Words of caution to Kansas school districts planning bond issues: Don’t make Hutchinson’s mistake. As the Hutchinson News editorialized, USD 308’s $78.8 million bond issue, passed in 2006, only factored in a 4 percent inflation rate: “What wasn’t considered, and understandably so, was the volatile market two years later, when many of the projects were put out for bids. As a result, projects are coming in so high over projected costs that the school district will face some tough choices: either sacrifice quality or quantity.”
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Wichita school board meeting tonight at 6 p.m. at North High School, 1437 Rochester. A report from Citizens Alliance for Responsible Education is slated for about 6:45 p.m. This report will discuss the upcoming (and perhaps updated!) school bond proposal. Two important issues — our schools and taxes!
what people really need to learn from this is to vote FOR these things when our economy is halfway decent so that you won’t have to try to fix what is broken when the times are extremely lean.
When the schools have all the money they need and the Air Force has to have a bake sale to buy a bomber?
THEN we will begin to have a country worthy of defending.
(say it aint so!!)
Big change for welfarist Sweden: School choice
STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Schools run by private enterprise? Free iPods and laptop computers to attract students?
It may sound out of place in Sweden, that paragon of taxpayer-funded cradle-to-grave welfare. But a sweeping reform of the school system has survived the critics and 16 years later is spreading and attracting interest abroad.
“I think most people, parents and children, appreciate the choice,” said Bertil Ostberg, from the Ministry of Education. “You can decide what school you want to attend and that appeals to people.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080726/ap_on_re_eu/sweden_s_school_revolution
Unless (or until) our public schools realize they are mired in an administrative quaqmire that keeps them too inflexible to most effectively teach our students, I see a revolution in the future of education in America.
School vouchers and home schooling began as an idea supported by religious fundamentalists who wanted to teach the Bible instead of fact-based curriculum. Today the dissatisfaction with public education is much more wide spread. I could see vouchers being accepted by more people today! Our schools are failing and parents are concerned.
No Child Left Behind is one area that ensures many children are left behind in our educational system. We must move back to respecting the professional in the classroom and stop restricting them from teaching. Make the schools and the classrooms smaller and the teacher / pupil ratio what studies show is optimum.
Just like BIG GOVERNMENT screws up much its involved with so has BIG ADMINISTRATION screwed up much in education.
Did you know that right here in Wichita we (the taxpayers!) pay hundreds of people who are certified teachers but have no classroom, no students, no responsibilities for teaching! Much of this groups time is spent attending meetings. IF any valuable info is presented at these meetings what do they do with it? It doesn’t impact students! Imagine if we took those people and actually had them help teach (you know like they’re paid to do)! Wouldn’t cost us a penny more ’cause they’re already paid teachers salaries, but would go far to actually impacting the education our students receive.
Somebody will come along and say there aren’t classrooms to put these hundreds of teachers who don’t teach into. How about if there are two or more teachers available for the classroom to ensure those who need extra time on a subject get it while others move on because they’ve grasped that concept? Flexibility that actually addresses the needs of individual students.
Set up an English as a second language school (or more if needed) to teach students of all ages to speak English before they move into age appropriate classes. This way they’re ready to learn and they don’t slow down every classroom in the entire school district.
Share athletic facilities. Make them fantastic but shared instead of duplicated at every school.
Who says BIG is better? Why don’t we look at one of USD’s most successful high school programs — Northeast Magnet and duplicate those kind of smaller programs? They could be housed in buildings that are under utilized instead of building more gigantic high schools.
rant/ boy, I do get worked up over this subject of education…
C.A.R.E. recommended the board pass a resolution for a $350 million dollar school bond issue to be on the ballot November 4, 2008. The school board will take action on that recommendation at their Aug. 11th meeting.
The recommendation removed $27 million from their original plan AND added $27 million that wasn’t in the original plan — a wash.
Removed 4 high school swim pools, a number of high school tennis courts, 7 high school baseball / softball upgrades, middle schools tracks.
Added tech upgrades at 7 high schools, a magnet high school tech ed program and $10 million for construction inflation.
The recommendation was much like the political campaigns we’ve all been watching — very short on details.
My biggest disappointment was in learning the strong driving force business had on the recommendations. I sincerely don’t approve of my tax money for public education going to train workers for aircraft plants. And didn’t we taxpayers just get stuck with a large cost for the WATC near Jabara airport? So now our public schools also train workers for the aircraft plants? Sad, really sad!
A good quality education sacrificed so great emphasis can be on training workers for aircraft plants.
I will personally fight hard to see that this bond issue doesn’t pass!
Oh, they made statements about how one of their greatest priorities was to decrease class size. Nothing they said tonight supported that contention.
“Far over all rule and authority and power and every name which is named, not only in the present order, but in that which is to come:” (Ephesians, 1, 21)…