Education Week: Over the Top

this is not only true but almost funny....if it weren't true!





Education Week: Over the Top

Theatre vs Skills center

I don't often do this but as I move toward leaving this career for another I have "rant a bit." I have to be the advocate for the students with whom I work.

The school I work in was started in the 80's in Roosevelt Elementary. This is a physical facility that had already been closed as an elementary school because it was beyond repair. We spent many years there until the boilers and most of the other systems just gave out. We then moved to our present site. We are in the west wing of the Division of Vision services building. As soon as we moved in and division moved to the east wing of the building they completely gutted and remodeled the first floor to a very nice place.

A little known fact:

We rent our side of the building from the state...so we can do nothing without permission from the state. We have never had new student/teacher desks. We have no lab for science. We cobble our computer systems together by moving old machines from our lab to our classrooms. Our art room is part of our kitchen. We have to fight to keep our lunch program going. We have air conditioning on one side of the hall only. We have a heating system our of the 50's.

I have repeatedly sent proposals to the school board asking them to consider the possibility that Grand Forks could use a new Skills Center ( like the $12 million dollar one being completed as we speak in Bismarck or the one in Fargo). A place for our students...for people looking for additional training in computers and other businesses, an adult learning center, a place where local businesses could train on new computer software, even a place where a variety of tech schools could offer on site classes.

I picked up the paper this morning and saw that the district is going to spend $14 million on new theaters and music facilities. These are great programs and SPA has done a lot for many Grand Forks students. These two schools were completely redone after the flood. Where was the forethought then? If I had the choice I would vote for us first! We didn't even make the radar. We are not on a "burner" much less the back burner.

GFPS hired a consultant to look into the facilities for these arts programs but there was no consultant looking into programs for my population of students. This is a huge sum of money dedicated to a limited but powerful group of students. The students I work with have no advocates in the community other than the small group of staff members who work with them daily.

Folks, will say I am whining! You bet I am! These kids and these programs deserve the same facilities that the rest of the students populations gets. And a skills center would be a huge asset to this community if it was designed and built correctly.

Web Watch: How Do You Define Professional Development?

Continuous, regular, and weekly...Hello, is there anyone out there who has seen this kind of Professional development? It certainly is not happening here.....We are the home of "fly by" professional development. And no one is asking what we are interested in learning either...


Web Watch: How Do You Define Professional Development?

Education Week: What If Faculty Meetings Were Voluntary?

Can we add this to the administrator's bible.....?



Education Week: What If Faculty Meetings Were Voluntary?

Education Week: The 'Master's Pay Bump'

Interesting Twist!


Education Week: The 'Master's Pay Bump'

NREA meetings with DOE Officials!

Missing is the truly Rural part of America....The upper Midwest!

US Department of Education, NREA, and NREAC involved in discussions

Meeting 1

I met with John White, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Rural Outreach, November 30 in Washington. Assistant Secretary White is gathering information about rural schools and rural communities. He is a great listener and is requesting our collective assistance. John is seeking exemplary programs in rural schools. If you are willing to share a program in your community that is exemplary, please email the details to jehill@purdue.edu . If you are open to a visit from the U. S. Department of Education to assist them in becoming familiar with the challenges of rural schools and rural communities, please email me. This is our opportunity and responsibility to tell our stories and educate those who can assist us in Washington.

Meeting 2

Mary Kusler and I were part of a group invited to meet with Kevin Jennings, Assistant Secretary of Education, Office of State and Drug Free Schools on the same day. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss obstacles that are faced in terms of safety in schools. The discussions covered a number of topics. Mary emphasized the shortage of mental health services available to students in rural areas. The assistant secretary shred thoughts about collecting data on the climate of all schools from a variety of perspectives. The group shared the merits and potential unintended consequences of such an undertaking. Mary and I expressed our concerns with competitive grant programs placing rural districts at a disadvantage. The assistant secretary was open and listened intently to the comments that were made. We are appreciative of the opportunity to speak with department officials.

It appears that competitive grants may be a strategy that might become more prevalent. We must continue to communicate to legislative assistants and Department of Education personnel the lack of capacity small and rural districts has to participate in that game.

Meeting 3

Several weeks ago, top officials from the U.S. Department of Education reached out to AASA and the NREAC, seeking help understanding the needs of rural schools. Coordinating with the Department, we invited nine superintendents from across the country, representing a variety of rural school districts, to meet with Sec. Duncan. On Nov. 17, 2009, these nine superintendents gathered for a full day of meetings in Washington, D.C.

The nine superintendents who met with Sec. Duncan at the Department of Education were: Mark Bielang of Paw Paw, Mich., Public Schools; Randy Mohundro of Deleon, Texas, Independent School District ; Lyn Guy of Monroe County, W.Va., Schools; Elizabeth Reust of Plainville, Kan., Unified School District 270; Timothy Mitchell of Chamberlain, S.D., School District; Kevin Mitchell of Park County, Wyo., School District 1; Deborah Jackson-Dennison of Window Rock, Ariz., Unified School District 8; Randy Shaver of Tupelo, Mis.., Public School District; and Beatriz Ramirez of Raisin City, Calif., Public Schools. AASA staff attending the meeting included AASA Executive Director Dan Domenech and public policy staffers Bruce Hunter and Mary Kusler.

The focus of the day was to provide feedback on school-improvement strategies in rural areas and initial feedback and input on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act. Participants in the meeting were able to contribute their thinking both on Capitol Hill and the Department. With the median school district size in the United States being 1,400 students, it is clear that small school districts should have a bigger say in policy discussions.

The day started early with meetings with Senate education staff to discuss the upcoming reauthorization of ESEA and also provide feedback on funding within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The afternoon was filled with three hours of meetings with Sec. Duncan and senior staff at the Department.

The meeting at the Department was broken up into three segments. During the first hour, participants were updated and then led in a discussion of ARRA by Deputy Sec. Tony Miller and Deputy Assistant Sec. for Rural Outreach John White. During this time, the superintendents were able to share the good, the bad and the ugly of stimulus funding including the jobs it had saved in West Virginia, the lack of new funding for Kansas and the overall concern about governors supplanting their effort in education with ARRA funding.

Sec. Duncan joined meeting participants for a discussion of school-improvement strategies for the lowest-performing rural schools. During the hour he was with the participants, he did more listening then speaking. When he did talk, he was contributing to the intense conversation and following up with more questions. He was clearly interested in the feedback from the superintendents on strategies to strengthen schools in need of improvement. The discussion ranged from the need for professional development for rural principals in turn-around schools, to addressing the needs of native children, to the need for resources to rural schools via formula -- not competitive -- avenues. (Mary Kusler provided this report)

Education Week: Duncan Aims to Make Incentives Key Element of ESEA

Good news...bad news.....here



Education Week: Duncan Aims to Make Incentives Key Element of ESEA

Education Week: Winners Named for Gates Teacher Grants

It will be important to watch these results....


Education Week: Winners Named for Gates Teacher Grants

Education Week: The New War Against Ed Schools

Great ideas... especially the idea of funding lab schools for interning undergrads....!



Education Week: The New War Against Ed Schools

A Race to the Bottom | The Big Money

Amazing assessment and very very possible....Has anyone heard if ND will even apply?



A Race to the Bottom | The Big Money