The DISTRICT decided to use vouchers

When I visited Colorado earlier this year I toured American Academy and met with the Colorado League of Charter Schools. I was impressed with the school and the League (see report here) but was floored to find out that Douglas County School District's board had enacted policies that expanded charter school and private schools, including revenue sharing and vouchers.

George Will reports on that here in the Washington Post, including the efforts of establishment educators and their allies in policy and on the bench to undermine the will of the voters.

Colorado charter people told me that, in their county, charter parents had reached a critical mass of highly interested and active voters that were able to turn the tide in school board elections and ballot initiatives. Charter parents turned the school board election, got choice- and reform-minded members elected to the school board, and all parents in the county and district have been seeing the benefits.

Tardies

The DNews highlights the problem of tardiness and what some schools are doing to combat it.

Last year, East [High School] implemented a fine system for students who don't clear up their tardies through detention.

School administrators "sweep the halls" walking through the school's four stories a few minutes after the tardy bell rings between every class. Students still in the hall are rounded up and issued citations, which can be worked off by attending one after school detention. Students who fail to make it up within a certain time period are fined $5.

Once the school implemented the new policy, the change was remarkable, [Principal Paul] Sagers said. "We had parents calling in saying 'my goodness my kids are rushing me out the door.'"

The policy at Riverton High School in the Jordan School District has been in the works for more than five years, said Principal Brad Sorensen. It's been tweaked and measured to ensure it's not too punitive or too lax, he said. Students are allowed two tardies per class per term. Beyond that, they have to go to attendance school after class or else their grades will be docked.

Lear said the most effective policies she's seen are those that don't seek to punish, but motivate instead. Teachers who have scheduled quizzes at the beginning of class or go the extra mile to make their classes meaningful can motivate kids to be on time, she said.

Carol is right. (That's something, since we disagree on plenty. I once debated her on school vouchers.) The most successful anti-tardy policy I've seen is the pizza party that students with no tardies are invited to. That was in an elementary school, and high school students will need different motivators.

But the principal that praise and rewards for good behavior works better than punishments for bad behavior applies to tardies, too. I'm disappointed that no schools highlighted in the story had any positive consequences in this area.

What makes a great teacher

A new poll finds that the majority of people think that great teachers are born that way. That's crazy.

I taught for two years. I had some natural talents that made for success in the classroom. If I can say so without sounding arrogant, I was a pretty good presenter, connected naturally with the kids, told stories and taught in an entertaining way. I also loved the kids in my classes, and that's not nothing either.

But none of those things would have made me a good teacher without the guidance and training in successful techniques. As with all activities and pursuits, using standard techniques that are proven to work, well, they actually work.

As a principal, I trained teachers in those same techniques. Even teachers without the same natural tendencies I had were successful. That's because what I had I made work for me, and what other teachers have, they can combine with proven techniques and make it work for them. Whatever a teacher's "natural talents" are, they can learn techniques for pacing lessons, transitions, connecting concepts to what students already know, managing student behavior, and reaching students with different learning styles.

And it's not even that hard, meaning difficult. It is hard in the sense that it takes consistent effort. And it's hard because a lot of teachers' colleges spend little or no time on actual techniques of instruction. And even if they did, without consistent reinforcement by a principal who also knows, trains teachers in, and reinforces their use in the classroom.

KSL highlights choice in education

And they specifically highlight Endeavor Hall, a newly opening charter school in West Valley (and, full disclosure, a client of mine):

Third-grader Jensen Coombs counts out his green and black polos and khaki pants he needs for Endeavor Hall Elementary. It's a new charter school in West Valley. His dad drives him there from their home in West Jordan.

It's one-on-one time, because his little sister is attending a private preschool and his older brother is at their neighborhood Jordan district school. Their mom, Nichole Coombs, explains why they do it.

"There are some great options. Why not give them the opportunity to do well with their gifts?" she said.

Nichole says so many other parents are doing the same thing. Her Cub Scout troop of 12 attended six different schools among them. "I had a couple public, a couple charter, one at home and one online," she said.

As choices become more ubiquitous, eventually everyone will be making the choice for the school that's best for their child, and not just the one they are assigned or default to because of long waiting lists at their preferred school. Let's look forward to that day, and speed it along.

Teacher gone after facebook post

So, content aside, is it okay for teachers to have facebook pages? If they do have a facebook page, should their posts be restricted? Can a teacher have and share personal thoughts with the public?

A teacher in Florida was suspended after he posted on his facebook page his thoughts on gay marriage. He's opposed to it, and not leniently. He wrote that it makes him almost throw up. If a teacher does that on his own page and his own computer and his own time, is that a problem? He's a high school social studies teacher who probably has gay students.

What if he had made the same comments verbally in a public place? Would he be suspended then? What if he had written them in a journal, which was discovered and published? Does the existence of technology and the ubiquity of our public and private overlap mean that an employee of a company or a school is never just a private citizen? If he had also posted on his personal facebook page aspects of his professional life, does that blur the line further?

If he had posted the opposite, that gay marriage is awesome and it's about time we treated these people like human beings so he didn't have keep throwing up at society's backwardness, would he still have been suspended?

In short, what's the issue here? Is this an issue of political correctness getting rid of those that don't toe the line? Or is this an issue of a school district thinking its employees must always act like they are at work?

In this case, does it make a difference? He's suspended anyway.

The bill has no chance to pass...

...but Rep. John Dougall has a bold idea.

When college freshmen have to be remediated in college (as 18 percent do) the college should send the tuition bill to the high school that failed to prepare him. This Trib article quotes people who are against the idea, but the only one in favor (in the article) was Dougall himself.

That's just as well, since he says he just "wants to start a conversation" anyway. It's a conversation worth having, but it won't move beyond that this year.

As expected, charter staff cut in half

In an announcement that wasn't a surprise after Utah lost the federal startup grant, positions funded by that grant at USOE have been eliminated, and the state's charter school section staff will be reduced by half.

In an email from Director Marlies Burns yesterday:

One of the negative impacts is that our office positions will reduce by 2.5 FTEs. Sadly, Paul Crawford (data) and Cory Kanth (finance) will leave our staff as of August 31, 2011. Additionally, Georgia Loutensock (accreditation) will be reduced to a half-time employee with Northwest Accreditation Commission.

Additional bad news for our office is that Jeannie Rowland has accepted a position with the Teaching & Learning Section. Her transition will be September 2, 2011.

Best wishes to Paul, Cory, Georgia, and Jeannie in their future adventures! We hope that charter schools have changed their lives, as I know they have changed ours.

New SpEd formula for charters

Since their inception, charter schools have been funded differently than districts when it comes to special education students. That's changing this year.

Districts are funded based on a rolling average of the most recent five years of special education enrollment, with growth taken into account. That creates some predictability and protects districts from massive immediate drops in funding if there are decreases in special education enrollment. On the other hand, it also reduces the rate of funding growth if there is a large increase in such enrollment. In short, it's a predictable fairly stable funding formula.

Charters have been funded based on actual special education enrollment each year, with the student count taken on December 1. This is unpredictable for charters. Where districts know in advance what their funding will be, charters haven't known until January. This can also create wild swings in the funding amount as schools regularly cycle students in and out of the special education program based on need and progress.

Beginning this year, charters will be funded much more like districts, using an average of the previous five years' enrollment (or whatever years the school has been open, if less than five). It's harder to take growth into account in charters as they have enrollment caps that can change from year to year, but the formula will take expansions and satellites into account.

For new charters, the formula will use a statewide charter enrollment average in funding for schools during their first year. In theory, the formula allows for exceptions for schools that are specifically focused (like Spectrum Academy) on students with disabilities, but there's not a new example of that to test the formula on.

The impact to charters will be:

• A more predictable and more stable funding stream
• A challenge if a school enrolls an increase in high cost or self-contained students, as funding will not keep pace with sudden changes in enrollment up or down
• Very little change in dollars this year between funding under the new formula or the old formula given schools' current enrollment

This change had to come. The previous formula was put in place by USOE in an administrative decision based on the differences between charters and districts. (The most significant of those is generally newness--how can you use a five year average when charters are mostly brand new--and size. Small charters--all of us--are more susceptible to significant changes in enrollment demographics.) But as the old system wasn't authorized by rule or statute, the change was legally necessary.

The Special Education Finance Committee (of which I am the charter school member) thought this was a fair system that kept the spirit and letter of the law, was consistent with existing funding realities, and recognized the need for exceptions and the differences between charters and districts.

Why don't colleges authorize charter schools?

There are several charter schools already on college campuses (UCAS, Itineris, INTech, among others). Others have developed positive relationships with colleges that create win-win partnerships. The Utah legislature authorized higher education institutions to be charter authorizers more than a year ago. Why haven't any jumped on the wagon?

I don't know because I don't regularly talk to University presidents and their boards. So, I'm free to speculate and offer unsolicited advice.

My main theory is that college administrators feel like they have enough on their plates, and they're responsible for kids once they get out of high school, not while they're still in it. Like good charters, good colleges probably focus on their primary mission and try to do that better than anyone else, and don't worry about trying to be more things to more people.

But, here's my argument about why colleges should authorize schools, and what some of those great schools could be.

• College professors rightly complain that students come to college unprepared for college work, especially in writing. By authorizing a charter high school, colleges can create their own farm system, growing their own students who will be prepared, because the school can teach and develop students with success in that college in mind.
• Colleges with education programs (most of them) should authorize a school to give their students real-world experience in administration, curriculum development, and instruction. It would give the college a real chance to innovate and try new practices.
• Colleges could establish a work-site charter school, and have a ready place for the children of their professors, faculty and staff right on campus. What a benefit to both the students and the college employees.
• Successful schools and successful programs could be replicated across the public education system, improving college-readiness even more broadly.

There are all kinds of win-win partnerships that could come to colleges and universities by chartering schools. And I'd argue that it could be done without distraction from the core mission. If a college would establish a school consistent with its mission (as outlined above), the school pays for itself, including the money to pay for an entire new staff to establish and run it.

So, Utah, Weber State, UVU, SUU, MATC, SLCC, and all others--get on the ball!

Stocking up

The DNews has a great piece on saving money on school supplies. It's targeted to parents, but schools can learn a lot from it, too, especially the part about stocking up on loss-leaders.

The article kind of reads like a Wal-mart commercial as it sings praises of its price matching policy.

Office Depot recently had copy paper for $1 a ream, glue for $.01 and binders for $.50. Office Max had 100 sheets of filler paper for $.01 each, pens for $.10 and pocket folders for $.25. Target had big Mead one-subject spiral notebooks for $1.

The trick to saving big is not buying anything until it's a lost-leader sale. Walmart will price match any advertised sale.

What makes a good school

I have a friend in St. George whose first grade daughter went to Kindergarten at one charter school and then first grade at another. Neither one worked out well, the daughter struggled in both, and she's now back in first grade at the neighborhood public school.

As more and more charters open statewide, and as parents get real options among public schools within convenient driving distance, how are parents to know which one is right for their child. One can look at test scores, waiting lists, curriculum, and coming soon, school grades. Even community reputation is pretty accurate in getting a decent picture of the quality of a school.

But does that mean that the school is right for your child? How are parents to know? There's a new book coming out on Tuesday that tried to give parents the tools and strategy to answer that.

Here's a link to an interview with the author.

AMES is innovative

So says the Sutherland Institute.

What can ambitious students at a Utah charter school with a dedicated staff and clear vision accomplish? Sutherland Daily spoke with Brian McGill, principal of The Academy for Math, Engineering and Science (AMES), and one of his students, James Brissette, to find out. Watch the following video report to hear what they said:



Charter schools have more flexibility than traditional public schools in how they operate. Utah would do well to give all public schools as much autonomy as possible so that they, like AMES, can better help their students succeed.

How disappointing

...that a member of the State Board of Education is so ignorant when it comes to education funding.

In a radio interview, Board Member Tami Pyfer said things like, "charter schools are public schools but they do not have to meet all of the requirements that other schools in the state have to meet." There are no examples given in the article, because there aren't any examples. I'd challenge anyone to name the requirements that charters don't have to meet. Special Education? Same requirements. Funding and reporting? Same restrictions. Teachers, curriculum, federal regulations? All the same requirements.

Did she mean that charter schools can hire directors that aren't certified administrators through the bureaucracy? Is that it?

Pyfer also complained about how charters "take money away from district schools." Then later she admitted that the shift of funding is really just taking money from one pocket and putting it in another. In short, the amount of state funding for education is exactly the same as it would be with or without charter schools. Saying that charters take money from districts is just the same as saying that a new district school takes funding away from existing district schools.

What Pyfer wants is a tax increase ("a separate funding method" she calls it). Whatever funding method, whatever source, the reality is still that the state funds (as it should) education based on the students in a school and in the system. Those like Pyfer that think the needs of the school system are more important than the needs of the students will never be satisfied as long as parents have the ability to make a choice that's not the system the establishment prefers.

Utah dominates scholarship and grant awards

The American Association of Educators annually gives scholarship and classroom grants to excellent teachers, and this year several teachers from Utah won awards--more than any other state. See the full list here. Six of the seven Utah winners teach in charter schools.

Tuition at Hogwarts

This is just fun.