Category Archives: Education

WorkSession

Posted on by
12

The School Board held a work session tonight on the FY08 Budget, and the potential impacts of proposed changes in State and local funding.

The Governor has put forth BEP 2.0, but the cigarette tax has not yet passed, and there are several possible plans for phasing in the formula change (all of which are positive for Oak Ridge).  It was an exceedingly productive hour — just an hour — for which two of the three candidates for school board were present.

The challenger, I suppose, already knows everything he needs to know about the budget and the impact of changes.  Funny, since even those of us who live and breathe it learned a few things.  As I drove to RealtorChick’s for a quick visit afterward, I realized why the young candidate wasn’t at the meeting; it seems he was taking his evening constitutional along Briarcliff Avenue.

I waved.  He waved.

I thought about the meetings I attended when I was running for this office, and how lost and uninformed I would have been without having done so.

Education, Money & the Legislature

Posted on by
2

This year’s legislative session in Nashville has brought a flurry of activity on education issues, with the biggest splash being the Governor’s proposed revisions to the state’s funding formula. 

Last week, the State Funding Board confirmed a significant surplus in state revenues, which brought about the usual flurry of activity about how to spend it.  Seems to me that the best policy would be to first fund those priorities that we’ve put off in recent years because there wasn’t enough money (i.e., improvements to school funding, health initiatives, etc.) and scuttle the inevitable pork projects and last minute ideas.

However, the newfound surplus does make it more challenging to pass the proposed 40-cent increase in the cigarette tax — a revenue source that might not be critical this year to fund BEP 2.0, but will most likely be needed in the future to continue implementation of the Governor’s improvements over the next few years.   Although I feel a tinge of guilt for advocating that they go ahead and pass this tax, knowing that no longer affects me personally (three months and a day without a cigarette — WOOT!), recognizing that we’d still be at about 60% of the national average in tobacco taxation seems fair enough.

*  *  *  Legislative Shenanigans
Other issues abound in Nashville, though.  Last week, Rep. Frank Nicely pulled a sneaky one, trying to add an amendment allowing elected superintendents an obscure bill having nothing to do with such; fortunately, the amendment failed on the House floor, but other bills remain that would achieve the same.

From the Tennessee School Boards Association’s TLN Notes:

Niceley is a vocal supporter of elected superintendents and made the same attempt last year. During his comments in support of the amendment, Niceley, who didn’t begin his House service until recently, stated that the appointed director of schools provision was "snuck in" back in 1992 and that legislators did not know what they were voting for. Speaker Jimmy Naifeh (D-Covington), who most certainly was around in 1992 and greatly involved in the discussions, quickly set Niceley straight, informing him that legislators were very aware of what they were doing. No question Niceley was mistaken, as more provisions than any other in the Education Improvement Act dealt with the appointed director of schools.

The case for keeping appointed Directors of Schools is summarized nicely here.

*   *   *  Locally…
Tonight, the Oak Ridge Board of Education will hold a work session on the subject of the BEP 2.0, and how the various implementations of the proposed changes might affect us.   The most difficult part of the school system budget is that we must enact it before any of our funding sources (the City, the County, the State, and Congress) pass their budgets, so the best we can do in formulating the revenue side is projections and educated guesses.

However, we’ve received assurance that there will be increased funding from the State in some fashion, and provided that the City approves it’s budget on second reading in the form that passed on May 7, we’ll be okay.  I think.  I’ll know more tomorrow.

BEP 2.0

Posted on by
2

Although I received a ton of documentation about the Governor’s new plan — BEP 2.0 — just after his speech on Thursday, it’s taken me a few days of drinking from the fire hose to begin to assess the impact on Oak Ridge.

Here’s the bottom-line data for FY08; the second column from the right, "Difference between February budget and version 1 plan" is the amount of additional state funding each district would expect to receive, over and above the February estimates (already included in our FY08 budget, as adopted).

The question I’ve heard most often so far has been, what does this mean to the Oak Ridge Schools’ budget request from the City? Would that give us enough to meet budgetary needs without the money above the 4.1% increase that Council had planned to allocate?

The answer isn’t a simple one, for several reasons. One, the Legislature hasn’t passed anything yet, so at this point, it’s just a proposal — not a marriage certificate. Secondly, we don’t know the strings that will be attached (one of which will almost certainly be a 3% pay raise, which does carry a local match requirement). Even with the salary increase and local match, it looks like we’d still be okay… but we’d still be using $1.3 million of our fund balance — almost all that remains.

So if the Governor’s proposal does pass in the Legislature, we could go without a local property tax increase, but we’d be heading into the following year with almost no reserves above the 3% that we are forbidden to touch except in narrowly-defined emergencies. If Council would fund our full request this year, it’s far less likely that we would need a larger increase next year.

My question is this: if Council passes a budget sticking to their planned 4% increase and then the new State funding does NOT come through, what then? What would have to be cut from our already meager budget that doesn’t even keep up with the cost of inflation in most items (including salaries)?

* * *

I have mounds of data beyond what I’ve linked to, and am still analyzing it. I also have tax rates and revenues for every school district, income averages, and the proportion of local tax revenues spent on education for each district, so it’s possible to correlate whether the gains in state funding correspond to those which are already doing their fair share at home. My objection to the previous prototype is that it rewarded local governments for NOT doing the right thing, and penalized those that are.

That analysis may take a few more days.

In the meantime, I can relish the satisfaction of knowing that my many hours of studying the BEP and various tax and revenue statistics, frequent trips to Nashville both to BEP Review Committee Meetings and to the Legislature, and efforts to coordinate with board members from other municipal school systems about funding changes has not been a wasted effort. This plan appears to be a good one, if only the Legislature will pass it and move on.

* * *

So much for my challenger’s opinion (in the school board race) that we should focus on getting more local revenue first.

Revising the Odds

Posted on by
4

Proposals to change the requirements for getting and keeping the lottery scholarship abound in the Tennessee legislature this year, with three-fourths of the students who start out with these scholarships losing them before graduation.

Currently, students need a 21 on the ACT or a 3.0 high school GPA to receive the scholarship, then must maintain a 2.75 GPA in their freshman year of college, rising to a 3.0 thereafter.

The Tennessean reports that the measure making the most headway is one to lower the overall college GPA requirement to 2.75, which would result in 1,600 more students retaining their scholarships, at a cost of $7M.

Perhaps a middle ground area would be more appropriate: leave the standards as they now are, but create a way for students to regain their scholarship eligibility after losing it, provided that they bring their GPA back up to the current standard.  So, if a sophomore finished out the year with a 2.8, lost the scholarship, then reapplied at the end of his junior year having brought his GPA up to 3.2, he would regain eligibility.

At this point, once it’s lost, it’s lost forever, no matter what the circumstances or how much the student improves.  Most reasonable people would concur that the policy is unforgiving; anyone who’s paid attention to how the GPA works understands that it’s harder to raise it substantially in later years.  Such students do deserve a second chance.

*  *  *
Speaking of which, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Alpha today, as she heads in for her Calculus final at 10:00.  However, she called yesterday to tell me that her prof has posted their grades so far, and she needs a whopping 57 (out of 100) to keep her ‘A’ in the class.   She’s taken advantage of every extra-credit opportunity given, and has amassed a significant safety cushion in the process.  Much of the extra credit has been working quiz problems on the board — something I would not have expected her to do, given that she’s rather shy and reserved most of the time.

Unquestionably, she’s learning a lot more than just academics, and it’s really neat to watch.

Political Notes

Posted on by
2

Last night, City Council recessed their budget work session when it was apparent that Channel 12 had to leave just prior to 7 p.m. to accommodate paid programming back at their studio.  I commend the Council for their decision to wait and hold further financial presentations until a time when they can be broadcast for all to see.

Open government is a much better process for everyone.  It protects officeholders from false accusation, since everyone can see what really happened.

 *  *  *
A more open process would have been helpful in the Budget & Tax committee meeting of April 17.  Even though the meeting was open to the public and a few did attend, it wasn’t televised, and there’s a heated dispute now brewing over Councilman Abbatiello’s statement in last night’s work session that "the school board refused to answer" his questions.

As a matter of fact (two school board members and one member of the general public have confirmed this), Abbatiello was given a detailed answer to his question about the number of new students and staff — the question he referenced in last night’s meeting as not having been answered — by Assistant Superintendent Ken Green, at the same meeting where the question was originally posed.

I guess that’s why those meetings are held in a small room, not televised, and are scheduled at times when many cannot attend.  Three school board members (myself included) and the Superintendent were at a NSBA meeting in San Francisco when the Budget & Tax Committee discussed the schools’ request.
*  *  *

The League of Women Voters’ Candidate Forum for City Council and Board of Education candidates is tonight, 6:30 p.m., in the auditorium at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge.  I found a bit of irony in the fact that the COR group (opposing Crestpointe in the June 5 ballot measure) scheduled their meeting at exactly the same time in a different location; it gives the impression that local governance isn’t important to them.

The candidates may be just as happy to have the hecklers otherwise occupied.
*  *  *

In Nashville, the House K-12 Subcommittee takes up a bunch of bills this morning, including HB0303 (McCormick) that would immediately convert us to the Fiscal Capacity Prototype devised by TACIR — an utter and complete financial disaster for most school systems in Tennessee.  It’s designed to force consolidation to only one school system per county across the state, through financial deprivation.  I hope it dies a swift and sudden death, in light of the fact that Gov. Bredesen is in the process of announcing his own BEP proposal.

I confess that I don’t know the specifics of his proposal, but word got back to me on Friday that "Oak Ridge would be happy."  Not that I want to appear cynical, but I won’t be comfortable until I see it for myself.
*  *  *

I do confess some significant apprehension about basing the Oak Ridge Schools’ FY08 budget on proposals that haven’t yet been approved by the Legislature, which is showing all the signs of going long this year. 

Liveblogging: Council Budget Work Session

Posted on by
1

 

John Smith, Oak Ridge Board of Education Chairman, opened the meeting with an overview of the Schools’ budget for this year.

As a Board, we understand what it takes to provide a quality education. We do the best that we can, as a community, to provide the best that we can. John notes that he has some ideas that he wants to bring forth at the right time, but tonight is not the right time.,

Some of the factors that impact our budget are student growth, commitment to improve student achievement and graduation rates, increases in insurance, retirement, fuel, water/sewer, electricity, etc. We must provide competitive salaries and benefits, we’re facing flat sales tax revenues. We expect an additional 124 elementary students this year.

Children on FRPL have risen to 31%, class sizes have increased, special education needs have increased.

Employee benefit costs have increased, and our staffing ratios must meet state requirements.

The most common factor in our success is our teachers.

Our utilities costs are rising, and our fund balance is being eroded. This year, our unexpended funds from last year were spent on repairs to items less than $50,000, which are not included in the CIP (Capital Improvements Program).

Many of our elementary schools are at the state class size maximum, and failing to adhere to state class size standards costs $50,000 in fines plus the cost of hiring teachers to remediate the situation.

Over the last 12 years, there is a sharp difference in the rate that the city revenues have increased, versus the City’s appropriation to the schools.

Still, there is no school in Tennessee with a higher ACT average than Oak Ridge High School.

Expenditures for Special Education represent 11% of our budget. Federal funds represent only 2% of our budget.

We expect an increase of $997,410 from the State, counting on the Governor’s cigarette tax proposal. Since 1999, increases in BEP funding have been only on the basis of enrollment increases. With this increase in the price people are turning towards vape. Dragon Vape: Canada’s Best Vape Shop suggests that there has been a steady growth in the consumption of vape among adults which has proven beneficial for the vape shops.

Dropped from this year’s budget are Driver Education (except Summer School), adn the Volunteer Reading Coordinator (no, we’re not dropping a volunteer; we cut a staff position for the coordinator of volunteers, which pains me… ).

John Smith detailed the number of teachers to be added, and the corresponding schools and grade levels. Other staffing increases are one custodial or ORHS, 2 computer technicians, and a 0.1 ELL teacher.

$1.3M of non-recurring expenses will be paid from our declining fund balance, but this is the last year. David Mosby questioned whether there is that much left (above the required 3% reserve, but he was looking at a chart showing what will be left after the FY08 expenditure.

John noted that we just received word from Expansion Management Magazine of their Education Quotient Ranking, which is based upon graduate outcomes and community support of the school system. The EQ ranking is used by companies to compare school systems nationwide to evaluate the suitability of the workforce produced by local schools; Oak Ridge was the only system in the state to receive the Gold Medal designation — the highest awarded.

We do recognize the challenge that the City faces, but we ask that you support this needs-based budget.

Bailey notes that we now rank 8th in teacher salaries, but we rank 68th in benefits… our teachers’ take-home pay is NOT the highest in the state — not even close. We’ve tried to honor the City’s financial model, but we can’t offer the same services for the same dollars with expenses increasing. This is not a wish-list budget, and it does not move us forward.

* * *
Mayor Bradshaw notes his concern with the schools’ use of a large amount ($1.3M) of non-recurring funds; this is the last year that could happen. If the City had to fund the additional $1.3M in fund balance, we would be looking at an 18-cent tax increase. “What are we going to do, and have you thought about the long-term impact?”

Bailey responds that this is a result of the schools’ adherence to the “no tax increase” financial model. If expenses are put off for a number of years, as they have been, then the cost is higher in the long run.

Councilman Abbatiello alleges that he provided a list of questions at the April 17 Budget & Finance Committee — an illegal standing committee in my view — and that the School Board refused to answer the questions. Chairman Smith reminded the Mayor of his earlier remarks, that it is Council’s role to allocate funding in lump sum, not to dictate or question how, within the school system, said funds are spent.

The flat property tax rate, combined with declining sales tax collections, has harmed the school system by causing us to use non-recurring funds on an annual basis.

Councilman Beehan asks if we can provide a number to him representing the local burden posed by unfunded State and Federal mandates. That figure is not immediately available, but Bailey says that we can discern the percent of this year’s additional costs that are imposed by unfunded mandates.

Abbatiello points out that he has a list of all the unfunded mandates on the City side, and that they are all covered within the allocated 4.1% growth.

Councilman Beehan asks if the Governor’s proposal to increase the state salary share back to 75% is included in the budget; it is not. if that change is implemented, it will be done using the same 40-cent cigarette tax, so it will replace the currently-budgeted increases in at-risk and ELL funding.

Bragging Rights

Posted on by
1

Tonight’s School Board meeting was… uplifting.  Inspirational.  Bragging rights (sort of, for what tiny part of it I can claim any credit for) have been established.

There are some parents out there whose bragging rights are much more substantial, and I hope that they are swelled with pride.  First up was one of our multi-age preschool classes, demonstrating what they’re learning  these days.  We’re talking reading, counting, dates, money, alphabets — everything one needs to be ready for kindergarten.

Actually, it’s what we used to learn in Kindergarten.

One of the things that impressed me was, when a child did not know the answer, he or she did not stare at their shoes and mumble, "I don’t know"  (oh, the humiliation of the public "I don’t know…").  They looked up and around at their classmates, saying "I need help," and the rest of the class would chime in with the answer.

There was no shame, only helping and sharing.  There will be enough days down the road to feel the shame of having to say "I don’t know" in front of the whole class (not to mention the school board, all the parents, and the television camera); these preschool days are for learning.  There’s no shame in not knowing, only in not trying to know.

Pigpen was not among those needing help — he knew his answers.   He’s ready for the big K.

*   *   *
Next up was Landon Smith, an ORHS junior who scored a perfect 36 on the ACT.  Asked if he had anything to say he simply replied, "I had my Jr. AP (English) presentation today, so I think I’m just about done with public speaking for now."

Good job, Landon.  And good job, Landon’s mom, who teaches at Jefferson.

*   *   *
The rest of the meeting was fairly uneventful, but one item in the monthly financial report stood out to me: with 75% of the fiscal year behind us, our sales tax collections stand at 64.9%.  The big back-to-school shopping days of August are behind us; the mammoth Christmas season has passed.  Easter, when there’s usually a bump simply because most children have to have new Sunday clothes and shoes (and baskets and candy), is also history.

There are no more significant local shopping days, and we’re still grossly behind our target sales tax collections (which were meager to start with).

Think about it.  I know it’s hard to find stuff here, but it’s worth a try.  And, a vote in favor of the bond issue for infrastructure improvements is a direct vote for better shopping in Oak Ridge, which provides the money your schools must have to operate.

Edu-Budgets: ours and others

Posted on by
Reply

Today’s paper carries the story of a meeting between some School Board members (those who were not at the NSBA Conference) and some Council members (the ones on the budget committee, anyway) last night.  It was a contentious meeting at first, sounds like, because the proscribed "formula" increase planned by the budget and tax committee is 4.1%, while the School Board passed, on first reading, a budget that calls for an 8.8% increase in funds from the city.

In perspective, Knox County is set to ask for a 10.5% increase, of which,

$17.5 million in the proposed plan would go to pay for higher salaries, add positions, upgrade technology and establish the Excellence Through Literacy Program.

I don’t know how much of a pay increase Knox County has planned, but last year, we gave staff a 3.5% raise, while Knox County (and Maryville) gave 4.5%.  This year, even with a million dollar increase in requested City funds over last year, that only includes a 2% increase — less than the freaking cost of living!

Folks, we have the greatest teachers in the world, but we can only count on their affection and altruism to an extent.  We can’t pay them what they’re worth, but we can at least be competitive for the quality folks we do, and want to, attract.

Please don’t wait — contact your favorite member of City Council NOW and let them know that it’s important to fund this meager school budget THIS year and NEXT year, until we can begin turning around the sales tax deficit.  I’m convinced that it will happen, but it can’t happen immediately.

It’s already delayed a year because of the referendum, simply by where we fell in the decision queue.

I don’t want to pay higher taxes either, but I’d rather pay now to keep what’s important while we can still preserve it, than to pay later hoping to rebuild what we once had.

More learning about learning

Posted on by
9

In Day 2 of the National School Boards Association annual conference, the first session I attended today was on NCLB, IDEA, and the law of unfunded federal mandates. Moderated by Ron Wenkart, who serves as General Counsel for Orange County, it was a lot of information that all of us already knew (unfunded mandates are wrecking our budgets), but some key information about the details that I, for one, didn’t know.

The big one for us is IDEA — the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It’s pretty easy to agree that individuals with disabilities should be educated, and that accommodations must be made for some students. That’s not the problem. The problem is that the law is so far-reaching in terms of what public school systems must pay for — nursing care for a student with a feeding tube, occupational therapy for students with motor skills issues, even the cost of a residential treatment facility for students with severe emotional disturbances.

I’ve asked more than once in our Board meetings, "where is the line between educational services and medical services, and at what point is the family or their insurance company responsible for these costs?" The answer I received today was that the courts have held that all services except those of a physician are the responsibility of the school system. When the IDEA originally passed (in the 1970’s, I think), the intent was for the federal government to cover 40% of the cost. But they don’t. For many years, they covered only 8%, and today it’s up to about 16%. While that sounds like progress, the problem is that the number of students identified as special ed has skyrocketed — and local school districts are stuck with taking money out of general education to pay for special education services.

Wenkart got into the details of the "spending clause" in the US Constitution — Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 — under which the IDEA and NCLB were enacted. In short, that means that Congress can require states (and local governments) to do things not specifically enumerated in the powers of the federal government when those requirements are in the form of strings attached to money allocated. In South Dakota v. Dole, the Supremes broadly interpreted the spending clause and upheld Congress’ conditioning of federal highway funds on a state’s enactment of a minimum drinking age of 21.

In South Dakota v. Dole, Sandra Day O’Connor wrote the dissenting opinion, holding that the clause was too broadly interpreted, and that there should be a more direct and immediate correlation between the mandated action and the purpose of the funding, but it was the minority opinion, so the ruling held and has been subsequently used as precedent for other, similar cases.

As an example, it would make sense if a school system simply said "we’re not going to accept any NCLB grants (which we don’t get anyway), and we’re not going to abide by the mandates." Unfortunately, that would mean the system would lose ALL federal funding, not just the NCLB funding that they already don’t receive. Worse, it’s likely that they would also lose all State funding.

Although Congress passed the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act in 1995, the gaping loophole is that it does not apply to legislation or grant programs which were a condition of federal assistance or a duty arising from participation in a voluntary federal program — funding with strings attached. IDEA does not take into account the growing and heavy burden placed upon local school systems to comply, nor the impact on general education from dollars being sucked out of it every year to cover special services for a few students.

The State seems fixated on the schools’ role in solving the obesity epidemic, when the incidence of autism is skyrocketing (costing an average of $40,000 per student, as opposed to a rate of about $9,000 per student otherwise). How much more positive it would be to identify the causes and cures of disabling factors, than to simply keep bullying local school districts into solutions we are not equipped to provide.

* * *
Today’s general session featured Bill Clinton as the headline speaker, whose primary message was that schools must play a greater role in preventing childhood obesity. Once again, trying to foist upon us a responsibility that does not fit well with our primary mission.

I realize that his motives are noble, but the whole nutrition and lack of exercise problem is a problem at home, not at school. Our job is to educate — yes, even educate about proper diet and exercise within the confines of wellness classes — but the school system cannot take over the raising of every child.

You really don’t want that.

The Weakest Link…

Posted on by
7

… is the transition from eighth grade to ninth grade: middle school to high school.

Attending the National School Boards Conference this weekend, I’ve heard from some interesting folks, and learned a few things already (having only arrived at 5 a.m. EST — putting me in a rather sleep-deprived state).

In the transition from middle to high school, kids move from a task-oriented situation to one that is ability-oriented; it’s not just whether you do what you’re told, but how well you do it that matters. Simultaneously, they’re moving from being the uppermost echelon of their society, to being the lowest caste. All while their brains are undergoing a massive change, resulting in a very short attention span and irrational results.

Three studies using the Harter Student Self Perception Survey found that students’ perceptions of themselves declined between 8th and 9th grades in the following areas:

  • Physical appearance
  • Job competence (mowing lawns, babysitting, etc.)
  • Romantic appeal
  • Behavioral conduct
  • Global self-worth

So, just as they’re going into a more socially and academically challenging situation, this group suffers a blow to their self-esteem: they perceive themselves as ugly, incompetent, unlovable, bad, and worthless. Gee, who would do well under those circumstances? It’s mostly a matter of brain chemistry, partly a matter of the transition taking place at a non-optimum time.

The things they tend to fear about moving to high school are:

  • Being bullied
  • Mean teachers (to a 14-year old, "mean" is synonymous with "gives a lot of homework")
  • Getting lost
  • Having time to get to their lockers
  • Being late to class
  • Finding a boyfriend or girlfriend
  • Amount of homework
  • Grades
  • Graduation
  • Extracurricular activities.

There was no difference found in any of the three studies between rural and urban students.

Finding ways to mitigate the emotional trauma is critical, because the US Department of Education’s own statistics show that, of students who fail one grade K-12, 40% do not graduate. Of those who fail two grades (K-12), 90% do not graduate. And, while it costs roughly $9,000 per year to educate a child, it costs about $40,000 per year to keep him incarcerated if you fail to educate him.

Of course, citing the problems was not the end of the session: some solutions were offered. However, I do think it was the clearest, most concise evaluation of our weakest link, and I do plan to pass along the information to the rest of the school board (as they do, sharing information from the sessions they attended).