Posts Tagged ‘minneapolis school district’
What happens if the school funding referendum this election Minneapolis? What happens is asked voters to approve it next year in November 2009 (during the vote in Minneapolis municipal elections). The Minneapolis School Board and supporters of the referendum have noted that if the referendum will not happen this year, nothing bad. This referendum will not affect the financing of the school in Minneapolis, this year (2008-2009) year, or next year (2009-2010 school year). It only affects the school funding begins in 2010-2011.
Why should people, children and Minneapolis public schools to support NO on the referendum this year? Because they believe that the children of Minneapolis deserve better than the current proposal of the referendum. The current referendum is flawed and incomplete. Together for the Minneapolis School Board, school administrators and teachers union can do much better and should do for Minneapolis school, then the current referendum proposal. The district has a lot more about the specific measures it measures to achieve goals I agree take place, is. Below are the things that I want to know, and I think all voters should know before we made for a referendum. Unfortunately, the only way this information for us to not vote this year. By voting No, we have a message to Minneapolis School Board, school administrators and teachers union, that they can do much better than the current proposal for the Minneapolis School Referendum.
Enrolment Decline
Minneapolis parents to accept their children, their children from the Minneapolis School District and sending them to the suburbs. This is one of the main causes for the decline in enrollment in the Minneapolis School District. He says 10 times more about the Minneapolis school district than all the speeches, reports, editorials and commercials in TV and radio, etc. combined. If you do not know the voters, the specific steps that the School District to take to reverse this trend will increase only after approval of a $ 60,000,000 tax?
School closures
The school board and administration will announce what school they intend to close in February or March 2009th I want an aggressive school closures plan, because my tax money to pay goes to teacher salaries and not for heat, light, and especially for maintenance and repair of buildings that are older than 50 years old, including some from the 1920s. Others may want to keep neighborhood schools open, especially in the vicinity of schools. Some people were against the referendum, if they knew that their neighborhood would be elementary, middle and / or secondary schools closed. We, the voters, and especially the parents know which schools to close the district plans before we deserve to us on the referendum fails. Unfortunately, the NO vote in this year, the school district so we plan to vote in next year before we do conclude is.
Black White Achievement Gap
Reach the gap between black students and white students in Minneapolis public schools is one of the worst in the entire United States – is worse than schools in Alabama or Mississippi. The achievement gap has not really changed since it was first identified.
The Minneapolis school board, administration and teachers union say they want to close the achievement gap between black students and white students. The district had to do what is necessary to remove the black-white achievement gap? Or plan a few simple and / or what is not controversial? As simple steps to reduce the gap would have been abolished years ago. The only way to know the level of commitment is the specific action steps the school administration and management know will work on behalf of the black and white student achievement gap. But the area is not with the voters, what concrete measures to share the achievement gap. I want to know, and I think all voters, parents, and especially black parents deserve to know if the school management and administration willing to “make fire”, the unpopular and / or controversial changes require that the closure is black and White student achievement gap, before approving a $ 60,000,000 no referendum after the approval of the referendum.
Staff-teacher ratio
A few years ago, shows a study from California, California public schools, every teacher had a school employee. The California religious schools had a staff of six teachers. Obviously, a much higher percentage of the proceeds went to the teacher recruitment church schools than in public schools. What is the staff-teacher ratio in the Minneapolis public schools? You know, because I do not know? Should not the voters know the staff / teacher ratio does not agree to a $ 60,000,000 tax increase after the approval of a tax increase?
Union Contract
The current contract with the Minneapolis School Board and Teachers Union severely limits administrative capacity and flexibility of staff changes in student performance. The current Union contract is to protect established seniority system. Teacher Associations (which they just might be the theme and the location of the school to teach, etc.) are on seniority, experience in a particular subject or grade, interest in the subject or specific grade, etc.
In the economy as a company has problems with the quality and / or low productivity on a given plant, they send their least experienced managers and / or implementation of the poorest managers in the factory? NO! The company sends its best, most experienced managers “around” underperforming turn work. The current contract forces the Union district at least one of the newest and most experienced teachers in schools with the power to send. The current contract is not high among the teachers assigned to the seniority list of poorly performing schools as a badge of honor to be seen.
The Union will prevent the contract from the District show payment of a premium, the best teachers, their students, the biggest improvement on the test results. Should not the teachers who are extraordinary, paid more than poor teachers? The current contract is not possible to pay based on merit.
The current contract also prevents the union from holding teachers accountable District in their students are performing poorly. As a teacher, students perform poorly on standardized tests a year which is a concern. As a teacher, students perform poorly on standardized tests five years in a row, this is a problem. Teachers who consistently worse, what will cause problems for the teacher that these students the following year. Qualified teachers, the students get with a poor performance of teachers to duplicate work on current class to learn prior learning plus grade, which would enable students to learn not because of poor performance of teachers. Good teachers should work, because they matter, two of the students learning at grade level care back. Is this fair to students and good teachers? Teacher performance should be addressed, such as additional training, coaching for successful teachers, etc. If it does not improve a bad teacher, after a reasonable time to improve, so that should be good teachers for students and teachers will be terminated.
The vast majority of teachers high on the list of seniority, work hard for good teachers. But there are a few bad apples who work or just in their time until they stop going into retirement. The Slackers know that they will never ever set off because of her seniority. The school district needs a union contract, which can give them the few bad apples for good students and teachers to be dismissed.
There are a number of experienced teachers who have given up on the black students. They feel no personal responsibility for the extra mile for black students, to help catch behind. They feel a personal responsibility to fail than black students. The school district has a contract that allows the teachers union, which until the black students for students and good teachers to dismiss.
The Minneapolis school district has the leverage of th
e passage of the school referendum on a more flexible and student friendly contact to negotiate with the union of teachers. After the referendum, what is the incentive for the EU changes to the current contract to negotiate? The voters deserve to know whether the Union on changes to the existing contract will be performance-based pay, performance-based dismissals and negotiate flexibility in teaching assignments prior to approval of a referendum, $ 60,000,000, not after its adoption.
These are the reasons why I for the Minneapolis school referendum vote by vote NO on the school this year. Children, parents and voters deserve more information and a better proposal than the current referendum. I hope, Minneapolis School Board, directors and teachers union Minneapolis voters and parents with the information we need to make an informed decision about the next year to vote YES.
A few years ago to dismiss Minneapolis school district decided on the number of teachers, even before the reduction of the administrative positions. For me, this decline is the first decisions about the number of administrative tasks before a teacher be fired into account.