Daily Archives: April 15, 2007

by | April 15, 2007 · 6:40 pm

NEW — DISTRICT MATH TASK FORCE

From Board Member Arlene Silveira…

As one of the Superintendent’s goals for this year, the Board assigned a math goal. Responding to community concerns with our math programs, we put together the goal listed below. At the BOE meeting Monday night, the math task force will be introduced. The BOE has to approve the task force. The project kicks off tomorrow night. We will be asked to give advice on specific research questions that will help address the charge statement of the goal. If you have any specific questions/concerns you would like to be considered, please let me know. You can post your responses on this site.

Thank you.

Arlene Silveira

GOAL

Initiate and complete a comprehensive, independent and neutral review and assessment of the District’s K-12 math curriculum.

* The review and assessment shall be undertaken by a task force whose members are appointed by the Superintendent and approved by the BOE. Members of the task force shall have math and math education expertise and represent a variety of perspectives regarding math education.

* The task force shall prepare and present to the BOE a preliminary outline of the review and assessment to be undertaken by the task force. The outline shall, at a minimum, include: 1) analysis of math achievement data for MMSD K-12 students, including analysis of all math sub-tests scores disaggregated by student characteristics and schools; 2) analysis of performance expectations for MMSD K-12 students; 3) an overview of math curricula, including MMSD’s math curriculum; 4) a discussion of how to improve MMSD student achievement, 5) recommendations on measures to evaluate the effectiveness of MMSD’s math curriculum. The task force is to present the preliminary outline and a timeline to the BOE for comment and approval.

* The task force is to prepare a written draft of the review and assessment, consistent with the approved preliminary outline. The draft is to be presented to the BOE for review and comments.

* The task force is to prepare the final report on the review and assessment.

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Filed under AMPS, Best Practices, Local News

by | April 15, 2007 · 3:17 am

It Could Be Worse

There has been some tension between MMSD Board members and administrators, but generally the relationships have been civil and those involved have displayed mutual respect. All involved should be proud of this.

The situation in the Menomonie Area district appears to be pretty bad. (More here and here.)

Besides limiting contact between board members and administrators, the March 30 letter tells school board members that administrators have been instructed to notify Harness if a school board member contacts them by phone, e-mail or in person.

In addition, the letter requires administrators to request permission from Harness before contacting a school board member; they must also provide a reason for doing so.

According to the memo, Harness must be present during any meetings between administrators and school board members and that the meetings must be prearranged.

The letter, signed by the administrators in the district, indicated that they felt their trust had been violated when an alternate staffing plan was introduced at a March 19 school board meeting. The plan was aimed at saving programs and positions in an effort to forestall the need for a referendum at this time.

I don’t think you can blame this entirely on the state finance system, but clearly the pressures of annual budget conflicts and the difficulties of referenda are part of it.

Thomas J. Mertz

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Filed under AMPS, Budget, Referenda, School Finance, We Are Not Alone

by | April 15, 2007 · 12:47 am

Write Your Letters to Legislators NOW on School Funding

Good afternoon everyone,

As you are probably aware due to all the recent press on the MMSD budget, the school district has to make dramatic cuts this year in order to comply with the state-mandated revenue caps. We have reached the point as a district where all cuts are to the bone and are very painful. Although we can always find efficiencies in any operation, there is no way that this could account for the $10.5M cuts we have to make. The main culprit is the state system for funding public education. It is broken. Until this is changed, we will have to cut more and more each year. On March 29, The Board of Education (BOE) held a community advocacy meeting, focusing short-term on the governor’s budget and longer-term on the state funding system. The focus of the meeting was on how we, as a community, can advocate to bring additional funds into the district (short-term governor’s budget) and change the state funding system (long-term). We had a great turn-out but need more help to get the word out about our issues.

The meeting was broken into 3 segments: 1) education on the state funding system; 2) overview of the governor’s budget; and 3) advocacy. We had an extensive amount of Q&A with the audience.

Information Presented

Information presented is located on the district web site http://www.mmsd.org Click on “Take Action on School Funding”

I have also attached the talking points and sample letters that can be sent to legislators. The Governor has included some items in his budget that, if passed, could bring additional funds back to MMSD this year and next year. The 2 primary areas are in Special Education Aid and Bilingual-Bicultural Aid. We need to call or send letters/emails to our legislators in the next 2-3 weeks to support the aid increase in the governor’s budget in these 2 areas. If passed, we could receive an additional $1M in funding from the state this year and $1.7M the following year. This is explained in more detail on the web site and in the attachments. There are also other areas listed that could bring additional funds into the district.

The state is not doing their job. Unfunded mandates from the state are strangling the district. In 1993 when revenue limit started, the special education reimbursement was 45%. It is now 28.6% from the state. For the bilingual-bicultural aid, the state’s commitment to funding has dropped from 33% to 12%. If the state had met its commitments to funding, the MMSD would not have to cut its budget this year. We would have an additional $11.6M in funding (our initial cuts were targeted at $10.5M).
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How Can You Help?
It is important to write letters to your legislators in the next 2-3 weeks regarding the Governor’s budget. See the talking points and sample letters for help. If you have questions, please let me know. To find out who your legislators are:
http://waml.legis.state.wi.us/

Write your letters and ask your friends to do the same.
Longer-Term: We are setting up a community *”Legislative Action Team”*. We are developing an email list of people who want to be involved. We will soon be setting up follow-up meetings and action items to start the longer-term lobbying to change the state funding process. If you would like to be added to this list, please send me an email.

Thanks for your help. Now is the time to come together as a community to advocate for change. The future of our schools and our community is dependent upon this. Please circulate this to all you know. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Arlene Silveira
Madison Board of Education

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Filed under AMPS, School Finance, Take Action