Focus

Clarity through Focus Groups (part 1)

Yolanda Wheelington Assessment, Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Professional Development, Social Issues, Teacher Leadership, Uncategorized

Focus group questions projected on the Smartboard?   Check. Handouts with the questions so the teachers can follow along?    Check. The Asian food I had ordered for our group was out and other snacks are ready to be eaten. Clean tables

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Do We Really Need 200 School Districts? Stories from School Blogger Beth Maloney recently wrote the article The Problem with Teacher Pay in Arizona and One Possible Solution . This interesting piece proposes that a statewide salary schedule will equalize pay for teachers while considering qualifications and experience. It is also a way to secure teacher retention. I am in agreement with Maloney that this is something worth serious consideration. Her article made me think about my early years as a teacher. I came into this field as a second career. I was advised to shop around before signing a contract because a neighboring district could pay a good deal more or less than the one I just interviewed with. I did not understand this. I grew up on the east coast and attended the Prince George's County School District. Although my schools were spaced far apart, they were all housed under the same framework. I was shocked to learn that here in AZ, there are districts across the street from each other. In addition to this, each district had its own pay schedule and administrative staff from Superintendent on down. I remember thinking how wasteful this seemed. How different could these families, students, teachers, and communities be to justify this type of cost? Especially when it comes to administration. Based on the answers I received and my research, I learned that that having multiple districts allow for local control which supports autonomy. As a teacher, I fully understand that. Yet, when funding is a major contributor to Arizona's current education crisis, I wonder if this level of independence is something that we can afford. How much of our education budget is actually hitting the classroom? According to the report on Arizona's school district spending for Fiscal Year 2016 , Arizona spends 53.5% of our education budget on instruction. This is 7.3% less than the national average. At 10.4%, we are below the national average for administrative spending by .5%. In addition to this, we spend more on everything else in the budget (plant operations, food services, transportation, student support, and instruction support). These areas have a direct impact on the classroom but are not linked under instruction. Grouping student and instructional support with instruction would boost our cost per student to 67.4%, but still leaves us behind the national average by 3.8%. These numbers make me wonder if there is still room to crunch down the administrative overhead of our education system. Regardless of the national average, decreasing the number of districts would: • decrease the administrative budget • free up funds for direct instruction costs • allow resources to be shared without replication • support uninterrupted education and services to mobile families • provide continuity to teachers transitioning to other schools across the state • support retention of teachers that need to secure employment due to a change in location When coupled with a statewide salary schedule, this unification and commonality across the state would make an even stronger impact on education. I am proud of the recent teacher movements that are happening across the nation. I also support our #REDFORED movement here in Arizona. In addition to self-advocacy, it is important to take fiscal responsibility and be creative with resources currently available. Especially when asking for more can easily equate to an increase in taxes. So, again I ask if it is in our best interest to continue to fund the 200+ school districts here in Arizona or should we find a way to collaborate? Additional resources to chew on: Can Arizona Afford 217 School Districts? Education Spending Per Student by State Total School Districts, Student Enrollment by State and Metro Area photo credit: wuestenigelWoman's finger pointing at Bucharest City Map via photopin (license)

Do We Really Need 200 School Districts?

Yolanda Wheelington Assessment, Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Professional Development, Social Issues, Teacher Leadership, Uncategorized

Stories from School Blogger Beth Maloney recently wrote the article The Problem with Teacher Pay in Arizona and One Possible Solution .  This interesting piece proposes that a statewide salary schedule will equalize pay for teachers while considering qualifications and

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The Problem with Teacher Pay in Arizona and One Possible Solution

Beth Maloney Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Social Issues, Uncategorized

The Problem with Teacher Pay: As a beginning teacher, I knew I would start out with a modest salary, but with increases in experience and education, I expected to move up the salary schedule and eventually achieve a comfortable middle-class

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Must Like Kids

Beth Maloney Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Mentoring, Professional Development, Uncategorized

You may have heard that 70-80% of new restaurants fail within the first year.  As it turns out, that often cited statistic is exaggerated: the actual figure is 17%, according to Forbes.  It turns out the chance of success is

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