School Budget VOTE Day

Tomorrow New York State school districts have their annual school budget vote and school board member elections. 

For every district in the state (except the Big Five cities), the vote is the culmination of each district’s planning process and the means for the community to select the people who will make district policy and other decisions on behalf of their communities.  The budget proposal is the end result of months of study and discussion but it cannot be finalized until the community passes judgment on the work through their votes.   

Sadly, typically only five to ten percent of the eligible citizens vote on their school budgets.  Lots of people don’t notice or even forget the vote is happening.  School elections are non-partisan; board members are unpaid; and board service is not perceived as a stepping stone to other political positions.  All of this means that school board budget votes and board elections are not accompanied by the high-profile media onslaught that characterizes elections for other levels of government. 

Ideally citizens should be able to act without constant communications prodding them to vote. People should note the district newsletters and calendars that announce the date of the vote, and then make casting a ballot a priority. 

If you live in a district with a budget vote tomorrow, find the time to vote.  Read your district’s budget newsletter (generally available online if you misplaced yours) and the statements of the people running for the board of education.  And then, as an informed citizen, vote. 

Newsweek’s 2013 Best High Schools and Monroe County Schools

Newsweek has released their 2013 list of America’s Best High Schools.  15 Monroe County high schools are cited on this list.  These schools represent the diversity of the communities in our county.  There is a school from the city and a school from one of the smallest villages.  There are schools from solidly middle class towns and also from districts with high free and reduced lunch rates. 

It is worthwhile to note that in a state where the quality and cost of public education are often criticized by state leaders, the same leaders who regularly endorse the idea of charter schools, the Newsweek data tells a different story.

Of the list’s 2000 nationally ranked high schools, 194 are from New York State.  How does this compare with other states?  In this measure of high level academic performance, New York outshines the other states. California has almost twice as many people as New York but only 30% more schools on the list (253).  Texas, with 30% more people than NY, has fewer schools (165).  And a state often cited as an education powerhouse, Massachusetts, which has only 34% of the population of New York has a disproportionately smaller number of schools on the list, just 48 or 24% of New York’s number.  Many states, of course, have only a handful and sadly some have only 1 or less.

Schools on the list are identified as selective (students must pass selection criteria to be admitted), magnet, charter, or open enrollment.  Of New York’s 194 schools, only 1 is a charter school.  And while there are a number of selective or magnet schools on the list, the vast majority are open enrollment schools. 

And when one looks more closely at New York’s data, Monroe County’s school district’s accomplishments are notable.  New York is the nation’s third largest state with approximately 2,685,000 K-12 students.  Monroe County’s student population represents only 4% of the number of students in the state yet 8% of New York’s listed high schools are located here.

The Newsweek list is just one of numerous rating systems that organizations use to evaluate and characterize the work of public schools.  There are many ways to define excellence in education.

All this does not mean that there are not schools in New York where students are performing woefully below the level they need to be at to make good lives for themselves. These results in no way eliminate the need to constantly analyze what schools do so we can learn and improve our programs.  But it does mean that in a lot of places around New York State educators are doing a great job and students are benefitting from attending these great schools. 

The State Education Department and College and Career Readiness

Someone recently asked me, “What does it mean to be College and Career Ready?”  That particular phrase is regularly used by every state and national education leader, and it appears in virtually every communication from the State Education Department.  The singular purpose behind adopting the Common Core Curriculum was that it was believed that these standards will make students College and Career Ready.  Well, what does that mean? 

The definition begins with the highly commendable goal that all students should be ready for college study or to begin their working careers when they graduate from high school.  But being ready for the Fashion Institute of Technology and Caltech require different sets of readiness skills.  And for the student who masters welding at the BOCES 2 WE-MO-CO Career and Technical Education Center, readiness means preparation to walk right into a skilled job with a metals fabrication company. 

How can the State Education Department characterize readiness for such different paths in terms that will be meaningful?   Given the desire to find ways to objectively evaluate students, the department has developed a general standard for readiness.  Relying on a review of student high school records compared with the performance of college freshman, they deduced that for students to be able to do C work or better in college, they need to have received a score of at least 75 on their English Regents and an 80 on their math Regents. 

The high school graduation rate used to be the standard for measuring a school’s effectiveness.  But now, as a result of the conclusions about freshman year performance, the State Education Department reports how many students meet this 75/80 achievement level.  They report how many students graduated and also how many graduated College and Career Ready.

But when readiness is defined so numerically, does it really tell the public if students are prepared for the career path they want to pursue?  Simply meeting the readiness standard will not help a student get into Caltech, and missing the standard does not mean someone won’t thrive at the Fashion Institute of Technology.  Doing well on the English and math Regents exams is certainly an important goal, but when the public is told that students are not ready for college or career, they need to know if that decision is based on a full assessment of a student’s preparation and abilities. 

The state is trying to set a meaningful standard.  The question is, is this a meaningful and appropriate standard for all students?  If all the students do not meet this particular standard, does it mean a school has failed?  If a particular student does not meet this standard, does that mean the child is a failure?

Speaking Out Is Better Than Opting Out

As New York State’s elementary and middle school students  are about to begin taking their annual state exams in English Language Arts and Math, controversy around these high-stakes standardized state assessments is increasing.  An anti-test movement is growing among parents who are frustrated about the emphasis on this type of assessment and the time devoted to standardized tests. 

Opt-out websites are appearing on the internet created by parents who are skeptical of the value of the testing regimen and don’t want their children subjected to the hours of testing.  These idealistic intentions, however, will not solve a problem of overreliance on standardized tests.    

There is no legal way for a parent to pull their child from the state testing program, just as they cannot declare their child will no longer take math quizzes.  Nevertheless, advice on how to keep one’s child from sitting for the state tests is being disseminated.  Some parents advocate keeping their child home on test days, but this is not a legal absence.  Others suggest pulling the child out of school once the exam has started, which would be unfairly disruptive to other students. 

Many websites suggest telling a child to refuse to take the tests.  That approach is striking for the burden it puts on the child.  What is gained by putting a child in a position where he or she is asked to defy either their teacher or their parent?  Civil disobedience is a complex personal act, not something that should be imposed on a child.  Can an elementary school student distinguish why they would refuse one test but not another? 

Furthermore, refusing to have a child tested is not a benign act; there are consequences for both the school and the child.  Federal and state laws require annual testing in 3^rd through 8^th grades.  Student performance on the state tests is used to determine if schools are effectively educating their students.  Poor scores have consequences for a school’s program and for teachers’ evaluations.  If too few students take the tests, the school’s performance is rated lower.  Schools can be forced to restructure or close as a result of poor performance on state tests.  The tests are also used to assess individual student progress and are used to determine whether a student needs additional help. 

Many school leaders, meaning superintendents and board of education members, share parents’ concerns about testing but school leaders must take an oath to uphold the law.  While they may advocate for change, they are compelled to comply with the law.  The schools have no options around administering these tests. 

What an individual (or a movement) can do

Testing laws do not take away the public’s voice, and people should not conclude they are helpless.  But people need to direct their concerns to the actual decision makers, in this case the Board of Regents and federal representatives. 

It is the Board of Regents who makes the decisions about the design and administration of New York’s assessments.    The Board of Regents is the state’s board of education.   It is made up of 17 individuals elected by a joint vote of the State Assembly and Senate to set education policy for the state.  Most of the Regents represent one of 13 state judicial districts, so there is a Regent who views each community as his or her constituency.  Another 4 Regents serve as At Large members.  Together they hire the Commissioner of Education, just as local school boards hire the superintendent.  The Regents are an autonomous unit of the government, constitutionally separate from the Governor and the Legislature.

Two Regents live here in Rochester.  If someone wants to see state education policy changed, they are the people to talk to.  Or write.  Or email.  Below is a link to the Board of Regents website along with contact information for the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and the two local Regents. 

In addition to Regents requirements, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) is the original federal law that mandated this testing.  This law is overdue for reauthorization in Washington, so anyone wanting to see changes in its requirements should contact their federal representatives. 

If you are someone who is troubled by the state’s testing regimen, speak out.  But make sure you are speaking to the actual decision makers.

http://www.regents.nysed.gov/members/

Merryl H Tisch,
Chancellor; At Large
Regents Office, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234
Phone: (518) 474-5889 Email: RegentTisch@mail.nysed.gov

Anthony S. Bottar,
Vice Chancellor; Judicial District V -- Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego Counties
120 Madison Street, Suite 1600, AXA Tower II, Syracuse, NY 13202
Phone: (315) 422-3466 Email: RegentBottar@mail.nysed.gov

Wade S Norwood,
At Large
74 Appleton Street, Rochester, NY 14611
Phone (585) 436-2944 Email: RegentNorwood@mail.nysed.gov

T. Andrew Brown,
Judicial District VII - Cayuga, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Yates Counties
925 Crossroads Building, Two State Street, Rochester, NY 14614
Phone (585) 454-3667 Email: RegentBrown@mail.nysed.gov

 

Testimony to NYS Commission on Education Reform

Good Afternoon Members of the New York Education Reform Commission:

My name is Jody Siegle and for the past 24 years I have been deeply involved in public education policy and district oversight, first as a school board member and now as Executive Director of the Monroe County School Boards Association (MCSBA). MCSBA is made up of the 21 districts here in Monroe County including two BOCES, the city of Rochester, and the surrounding suburban and rural districts.  We serve 111,100 students.

MCSBA was created to provide a place for the school board members and superintendents here in Monroe County to share ideas and training.  That cooperation has benefited all of our school districts. This booklet, “The Best for Less: Cost Saving Strategies and Shared Services in Monroe County School Districts,” which can be downloaded from our website at www.mcsba.org, documents how we work across district lines to save money and to offer better programs to our students. 

I am here to say this is a region with very strong school districts and where student performance falters, it is most often tied to poverty.  Living in poverty is often accompanied by factors that affect how children cope with their lives, and school performance is affected by those factors.  But I am also here to say there are specific programs that have been proven to bring about positive changes in the lives of children who live in poverty and because of that, improve their school performance.   

I am extremely proud of the work done by the staff and the students in our schools. For suburban and rural districts the graduation rate averages 89.6%.

In our county SAT scores substantially exceed both state and national averages.  The 2012 Annual Advanced Placement Report ranked New York State 2^nd for the percentage of students in the class of 2011 who scored 3 or higher on their AP tests and last year Monroe County students received 8,970 scores of 3,4, or 5 on their AP exams. 

Additionally thousands of high school students take dual enrollment courses at regional colleges as well as acquiring certificated skills in career and technology programs through their districts and BOCES.  The success students have with these optional programs ensures in very real terms that they are college and career ready.  These students start their college studies having already earned a significant number of college credits. We also estimate that in a typical year our seniors are offered over $50 million in college scholarships. 

Clearly the schools are benefiting the students and their families.  And the community’s strong support for the work of the public schools is evidenced by solid budget passage rates, with pluralities well over 60%.

I say these things not to boast but so you will realize that within this community there are education leaders who know how to provide the programs that children need to thrive across a wide range of measurements. 

There are many measures of student and school success. But measures of success are also measures of failure.  If we are to provide every child with the best opportunities, we need to identify what problems impede success.

Legislated solutions which are based on ideas but not research can impede progress.  Well-intended but ill-conceived laws fail to home in on the real issues, and instead mire everyone in compliance details of one-size-fits-all plans that truly fit no one.  They do not help the districts that need help and they interfere with the successful work done in districts that are doing well.

Right now school districts are being forced to spend millions of dollars and to redirect staff time implementing untested unpiloted programs that were imposed on districts while the problems that working educators ask for help with are ignored.  This is not how to make headway on real problems. 

You have a unique opportunity to draw attention to what works and suggest ways to replicate those programs.  You also have the ability recognize that not every district needs to make the same changes as every other one and we will lose if we toss aside what is already successful.

We have two systems of education in our state – hundreds of districts, the majority of districts, where students are doing well, and unfortunately a smaller number of districts that includes the large urban centers, where we see alarmingly poor performance. 

Our city of Rochester has the 7^th highest child poverty rate in the nation!  Free and Reduced Lunch rates are rising all around the county.  The reality of this poverty is so much more terrible than any statistic.  Did you know that superintendents dread closing school because of weather because they know it means that hungry children may not get to eat that day?  Did you know that Foodlink the local hunger prevention program, has a BackPack Program (http://foodlinkny.org/fight_hunger/programs-initiatives/)

to provide children with discreet packages of food to take home on weekends to ensure they will have something to eat?

When children are hungry, cold, depressed, and stressed one cannot rationally expect there to be no impact on school performance.  So what can we do to mitigate the effects of poverty that undermine the healthy development and successful education of children?

All children need supportive attentive adults in their lives if they are to thrive.  Academic studies, medical reports, and human instinct tell us that children need care to grow up well.  This is especially important in a child’s earliest development. Because tragically, if children are not “ready to learn” when they enter kindergarten, they begin a challenging catch-up process that may never end.  It makes sense to ensure every child begins school ready to learn. 

Fortunately there are programs that have been studied and have proven records of effectiveness in countering the toxic effects of deprivation.  They also result in less child abuse and criminal activity later in life.  They can make life-changing differences in the lives of children and we ignore providing this help at peril to our society. 

Professionally staffed, properly run mentorship programs that provide long-term support and guidance have a proven track record of mitigating the negative effects of an otherwise inadequate environment for nurturing a child.  The Nurse-Family Partnership has demonstrated its effectiveness in multiple studies in several cities, including Rochester (http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/locations/New-York/Monroe-County-NFP).  It assigns a nurse to high-need low-income first time pregnant parents.  The nurse meets with the woman regularly through the pregnancy and until her child is 2 years old.  The nurse provides information on nutrition, stimulation, and the general care of a baby.  The nurse also helps the mother understand how to better organize her life and encourages the mother to finish school so she can better provide for her child.  Research by the Children’s Agenda (http://www.thechildrensagenda.org/whatwedo.php)

here in Rochester and by other groups has shown that children of mothers in this program overwhelmingly enter kindergarten ready to learn!  Not prioritizing this program and making it available for all who need it is alarmingly short-sighted because every child who enters school not ready to learn is already on track to be more costly to educate and at greater risk to drop out.  Pre-K is very important but birth to 3, when critical neural networks are being established, must not be overlooked.

Other programs with a demonstrated track record of success are also available for older students. The Hillside Work Scholarship program (http://www.hillside.com/hwsc.aspx)

provides mentors, employment and consistent long-term mentoring to high school students, with a graduation rate 50% higher than the unmentored peer group. 

Our state and our districts are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new teacher assessments, new curriculum, and new tests.  Will any of those things change the future of an at-risk child as much as a responsibly assigned mentor?  No, they won’t.  I work in K-12 education but I am here to say if we want meaningful change we need to ensure that young children get the stimulation and guidance they need to develop and thrive. 

We have all heard and witnessed that what gets tested gets taught.  It is also true that what gets reinforced gets valued.  How we treat others ripples out from ourselves, whether we are talking about the example set by a school board in a district, a teacher in a classroom, or the education leadership in the state capital.  And long before a child can read a book or take a class, how we treat young children will shape their readiness or lack thereof.

Please do your due diligence – do not make recommendations on buzzwords, assumptions, and untested ideas.  There is much that is valuable in education today, hundreds of districts are doing an excellent job.  But other districts are struggling and it is important to make sure our finite resources of time and money are well used to bring about improved learning in our schools. 

Thank you for the opportunity to address you.

Career and Technical Education

Since the mid-1990’s the Board of Regents has been wrestling with the question of how to assess and give credit for career and technical education courses.  They have struggled with how to ensure that different assessments for different fields can represent equal accomplishments.  Entire generations of children are passing through our schools while the Regents try to decide what and how a high school diploma should signal about a student who has pursued vocational studies.    

Yet despite the Regents’ difficulty, in schools across the state, career and technical education is an important part of the curriculum.  Our Monroe School Boards Association County book, The Best for Less, which can be read or downloaded at our website at http://www.mcsba.org/exemplary/2011BestForLess-Web.pdf , tells about the many types of career and technical education programs in our districts. 

Collaboration across district lines has allowed districts to offer a wide variety of vocational and technical education opportunities. Students from all county school districts participate in these programs offered through the two local BOCES and the Rochester City District partnerships with many area businesses.

Career and Technical Courses         

High school students can select courses in business, construction, technology, health services, and trades (mechanical, technical, industrial). They learn theory, practice skills, and receive school-to-work counseling.

School- to-Career Internships                      

High school juniors and seniors can participate in up to 150 hours of on-the-job work experiences with mentors to study career options not offered at BOCES or their home schools.

              TAMS                        

Technical Awareness Modules help freshmen and sophomores explore technical career options before committing to extensive study in any one area.

Delving into all that is offered shows students preparing for a wide variety of essential trades.  There will be more on the breadth and depth of the programs in another entry.  

What school boards do – Part 2

What I did on my summer vacation (Why board retreats are important)

By Sherry Johnson

I am always a little surprised when a community member asks me how my summer vacation “from board meetings” is going.  Many people don’t understand that school governance happens all year long and most boards meet all year to support that role.

In July, Boards of Education have their re-organization meeting where they make important decisions about banks, attorneys and appointments for district personnel to transition the school district into their new year.  At that meeting newly and re-elected board members take their oath of office.

During the summer, boards are able get detailed updates on student performance and other measurements of their district’s progress.  They use this time to develop goals for the coming year.  It is also during this summer time frame that school boards may choose to have a retreat.

Boards of Education have retreats for a number of reasons and many are the same reasons one would go on a faith, marriage or self-introspection retreat.  Boards are made up of 5, 7, or 9 individual members, all elected by their communities to represent them at the table of school leadership.  That role is multi-faceted, extremely complex and ever evolving.  To know it well and to keep up with the demands takes more than comprehending information from a meeting packet and coming to the meeting with a decision in mind.  Working with other members who have different backgrounds, different approaches to problem solving, and different priorities can stress the relationship that members have with each other and their superintendent.  New board members change whatever dynamic previously existed within that structure.  Retreats allow for everyone to come together outside of regular business meetings and develop into an effective leadership team. 

Many boards hire outside consultants to help with specific issues, including relationship issues.  Others will use local or district folks who are trained in a particular topic that the board would like addressed.  This year we asked the MCSBA Executive Director, Jody Siegle to come and speak to us about the importance of advocacy and what we can expect this fall both legislatively and from the State Education Department.  For our own self-reflection, we asked a local school attorney, himself a former board member with many years experience, to help us become a more cohesive team.  He had us take a survey to identify what our individual expectations were and where we thought things could improve.  He used the results of that survey along with a team building exercise to guide us through the process.  In the end, as a board, we had a heightened awareness of all we had accomplished together during the course of the year together and we felt confident that we could continue to work even more effectively to help the district achieve the goals we defined for the coming year.

Self-reflection for Boards of Educations should not be overlooked or taken lightly.  Board members are only effective when they work as partners; it takes effort to keep a team highly functional. 

As the new school year begins, just like a fresh box of crayons and a clean pad of paper, hope springs inspired by the possibilities of what could be for our students, our schools and our communities.  Effective Board leadership can make those possibilities real but success will require each person to accept his or her responsibility as a member of a leadership team working together to meet the many challenges that school governance requires of them.