Friday, February 25, 2011
Pom Pon Halftime
Is education more important than film tax credits?
Last night a rally was held. The Free Press reported that people came to plan a strategy to save Michigan's film tax credit. I think that is wonderful!
But, where are the rallies in support of education? The Governor has proposed slashing spending on schools by $470 per student.
That's a lot of money. In Grand Ledge it would be about 2.3 million dollars. That's 2.3 million dollars less next year than we have this year.
How would we cut that much money from our budget? It would be very difficult. Almost impossible.
Yet I have not heard of rallies planned to protest this proposal. If we believe that public schools are worth saving then we need to fight this proposal.
But, where are the rallies in support of education? The Governor has proposed slashing spending on schools by $470 per student.
That's a lot of money. In Grand Ledge it would be about 2.3 million dollars. That's 2.3 million dollars less next year than we have this year.
How would we cut that much money from our budget? It would be very difficult. Almost impossible.
Yet I have not heard of rallies planned to protest this proposal. If we believe that public schools are worth saving then we need to fight this proposal.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
A Call to Action
The Governor has made his proposal.
Now it is our turn to act.
The Governor suggests that school funding can be cut by $470 a student.
I would suggest that it cannot.
In Grand Ledge, a $470 per pupil cut equates to a cut of over 2.3 million dollars.
Now it is our turn to act.
The Governor suggests that school funding can be cut by $470 a student.
I would suggest that it cannot.
In Grand Ledge, a $470 per pupil cut equates to a cut of over 2.3 million dollars.
Just this past year, we cut over 2.6 million dollars from our budget. We eliminated over 35 positions. We reduced our costs for athletics and transportation. We received concessions from our employee groups.
The Governor seems to believe that we can be more efficient?
Our administrative costs, according to Bulletin 1014 which ranks Michigan school districts by selected financial data, are among the lowest in the state.
In our district we have a hard cap on health insurance. Increases in premiums are paid for by the employees. In addition, staff members pay between 28% and 34% of their health insurance premium.
The Grand Ledge Public Schools have done much of the hard work needed to manage these difficult financial times.
While we appreciate the Governor’s attempt to tackle the complex and challenging problem of the state’s financial situation, his education cuts are an attack on K-12 schools. Governor Snyder’s proposal will not only damage Michigan’s future but will also damage our community’s present. His proposed $470 per pupil reduction in state aid is unacceptable.
How will we cut 2.5 million dollars? Should we eliminate busing, which costs over 2.2 million dollars each year? Should we eliminate athletics, on which we spend about $525,000 per year? Should we forgo buying classroom supplies or textbooks?
I agree that balancing the state budget is necessary, but I do not feel the Governor’s attack on education is the right approach. However, the Governor and the legislature could use the state’s financial situation as the opportunity to reform funding for and spending on public education. There are serious reforms being proposed that could save money and create a more equitable school funding system. The Practitioners’ Summit to Reform Michigan Public School Funding champions such reform (http://mischoolfunding.blogspot.com ). So does the Citizens’ Research Council of Michigan, which has published reports on both the revenue and governance of public education (www.crcmich.org ).
Those of us who care about public education need to act. Please communicate with the Governor and our state legislators. Ask them to reform the funding of public education. Contact information for the state leaders representing all of us that live in the GLPS district can be found on our district website – www.glps.k12.mi.us under the Board of Education tab and the Capital Connections link. Please join us in protecting our students and our community.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Girls Varsity Basketball
Thursday, February 10, 2011
District Wrestling
Neff's Reading Igloo
Looking Ahead
I have an game application on my phone called Four Free. It's a simple game where you try to line up four balls in a row - horizontally, vertically, diagonally - before your opponent does. The first one with four in a row wins. I play against the computer in my phone.
The phone usually wins.
I am terrible at this game. Well, that's not completely true. On "easy mode" I am quite successful. When I try to play on the "medium mode" I am terrible.
I was trying to analyze why I always lose. It is such a simple game, yet I usually fail to see that the computer has lined up three balls in a row and needs only one more to win. I get so focused on looking at my game pieces that I don't look at how the board has changed.
As I thought about this it struck me that we sometimes do the same thing in education. We get so focused on looking at our "world," that we fail to see that the world around us is changing. As a result, we may not see how new technologies or new ways of doing things offer the potential to transform how we offer education to our students.
Take online learning, for example. Much of the learning that adults do is done online. Many colleges and universities are now incorporating an online component into college courses. My son has taken several classes entirely online.
Yet in the K-12 environment we are slow to recognize the potential impact that online learning will have on how we do business. Is that because we are so focused on looking at our world - our own pieces on the game board - that we fail to see how the rest of the world is changing and adopting and moving in a different direction?
While I may never be very good at the game Four Free, I hope that I continue to get better at looking ahead to see where we need to take education so that we can continue to prepare our students to be successful.
The phone usually wins.
I am terrible at this game. Well, that's not completely true. On "easy mode" I am quite successful. When I try to play on the "medium mode" I am terrible.
I was trying to analyze why I always lose. It is such a simple game, yet I usually fail to see that the computer has lined up three balls in a row and needs only one more to win. I get so focused on looking at my game pieces that I don't look at how the board has changed.
As I thought about this it struck me that we sometimes do the same thing in education. We get so focused on looking at our "world," that we fail to see that the world around us is changing. As a result, we may not see how new technologies or new ways of doing things offer the potential to transform how we offer education to our students.
Take online learning, for example. Much of the learning that adults do is done online. Many colleges and universities are now incorporating an online component into college courses. My son has taken several classes entirely online.
Yet in the K-12 environment we are slow to recognize the potential impact that online learning will have on how we do business. Is that because we are so focused on looking at our world - our own pieces on the game board - that we fail to see how the rest of the world is changing and adopting and moving in a different direction?
While I may never be very good at the game Four Free, I hope that I continue to get better at looking ahead to see where we need to take education so that we can continue to prepare our students to be successful.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The Storm of the Century!
We have been told since Sunday evening that a severe winter storm was coming. Today we are told that we will have blizzard conditions for much of the next twenty-four hours.
But right now, at 3:00 PM on February 1, it is not even snowing.
The National Weather Service just concluded a special weather briefing that indicated our region should receive between 8 and 16 inches of snow by Wednesday night.
We will try and update parents as soon as it becomes apparent that the weather report is accurate. If at all possible we will try and get the call out tonight before the 11:00 PM news. If the National Weather Service is accurate we should start to receive a heavy snowfall between 5:00 and 8:00 PM.
As always, our goal is to communicate as clearly and as quickly as possible. The safety of our students and staff is important to us. If we do receive 12 inches of snow or more we will monitor the situation carefully and reopen school when it is safe to do so.
We will use our Instant Alert system and the radio and television stations to get the word out this evening. We will also use our district website and Twitter.
But right now, at 3:00 PM on February 1, it is not even snowing.
The National Weather Service just concluded a special weather briefing that indicated our region should receive between 8 and 16 inches of snow by Wednesday night.
We will try and update parents as soon as it becomes apparent that the weather report is accurate. If at all possible we will try and get the call out tonight before the 11:00 PM news. If the National Weather Service is accurate we should start to receive a heavy snowfall between 5:00 and 8:00 PM.
As always, our goal is to communicate as clearly and as quickly as possible. The safety of our students and staff is important to us. If we do receive 12 inches of snow or more we will monitor the situation carefully and reopen school when it is safe to do so.
We will use our Instant Alert system and the radio and television stations to get the word out this evening. We will also use our district website and Twitter.
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