say the myriad behaviors that lead up to molestation aren't currently covered by rules requiring schools to report sexual misconduct by teachers. Those behaviors, such as frequent or inappropriate text messaging, are difficult to police but are important to report. Repeat offenders usually have a host of subtle techniques that build over a long period of time. Reporting those behaviors is a way to cut off improper relationships before they become damaging. Another problem, according to experts, is that administrators do not disclose inconclusive investigations out of fear of risking a lawsuit by passing on a false accusation.
A state task force of veteran educators and legal experts has been meeting for more than a year to examine problems with the current licensure system and reporting practices. Their report is not complete, but its recommendations so far include fingerprinting of teachers when they apply for a state license and upping the number of ethics questions on the application from two to 20. It would also increase the standards on reportable offenses to inappropriate interaction of a sexual or romantic nature, instead of just sexual. By requiring that schools report the behaviors that often lead to sexual contact, hopes to discourage teachers from taking any chances. June Atkinson, the state schools superintendent, said Wednesday that she had not yet seen the task force's report, but she supports improving the licensing process while keeping it fair to educators. The final report will be presented to Atkinson later this month.(Chelsea Kellner, WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS, 10/03/09).
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