The Budget Blues

Ah, it’s that wonderful time of the year when birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, and nothing can be agreed upon in our school systems budget…

Today, I sat in a meeting with our principal as he was trying to be transparent about where our budget was going for the next school year, and it’s just downright frustrating!

The state hasn’t had their budget approved, which means the city hasn’t had their budget approved, which means the school district hasn’t had their budget approved, which leaves me wondering at this table…”Why are we crunching imaginary numbers based on no factual fiscal information?” Anyways, I digress.

In Baltimore County, County Executive created a budget with no tax increases for fiscal year 2013. At the core of his budget proposal was public education and public safety. Currently, in Towson, there is great overcrowding down the York Road corridor. Therefore, by renovating schools and adding more seats in up to date classrooms, 1,100 more students will be placed in a first rate building. This systemic overcrowding could only be solved by adding more seats. In addition, 10 county schools would be adding air conditioning. Finally, 124 teaching positions would be added for all the incoming 1,100 students, and 50 non-classroom positions would be eliminated.

So, what does this mean for Baltimore City? I believe Baltimore City should take note of the renovation efforts being made by Baltimore County. A warm environment with a functional building is essential for a happy school experience. No child wants to go to a school where asbestos is present or there are window that are cracked. That devalues the importance of education. A student should be comfortable in their classroom as well as the teacher. A happy environment provides the groundwork for a safe and comfortable zone where teachers and students can learn and grow.

Link:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/baltimorecounty/ph-tt-budget-briefing-0418-20120411,0,4310296,full.story

Dropout Law

The Maryland General Assembly is considering passing a law that will raise the dropout age to 18. President Obama has made it clear that there is a national concern about the high dropout rates for high school students. The Baltimore Sun recently wrote an article explaining the pros and the cons about the law. It is obvious by the information in the article that bill will pass despite its many negative effects on education. Requiring students to remain in school until the age of eighteen will cost the state about 54 million dollars per year. The law does not take this into consideration because it has no mention of additional money being added to the yearly education budget. Also, another concern which lawmakers have ignored is the amount of problems that this will cause classroom teachers. Students who are forced to sit in school will be a major disruption to the other students.

Honestly, this law will be about effective as putting a band aid on a bullet wound. Times have changed but the idea of school has remained the same. The time has come for not just individual schools, but the idea of school to be reformed. There should be serious discussions between parents, teachers, and administration about the purpose and expected outcomes of school. After decisions have been made, policies should be put in effect to slowly transform modern day schools into schools of the future.

As a current teacher of over aged student, I am confident that raising the dropout age will have minimal effect on the dropout rate and graduation rate. Students view school as a tumultuous, disadvantageous job that yields no paycheck. School should prepare students for post-secondary life whether a student chooses the college or vocational route. When students have an invested interest in what they are learning and can clearly see the connection between their classroom lessons and potential problems in their real life situations, then the dropout rate will decrease. Math teachers are encouraged to include real life applications in their lesson but students very rarely see the relevance of those problems. A student who aspires to be a barber does not care about how an engineer uses trigonometry but would be more interested in learning business math. Every aspect of school needs to be reformed, even the curriculum.

The DOOMSDAY BUDGET

I recently read an article addressing the approaching “Maryland Doomsday Budget” which if passed would require $512 million worth of budget cuts to schools and state programs.  Granted, this large amount of money would be detrimental to many programs that are present and quite possibly effective.  But just for kicks, I feel that it would be interesting to play devils advocate to this issue. 

I am most curious as to how effective the district’s spending has been in the past years.  With evidence of misspending surfacing, (such as the $14 million in overtime spending to city schools employees, $154 thousand of which went to Dr. Alonso’s PRIVATE DRIVER), could a budget cut of this magnitude force the district to refine its spending?  Furthermore, with the control of individual school budgets being in the hands of principals who may not have any background in business or financial education, are the individual school budgets subject to misspending as well?  I routinely am reminded of this as I enter my school that has invested thousands of dollars in SmartBoard technology which, with the exception of a few teachers, is vastly under-utilized.  How many more “resources” has this district invested in which are either not used, or do not improve the quality of education for our students?

I would be curious to see Baltimore City School’s contingency plan addressing the fact that this budget cut may be passed.  Would they search to remove frivolous spending? (*cough *cough A private driver for our fearless superintendent?) Or would the cuts truly effect the quality of education in this district?

City schools will have to shed more than 100 international teachers

Dr. Alonso took a bold move when he hired over a hundred Filipino teachers a few years back as part of a cultural learning opportunity. However, at a meeting yesterday at Poly, Dr. Alonso informed over 100 international teachers that they needed permanent residency or risk losing their jobs. The district (BCPS) could not sponsor 46 international teachers. This was the result of a market-test that showed that there was a surplus of American certified teachers who could fill the spots held by Filipino teachers.

The article in the Baltimore Sun further noted that according to US Labor Law, districts could only hire foreign teachers with a work visas for positions unable to be filled by American workers. This law therefore makes the current situation change since American workers are able and ready to take those positions held by Filipino teachers. Dr. Alonso said that he wants to keep the teachers, but that pursuant to labor laws, he must act. The next market data test will take place every September from 2014 to 2017.

The recent article on this fiasco is definitely important to school reform. We all know that teacher vacancies and teacher retention is tough in the US educational system. Furthermore, what we see is that districts are forced to use different formulas to ensure students receive their education. I have witnessed how Filipino teachers in schools is a common phenomenon in Baltimore. However, I can see why the district chose this route. Filipino teachers also pose some issues such as a lack of cultural connection with students and language barriers. This is not to say that they are not compatible for our students; but it does shed light as to whether they are effective. I have students who have had Filipino teachers and they have cited an inability to connect or understand their teachers. We know that if students are not invested or build a relationship with the teacher, then academic and behavior concerns arise. I wonder what would be the ripple effect on all the schools and as budget concerns continue to plague us what will happen to other teachers in alternative programs.

Link:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/blog/bal-job-market-test-finds-limited-positions-in-city-schools-for-international-teachers-20120411,0,1807229.story?track=rss

Maryland’s Service Learning Requirement: Good for Seniors?

Last week, the Washington Post published an article about Maryland’s mandate for all graduating seniors to complete 75 service learning hours. Of 35 states with policies on service learning, Maryland is the only state that requires service for graduation. Not surprisingly, many seniors put off this requirement until spring break of their senior year, leaving many in a last-minute rush to complete the hours. As a teacher in Baltimore City, I have also seen the spring break rush first-hand.

The larger question raised in this article is whether Maryland ought to have a service learning requirement. The intent of this requirement is to encourage students to gain experiential learning through community organizations. However, when students wait until the last minute to complete their service learning, the possibility of having a meaningful experience diminishes. Because of the rush of students during spring break, many charities and community organizations cannot accommodate the sheer number of students who want to volunteer.

Although Maryland could force students to spread out their 75 hours over a few semesters or even years, I think this would be far too difficult to monitor and enforce. Instead, I think teachers should infuse service learning into the high school curriculum. This way, service learning is not just a requirement that seniors must complete for a diploma, but a relevant learning experience.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/spring-break-for-seniors-community-service/2012/03/14/gIQAsfpqWS_story.html