Dear Friends,
The letter below was sent to our New York State Board of Regents, our NYS Educational Administration, and the Assembly and Senate Education Committee members today.
I hope that you will forward your concerns as well. The "we" referred to in this letter are my colleagues from the suburban, urban, and rural schools in and around the Capital Region. My thanks to this group of dynamic and wonderful educational advocates who it is truly a pleasure to work with and advocate for.
For contact information please see the links at the bottom of this post.
Friday, March 05, 2010
To: Commissioner David Steiner and the Honorable Members of the Board of Regents
We write to express great frustration with Dr. John King’s recent communiqué (dated February 23, 2010) to the EMSC Committee regarding the “need to reduce costs of NYS Assessments.”
Among Dr. King’s items is the elimination of “3 of the 4 Regents exams in Science.”
We urgently request that you consider this action as one that should not be taken. As one can note from the following, the cost to New York State students will be far greater than the modest savings if this action is taken:
• The current status of students entering the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields is at a critical shortage. This will ultimately have a devastating effect on the overall economy of our state as we work to enrich, enhance, and embed 21st century skills into our science curriculum to better prepare the workforce of the new economy, which is innovation-based by all accounts.
• Regents Examinations in Earth Science, Living Environment, Chemistry, and Physics provide all of the State’s students with the opportunity to demonstrate their competence and proficiency in these subjects regardless of their backgrounds and access to quality education. Without these examinations, equity of opportunity for all children will be jeopardized and lost.
• Regents Examinations in Science help ensure that our public schools provide appropriate curriculum programs of sufficient rigor, obtain qualified science teachers, and procure resources to support laboratory-based instruction. There can be no assurance that public schools would continue to support high school science education at its current levels if 3 of the 4 Regents Science Examinations are terminated.
• Students’ participation in Chemistry and Physics must come to be regarded as an imperative and foundational core for any and every citizen’s Science Literacy
o Current trends indicate that if this action is taken, an immediate decrease in enrollment will ensue (based upon current Regents level enrollment in Living Environment, Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics, where, because of our graduation requirements, far too many students do not enroll in a 4th science, and far too many students do not take any form of Chemistry or Physics).
• New York State’s assessment structure (Regents examinations) in the Sciences has perpetually distinguished our program from other states’ and if this action is taken, our program, not to mention our reputation, would be put into immediate jeopardy.
• As an example of the value placed in our programming, an official from the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering recently pointed to New York State’s program generally, and specifically to students’ preparation in Chemistry and Physics as elements that would likely become required criterion for entry into the program. This same official decried the shortage of students who have engineering experience and correlated this to the shortage of high school pre-engineering programs across the country. If this action is considered, it will immediately jeopardize strong students’ ability to remain competitive in seeking admittance into our nation’s most competitive collegiate-level STEM programs. If the loose structure placed upon schools to maintain any form of pre-engineering programming is to serve as an example, we may deduce that similar trends would follow in students’ participation in Chemistry and Physics.
On behalf of the Capital Area Science Supervisors Association in addition to the science teaching professionals of our region, and the families we seek to support, we urge you to address this action immediately by removing it from consideration. Any alternative action will severely jeopardize New York State’s science program.
Respectfully,
Michael Klugman
President
Capital Area Science Supervisors Association (CASSA)
K-12 Science & Technology Supervisor
Bethlehem Central School District
(518) 439 – 4921
mklugman@bcsd.neric.org
Friday, March 5, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Who to Believe? That is the Question
This post is primarily for NYS residents. In a short time you will be asked to vote for your public school budgets and you, if you are like me, get frustrated when "facts" are presented from both sides of an argument that simply don't jive with each other.
So, in the NYS school tax arena we essentially have 2 competing entities; the schools and political interests that provide financial support to them (state and federal).
Issue 1: School's Fund Balance (often referred to its reserve or "savings account")
Recently, both the Governor and NYS comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released comments about schools unwillingness to use this money (made by Paterson), and schools improper use of their fund balances (DiNapoli).
For your consideration:
Schools in NYS are legally allowed (as determined at the state level) to maintain a 4% (of their total annual budget) reserve (savings). This, among other things, helps schools pay for the same "emergency" types of things that you and I maintain a savings account for.
Things like leaking roofs, broken furnaces, and substitute teacher costs (in a year where flu and flu-like illness created a greater demand than anticipated) are all mitigated by this reserve.
Additionally, schools, like individuals, carry a credit rating. If schools do not maintain a reserve and then have unforeseen costs they are forced to run in a deficit situation and then suffer a poorer credit rating.
This poorer credit rating in turn means that the school cannot get the best interest rates on loans (typically taken when schools go into building projects) and the subsequent cost of not having a reserve is far greater in the long run.
So, in effect our Governor has called out schools for being essentially responsible with their monies.
In addition, DiNapoli, in his comments about schools' fund balance, essentially said that "many" schools in NYS improperly used their fund balances. What DiNapoli did not give is a list of those schools.
To say that this was in poor character is an understatement, but perhaps not unexpected if DiNapoli's intent was to cast suspicion and doubt upon all schools.
Suppose that say, 10% of NYS schools improperly used their fund balance (this would be approximately 75 schools of the nearly 750 public schools in NYS ... it's a few more than this, but after this current year, this is likely to decrease given the state of support the schools are scheduled to receive).
Ask yourself this, how would you feel if you had followed the letter of the law and then were blanketly indicted based on the actions of a few? Perhaps a better question is why DiNapoli, or other state representatives might cast this suspicion onto schools.
More on this in a moment...
Issue 2: The amount of aide provided to schools
The Governor and the state legislature approve the amount of aide received by schools as a part of the NYS budget. In my own school the impact of recent decisions at the state level could result in as much as a $4,000,000.00 deficit between the revenue that we have and the costs we incur. We make this up by either increasing the taxes of our community, or by cutting our budget.
Perhaps in a year when the leadership of the state have to make difficult decisions about who does and does not get anticipated levels of support, it is easier to guarantee one's political future by casting suspicion upon those who would decry the lack of support given. In other words, the Governor and Comptroller, by weakening the public trust in schools, politically leverage themselves against the fallout of not providing funding to schools. If you, the public, believe that schools aren't being fiscally responsible than you are less likely to place trust in your same school, its leadership, and support the budget you are asked to vote for.
WHO TO BELIEVE?
In New York State you do not have the opportunity to vote for the state budget;
you do not have the opportunity to vote for your town budget;
you do not have the opportunity to vote for your federal budget;
you do not have the opportunity to influence the salaries and benefits structures of your state elected officials;
you do not have the opportunity to vote for the fees that you pay for any number of public services;
...but you do, in one place only, have opportunity to approve one public entity that relies upon your support and that is schools.
Furthermore, your school, like mine offers the following; we will show you a line item of every expense we incur (including the salaries and benefits of our staff).
So, when you find yourself stuck in not knowing where to place your trust you DO have a recourse. You can take a look at how schools are spending their money. You can even tell us where you think we need to do better.
AND you can tell us because we HAVE TO LISTEN. We listen because we need you to vote positively to support our budgets.
Perhaps we should ask why it is we cannot vote for other public services...
So, in the NYS school tax arena we essentially have 2 competing entities; the schools and political interests that provide financial support to them (state and federal).
Issue 1: School's Fund Balance (often referred to its reserve or "savings account")
Recently, both the Governor and NYS comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released comments about schools unwillingness to use this money (made by Paterson), and schools improper use of their fund balances (DiNapoli).
For your consideration:
Schools in NYS are legally allowed (as determined at the state level) to maintain a 4% (of their total annual budget) reserve (savings). This, among other things, helps schools pay for the same "emergency" types of things that you and I maintain a savings account for.
Things like leaking roofs, broken furnaces, and substitute teacher costs (in a year where flu and flu-like illness created a greater demand than anticipated) are all mitigated by this reserve.
Additionally, schools, like individuals, carry a credit rating. If schools do not maintain a reserve and then have unforeseen costs they are forced to run in a deficit situation and then suffer a poorer credit rating.
This poorer credit rating in turn means that the school cannot get the best interest rates on loans (typically taken when schools go into building projects) and the subsequent cost of not having a reserve is far greater in the long run.
So, in effect our Governor has called out schools for being essentially responsible with their monies.
In addition, DiNapoli, in his comments about schools' fund balance, essentially said that "many" schools in NYS improperly used their fund balances. What DiNapoli did not give is a list of those schools.
To say that this was in poor character is an understatement, but perhaps not unexpected if DiNapoli's intent was to cast suspicion and doubt upon all schools.
Suppose that say, 10% of NYS schools improperly used their fund balance (this would be approximately 75 schools of the nearly 750 public schools in NYS ... it's a few more than this, but after this current year, this is likely to decrease given the state of support the schools are scheduled to receive).
Ask yourself this, how would you feel if you had followed the letter of the law and then were blanketly indicted based on the actions of a few? Perhaps a better question is why DiNapoli, or other state representatives might cast this suspicion onto schools.
More on this in a moment...
Issue 2: The amount of aide provided to schools
The Governor and the state legislature approve the amount of aide received by schools as a part of the NYS budget. In my own school the impact of recent decisions at the state level could result in as much as a $4,000,000.00 deficit between the revenue that we have and the costs we incur. We make this up by either increasing the taxes of our community, or by cutting our budget.
Perhaps in a year when the leadership of the state have to make difficult decisions about who does and does not get anticipated levels of support, it is easier to guarantee one's political future by casting suspicion upon those who would decry the lack of support given. In other words, the Governor and Comptroller, by weakening the public trust in schools, politically leverage themselves against the fallout of not providing funding to schools. If you, the public, believe that schools aren't being fiscally responsible than you are less likely to place trust in your same school, its leadership, and support the budget you are asked to vote for.
WHO TO BELIEVE?
In New York State you do not have the opportunity to vote for the state budget;
you do not have the opportunity to vote for your town budget;
you do not have the opportunity to vote for your federal budget;
you do not have the opportunity to influence the salaries and benefits structures of your state elected officials;
you do not have the opportunity to vote for the fees that you pay for any number of public services;
...but you do, in one place only, have opportunity to approve one public entity that relies upon your support and that is schools.
Furthermore, your school, like mine offers the following; we will show you a line item of every expense we incur (including the salaries and benefits of our staff).
So, when you find yourself stuck in not knowing where to place your trust you DO have a recourse. You can take a look at how schools are spending their money. You can even tell us where you think we need to do better.
AND you can tell us because we HAVE TO LISTEN. We listen because we need you to vote positively to support our budgets.
Perhaps we should ask why it is we cannot vote for other public services...
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Thoughts on communication, teens, and parents
No offense to all of you answering questions about others on Facebook to earn coins (I think that's what they're called), but I realize that I'll never know your answers b/c I'm just not that into facebook. I have an account and maintain a page, but I can't help but hear the clock tick with each passing moment that I spend on the site.
Wondering how much communication in the world today is meaningful... That sounds a whole lot more cynical that it's meant to.
It's more a comment about my experience with the affective domain of relationships and how meaningful private commentary (affirmation offered from one mouth to one ear) can be on anyone...did I say ANY one.
I've taught in urban, rural, and now suburban settings and my most common observations of teens are...
Wondering how much communication in the world today is meaningful... That sounds a whole lot more cynical that it's meant to.
It's more a comment about my experience with the affective domain of relationships and how meaningful private commentary (affirmation offered from one mouth to one ear) can be on anyone...did I say ANY one.
I've taught in urban, rural, and now suburban settings and my most common observations of teens are...
1. how little they know about self-advocacy
2. how they don't realize how insecure ALL of their peers are
3. how there are an occasional few (really rare) individuals who exist outside #2 above and that because they have little insecurity (about taking risks socially, academically, intellectually, extracurricularly... etc) they are THE people who always exist at the center of peer groups, who are the most popular, and who everyone calls "friend"
4. how those people from #3 above could care less about their "status" and how popularity really doesn't matter to them
5. how the students who go through school with stratospheric grades care little about their grades. Every student that I've taught who I would legitimately label as a genius cared more about understanding that s/he did with the extrinsic structure of grades
6. how parents need to stop affirming grades and start affirming understanding
(ask your kids the following:
What was the best part of your day rather than asking "how was your day," or "what did you do today?" {We parents of a habit of asking bad questions and then getting upset and saying our kids "won't communicate with us" when it's really our fault for asking questions that only require a one word answer!}
What was the hardest problem you encountered today?
What was the most fun you had today?
What did YOU teach your teacher today?
What made you most proud today?)
7. how parents / teachers / & adults generally need to affirm a child's perseverance to stick with something that doesn't come easily rather than comfort the failure or affirm the success that is only the product of the more valuable effort & experience of 'working the problem'... teach them to love the problem rather than the praise of the product
8. that all read / become familiar with Marcial Losada's work with affirmation...he's THE GUY who scientifically figured out that it takes 2.9 affirmations to compensate for every negative comment made to another person. Really, if you read about his (see Fredrickson's book "Positivity") approach you will come away thinking that this truly was scientific!
9. how amazing it is that almost every teen I've asked (and I intentionally ask them all) believe that they are being judged by someone else right now (whenever and where ever now is)
10. that the moment when you can see an epiphany in a person is absolutely magical!
11. (okay this is the Baker's offering to this Letterman top 10) How much I love conversation and private notes over more "contemporary" forms of communication... hmmm.... kind of like this one!
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