Out Of Pocket

According to a Seattle Times article, teachers spend “an average of $751 a year on classroom materials above what they are reimbursed from their districts.” Some teachers reported spending as much as $3,000 out of their own pockets for school supplies.

Wow! What else is there to say about a group of professionals who pay for supplies–supplies they should be provided–from their own bank accounts in a time of recession and frozen salaries?

I do use my own money for supplies and treats on occasion but nowhere near the $3,ooo reported in the article. I can claim maybe $500 or so; plus, my wife probably purchases the same amount, maybe a bit more. I guess when looking at the amount of money in total, it is quite a chunk of change.

How much do you spend out of pocket for students’ supplies?

Dropouts Are Expensive

The high school dropout rate is an issue of national concern, but now a study reveals how expensive those dropouts really are. According to an Education Week article:

If half the students who dropped out of the class of 2008 had graduated, they would have generated $4.1 billion more in wages and $536 million in state and local taxes nationally in one average year of their working lives, according to a new analysis.

Dropouts obviously make less money than diploma-earners and pay fewer taxes into the system, but my larger worry is how those in charge go about reducing the dropout rate. I know I get a lot of pressure to “pass” kids or to “make sure” a provide “deals” to help with the graduation rate in my school.

A discussion about dropout rates without including student capacity in the conversation misses the point of why a diploma is ultimately important.

In the past I have asked “what is an acceptable graduation rate?” and wondered if multiple types of diplomas would help address concerns in education. I don’t believe a diploma should be a guarantee; it should be earned, but I am also beginning to believe that four years progress from entry could suffice.

Thanksgiving Laughs

I’m off to visit the family, so some fun Thanksgiving cartoons are in order: here and here and here and here and here and here.

I hope you have safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving!

One Bar For All?

I continue to read about the need for “higher standards” and “reform” and more “science and math,” and I wonder if we’re just going about all of this the wrong way. As someone who has never used anything beyond geometry, I ponder why we make every student reach the same standard before graduation. And really, we don’t anyway.

In English kids start at all different levels in high school: ELL, Transitional, or 9th grade. All we ask of those students is four years progress. Why is it different with science and math?

I’m not saying we should fail the students or lower expectations, but I know quite a number of students who will never reach Algebra II/Trigonometry levels before finishing high school. Yet, that’s one proposed solution to not passing the Math WASL or just to receive a diploma.

How about this instead? How about pushing kids into the most challenging math and science curricula who show aptitudes in math or science and helping the rest progress as far as they can? Of the 600 Freshmen who enter my high school each year, only 80-100 take AP English or College in the High School, but we seem to be pushing kids entering high school (who are far below grade level in math and science) to all begin and end at the same levels in math and science.

What ever happened to pathways? When I was in school we had plans set up to help us choose classes most appropriate for our future plans. I chose a college path, my best friend chose a trade school path, and my neighbor chose an apprenticeship path; others went into the military or straight to work.

People like to say we’re falling behind in math and science. Are we really failing the kids and the country? The kid who struggles in Algebra I is most likely not the next world changing engineer, and the kid who can’t figure out molarity or density isn’t doomed to fail his future family or his community.

Many students perform quite well in those arenas. I watch our AP Calculus, AP Stats, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics classes maintain their numbers quite easily. The students’ scores in these classes look good too.

Maybe my ignorance is showing, but I’m just not seeing the crisis. The business world wants more math and science, but I don’t see those as their principle problems. Greed and deceit seem to be the business world’s biggest difficulties more than a lack of science and math students.

Shocking Statistic

On a Seattle Education blog, I read that in the 1950s corporations paid 80% of taxes, but now they pay 12-15%, which of course means the middle class has picked up this burden. If these statistics are correct, it sure seems to indicate that tax breaks to corporations could be more harm than help in the long run.

At the same time, CEOs went from making 30 times the average worker to 340 times the average worker. The trickle down economics model has not worked for many, including schools. Money is traveling upward into fewer and fewer hands while schools are struggling to make ends meet. Budget cuts in my school have resulted in classes at the contractural upper limits in my department; we have no room for new students without violating the contract.

Now, we hear it’s going to get worse. Washington State is looking at a $2.4 billion deficit after the previous $9 billion. Everyone with whom I speak in my district feels to think that the cuts will begin with health care and education again.

I don’t know what will happen, but more cuts will result in the loss of jobs. Revenue is not increasing around the state, so either more cuts or tax increases must occur.

My state’s tax structure and education funding model will probably have to change before any positive headway is made, and I have no idea when that will happen. If ever.