In today's Seattle Times there is a story about the 22 high schools in Washington where 40 percent of the students enrolled as freshman don't make it to their senior year. Nationally there are over 2000 schools that have the same demographics Quoted in the article is Phil Brockman, principal of Ballard High School in Seattle, who is also the Washington Association of Secondary School Principals President-elect.
In July Phil along with nine other principal from Washington joined other administrators from around the country in Washington DC for National Association of Elementary School Principals/National Association of Secondary School Principals National Leaders Conference. It was at one of the sessions we heard for the first time the term "dropout factory" and I remember discussing the implication of such a term amongst ourselves then. "Failing school" has a negative connotation but "dropout factory" takes that to a whole new level.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Why the Job of a Principal is Harder Today
The Basic Education Finance Joint Task Force met on Oct. 22 to examine the work done in the past to deal with a new funding structure for basic education in Washington. During the seven hours of meetings, some of the issues that directly impact principals were addressed.
Byron Moore of the Senate Ways and Means Committee reported that over the last 30 years, there have been increases in actual staffing ratios for all types of K-12 staff, except administrators. Since the ratio of staff to 1,000 students had increased from 43.2 teacher to 55.3 teachers, an increase of 27%. Classified staff have increased 60% from 23.5 to 37.7 staff members per 1,000 students. Educational staff associates, including counselors and librarians, has jumped from 6 per 1,000 students to 7.3 or an increase of 22%. On the other hand, the administrator ratio has declined from 4.8 per 1,000 students to 4.1.
In other words, the number of students has remained the same and the number of adults working with students has increased significantly, except for principals. As a result, the workload for principals has increased dramaticly without appropriate financial recognition of the important role they play in the success of students and the efficient operation of a school.
Moore also had a slide in his presentation noting that, "In the 2008-9 school year, 207 school districts will receive higher allocations for administrators than the other school districts. The highest allocation is to four school districts at $83,070. The lowest allocation is $57,097. The represents a 46 percent difference between highest and lowest. Prior to this biennium, the difference was 67 percent."
With that allocation difference in mind, David Stolier, assistant attorney general for the task force, reviewed the Northshore School District v. Kinnear case. It dealt in part with Article 9, section 2 of the Constitution which demands the "legislature shall provide for a general and uniform system of public schools." The courts decided in 1974 the a general and uniform system is one in which (a) Every child has free access to certain minimum and reasonably standardized educational and instruction facilities and opportunities; (b) A child could transfer from one district to another without substantial loss of credit or standing: Variation in size and taxable property among districts does not demonstrate that the system is neither general nor uniform. If the allocation for administrator salaries is nearly 50%, the funding structure required is clearly not uniform.
Jennifer Priddy of OSPI reviewed the Picus and Odden report of 2006 and that principals' salary allocations should have been $84,819 in 2004-5 to be adequate. During that time the administrative salary allocations were between $30,583 and $74, 541. In examining the report, Priddy felt that it lacked appropriate salary allocations for administrators.
Finally, Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48) provided an overview of the K-12 Advisory Committee's recommendations, which included the following language:
Byron Moore of the Senate Ways and Means Committee reported that over the last 30 years, there have been increases in actual staffing ratios for all types of K-12 staff, except administrators. Since the ratio of staff to 1,000 students had increased from 43.2 teacher to 55.3 teachers, an increase of 27%. Classified staff have increased 60% from 23.5 to 37.7 staff members per 1,000 students. Educational staff associates, including counselors and librarians, has jumped from 6 per 1,000 students to 7.3 or an increase of 22%. On the other hand, the administrator ratio has declined from 4.8 per 1,000 students to 4.1.
In other words, the number of students has remained the same and the number of adults working with students has increased significantly, except for principals. As a result, the workload for principals has increased dramaticly without appropriate financial recognition of the important role they play in the success of students and the efficient operation of a school.
Moore also had a slide in his presentation noting that, "In the 2008-9 school year, 207 school districts will receive higher allocations for administrators than the other school districts. The highest allocation is to four school districts at $83,070. The lowest allocation is $57,097. The represents a 46 percent difference between highest and lowest. Prior to this biennium, the difference was 67 percent."
With that allocation difference in mind, David Stolier, assistant attorney general for the task force, reviewed the Northshore School District v. Kinnear case. It dealt in part with Article 9, section 2 of the Constitution which demands the "legislature shall provide for a general and uniform system of public schools." The courts decided in 1974 the a general and uniform system is one in which (a) Every child has free access to certain minimum and reasonably standardized educational and instruction facilities and opportunities; (b) A child could transfer from one district to another without substantial loss of credit or standing: Variation in size and taxable property among districts does not demonstrate that the system is neither general nor uniform. If the allocation for administrator salaries is nearly 50%, the funding structure required is clearly not uniform.
Jennifer Priddy of OSPI reviewed the Picus and Odden report of 2006 and that principals' salary allocations should have been $84,819 in 2004-5 to be adequate. During that time the administrative salary allocations were between $30,583 and $74, 541. In examining the report, Priddy felt that it lacked appropriate salary allocations for administrators.
Finally, Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48) provided an overview of the K-12 Advisory Committee's recommendations, which included the following language:
"This subgroup recommends to the funding subgroup that an administrator compensation system be created that reflects the actual needs of the districts, including achieving state and federal mandates."The next task force meeting will be Nov. 19-20 in the Senate Conference Room in Olympia. Hopefully, the mismatch between what is expected of principals and the state's support of that work will be addressed then.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
State Board of Educations Needs Your Input
Late Monday afternoon in Vancouver Kathe Taylor, Policy Director at the Washington State Board of Education met with a half dozen principals and representatives of the Association of Washington School Principals to discuss new high school graduation requirements. The meeting was a candid conversation about the impact of changes to the state minimum graduation requirements on not only school operations, but also on student achievement and graduation rates.
Hopefully the meeting was a precursor the community meetings held in the evening in seven locations across the state. The Board wants to hear from citizens on questions such as:
Hopefully the meeting was a precursor the community meetings held in the evening in seven locations across the state. The Board wants to hear from citizens on questions such as:
- What academic skills should students have when they graduate from high school?
- What life skills should students possess when they graduate?
- What kinds of post-high school opportunities should a K-12 education prepare students for?
- Should high school graduation requirements necessarily align with vocational/technical, 2-year community colleges or 4-year college entry requriements?
- What should the content be for required third year maths?
The community meetings are going to held in the following locations:
- Bremerton, October 30
- Bethel/Tacoma, November 5
- Everett, November 14
- Yakima, November 27
- Vancouver, November 29
- Spokane, December 3
- Seattle area, December 4
Clearly the SBE needs to hear from principals, especially high school principals, as the Board defines the purpose of the high school diploma and how a students meets those standards. To find the specific details of when and where the meetings will be held, click here.
A second round of community meetings will be held in the spring of 20078 where the public will can provide feedback on the draft recommendations before they are finalized.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Simple Majority Ad Breaks
The first of the Simple Majority television ads began airing this morning in the Seattle market. The market goes from the Canadian boarder down to Lewis County and reaches 74% of the registered voters in the state. The plan includes rolling the ad out in other parts of the state later on. The second ad is being finalized now and should be out within a couple of weeks. To see the ad that broke today, click here.
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