The Governor's Budget: This Is the Best She Can Do?

F me, but I'm starting to get the buyer's remorse pretty hardcore right now.

Previously I wrote eloquently and succinctly about a section of the budget that I feel should have been cut. The troubling thing is, there are two more pieces just like that one that ab-so-lutely have to go. To review, from page 172 if you'd like to read along at home:

$700,000 of the general fund--state appropriation for fiscal year 2010 and $900,000 of the general fund--state appropriation for fiscal year 2011 are provided solely for the development of a leadership academy for school principals and administrators. The superintendent of public instruction shall contract with an independent organization to design, field test, and implement a state-of-the-art education leadership academy that will be accessible throughout the state.

Page 175:

National board certified teachers who become public school principals shall continue to receive this bonus for as long as they are principals and maintain the national board certification;

Page 177:

$530,000 of the general fund--state appropriation for fiscal year 2010 and $530,000 of the general fund--state appropriation for fiscal year 2011 are provided solely for the leadership internship program for superintendents, principals, and program administrators.

Let's take the first and third element, where the cost is quantified: that's $1.43 million dollars that she left on the table. As to the second element, moving into the principalship implies a large pay raise to begin with, and if National Board teachers are some of our best, do we really want to incentivize them to move out of the classroom?

The piece that's eating at me, though, is the principle of it all. The Governor can boo-hoo all she wants about this being an unjust budget, but at the same time there are easy, easy cuts still sitting on the table, the sort of cuts that most people would agree are A-OK to make in tough times like these. Are we seriously saying with this budget that it's more important to create a brand new school leadership center than it is to provide ECEAP pre-school for needy kids?

It's the values question, and the Governor has failed it miserably.

Read more here, if any.

A Steaming Pile of Horseshit

I'm trying to come to personal equilibrium with the education budget--really, I am--but the fact that this piece has apparently made it through the first round of cuts is beyond the pale:

(10) $700,000 of the general fund--state appropriation for fiscal
32 year 2010 and $900,000 of the general fund--state appropriation for
33 fiscal year 2011 are provided solely for the development of a
34 leadership academy for school principals and administrators. The
35 superintendent of public instruction shall contract with an independent
36 organization to design, field test, and implement a state-of-the-art
37 education leadership academy that will be accessible throughout the
38 state.

If the budget crisis is big enough that you can throw kids off health care, cut teacher salaries, and eliminate all-day Kindergarten, then it's big enough that the damned administrators don't need their leadership academy.

Read more here, if any.

Secret and Confidential to the Association of Washington School Principals

There are people in the world who can look really, really good in an 8x10 headshot.

The segment of your membership (hell, of people in education in general) that can pull that particular trick off is a very, very, very small fraction indeed.

So how about cutting the picture of the person featured in the profile in the usually-excellent "Principal News" magazine down to, let's say, 2 inches by 3 inches? That'd be cool.

Your pal,

Ryan

Read more here, if any.

The Priorities of Government, the Priorities of Schools

Here in Washington State, "Priorities of Government" is a process by which the state identifies those spending decisions that need to be made, ranks them, and then only funds those most important programs that it can pay for. Introduced by Gary Locke in the early part of this decade, it was a big campaign issue when Governor Christine Gregoire and Senator Dino Rossi squared off this year for the Governor's office.

This year the state is facing a $2.3 billion $3 billion $3.5 billion budget hole which has to be balanced, and a large part of that is going to have to come out of the education budget, since it's the largest part of the state budget. You can do this a couple of different ways: by suspending planned spending increases (think COLA) or by cutting existing programs. I think this year we're pretty likely to see both.

You can find more blog chatter about the Priorities of Government here and here, and a list of what the Budgeting Office thinks matters and doesn't for schools at the first link above. It's interesting reading, particularly if you start at the end and see what they think absolutely should not be funded. Consider:

• Leadership Internship Grants, $1.41 million dollars (91/92): There are 92 potential "purchases" on the education list, with 92 being the least important. This program here was #91, besting only the Reading Corps. I'd say this is a righteous cut; while it's nice for the people who want to become principals, there certainly isn't a shortage of people looking for school leadership positions, so why fund a program that doesn't have a real need attached to it?
  
  (I'm going to have more to say about this one at a later date. There will be cursing. This will also be a test of the political power of the AWSP.)
  
  
• School Nursing Corp Restoration, $4.52 million (89/92): Again, who would argue with school nurses? Dr. Bergeson had a specific proposal for lowering the student:nurse ratio, and this proposal would go towards that ideal, but given the economic times....away it goes.
  
  
• National Boards Oversight, $524,000 (87/92): This would provide "statewide coordination and oversight efforts" for those pursuing their National Board Certification, which seems completely unnecessary given that there are plenty of Universities that have programs in place to help people who want to go after the certificate. Why add more bureaucracy?
  
  
• Professional Certificate Bonuses, $55.77 million (86/92): This would give a $3,500 bonus to any teacher who has gone through the process to earn their ProCert. The idea is Bergeson's baby--I first heard about it at a WERA conference back in 2006, with her name attached to it--but when the state forces people to get their ProCert it really doesn't have to back up the process with more money if it doesn't want to. I'd like to gently success they scrap ProCert period and try to add some efficiency to the system.

Governor Gregoire releases her budget next month; like last year, that will be a really good indicator about where things could go.

Read more here, if any.

Ryan Goes Undercover at the AWSP/WASA Summer Conference

For the last two days I’ve been attending the joint AWSP/WASA conference right here in Spokane. Longtime readers will know that I was recently thrown out of my administrative program, but I had already registered for the conference and paid the fee, and I still don’t know where my career path will lead, so why not go and learn what I can?

The fools! Little do they know that a union operative has infiltrated their so-called “conference” looking for counterintelligence on what our enemies in administration are up to. What I learn from this conclave will be passed on to my brothers and sisters in the politburo so that we can proceed with our master protocol to turn the schools into liberal indoctrination centers—FOREVER!

The first day, Monday, was excellent. The keynote speaker for the morning breakfast was Dr. Tim Waters of McREL, who used a pretty neat aircraft controller metaphor to talk about what teachers do. He had some other thoughts on inter-class and inter-school variance that I’ll be exploring in a post another day. Good guy to listen to.

I clad myself in the style of one of the oppressors—a collared shirt made from a 60/40 polyester/cotton blend, dress shorts, and black socks with white shoes. As I entered their secret wing of the Spokane Convention Center I noticed some of the men wearing jackets, which made me briefly afraid that I was underdressed and my cover would be blown, but my mind was set back at ease when I noticed men walking around wearing socks with sandals. I mean, really, who does that?

In the interim I stepped into the hallway, where Randy Dorn and Terry Bergeson had tables right next to one another. Both were there mingling with the crowd, which was decidedly pro-Bergeson. It’ll be an interesting race.

I was pleased to see that Comrade Dorn had established a base of operations within the convention hall. We traded the secret unionist greeting (“May Shanker guide your hand from the teachers’ wallets to our WEAPAC fund!”) and then parted ways before we drew attention to ourselves.

For my morning session I attended a talk by John Hellwich of the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession on how to best use teacher leaders in the schools. I think the idea of the teacher as leader is one of the most important ones that has come along, and it could go a long ways towards strengthening the professionalism of the profession. You can find more information at their website above.

My handlers in the WEA had prepared me well with code phrases that would help me blend in with the adminis-traitors: “That’s what DuFour said!”, “How was the golf tournament?”, and “Are you going to the wine tasting?” I was also given a briefing on the research of Marzano and Reeves and told when speaking to relate whatever I could to them, because it would sound authentic. Sure enough, it worked.

It was then time for the lunch break, which ran 2 and a half hours from 11:15 to 1:45. A big part of that was the association luncheon where they installed the new officers in AWSP for the year, but for someone who doesn’t have the experience or contacts that they do, it wasn't time well spent. After wolfing down the lunch and chatting with the administrative team from Moses Lake I took the time to walk over to Auntie’s Book Store and do some browsing. Bookstores rock.

The corpulent bourgeoisie found it necessary to take more than two hours for their overly-rich midday gorging. I worked the crowd as best I could, then snuck to a local bookstore where I hid my early report in the bottom copy of a stack of “The Audacity of Hope” for my handler to pick up later. I also purchased the McSweeney Joke Book of Book Jokes. John Hodgman is a funny man!

After that, back to work. The first afternoon session I sat in on was presented by Dr. Larry Nyland of Marysville on the changing nature of math instruction in Washington State. There I chatted with some administrators from Blaine and Battle Ground, and it was interesting to hear their perspectives from their own districts.

Despite what Ian Fleming and John LeCarre would lead you to believe, not everything about clandestine work is glamorous. This was one of those times.

The final session of the day was a presentation on the joint WASA/AWSP/PSE/WEA/WSSDA school funding proposal that was presented to the Basic Ed Finance Taskforce early in June. It’s an aggressive, impressive plan for re-doing school budgets here in Washington State, but with the budget the way it is I think it’s all wasted effort. I ended up leaving this session early so I could come home and attend to my daughter. For more information, check out the BETF website, or one of the association homepages over in the side menu.

This is the session where I finally lost my nerve. I had fit in relatively well for most of the day, but with the leaders of the opposition in the room all together I was sure that they would be able to smell the union label on me no matter how hard I tried to cover it up under a veneer of false bravado and vague knowledge. After distracting the illuminati with a complex, layered question about the interrelation between local school levies and the cost basis imposed by local collective bargaining agreements, I ran for my life. My understanding is that Barbara Mertens and Gary Kipp once killed a union member just to watch him die, and I’ve still got a lot to live for.

I’ll talk more about day 2 in a different post. My overall impression of my first AWSP conference, though, is incredibly positive—they did a spectacular job, and I look forward to going again next year!

I have never been more terrified, but exhilarated. I feel like that guy from Into the Wild, and while I never did make it to the end of the movie things seemed to be going OK. The comrades will be pleased with the intel that I have gathered. Solidarity forever!

Read more here, if any.

The AWSP on Political Action

David Montague, a principal out of Kennewick, wrote a commentary for the Spring 2008 edition of The Principal News talking about the reasons that school administrators should be active in the political process. It’s a good read for teachers as well, and I’m thinking that I might try some of his ideas with candidates from my legislative district.

You can’t find the article on-line, regrettably, but Jerry Bender, director of governmental relations for the AWSP, keeps a blog here that "covers" legislative issues. (memo to Jerry: no posts since January? C'mon, man, there's action out there!)

Given the realities of today, I think that engagement is more important than ever. I'm glad that the professional organizations make Olympia accessible.

Read more here, if any.

Nature Deficit Disorder

Kids don’t know nature any more, reports the AWSP in the Spring 2008 edition of The Principal News. That sounds about right—nature’s dangerous, after all, and kids must be shielded from any and all discomfort. That’s the new American way.

I’d like to add another disorder to the lexicon—Farm Deficit Disorder. For today’s kids food comes from the grocery store, and that’s where they think the chain begins. My wife’s family operates a dairy farm, and every year they have school groups out from local elementary schools. Fun excerpts from the kids:

“What are the cows for?” (answer: good looks)
“The milk comes out of THERE?!?!” (answer: Yes. Yes, it does.)
“How long do the baby cows get to stay with their moms?” (answer: Not very. The milk goes into the bulk tank, not into the calf’s belly. That's capitalism. Please don't tell PETA.)
“WHAT’S THAT SMELL?!?!” (answer: That’s me, sorry. Accidentally pulled my own finger.)
“Is that cow poop?” (answer: Nope. That’s processed hay byproduct.)

I teach a weeklong unit to my kids every year on milk and dairying. Next year I’m going to contact some of the local wheat farmers and see if they could give me something to talk about. It’s information worth giving to the kids.

Read more here, if any.

Well, Bully for You.

AWSP Director of Student Leadership Susan Fortin has an article in the Spring 2008 Principal News on bullying prevention programs. Specifically, weaknesses in bullying prevention programs. One piece of the article that stands out:

Too many programs are sold as one-size-fits-all when we know that the challenges and complexities of each school are unique.

I get the point that she’s trying to make, but this reads more like a reason to do nothing (e.g., “We’ve never tried this program, and that means we never should!”) than a thoughtful critique. It also speaks to the idea of using research-based curricula, checking comparable schools for what has worked for them, and not making decisions hastily.

I just wish she had gotten that point into the article.

Read more here, if any.

Yay Me!

I got a grant from the Association of Washington School Principals to do my internship next year; 32.5 days of release time to use for the benefit of the school. That’s going to make it a lot easier for me to do all the work involved. The order of events:

1. Do the internship
   
2. ?????
   
3. Profit.

Yeah, I didn't get that joke without looking it up either.

Read more here, if any.

Why Be a Principal?

Charlene Milota, vice-principal in a Spokane school and President of the Association of Washington School Principals, wrote her final column for the AWSP’s thrice-yearly magazine in the most recent issue. In it she shares her top ten reasons to become a principal:

10) Every day is a surprise.
9) Become a lifelong learner by observing great teachers.
8) Build the kind of school climate you would want to teach and learn in.
7) Support disenfranchised kids—be the constant as kids move from teacher to teacher.
6) Where else can you feel like a rock star while grocery shopping?
5) Hire, mentor and support your team of teachers and support staff.
4) Attend world class sports, music, and drama events—FOR FREE!
3) Play a significant community role by positively influencing parents and others.
2) Impact student’s lives, one child at a time.

And the number on reason to become a principal:

1) Someone believes in you!

This is nice, but as someone looking to enter that job market I need to narrow the field and would like to scare off as many fellow wannabe principals as I can. To that end, I give you

The Top 10 Reasons NOT to Become a Principal
10) Every day is a surprise. Pearl Harbor was a surprise, too.

9) Become a lifelong cynic by observing terrible teachers and not having the power to do anything about it.

8) Work in the kind of school climate that makes Office Space look like Google.

7) Be the constant as kids move from teacher to teacher, so when They start wondering why the test scores are low They can fire the constant—you.

6) Where else can you develop the patience of Job while sitting in on your 5th meeting of the day?

5) Hire, mentor, support, evaluate, remediate, disaggregate, contemplate, and finally defenestrate your team of teachers and support staff.

4) Attend world-class sports, music, and drama events—frequently. If you’re in the high school, nightly. You’ll also be criticized for the ones you fail to attend.

3) Play a significant role in community gossip circles after you make what seemed like a simple, innocuous decision…until it blew up in your face.

2) Have your life impacted, 600 students and 40 staff members at a time.

And the number one reason NOT to become a principal…..

1) Someone might believe in you, but that’s not a measurable quantity under No Child Left Behind.

Have a happy day!!!~!

Read more here, if any.

Carnival of Email #5: I Love Sunshine Edition

It's a glorious day here in Spokane. I took my daughter out for a long romp this morning, and now that she's down for her nap I'm enjoying some Girl Scouts Thin Mint cookies and cleaning out the email box. Tonight the Mrs. and I are off to town to see America's Got Talent winner Terry Fator do a show. He's easily the best ventriloquist I've ever laid eyes on:



Good times.

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The State Board of Education is having themselves a special meeting this coming Friday in Olympia to talk about the new math standards report. I'm guessing it'll be on TV Washington, and hopefully Where's the Math will have folks in attendance to give a report.

In conference news, registration for the Association of Washington School Principals is now open. I'll be attending on the cheap as an intern member, plus it's right here in Spokane so I don't have to pay for a hotel room. Speaking of hotel rooms, that's also Hoopfest Weekend, which means that every room in town is going to be packed. Make your reservations now!

You've probably seen the video of the girl who was beaten bloody and senseless by two other girls who thought they'd been dissed on MySpace. As is usual after these events, the question has come up: is the internet to blame?

(Editorial answer: No, it's not. Stupidity begins at home.)

The University of Southern California has ended its German department because of lack of interest. In the University's defense, German isn't exactly what you think of when you ponder what world language would be worth learning.

Also from the Golden State, academic powerhouse Stanford University is building subsidized housing for....assistant coaches, who can't afford to live anywhere near the campus. They're also constructing a cardboard box for Robin Lopez to live in after he washes out of the NBA.

If you're interested in starting work on your National Board Certification next year, there are scholarships available. I've been harsh on the NBPTS, and on the WEA for investing so much effort into the process, but with the money that's attached to it now I may need to give it a look.

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Read more here, if any.

Good News, Bad News

I’m really enjoying my intern membership in the Association of Washington School Principals. Their magazine is top notch, and I’m hoping that I can get to the assistant principals conference in February and learn more about administrative things.

As I’ve been going through my pile of reading material I came across their annual report, which details all their activities for the previous year. A number that jumped out at me was that they gave 257 grants last year through the program they administer that allows for time off for principal interns to learn the trade.

This is good, because I’d like to think I have a pretty decent shot at getting one of those grants.

This is bad, because that means there’s 257 other new principals out there who’ll be fighting for the jobs that come up.

Under the Dilbert Principle, I’m hoping that the fact that I’m tall will help be stand out (get it? Eh…) from the field.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Read more here, if any.

What’s Important from the Fall 2007 Edition of The Principal News?

The Association of Washington School Principals does a stellar job with their thrice-yearly magazine. Very professional, very polished, and a good resource for anyone with an administrative frame of mind. The editor is Jocelyn McCabe, who also does yeoman work keeping up their blog. Interesting things from this issue:

“I look forward to a day when everyone in this country truly values principals for the critical role they play not only in the future of each child but in the future of this nation.”—Mary Kay Sommers, NAESP President

Discussion question—what’s more important, a good principal or a good teacher? While the teacher works directly with their kids in their learning, a bad principal can take out a good teacher. A bad teacher has a chance of improving in the hands of a good principal. Bad on both ends, you’re pretty well screwed. If they’re both good, though—there’s power there that can change lives for better, forever.

Jerry Bender turns in a nice piece about the Simple Majority. It’s much nicer to read now than it was a week ago.

Greg Schwab and Vincent DeMiero of Mountlake Terrace High write two nice columns about student newspapers and the freedom they should be accorded. For more information about the topic I highly recommend Nuss’s website at the Washington Journalism Education Association.

The last great article I’ll highlight comes from Cheryl Boze, principal of Odyssey Elementary in Mukilteo, who turns in a great piece on how schools can connect with parents and the community at large, particularly those who speak a different language. It's worth tracking down for anyone having ELL issues at their school.

My school leadership class so far has been a lot of fun. Dr. Alvy is pretty remarkable, and one of the books we’re using (School Leadership and Administration, by Gorton, Alston, and Snowden) has a great section on case studies that’s lead to some thoughtful discussions in class. Next quarter is school law, which is supposed to be a bear of a course, but it should be interesting in it’s own way.

The winter break will be a welcome one.

Read more here, if any.

Uh oh...the Principals Have Found the Internet!

The Association of Washington School Principals has launched their own blog, The Comp Book, with contributions from their communication director. There's only a few months of posting to go off of, but so far it's being updated very regularly with news of interest to anyone who follows education here in the Evergreen State. Well worth checking out, and kudos to them for creating a good blog to accompany their already pretty darn good website!

Read more here, if any.