Dear Board Members,

It is now public information about a tentative agreements between 281 and the RFT.  This agreement show a 0% and 1% increase on top of the already established steps/lanes (average of 1.15% per teacher).  What I am concerned about is that there doesn't appear to be anything yet published on the impact of these increases.

So some quick and dirty math gave me these numbers.  First, I understand that teacher reductions with reduced class sizes and retirements are not factored into this.  Second, the average increase of step/lanes vary every year because you cannot predict teachers education pattern.  So as I said, rough numbers.  All numbers are taken from the online budgets and only represent licensed staff (line item 112).

** Assumes 1% increase from contract + 1.15% avg lane/step

So there will be approximately a $972,000 salary increase.  Additionally, there will be a 90,300 increase in payments to health insurance (50 this year and 50 next year for each licensed teacher).  So approximately a 1 million dollar financial hit for just licensed staff.  Other groups will then follow this same process driving up the costs.

My concern is, where is the analysis of the cuts to offset this increase in salary for the following year.  The budget calls for a 3.8 million dollar fund balance, is the thought that this increase in salary comes from the fund balance as there is not an increase in state funding.

I understand the financial pressure to make sure the contract is settled before January 15th, but concerned about long term stability.  My hope is, if the teachers' contract is ratified tomorrow that prior to the board vote that the board publishes the estimated impact and the steps and processes to by which we plan to balance the budget again.

Thank you for your time and dedication to the district.

Thanks,

DJ Brynteson
Crystal, MN

So we are a few days later from the sit-in and while reading back my first post I did find that I made an assumption that wouldn't be true in the math.  I was comparing the first year salary from 05 to 09 as a static.  But a new teacher starting in 2005 would be on Step 4 this year making a salary of $37,659 per year.

So the increase in salary is actually 17.14% over the five year span.  From $32,150 in year 1 to $37,659 this year.  (This assumes the teacher survived any potential cuts of course.)

So does a 17% raise over the 5 year period or about 3.4% each year make sense given the economic climate we currently have?  I'm pretty sure I know what everyone's answer would be on that one.

As I write this the RFT is getting ready to conduct basically what I consider a sit in.  They plan to march into the board meeting, sit there from 7:00 PM to 7:45 PM ish and then leave all together in what is considered a sign of unity about their labor contract.  So let's examine what the teachers have to complain about.

A teacher who is new to the district is set to make a salary of 33k a year.  In year 6 they will break the 40k mark and in year 25 they can break 60k.  If they have their masters degree, then the process is sped up considerably with year 3 hitting 40k and year 10 hitting 60k.

Many districts in the area are offering a 0% increase to the step/lane process with some districts (Forest Lake) getting the teachers to sign a contract that freezes all teachers (not administration in Forest Lake by the way - kinda strange on that one) to the same step and lane they currently are sitting at for the next two years.  So what is the history of the process salary increases?

The teachers are currently working without a contract.  The district has until Jan 15th of 2010 to get a deal done before they get hit with a daily penalty of $35/kid.  This deadline by state collective bargaining law is often pushed back when the legislature starts the new year.  Considering schools were unallocated 2 billion dollars this year I would guess the governor would be willing to sign such legislation again this year.

So the July 2007- June 2009 contract is done.  In that contract year teachers got a 2.0% and 2.5% raise.  The previous contract of July 2005- June 2007 was a 0% and 0% raise.  There has been movement on health care program.  In 2005 the district paid $550.00 per month for health insurance.  This year that number is currently at $650.00 per month.   A single teacher will pay anywhere from 403.00 to 879.00 per month for health insurance (depending on plan) to $1126.00 to 2346.00 for family.

So a new teacher in 2005 was making $32,150 per year.  Over the past 5 years they have seen 4.6% increase in salary with a cost of living increase of 9.6% over the same time frame.  So are the teachers right for their "sit in".  I could see the argument of fix heath insurance if you aren't going to give us a raise.  A family of 4 choosing the absolutely worst health coverage is going to spend some $500.00 per month for expenses.  What could the teachers do?  Get on the QComp program.  There is money to be had from the governors office.  Get a plan and vote for it this time.  Remember, the teachers rejected a QComp plan some two years ago.

I would like to thank everyone who voted for me. It was a great experience and I learned a lot during the process.  I think if I had another week I would have closed the gap a little more.  What we learned is the mandate from the voters are they are happy with the current direction of the district.  So it is time to come together - support our new board and continue to work together to find solutions to the problems we have today.

Thank you again everyone.  Another week - that is what I needed - another week.

DJ

It's the night before the election and the web site is getting hit left and right with people looking for information and wanting to know why they should vote one way or the other.  So why me?

I believe the Robbinsdale School District is a really good district.  We have lots of great teachers, students and programs.  But like anything, we can always do something better given the right direction, ideas and promise.  I believe my 10 years working for the school district makes me uniquely qualified for that job.  Over those 10 years I developed a working knowledge of how the district functions from the very bottom to the very top.  Over the past 14 years I have coaches debate and speech - including seven at Robbinsdale Cooper and Armstrong where I still coach today.  Debate teaches one to think about problems/arguments from every possible angle.  To never accept the premise of a an problem but rather question the problem and possible solutions.  It is that drive that I plan to bring to the board.

So what can we do over the next 4 years to make a good district better:

• - Reduce costs by leasing/selling un-used buildings
  - Determine a real plan for address the Northport/Lakeview buildings which need to be remodeled
• - Increase test scores by developing plans to address students in need - in particular students of mobility to ensure they are properly placed and resources exist to ensure their success
• - Work with administration and the teachers union to develop a long-term plan for teacher compensation (including bonuses/Q-Comp) for scores/assessments.

We have a great district - one that in these uncertain times face financial questions that cannot be solved by raising taxes and going for referendum every 4 years.

Thanks for your time.  Make sure to take some time and learn about all of the candidates.  Find one who speaks to your concerns and make sure to vote tomorrow.

Thanks

Richard (DJ) Brynteson

Last night was a great event.  I wish we could do more of those.  Special thanks to the folks who were able to put it together.  I think I left at about 11:30 PM so lots of people to talk to with lots of great ideas.

If you are one who needs a campaign sign please let me know.  Second batch of them came in last night.  So I have a few more.  I didn't go the route to litter the streets with them so maybe I will have to rethink that one if I ever run again.

Postcards and letters go out at the end of the week.  1500 postcards to community.  Got to get at least one person to vote on that one I would think.

So tonight was the Forest PTO meeting and I got an opportunity to listen to Superintendent Sicoli.  This being the first time I got to listen/meet with him outside of the normal board room I found him very likeable.  (While proofing this I want everyone to know - what I have seen of Dr. Sicoli so far - good guy!)  There were several questions that came up during the process and one of them was in regards to mobility, school size and Dr. Sicoli shared an interesting stat.  I have to dig into the stats and see if I can verify this one - but there is absolutely no reason not to believe this one.

If you tear back the stats and take out students who have not been enrolled in the district for the past three years.  Each and every school at all levels of AYP measurement would have passed.  Every school.  Every level.  Again, no reason not to believe it.

So what does this tell you?  Mobility is issue #1.  I'm pretty sure this isn't going to shock many people.  This won't shock teachers, administration or parents.  So what do we do about it?  We cannot stop people from moving.

Elementary schools.  Lets start our focus there.  This one will cost some money but I really think we need to rethink our traditional grade level.  In particular for students who enroll mid-year.  Let's asses the students and their current level and lets create some classroom to help these students.  Focused specifically on the areas of need.  If the student tests high - then send them to the normal grade level.  Otherwise, lets do a little clustering and design some programs to help these students.  Win win for the students and the district.

Oh, one other items shared.  Early results from a neighboring school looking at all-day vs half-day K.  Remove the mobility factor and compare.  Achievement gap is nearly gone.  We have the solutions.  Lets get a way to fund them and start to rock and roll.  This is a great district and we should be darn proud of it.

So this is an e-mail I sent to all of the board members right before the decision to close Sunny Hollow, Pilgram and Sandburg.  The concern was that the district was dividing the district based on race and social-economic status and may cause flight on the east side of the district.  After that I will post the response from the board at the time.  Then I'll follow up with another post on what it actually is now after the October 2009 data has been released:

E-mail to school board - December 30th, 2008

Has anyone run the numbers of students of disability and minority who will be attending the new neighborhood schools?  I'm just curious because the numbers to me seem to put the new Robbinsdale Middle School and Robbinsdale Cooper High School not into balance at all.

Hopefully these numbers are not new to you but since I never sat down and did the math until now they are to me.  These results of the new schools are downright scary.  The problem with providing straight percentage numbers like Wold did is that one can do anything they want with percentages to make them appear and fit whatever cause they are trying to get.

Now we get to tricky math.  Using the past performance numbers from the 2008 state testing we look to see how the students will fair in their new schools.  Now I accept that students will move and using last year numbers without knowing the exact breakdown is unfair but does give us a starting point for the discussion - we see that students bound for the top set of schools on average passed the reading/math exams at about a 62% rate and students in the bottom half passed the exams at a 76% rate.  Now, historically we have seen that students of special education and minority are less likely to pass the exams then other students so this split may very well go up.  Time will only tell.

So I guess all I'm saying is that I hope someone sat down and did this math.  Now I'm sure this will all fall into the vast void of rhetoric and pissed off e-mails and all of this typing was for waste.  But if it did not hopefully you found some of this information helpful because our next step is not to find transition plans but rather to deal with the old problem that will soon become the new big problem - closing the achievement gap for minority students.

Reply from board:

Looked at this closely. I would love to talk with you about it in the next few weeks. One point, the demographics you look at are more balanced in 7 of the 8 elementary schools than they were this year. That said, you are absolutely right that the achievement gap is a top priority. How about we a take a week or two to recover and then talk, call me or e-mail me, perhaps we can get a cup of coffee or talk on the phone. Thanks!!!!

Today

Any now today.  So the demographics based on numbers put us at a 65% to 44% split over the next 5 years of incoming students to RMS and PMS.

So if we break those numbers down today based on the numbers presented by the district in October of 2009 we see that the numbers have split even more.

Forest, Lakeview, Meadow Lake and Northport are 65.9% minority students vs Neill, Noble, SEE and Zachary come in at 41.0%.  If you throw RSI students into the mix as they will be attending PMS that drives the number down to 36.5%.  We have a 30% gap between middle schools over the next 5 years!

So what does this mean?  Does it mean all schools on the east side are doomed for failure?  No!  We have some great schools on both side of the tracks.  Unfortunately for the district minority, special ed and free and reduced lunch students have performed worse than caucasian students.  This puts schools at risk of AYP/Title One issues.  Ultimately, in my mind it means that we cannot and should not treat Zachary the same as Northport.  We may need different programs/ideas for one set of schools compared to another.

So what are my thoughts on solving this, the achievement gap be it social-economic or anything else.  These are in no particular order just things we should do:

1. Peer review.  Non-tenure teachers are encouraged to do it.  We should encourage it with all teachers.  There is absolutely no encouragement right now.  Seeing others is a great way to learn new ideas, validate ideas you have are working, etc.

2. Academy classes.  We need to ensure its going to be used in the classroom.  We cannot "require" teachers to take tests or anything but report back on what they learned and how they can improve their classroom with it.

3. QComp - need to get it done.  There are ton of really nice benefits in there from a learning perspective and it gives teachers incentives.  All around good.

4. Tie bonuses for superintendent and principals to AYP results.  Yep, they get bonuses now and teachers don't.  So if you are going to give them bonuses let's hold them accountable.

5. Simplify the discipline process for teachers.  This is a union controlled issue that they need to realize isn't good for them right now.  If there is a perception that it takes 5+ years to get rid of a bad teacher than that is a public concerns issue.

6. Uniforms in K-5.  You heard it - we should implement a mandatory uniform policy across all elementary schools.  Start there and you will see issues decrease as they get older and move to secondary schools.

7. RSI - open it up to everyone.  We have buildings laying around and a waiting list a mile long.  As long as we have more than 20 people on the waiting list we should create a class for it.  It is a successful programs because it fosters parent involvement.  My stipulation for opening it up like that.  All families have to give a certain number of community services hours back to the school.  (This one might be legally difficult but I'm sure we can find a way to make it work.)  Same deal as before, you don't get to join the program unless you can prove you are good enough.  Might even draw some people to the district increasing our numbers.

8. Community involvement.  We need to come up with programs that get parents in the seats, out in the community, with their school.  I don't know what it is off the top of my head but I think everyone gets the idea.

Well, those are it.  Lots of ideas - sure there are some lemons in there but we cannot identify them if we don't start the conversation.

DJ

So I got an interesting e-mail today (actually went to all of the candidates - would love to see every other candidate to state their preference as well but that won't happen) that made an argument that Robbinsdale Area Schools should sell Pilgrim Lane to Beacon Academy.

I thought about just posting my reply but I will explain my position a little more here.  First, let me be very clear, I suppose the divesture of extra buildings.  If they are old and not being used we should get rid of them.  If we don't - why in the world did we shuffle all of those kids!

So onto the heart of the e-mail.  Should we sell to Beacon academy?  I remember one of the board members (cannot remember which one - I think I know who but don't want to post the name as I'm not 100% sure) saying that Beacon "steals" children from Robbinsdale.  First, I think we should stop using this type of language in the public.  All it does is simply energize those who believe the district is bad.  Second, the students are not being stolen.  Parents made a decision.  What we should do instead of name calling is work with charter schools to find out why parents are leaving.  Charter schools have the same state and national requirements as do the "traditional" public school. 

(I'm going to talk about Beacon specifically here only because that was the school identified in the e-mail message.)

So should we be afraid?  No.  First, charter schools are not the savior to public education.  They face the same challenges as Robbinsdale.  If you look at Beacon you will immediately notice that they did not pass AYP and in 8th graders Robbinsdale students actually tested better in the Meets or Exceeds MCA standards in both reading and math.  (8th grade selected as Beacon is K-8 school.)  Second, charter schools increase competition with the local neighbor.  Research shows that local school typically make changes to offer more programs and they improve communication with parents.

Robbinsdale should not be afraid of a charter school.  Robbinsdale should work specifically with Beacon (since they are in-boundary and want Pilgrim-Lane) to ask parents why they choose Beacon but more specifically ask why where they believe Robbinsdale is failing.  There had to be some reason they selected Beacon over Robbinsdale.  This is a win-win for Robbinsdale and Beacon.  First, they will not grow large enough to take significant numbers from Robbinsdale.  You could make it part of the lease/sale agreement.  For Beacon, it is in their best interest to be friends with the larger neighbor.  For Robbinsdale, the insight would be absolutely invaluable.

Let's not be afraid of them.  We have nothing to worry about except for Robbinsdale getting better.

[Edit] 

A few things I want to be clear about.  Tests are a good thing for determining the overall health/success of the school district.  Second, my argument simply is that our current system does a poor job of delineating the value of the tests.  We either go one of two routes.  We test less or we test a lot more.  I know you may say this sounds like it contradicts the argument below.  The argument I make is that students don't understand the value of the exam.  So either we create massive consequences for the exam (high stakes exams) or we par down a little bit and using high stakes exams every odd year or something.  Lastly, I would actually love to see local districts be able to add/customize exams with additional curriculum.  But that is for another day.

[/Edit]

So this is a position that will go into the face of many of those who clamor for accountability.  The argument is that if we test students they will be better prepared for the real world, we can hold teachers accountable and weed out the bad ones.  Here is the problem - they don't work.  Why don't they work.  It's a ton of reasons but I'll go ahead and bore you with just a few of the details.

Too Many Tests

That is right - we have to many tests.  So here is the catch 22 of accountability crowd.  They are that we need more district decision making, less federal/state decision making.  But on the other hand, they want some serious tests to hold the kids accountable.  Can we have too many tests.  Let's take a peek back at 2008.  The test calendar hasn't been posted yet because the team of employees needed to coordinate all of them hasn't been able to finish the calendar.

In 2008 there were nearly 50 test dates scheduled for RAS students.  Folks, that means that nearly 30% of the instruction days in the district there is a federal or state mandated test occurring.  Not only do we test kids over and over again but we are doing it at every grade level.  The problem is when we test kids over the top like this we lose the value in testing.  If students are tested 4 different times each and every year kids don't care anymore.  If I take one test over 4 years and I need it to graduate I'll care.  If I'm taking test number 18 over 4 years I don't care anymore.

Tests are testing the right stuff.well not really

Here is the problem.  What we test doesn't always line up with what is being taught in the classroom.  So the question is: is the stuff on the test represent what we want kids to know or is what is being taught in the classroom what we want.

• What you say - the tests are asking the right questions?  Yep, the problem is tests are being created/built at a state/federal level but the curriculum is being built at the local level.  They are never going to match up.  Some will tell us to look at Europe where they have standardized exit exams for graduation and how successful it is.  John Bishop does some great research of the connection of Curriculum Based Exit Exams (CBEEs) and how they are incredibly powerful at holding people accountable.  But as Bishop will even admit the United States cannot use CBEEs because we don't mandate curriculum at the federal level.  In Germany, they have a powerful set of exams that do wonders with students, but they also create/build all of the curriculum at the federal level.  We are a different world.  This of course doesn't even get into the problems tests do not take into account the heterogeneous nature of the United States compared to other nations.

So we need to make a decision.  Either the feds make curriculum decisions and we test from the federal level or we allow curriculum decisions at the local level and drop this testing system we currently have.

Well - I could go on and on and with different stats about the number of tests today increase drop out rates but I'll move onto a different issue now.

So one of the common themes you will hear during the election process is let's have a sense of fiscal responsibility.  But what does that mean?  They will want to make you believe the district is wasting money at every turn.  That the district has tons of cash laying around but it is wasted on cupcakes at meetings and high contracts to administration.

So where do we start?  Well, first it's important to remember that the vast majority of the money is spent on salaries of teachers.  How much, nearly 85% on salaries and benefits (like health insurance, etc.).  So just saying we need to be more "responsible" and cut doesn't exactly work.  Cuts in many cases equals people.  But are all people needed?  Well, that is what needs to be determined.  So where does the "extra" money go?  Well don't forget about the team of people needed to coordinate the test schedule but more on that later.

So a little history on how teachers are paid.  Everything is done as part of the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement).  The teachers union and district get together and try to determine what is a good wage for teachers.  That system is based on steps and lanes.

[side note - unions]

So before you immediately complain that unions are the evil of all problems in the district lets take a peek at a couple of stats.  First, numerous studies have found that districts that pay employees with union negotiated CBA's score 2.5 to 3.3% on achievement tests.  The flip side is that these districts are more expensive to run and have less individualized teacher/student time.  More on this later but before we get all hotty about unions and thing I'm in their pocket.

[end that side note]

So what can we do to become more fiscally responsible in terms of salary since that is where the vast majority of money is going.

First, we need to get some changes at the federal/state level.  If you are going to mandate we test these kids 50 times a year and its going to require use to hire three people full time to run test scores, manage the test process - then you better pay for it.  You cannot mandate it and then ignore the financial cost behind it.  So either we get rid of the mandates or pay for them by those mandating them.  Simple as that.

Second, its time to look at the step/lane system and find a new solution.  The problem with what we have is there no reward for new teachers.  Those with the most energy to bring are those who cannot be rewarded.  We give bonuses to the Superintendent, Principals and Executive Directors - why not the teacher who is there on the day-to-day basis.

Third, fix health insurance.  There is a problem today and it needs to be fixed.  I don't care what you think your fix is but she's broken.  When I left the district the family plan was $900 out of pocket per month and that was after the district put their $550 per month.  Today that number is well over $1300 for an employee.  The district is spending a ton of money on health insurance - fix it one way or another.  The state is looking at pooling all of the teachers together into one big program so they can drive down premiums by bulk purchase.  If this is the best solutions - which is the best I've heard so far - then do it.

Well - next post is in-depth about testing and why we need to get rid of them.

So over the next few weeks I'm going to start posting my thoughts on different issues.  I'll make a pretty chart and list of everything.  I still haven't found anything online for the other candidates but if I find it I'll update the chart.  If someone finds others views/sites let me know because I'll post the site as well.  Why link to an opponent?  Because everyone should be informed.

So what issues will I be writing about:

- RSI: What should we do with the program
- Test Scores: Is there anything we can do to make them better
- Teachers Union: Is it good or bad for education
- Teacher Programs: Should the district invest in ideas like Teach for America
- Uniforms: Is it something we should consider

And anything else I can think of along the way.  If there are specific areas you want me to discuss/review let me know.  I figure the only way you get to know me is by asking me questions.  Feel free to reach out anytime.

So I'll be honest.  I didn't expect it by any means but figured after the interview (which I thought went well) and the fact I have a teacher as a wife I might get an endorsement.  I'm pretty sure I run to close to the middle.  Now the question is: is it good that I didn't get endorsed?

I'll be curious who they recommend in the end.  My guess is the questions are not secret (hopefully they aren't because I'm posting them right now).  Here is what I answered to them.  Below are the questions and the notes I typed up for the 25 minute interview I did yesterday.

DJ

1. Why are you a candidate for school board and what are your qualifications?

I am running for school board because I believe I can make a difference in the Robbinsdale School District. What I learned during my 10 years of working for the district is that strong leadership on the school board can be a beneficial tool for helping shape policy within the district. The challenges that the district will face in the coming years will affect not only my children but those of my neighbors and friends and the community at large. My hope is that I can provide assistance and guidance through those challenges.

Unfortunately there isn't a test or process one can take to determine if they would be good at being a school board member. Instead, one must look at their past actions and determine if they believe they would be a good fit. I believe that my history with the district, the relationships I have built and continued to maintain over the years, will prove beneficial to me. Additionally, my background in debate, teaches one to question assumptions and to look beyond the surface of problems. Lastly, debate teaches you to keep an open mind, listen to the arguments of others and then react based on all of the facts. These skills I believe would help me as a board member.

2. How have we improved the public education system in District 281? What challenges remain?

Specifically within the district I believe several wonderful improvements have been accomplished over the past years. Some of the highlights have included:

• Improved communications from district staff
• Increased and well defined program choices (IB, AP, Extra Curricular Activities, etc.)
• Continued improvement in test scores and AYP measurements

Although the district has seen improvements in many areas I believe there are some areas that are and will be challenges in the future. Including:

• Communication with a new and more diverse parent and student groups
• Equity in test scores
• Teacher retention and burn out
• Increasing funding difficulties from state and local organizations

3. On which district and building committees have you served on?

Throughout my time with the district I had the opportunity to serve on several different internal committees including the Communications Committee (looking at different mediums to reach parents/students), Technology Committees and even as part of the Reorganization Process.

After leaving the school district I helped during the Vision Statement process and volunteered at various events at Robbinsdale Cooper and Forest Schools.

4. During a time of tight revenue, what solutions would you propose?

First, strategies for increasing revenue must be found. These include working with local cities to help encourage new families (creating more student), determining strategies to slow open enrollment of students outside of the district to crazy ideas like advertising on school buses.

The problem is trying to find solutions that do not negatively impact student learning which is difficult when nearly 85% of the budget comes from salary and benefits.

Once we explore strategies for revenue increases we are forced to look at non-critical cuts that can take place. The district must stay on course to consolidate programs and dispose of unused and expensive buildings. We should look for opportunities to outsource redundant and expensive processes if it makes financial sense. Also, the district should continue to find ways to reduce costs with the use of technology whenever possible.

5. How do you believe District 281 can meet the challenge of attracting and retaining quality employees?

This I believe is one of the most important issues that faces the district in the upcoming years. As the district continues to retire employees and takes on newer and younger teachers it is becoming increasingly important to make sure we find and retain our teachers.

Attracting teachers is done by offering competitive salaries, benefits that compare with other districts and providing a positive work place. That starts with ensuring proper funding for schools, creating a positive message for the district so the community respects both the teachers and administration and providing the tools to succeed.

Retaining quality teacher's falls into two major categories - economic and social models. Understanding the economic model of retention is pretty straight forward but are often difficult to implement because of cost. Models include some sort of bonus system, stipends based on performance and other benefit package systems. Social models are often more successful in retention but can be difficult to implement because they lack a specific process. They involve teacher mentoring programs, support by administration and the general perception of the school and district by the community.

6. What do you see as your role in directing administrative staff, including the

Superintendent?

I believe the role of a school board member is to work for what is best for the students in the district. This means that a board member must do more than simply rubber stamp administrative decisions. Instead, they should question the assumptions they make, challenge the decisions and make sure that those decisions line up what is best for the students.

7. What role did you play in representing our district at the legislature this past year?

My role in terms of legislative agenda has been more of a participant and not a leader. Over the past years I have taken my opportunity to reach out against legislation that would be harmful to school funding.

8. Would you support contracting with outside providers such as Teach for America to hire classroom teachers?

No - not as Teach for America is currently set up. They take jobs from qualified individuals and instead are replaced with good-natured people who simply do not have the qualifications to teach.  If the program was more structured like a college program and actually spent more than 6 weeks training it may be something I would support.  Six weeks isn't long enough to teach someone how to teach.

Technically I can still have my name taken off the ballot for two more days.  If I won the election and didn't get a majority vote by the remainder of the school board to keep my position as a debate coach I would have to either step down from the board or give up my 15 year coaching career.  So.we will cross that bridge if it happens.

So why may you ask am I running.  Bored on Monday nights?  Not really - pretty busy person actually but I think now is the right time.  The district will have some serious questions to be answered in the next four years.  Even more so than what we saw last year.  So if one wants to complain about it then you have to be willing to stick your neck out there and be willing to contribute.

So I haven't come up with the elevator pitch yet so everyone will have to wait on that one.  But generally here is what I believe.  We have to find a balance between the money we have and the money we can get.  We have to live in reality and know that there isn't unlimited funding.  That said, we cannot simply say "cut things" without giving some more thought about the ramifications of doing that.

We have to find ways to be supportive of our teachers, give them the resources to succeed, not set them up failure and make sure the classroom is something that is manageable.  We need to find ways to encourage responsibility to all parties involved.  But we need to be frugal as well.  If there is something that is simply not working we need to ask if we really need it and if the money can be used elsewhere.  We need to be responsible to the voters and the community.  If the board says they are going to do something then they better do it.  The board also has to be willing to challenge the executive team, ask good questions and be willing to listen to logical arguments.  I will say it over and over again.  I do not have the answers to all of the worlds problems.  I have ideas but if you can convince me with sound arguments that my position is flawed I will be the first to admit it. 

Lastly, ever aspect of the process needs to be as transparent as possible.  So my willingness for transparency is that if someone has a question on a position I have or what I believe should happen - e-mail me.  Not only will I reply but I'll blog about it also so the entire world can critique it.

So maybe this will drive some people to the web site - who knows.  If you have a question my e-mail address is available for the world so feel free to drop me a line.

DJ

I'm not sure they are going to do full candidate profiles like they did in the old days inside the school performances.  So I thought I would put them online for everyone to see them.  I'm using the old 2007 format.  Let me know if there is anything anyone is looking for in particular.

Years lived in district: 7

Children
Married, Bethany & Connor @ Forest

Education
BS in Information Technology, Capella University

Employment
Senior Systems Engineer at Convergent Solutions Group, (2007-Present)
Network Administrator at Robbinsdale Area Schools, (1998-2007)

Community & Outside
President-Elect, Minnesota Debate Teachers Association
Treasurer, Minnesota Debate Teachers Association
Treasurer, Brookview Men's Golf Association

District Involvement
Employed with District for 10 Year
Current Head Debate Coach at Robbinsdale Armstrong & Robbinsdale Cooper High School
Volunteer for various events at Forest Elementary
Participated in Reorganization Processes
Participated in District Communication Project

Well, it appears as Todd is back again.  First it was crazy implications that the school board needed the referendum to pay Stan's retirement packet.  Now we have some test scores to talk about.

So again, over at 281 Exposed we have Todd's letter again.

The results of this year's No Child Left Behind scores are simply frightening. Only 47 percent of Armstrong and 35 percent of Cooper 11th grade students passed math?

Imagine an airline pilot being correct 35 percent of the time; imagine a brain surgeon being correct 47 percent of the time; imagine a pitcher throwing strikes 35 percent of the time - none would have a sustaining career.

Alright, so I really like Todd's poetic writings but we aren't exactly comparing apples to apples now are we.  First, let's be clear about something.  Having a district average of 11th graders of 39.6% isn't something we should write home about - 100% would be great but sometimes we need understand the entire scope of things.

Let's start by looking at statewide numbers and break them down.  So Robbinsdale had a 41.7% district numbers of those who meet or exceed standards.  Statewide is 41.1%.  So the district is actually a little better than state averages.

So my curiosity continued.  How did Robbinsdale stack up against other large school districts.  I see some schools scored 100% but they had 4 people take the exam.  So looking at schools with 500+ test takers.  Robbinsdale had 858 for comparison.  That leaves 28 districts.  This is where Robbinsdale takes a hit - 20th out of those 28 districts.  Average scores of those 28 schools is 46.0.  Top school out of that group is 74.4 (Edina) and bottom is 22.6 (St. Paul).

So digging through the state department information there are some interesting notes I think the district has to focus in on.  First, if you look the breakdown by ethnicity we see a swing of 47% to 11%.  ELL students, 3.1%.

So what we know are this.  Could Robbinsdale be doing better - yes.  Is it time to throw out every teacher and call them bad.  Nope.  Robbinsdale is pretty much middle of the pack.  So what can we do?  Over the next month I'll start posting some ideas that I think make some sense.  Of course, I could just complain about things.  Tood - any ideas?

DJ

• Notes:
• MN State Overview | MN State Final Numbers

So I'm a little late to this one as I was pretty busy last week and on vacation but over at 281 exposed we have some more "humor" about the number of employees the district has.  So the claim is that with 2000 district employees why are we seeing such "huge" claims of student enrollment.  Here is what 281 Exposed says:

Now I'm no math genius but does that mean we have six students per employee? OK now before someone comments that not all these employees are teachers, we already know that. But let's say for conversations sake that half of the employees are teachers. That still gives us a 12 to 1 ratio.

So a quick look at the district web site and we had (in 2007-08 - before the big round of cuts) the following:

Teachers * - 856
EA's - 329
Cust/Drivers - 193
Other - 450
Total: 1827

* includes social workers, psychologists, nurses, counselors, occupational therapist

So the first question is, what are the "other number".  This seems like a pretty big number at first but a quick review of the online staff directory shows the following groups missing from these numbers: Administration (33 principals/IA's - 6 cabinet - 30 or so secretaries), Media Services (15 in school + another 5 at central media), Technology (14), Food Service (15 + other cooks - I would guess close to 80 most of which are part time), Print Shop (6), Finance (6), Payroll (3), Testing Services (2), HR (4), Community Ed (30 or so), Communications Department (2) and a bunch more employees who are part-time/seasonal.

So now that we have the answer to the 450 question let's take a peak back at the real question of "doing the math".  In 08-09 we had 59 teachers let go.  So going into last year we had 797 teachers.  So now we are up to 15.6 per teacher.  Then we need to chop off the * who aren't in the classrooms.  We have about 42 people who make up the * above.  So now we have 755 in classroom teachers (16.5).  Now where does the number go from 16.5 to 1 up to the closer 28 to 1 numbers.  There are two places where the numbers skew.  Elementary school (where there are more teachers to keep numbers low - remember the district targets 24 to 1) and special education.  Spec Ed is where the numbers start to float up.  There is currently 13% of students in RAS are special ed.  Now, not all of those numbers fit into this category, but in many special ed. class rooms it is typical to see a teacher to student ratio of 1 to 7 or so.  There are about 135 special ed teachers in the district and again, not all of them are in this same category.  Let's say that 2/3 of them are (or about 88 teachers representing about 616 students).  So now we have 11884 students and 667 teachers or a 17.9 ratio.  Now there are other target areas that require low class sizes including skills reading classes, math skills and a bunch of others that like Spec. Ed could drive up the numbers.

So can I explain for certain where the district comes up with the average class size numbers?  No, I'm sure there is a really pretty and complex formula used for it that my former boss has.  But what we should note is that simply taking a raw number and dividing by the total number of students is a simplistic formula and there is much more to it than that.

So I've been working on incorporating Windows Live Writer blogging software into my web site.  This has some nice advantages including the ability to post pictures, manage the site and a bunch of other stuff directly from the Windows Client.  Of course, the challenge has been getting it to work.

So we have had posting and editing of messages working for a while.  I decided it was time to revisit the picture uploading of files.  Why?  Because this opens up the world to many different possibilities when it comes to posting all sorts of information to the web site.  Although I have believed the future was the web and posting on the web I've never found a good way to effectively post all of my content to the web through something like FCKEditor.  Well, now you don't have to anymore!

So this is just a sample picture taken from Windows 7.  All I had to do was select it and up it went with the post.  So what is left to figure out for Windows Live Writer? Deleting posts, gathering all posts already on a site, categories and themes (for preview purposes).  So I'm now onto one of those items in addition to the many other things I'm working on all the time.

Update #2: Deleting Posts is done!  Working on categories now.

Update #3 - 6/15: Categories are all working now.  Onto gathering all posts next.

Update #4 - 6/15: Get all posts now works also.  I'm not sure themes will ever work but we will see what happens.

I'm going to try to start responding on a weekly basis to the absolute insanity that is making it ways into the paper and onto the blogs.  I have one goal in life and that is to make sure that my kids have a better education than I did.  We all know that it starts at home but a big part of that is the quality and type of education that occurs at the school.  Without supporting our teachers and administrators nothing will ever change.  This doesn't mean we give them a blank check - all need to be held accountable in the process - and that includes holding parents responsible to. 

I have lots to say but little time in my crazy busy life to write it down but I'm going to be more focused and dedicated to writing.  So I'm going to start modest and try to fit three things into my writings - Debate, School and Work.  You may ask - why no family - I will from time to time but I for the most part live a pretty boring life.  So here goes for the first one:

Response To Todd/281 Exposed:

In a recent Sun Post article we got some interesting comments from Todd from Plymouth and reposted over at 281 Exposed. 

We heard for the longest time that Robbinsdale Area Schools needed money to reduce class size to enhance the learning experience. It's now apparent that Robbinsdale needed money to fund Stan Mack's "retirement" package.

Once again, even with the voter-approved levy, our students suffer. Money that should go into the system to improve student performance and graduation rates is only siphoned by the exiting superintendent.

I believe we need to hold the entire School Board accountable for wasting the levy funds on a false retirement. It's time for an across-the-board change of leadership for Robbinsdale Area Schools.

So our friend here is implying that the school board went and tried for a school referendum because they knew that Stan was about to retire and needed the extra money to help pay his severance.  So let's first try to even accept that notion as fact (and there is no way you can possibly accept that as fact).  Stan's payout represents 0.022% of the total budget for the school district.  And of the referendum money, it's a sheer fraction of the total amount levied for.

Now, could have the district done a better job of negotiating a contract a few years ago, sure they could have.  But they are tied by economics.  Where did those economics come from?  By the resolution of of a 2003 law that limited the cap that a school superintendent salary and benefits could not exceed 110% of the governors salary/benefits.  {At the time, our republican House and Governors office argued that the limited needed to be removed to make school districts act more like businesses.)  In the end now we have a broken system that has created an arms-race with school superintendents salary and benefits.  If only there were people arguing against such a crazy system back in the day and could have forecast the absolutely disarray the system would become because of removing such limits.  Instead of action, we now get complaints as people throw stones against the system they help create.  As we have now created our own mini system of the rich/poor gap as those salaries at the top continue to rise and the salaries of those at the bottom decline we are forced to make decisions of which program to cut or how many teachers to fire.

DJ

Although no one really reads my blog at times it a good therapy to simply write my thoughts down on major decisions.  So here goes - should I run for school board?

Reasons Yes

• There are going to be some people running for school board with the sole intention of killing the referendum renewal.  Remember, the board has to authorize the referendum monies each year and if all four open seats went to those not interested in renewing that - we would have some serious problems.
• Big decisions are on the horizon and I think I would do good to help out.
• I think I could do a really good job and I think I would have some support
• My kids are in the district for some time and I want to see some improvements

Reasons No

• Family - I already don't see them enough and this would be yet another reason I wouldn't see them
• Debate - could I still do it?
• Work - Busy now, what will this commitment do to it

That is the start of my thoughts on if I should run or not.  I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons I'm not thinking of yet and they will come to me.  So best to keep up the good fight.

So it's been one full day since moving my primary machine from Vista to Windows 7.  All and all it's been a great experience. 

So I've been quiet on the blog front for the past two weeks.  Some might wonder what is up - did he give up on the regular blog posting again - but no, I am just busy and trying to make the blog work for me.  So as some know I run a little business on the side called GCM Total Solutions.  We make web applications - this web site is an example of one.

So for the past couple of weeks I've been putting the final touches on an updated version of our membership management tool.  It looks really great and does all sorts of neat new features.  So I'm really excited.  So the next step was to start looking at the management of the web sites and if we wanted to rewrite those, change completely, etc, etc.  There are some things I really like about this current web site and others that I do not.  There has been a push recently to maybe move to DotNetNuke - seems like a 800 pound hammer to me.

But what wanted to comment on is Microsoft's new LiveWriter software.  For those who are not familiar you can head over to Microsoft's web page and check it out.  But basically it is an offline blog writing software.  Pretty fancy stuff.

So I wondered, can I make this work with my web site.  So I started digging into it and found the LiveWriter API's on the CodePlex page.  Long story short, I made them work with my site and now we can blog news items directly to the web site.  Some things are missing, I still need to add auto upload of images and a few other items - but all and all this is some really killer technology at my fingertips.

So I'm guessing we will stay with what we have.  Unless I find an amazing way to import all of the data from my web site, message boards, etc, etc into a new system I think I'm pretty much stuck where we are.

So now I'm just going to try a few things to see if they work.so everything below this line is simply testing:

Insert Virtual Earth Maps - New Twins Ball Park

(removed - need to get picture posting working.sigh.)

Code Plug-in

   1:  public void getinfo()

   2:  {

   3:     string sString = "This is pretty cool!";

   4:  }

And that is just a start.  More blog posts coming now that I can do them offline.

In what was a very quiet release that no one knew was coming (from the lack of rumor sites following it - too focused on new iMac's) Safari 4 has hit the streets.  And now this release of Safari is better then before, not perfect but getting closer.  So I wanted to do a quick review and I also wanted to answer some of the critics, in particular Mr. Paul Thurrott who I've been reading his pages for years and decided it's time to start answering some of his claims.

What's New

In typical Apple fashion they are announcing some crazy number of features.  At the bottom you can see all 150 features of Safari.  First off, Apple is not claiming 150 new features, just that their browser has 150 features which is great marketigng but pretty stupid overall.  So what is new:

Tabs: Apple has moved the tabs to the top of the browser like Google has done with Chrome.  Now I have been a heavy Firefox user for years now and I have felt it was a great browser but I loved the move of the tabs to the top of the screen because I also thought it made more sense.  I found Chrome to be a little too unpolished in spots for me - it is very beta - so I've been sticking with Firefox but Apple does the tabs really well on top.  

What don't I like about them?  The tabs can be moved from one spot - makes sense - you need to be able to move windows around so you need to have somewhere to grab.  The problem is they are using the icon that has historically been the resize window icon in the Mac OSX days for years.  For a Windows only person this may not be an issue but for someone who has spent a great deal of time on OSX it might seem a little strange.  My only other complaint is something I have loved for years in Firefox (that IE7 and 8 still are missing) and that was the ability to close tabs without them be active.  Hover over a disabled tab and the close button appears.  For Safari, I'm scared I might accidently close a tab when I trying to move the window.

Thurrott and others have complained that the peak-through of Vista and 7 make this unusable on a PC.  This just doesn't make any sense or hold any water.  Maybe under extreme situations depending on what the background is but take a look at my "orange mountain" background.  Notice, the the title has an outer glow making it extremely easy to see what the tab actually is.  Even the example Thurrott gives on his webpage of this problem is easy to read.  And I would argue if this was true for Safari then it's true for every application.  How about Office 2007 Quick Launch bar?

Top Sites: Is a fancy way to display all of the recent websites.  This is an extension of what IE 7 did years ago, what Google repeated and now Apple has done the same thing.  The only difference is that they decided to put the entire thing on a curved window.  Now what is cool is you can edit these and pin them like you can documents in the office button in Office 2007, so for some users this will have a familiar feel to it.

Some have complained that this is simply eye-candy and serves no purpose.  Which I respond, sure it's eye candy, but isn't just about everything on the computer.  Can someone really tell me I need fancy 3-D cube effects when I change screens or that my Vista machine needs to have an "peak-through" title bar.  I mean, do you feel more productive now in Vista vs XP because the title bar is transparent in Vista?  I cannot think of a single time that has increased my productivity.  It gives it a cool effect but that is all.  That is the same thing for Safari.

Cover Flow and Search: Now I'll admit, I was taken back when I saw cover flow for the first time in iTunes.  I said, that is really cool, but I've never actually used it.  On my iPhone, I use it to demo to people and who them how cool the iPhone is but I've never actually used it for any meaningful purpose.  The OSX finder has it built in.  Again, wow that is fancy I can whip through a bunch of documents and useful if I'm looking for a particular document by view.  But here is Safari it actually makes more sense to me.  Now others have called it "the most recent and most egregious use of Apple's Cover Flow display."  And for them, they simply are not thinking about how to use the feature.

I like you may have hundreds or thousands of pages in your history.  And you may not for the life of you remember what the page was called but what you do remember is what the website looked like.  Typically a search through your history is a painful as you try page after page trying to find that one article you were reading before.  Cover flow search allows you to quickly find a page by look.  The search feature has also been improved to keep more information in the cache so searching through history using the old fashion "enter text" method will get you much more results that are closer to what you were looking for.

Other Features: There are a bunch of other features including address searching, phishing tools and a bunch more but the real winner is the developer tools and the web inspector.  For anyone who builds webpages for a living should take a look at this tool.  I'll go more in-depth on this a later time but know that you can enable the developer menu from the preferences and from there you can see how your web page is rendered by time, script and even turn off items from your stylesheet one element at a time for testing.  This thing might be the best kept secret of Safari 4.  More on this later

Closing Thoughts: So others might dismiss this browser because it's not Firefox or IE on Windows but I seriously suggest people take the time to check it out and see if they like it.  The tabs is what is going to turn people on/off and not because they are transparent just if they can get used to them on the top (same problem for our Chrome friends).  If you are a web developer you should have this on your computer anyways because you should be testing across all platforms but the web inspector is fantastic!  There are paid tools that don't do as much as this does.

 The district overall does a poor job in long-term planning and working on fixing the issues presented to it. Here is my small list of problems and possible solutions/thoughts to those issues. 1. Declining Performance - Overall the district has done very little to dramatically improve the performance of students of color and poverty. In response to the growing challenges with students the district has responded by pushing more challenging classes (All IB at SMS) and cutting support staff needed to reach to students. One of things the district could look at is implementing later school start times like both the Minneapolis and Edina School district has done with high school students. When asked about the possibility of later school times, Mr. Mack dismissed the idea during a board meeting. http://cehd.umn.edu/Pubs/ResearchWorks/sleep.html There are several other areas the district administration could look for proven performance benefits by looking at mandatory school uniforms, block scheduling and other successful tasks taken by other districts. However, it should be noted that not all schools are made the same and that leads me to point #2. 2. Don't treat each school equally - Over the past six years Mr. Mack has gone out of his way to make sure each school is treated exactly the same and more importantly is run exactly the same. However, experience and results should show that this isn't the best approach to take in a culturally diverse district like Robbinsdale. To assume Cooper and Armstrong are the same school and should be run the same is simply wrong. Schools should be allowed to enact policies that will help each school. If Cooper found that school uniforms would best help the students there and not at Armstrong there should not be administrative hesitation simply because one school doesn't want to do it (realistically, uniforms would be good in both schools). 3. Poor planning - The district has done very little over the past 10 years to make anyone confident in their ability to plan for the future events. Understandably things change over time but even the most near-future events are not planned for. Some examples of poor planning from the district: a. Failed Referendum Planning - The district knew it was going to be faced with difficult decisions if the referendum were to fail but did absolutely no forward planning. This can be seen by the numerous and nearly 20 different proposals put together by the district administration. However, it should be noted that this poor planning cannot solely be planned on the district administration, the school board is equally guilty by not holding the administration responsible for the planning process. This lack of planning most likely contributed to the failure of the referendum ultimately and will continue to harm the district. b. Board not willing to take the hard decision - Every once in a while the board need to realize that they took this job not to make everyone happy but instead to ensure that the students are best protected. This doesn't mean to only look out for the needs of school their child is currently enrolled at but instead for every student in the district. c. Debt services - The district faced a difficult question several years ago. Instead of asking the public for help in renovation of buildings the district opted to bonding instead. This has from 2003 to 2007 increased the districts interest charges from 5.1 million per year to over 11 million per year. This number will continue to raise of the next few years because of new renovation in the district. This gap of nearly 6 million dollars is nearly the same amount as the district now faces as budget problems continue. d. Poor internal structure - The district continues to make public relations blunder and blunder from months leading up to the referendum to today. The district in a 6 month span decided to increase administrative support by creating new assistant-superintend positions, expand oversight of the special education department to two people and other administrative changes. According to the posted budget information the district has gone from 4.3 million in administrative costs in 2002 to 5.4 million. Let the district has a decline of 7% over the same time period. Yet the district continues to make claims about decreasing administrative costs of the year. Granted, some of these additional cost of administration is due to retaining senior admin staff, increased costs, etc. However, this does not example a 1.1 million increase. Additionally over the years the district has gone to paying administrative bonus (superintendent - 8,000 per year, exec. directory's - 6,000 per year, principals - 4,500 per year). All bonuses going to employees who already receive full benefits and over 100k salaries.

So I have tried to create blog's in the past and have never really done a good job of keeping up on the blog.  But this time its going to be different.  So what should everyone expect on this blog?  There are a bunch of things that happen in my life that should be interesting to some people on this wondering planet.  So here is the small list of items you should see posts about.  No particular order:

My Family - There will be some posts about my wondering wife Sarah, children Bethany and Connor.

Microsoft - I happen to work at Convergent Solutions Group, who is a Microsoft Gold Partner where we specialize in Microsoft Unified Communications.  So we do a ton of work with Microsoft, UM and phone integration.  We also do a great deal of Novell to Microsoft "flips".  I am a MCP and nearing finishing my MCSE.

VMware - Simply the best virtualization software that exists right now.  If you are not familiar with VMware and you are in IT you have been living under a rock.  Being a VCP (VMware Certified Professional) I deal with some crazy VMware stuff on a daily basis but love everything this product can do.

GCM - Its a little company I started with a friend that focuses on building great web-based tools for golf leagues and clubs.  We are trying to expand what we do.  Everything you are reading on this blog for instance was created in our flagship product Web Manager.

Golf - I love to play golf.  Most likely not a bunch of stuff to post about it but I will here and there.

Debate - In my free time I coach debate at Robbinsdale Cooper High School.  Over the past couple of years we have been incredibly successful at local and national tournaments.  Later this June I'll be flying to Las Vegas for the 2008 National Debate Tournament.

So if you like something on the site let me know.  If you have a question feel free to post it.  I'm going to make sure that I post on a fairly regular basis.  If I just make it a habit than I will stick with it.

DJ