Moscow Education (Idaho)

Via WorldNetDaily: to the familiar tune by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein

They have egos big and won't eat pig
And burkhas girls must wear
They kneel to pray five times a day
Their buttocks in the air
And underneath their white robes,
They have bomb-vests meant to scare.
I even heard they're moving to our country.

They're always being martyrs
But it only gets them dead
They're always pissed at everything
Except when lopping heads
I'm proud to get to say it
And I very firmly feel
Sharia's not an asset to our planet.

I'd like to say a word while I have time.
Sharia is a crime!

How do you solve a problem like Sharia?
How do you catch that thought and pin it down?
How do you stop a man who wants Sharia?
A Barrett 50 Cal! An M.L.R.S.! MOAB!

Many a thing you know you'd like to tell them
Many a thing they ought to understand
But how do you make them see,
That Freedom and Liberty,
They really are the best for all of man?

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Sharia?
Oh, please don't let this headache in your land!

When I read it I'm confused
Can't see how it is excused
I'll never understand about Islam.
Unpredictable as ever
Will you reform? No, we'll NEVER!
It's G*d damning! It's satanic! It's a sham!

They'll never give us rest
Put their babies in bomb-vests.
They would put a ticking time bomb in a school.
They aren't gentle! They're not fun!
Kill a Pontiff? Kill a nun!
You're a liberal? Think they'll stop?
You're a fool!

How do you solve a problem like Sharia?
How do you catch that thought and pin it down?
How do you stop a man who wants Sharia?
A Barrett 50 Cal! An M.L.R.S! MOAB!

Many a thing you know you'd like to tell them
Many a thing they ought to understand
But how do you make them see,
That Freedom and Liberty,
They really are the best for all of man?

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Sharia?
Oh, please don't let this headache in your land!

How things can change mightily in five years!  Not only do we have a better economy (regardless of the tripe that the liberals feed us otherwise), but we have a no-growth Moscow City Council.

Why would students want to come to Moscow when there is little part-time employment available?

As reported in today's edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The number of students at the University of Idaho this spring increased by 5.7 percent compared to a year ago. Graduate student enrollment increased by more than 5.2 percent. This is the fourth year in a row that overall spring numbers have increased.

From the University of Idaho’s Argonaut

Wednesday (31 January 2007), The Collegiate Reformed Fellowship Worldview Forum will be featuring Christ Church's response to the documentary "My Town." The forum will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the UI SUB Silver/Gold room.

At the end of the response, there will be time for an open mic question and answer session. All are welcome.

Why in the world does the Legislature think that if after all the math classes that students take that they cannot now pass the WASL, that by taking two more classes they are going to be more likely to pass?

Notice that the article says that “the system fails the student.” So their solution? Give two more math classes via the system.

Brilliant.  

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune (subscription required).

Legislators blame the education system for the number of students who have failed the math portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

With that in mind, lawmakers are considering legislation to give students the opportunity to take additional math credits to satisfy graduation requirements if they fail the standardized math test two or more times.

"The system fails the student," Rep. Dave Quall, D-Mount Vernon and chairman of the House Education Committee, said Tuesday during a hearing on the proposed bill.

Students starting with the class of 2008 are required to obtain a certificate of academic achievement to graduate from high school, which is given after meeting WASL standards for math, reading and writing.

The proposed alternative would allow students to graduate without the certificate if they take one or two additional math courses during their junior and senior years.

"We are all concerned about the fact that 43 percent of our kids still have to meet that standard," said Terry Bergeson, Washington superintendent of public instruction.

Cost may be part of the reason. But I attended a Junior College for two years. The best classroom teachers I had were at the Junior College. All of my other university professors were more interested in getting published and doing research than teaching. And (as a generalization) the tenured professors didn’t care if they taught well or not. What was the school going to do, fire them?

I would encourage my kids to go to LCSC for two years prior to going to UI, just to get the best two-year grounding at the best possible cost. See: Super-Cheap Accredited Colleges: $11/day (or Less).

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune (subscription required).

Enrollment at Lewis-Clark State College is up ever so slightly this spring semester.

Exactly one more student signed up for classes than a year ago, according to a head count on the 10th day of classes this week. And the 3,234 students are second only to the spring semester record of 3,246 set three years ago.

The count includes 356 students studying at LCSC-Coeur d'Alene.

Dean of Student Services Andy Hanson said more students seem to be continuing their education. "It does appear we had good fall to spring retention," Hanson said.

Numbers did decline from the fall 2006 semester, however, with 160 fewer students enrolled.

Still, a solid increase in part-time students helped bolster LCSC's head count, while other regional institutions have continued to lose students, he said.

…

Student numbers at Washington State University's Pullman campus and the University of Idaho took sharp hits this spring. WSU lost 406 students and the UI dropped 595 over the spring 2006 semester.

Hanson said part of the reason LCSC may be resisting that trend is cost. A year at one of Idaho's four-year universities costs about $4,200, while tuition at LCSC is about $300 cheaper. But Hanson said Idaho students will continue to struggle with paying for college, no matter which institution they choose.

OK, watch the Daily News’ spin on things.

As reported in today's edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

At the UI, spring enrollment at the Moscow campus hit 10,184, which is down slightly from the spring 2006 enrollment of 10,578. The total enrollment for UI hit 11,251, which is down from its spring 2006 total enrollment of 11,846 but higher than expected based on projections from its fall enrollment numbers.

Overall, UI’s enrollment changes led to an increase in the diversity of the student body. The number of Hispanic students increased by 3.8 percent, and the number of American Indian students increased by 4.5 percent. The number of black students increased by 4.6 percent.

OK, get your calculator out. Enrollment is down 3.9% from Spring 2006. UI went to battlestations when enrollment in Moscow was down 628 students (5.9%). Now that enrollment is down just 394 students (3.9%), it’s OK — they are releaved and reveling in their diversity numbers.

While UI may try to put a pretty face on things, this is just another sign of ugly times to come for Moscow.

How much of Moscow’s economy is driven by the University of Idaho?

How inflated are the wages in Moscow because of the University of Idaho’s presence? And what is the impact on Moscow’s economy is UI gets the flu?

7 Ways to cut college costs by 70% – 90%

Well worth watching!

The bleeding continues at the University of Idaho.

Enrollment is down ~6% from this time last year.

How much longer will the liberals keep their heads in the sand?

The university must play to its strengths, not to its politically correct weaknesses.

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune (subscription required).

The two land-grant universities on the Palouse have continued to bleed students, according to head counts on the 10th day of spring semester classes.

The University of Idaho lost 595 students statewide compared to spring semester last year. Washington State University lost 406 students from its Pullman campus over the same period.

But officials at UI chose to focus on new student numbers, with no mention of decreasing enrollment in a news release. New enrollees increased 12.5 percent among undergraduate students and 13.5 percent among graduate students, according to the news release.

UI officials were surprised by the bump in new students since overall numbers dropped almost 6 percent last fall. They blamed that drop on a strong job market that was luring people away from college, and the ever-increasing cost of higher education.

Check out the first ever EIA video. The first installment concerns the No Child Left Behind Act.

From EIA:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics completed its annual task of quantifying the decline of the labor movement. There were actually 326,000 fewer union members nationwide in 2006 than in 2005, despite an increase of 2,348,000 working Americans.

 

According to BLS, there are fewer than 15.4 million union members, or 12.0 percent of the U.S. workforce. Union membership among private sector employees dropped to 7.4 percent, which the New York Times reports is the lowest percentage since the early 1900s. It bears noting, however, that BLS does not count the self-employed in these statistics, and virtually all of these must be non-union.

 

The Small Business Administration estimates there were 19.8 million self-employed individuals with no employees in 2005, although about 30 percent of these are "moonlighters," holding a second job in which they would be counted in the BLS statistics. Even so, that would add nearly 14 million more non-union working Americans to the total labor force, reducing the union private sector saturation rate to below 6.6 percent.

 

There are now 8 million private sector union members and 7.4 million public sector union members. At the current rate, there will be more government union members than private sector union members before the end of the decade. [DMC: Why is that not a surprise?]

 

The unions would like to blame this on employer hostility and harassment, though the union movement was able to grow during the time of the Pinkertons and before the passage of the National Labor Relations Act. Unionization has declined under both political parties, during high employment and high unemployment, and despite unprecedented union political spending. The American private sector is clearly a post-union economy.

 

Regardless of the current policies or plans of today's national officers, NEA and AFT will face drastic change in their relationships with the broader labor movement in the years to come. EIA estimates that nearly one in every four union members in the United States belongs to either NEA or AFT, or both. Local government, which includes teachers, police officers and firefighters, has the highest unionization rate (41.9%), and its relative numbers compared to all other professions will only grow.

 

It's impossible to accurately predict how this will ultimately affect American politics, labor and education, but the 1950s union world of miners, dock workers and truck drivers is over, and it isn't coming back. Who in Big Labor is going the ride the new wave? 

From The Education Intelligence Agency.

The following article ran in today's Lewiston Tribune (subscription required).

The Kibbie Dome needs help.

Over the last three decades, building safety requirements have gradually passed by the University of Idaho's distinctive athletic facility, said UI Vice President for University Advancement Chris Murray.

"These are issues of code compliance," Murray said, noting the building was up to snuff when it was built in 1975. "The codes have evolved over time."

But bringing the dome and other campus facilities up to current standards takes money. Lots of it.

Earlier this week, UI President Tim White appealed to the Idaho Legislature's joint budget committee for help in bringing the dome into compliance and addressing other so-called "deferred maintenance" issues on campus. White told lawmakers back maintenance costs have ballooned to $207 million in recent years.

Murray and UI director of architectural services Ray Pankopf are awaiting the results of a study that will specifically identify which issues in the dome need to be addressed. The study's main goal is to examine the feasibility of building a new events pavilion, but it will also pinpoint the code issues the dome faces.

Pankopf said those issues are likely to focus on fire safety such as building exits, suppression systems and compartmentalization between the dome and the potential events pavilion. Other issues could also arise, he said.

Just how much the fixes will cost won't be known until UI officials can examine the study, Murray said, but they anticipate a bill of several million dollars.

The following story of interest was in today's Spokesman Review (subscription required).

The state Board of Education wants to require more math and science classes – and other tougher standards – before high school students can graduate. Community college expansion is a hot issue this year, with the Boise area pushing for its own campus. Education funding is the largest single piece of the state budget..

The House and Senate education committees voted overwhelmingly in favor of increased math and science requirements for high school graduation, proposed by the state Board of Education. Gov. Butch Otter, in his State of the State message, endorsed an interim committee's plan to reduce the supermajority needed to form a community college district from two-thirds to 60 percent, if the vote comes in a general election. Otter also proposed a $38 million endowment to provide $2 million a year in needs-based scholarships to Idaho college students, and North Idaho College President Michael Burke said more student aid is crucial to keeping students from being priced out of college education. Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna proposed a 7 percent state funding increase for public schools next year, including new funding for school supplies and textbooks but just 3 percent raises for teachers. He also called for creating an Indian education office without adding new positions in his office.

The Greater Moscow Alliance will sponsor a winter forum, “A Greater Moscow for the University of Idaho,” at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 2 at the Best Western University Inn.

At the forum, University of Idaho President Tim White and members of his administration will be joined by a local economic expert, students and members of the community to discuss the state of the university and ways for the university and the community to grow in mutually beneficial ways.

The program is free and open to the public. A buffet lunch will be available for $10 per person.

The luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. and the one-hour program begins at noon. Those who plan to eat are asked to RSVP at least two days prior by contacting Shelley Bennett at (208) 882-9500, ext. 11 or e-mail sbennett@moscow.com.

Here we go again.

For those of you interested in the existing bloat at the Moscow School District, I direct your attention to MoscowLevy.com . Check out the following:

• The Spending-Bloat at MSD
• MSD Administrative Bloat
• MSD: Bloated Costs and Poor Performance

But besides the irresponsible spending at MSD, this boils down to a question of funding source. Moscow’s liberals are running businesses out of town. And now they want to increase our taxes? You cannot have it both ways.

As reported in today's edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

March 27 is two months away, but a group of Moscow parents are getting ready to campaign for a $1.97 million increase to the district’s supplemental levy on that local election day.

…

Voters will decide whether the school district’s current $5.6 million supplemental levy is increased. The supplemental levy provides extra funding that allows the district to go beyond its basic services.

The district uses the supplemental levy to offer smaller class sizes, hire certified and highly qualified teachers and staff and provide more electives to students.

It also pays for programs that serve the different needs of students such as the Gifted and Talented program, professional-technical courses, athletic and extracurricular activities, teaming at the junior high school and special-education services.

The district currently receives $13.3 million in state funding. It has been the voter-approved supplemental levy that has covered the expense of running these additional services.

School Board Chairwoman Dawna Fazio said the board will have to cut $400,000 from its budget in 2007 if the levy does not pass. She said the cuts “would definitely hurt children and their education. … That would be painful.”

The district’s request for an increase stems from the challenge of keeping up with the cost of inflation while maintaining its current level of academic and extracurricular programming. Everything from utilities and gasoline to insurance premiums have become more expensive and left the district trying to keep up.

“Most of our money goes to staff — people and their salaries,” Fazio said. “That’s what would be cut and kids would be getting less personal attention and educational support from teachers.”

I’m speechless. Does Trail really believe that more time in class is the answer? Why doesn’t he ask himself why he was so well educated with less hours.

Truly a lesson for our Representative: correlation ≠ causality.

The following article ran in today's Lewiston Tribune (subscription required).

Idaho students should go to school four weeks longer every year, says Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow. Otherwise, students will spend the long summer vacation forgetting what they learned in class.

Trail has written a bill to increase the number of class days from 180 to 200. The extra time would cost an additional $38 million a year.

"Research indicates that a longer yearly school session contributes to improved academic performance," reads the bill, which Trail plans to introduce to the House Education Committee.

If leaders really want to improve math and science skills, they should take the idea to heart, Trail said. Three-month vacations work against educators who are pushing for greater academic excellence.

"Students lose a lot of that subject knowledge and application," Trail said.

And the vacations also end up costing more in the long run because when a student forgets math and science skills, he or she may require costly remedial courses.

The longer school years would also put Idaho out in front of all other states, who also have school years in the 180-day range, Trail said.

He also noted Canada, Japan, Korea, China and the European Union, where students outperform Americans in math and science, hold classes at least 200 days a year.

"This would help prepare students to compete more effectively around the world with global competition," Trail said.

From Joseph Farah over at World Net Daily:

I'm kind of tired of hearing about our "politically correct" colleges and universities.

There's nothing "politically correct" about them. They are politically corrupt.

Let me give you a personal and very recent example of what I'm talking about.

Read Farah’s horror story that his eldest daughter had to endure.

Is there any reason that so many people opting to send their kids to Community Colleges or religions schools?

HT: Dave G.

As reported in today's edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The New Saint Andrews College accreditation celebration included the unveiling of its newest resource, a library. NSA President Roy Atwood invited the public to become members of the Tyndale Library.

For photos of this event, see:

• NSA Accreditation Celebration, and Library Open House Program
• Library Unveiled At Thursday’s NSA Accreditation Celebration
• NSA Freshman Reading List

The following is from Mark J. Perry, professor of finance and business economics in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan:

State unemployment rates for December were just released today by the BLS, and although the number of states setting historical record low jobless rates in 2006 remained steady at 15 (see states below), several states like Hawaii and New Mexico had December rates that broke the previous record set earlier in the year. Here are the 15 states that set historical record low jobless rates in 2006:

• Alabama: 3.2% in November
• Arizona: 3.6% in August
• California: 4.5% in October
• Florida: 3.0% in June
• Hawaii: 2.0% in October
• Idaho: 3.2% in December
• Illinois: 4.1% in December
• Louisiana: 2.9% in July
• Montana: 3.4% in March
• Nevada: 3.6% in January
• New Mexico: 3.8% in December
• New York: 4.0% in October
• Utah: 2.5% in October
• Washington: 4.6% in March
• W. Virginia: 3.8% in January

The following letter to the editor appeared in yesterday’s Lewiston Tribune by Charles N. Partee of Clarkston:

Having taught and been an educator in Idaho for 16 years before retirement some six years ago, I am amazed that I did not meet the "high-priced teachers" that Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, referred to in his rambling in Sunday's Tribune [Jan. 13].

Charles, I suggest that you check out the latest stats posted for MSD teacher pay: http://moscowlevy.com/files/MSD_Teachers_Pay.htm

Don’t overlook the column with “total compensation”. Base pay isn’t the only pay.

Finally, do not discount that teachers do not have to work during the summer (and if they do, they get paid more to do so). How many people in the general population would like these kinds of salaries with guaranteed summer vacations every year?

So, if these are not “high-priced teachers”, I’d sure like to know what your idea of those would be.

OK, I’m here scratching my head as some of these things that Pres. White said. Let’s go through them:

The following article ran in yesterday’s Lewiston Tribune (subscription required).

The University of Idaho may not lure the best football players to the state, but the school pulls in the most sought-after students. To keep drawing top students, the university must pay more to keep top professors, said University of Idaho President Tim White.

Of 15 national merit scholars who chose Idaho schools in 2006, 14 chose the UI. The average grade point average of incoming UI freshman was 3.42. And, UI students -- 57 percent -- are more than twice as likely as other Idaho college students to graduate within six years, UI President Tim White told the state budget committee Tuesday.

"Once you're a Vandal, you get through quickly -- that's all there is to it," White joked when asked how the school gets so many students to finish school.

I’m appalled that only 57% finish a college degree in six years. Six years! What is really sad is that by the time you add up two extra years worth of tuition, room and board, and lost opportunity costs in the workforce, a kid on the 6–year plan could have attended a private university and graduated in four years.

To me, this is just bizarre reasoning. I’ve had a bunch of parents in Moscow tell me that even with their best efforts they could not get UI to graduate their kids in 4 years. Classes were not offered, scheduling conflicts among mandatory classes, etc.

White lauded Otter's proposal to add $38 million to a needs-based scholarship endowment. But his top priority is boosting salaries, he said, noting full professors are paid 23 percent below average.

"We're trying to aspire to average," White said.

The presidents want $11.8 million to bump up salaries, as well as an overall 3.5 percent raise, about $9 million. Otter proposes only a 5 percent increase in salaries.

Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, said it was "hard to grasp" how universities can close the salary gap without more help from state leaders.

But Rep. Clifford Bayer, R-Boise, challenged White's comparison of the UI to other schools by asking if the survey included salaries or cost of living figures.

White conceded the survey that ranked UI among the lowest of its peers for salary was "imperfect."

I would like to know what dataset he is comparing as the “average”. There are these pesky little things called cost of living, quality of life, and resume building that go into the equation.

About 21 students traveled to Boise to hear White's presentation. They agreed teacher salaries are a top priority.

"It's a desperate situation as far as students are concerned," said Brittany Mayson, 20, a political science and journalism major.

Washington State University often lures away UI faculty with higher wages.

Students don't think UI professors are lavishly paid, said UI junior James Fox, 21.

"Most of them are eating paper for a living," he joked.

White will present his budget requests to the House Education Committee today.

For Brittany Mayson: I’m attaching here a copy of the University of Idaho’s faculty salaries. Give me a call after you look at it and let me know if “most of them are eating paper for a living”.

File Attachment: SalaryrecMid06.pdf (86 KB)

From the Associated Press:

The state Senate Education Committee on Wednesday endorsed a nonbinding measure encouraging Congress and President Bush to restore money that had gone to rural counties whose territory includes large amounts of U.S. Forest Service land through the so-called "Craig-Wyden Act."

However, the Craig-Wyden money hasn't been reauthorized in Washington, D.C.

If the money isn't restored, Idaho counties stand to lose $20.4 million this year, compared with 2006.

On Wednesday, a group of Western senators led by Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, for whom the bill was named along with Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, filed a new bill to continue payments to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging.

Craig has declined to support this effort to renew the program. Dan Whiting, a Craig, said his boss still supports the goal but believes the formula sets aside too much money for Oregon.

"Larry has been looking at the political realities of the Senate – and the political reality is with Oregon getting 51 percent of the (overall) monies, we can't convince enough senators to pass it in this kind of budget situation," Whiting said.

Here’s an interesting take on things. I never think of the government schools as the “key to the nation’s unity.” What a statist mind set.

From Cato-at Liberty:

For many Americans, it is an article of faith that public schooling is the key the nation’s unity. However, in a new study, “Why We Fight: How Public Schools Cause Social Conflict,” Cato scholar Neal McCluskey demonstrates that far from uniting diverse peoples, public schooling forces them into constant conflict over schools for which they all must pay, but only the most politically powerful can control. “To end the fighting caused by state-run schooling, we should transform our system from one in which government establishes and controls schools, to one in which individual parents are empowered to select schools that share their moral values and educational goals for their children,” says McCluskey.

 Now there’s a right-minded recommendation: separation of school and state. I’m for it.

I was invited to participate in a conference call with Tom Luna. The participants were from Latah County and Nez Perce counties and were across the spectrum in their political and socio-economic backgrounds.

I’m going to give you a description of the discussion. The section in quotes below are not verbatim transcripts but the “gist” of the conversation. At the bottom, I’ll give you my take on things.

Luna gave us the low-down on the restructuring going on in the Idaho Department of Education.

Then he went on to discuss his proposed $1.38b budget. According to Luna, he and the governor are only $20m apart—close for a budget that large. He noted that the governor and the Department’s budgets in the past were usually $100m – $150m apart.

Luna is convinced that this budget is going in the right direction.

The budget will call for an across-the-board 3% base raise for teachers, and increasing the minimum starting salary from $30k to $31k.

He says that his budget accounts for the student growth in Idaho.

He noted that this is a 2% budget increase from last year.

The centerpiece of the budget is a $24m “classroom enhancement” package that focuses resources into classrooms. This is broken down in four areas:

1. Supplies — $5m line item; this will allow for each teacher to have a $350 allowance to purchase the supplies that they need.
2. Textbooks — $10m line item. There’s a caveat in the budget for an incentive—for each dollar the district spends, the state kicks in $3. Luna plans on this being an annual appropriation.
3. Student assessment remediation —$6m line item. This is to deal with the ~20,000 students that failed ISAT two years in a row. Luna plans on doing this for 3 years and monitoring success to see if this is working. If it is not working, then they will take a different approach.
4. Incentives to do well — $3.5m line item. This is for college-level credits for those who do outstanding on the ISAT and other assessments. These students would have 6 dual-enrollment college credits available to them in both their junior and senior years. Luna noted that 75% of students who take college credits in high school continue onto college after high school. Luna noted that Utah has had a great success out of a similar program.

Luna also discussed a pay for performance-based trial going on in Idaho. Teachers could earn up to $5,000 merit pay for their performance. There would be value-added measures in place to determine merit.

That was the substance of the discussion.

Now my take on things:

• Luna is being trumpeted across the state as a big education spender. Even the Democrats are happy with his budget (see Luna surprises with Idaho Ed budget). That sends warning bells off in my head. Why were funds not reallocated as opposed to increased? Much of what’s in Luna’s budget as increases were already in the budget previously. It seems like there’s a lot there of throwing good money after bad.
  
• One thing that Jack Wenders was big on was value-added measures. If you are not familiar with value-added measures, check out this Wenders article over at Idahoans for Educational Excellence. I brought this up with Luna, and he assured me that those kinds of measures were going to be in place. It’s important since you cannot compare MSD’s performance (and the value that the teachers here add to the students) with that of Bovill. Moscow has an economic affluence and distorted economic advantage (the University of Idaho) that most towns in Idaho do not have. So to see if you are getting your money’s worth out of a district, you have to see what they start with academically, what they end with academically, and see what value was added by the system.
  
• I have a question about textbook spending. IMO, you do not need to have the latest and greatest edition of a textbook unless it has to do with a topic that is changing rapidly (e.g., state of the art computer technology which changes every 18 months). If you are talking math textbooks, English grammar textbooks, etc, those don’t change significantly to warrant new textbooks very frequently. I wonder how much that’s spent on textbooks is a desire to have the latest and greatest.
  
  For instance, Logos School is using Geometry textbooks that are 14 years old. If they need replacement textbooks (lost, damaged, increasing class size, etc), we can still order those past editions online (albeit used). There’s no need to replace all of the textbooks for a class; and there’s no reason for kids to go without.
  
• My wife had a real heartache with his student remediation budget. Her first response was: fail them, hold them back. But of course, no one is held back any more in the government schools. They are promoted thru the system even if they cannot read or write. I’m not pleased with Luna’s method of dealing with remedial students. When I was a kid, remediation was working harder or falling back a grade. Today, remediation is throwing money at the problem and promoting them anyway, even to the hurt of the rest of the class (see: Holding 27 Back for the Sake of the 12). The other thing that bugs me about #3 above is that you get more of what you have incentives for/subsidize. By putting $6m in the budget, there’s an incentive (and more jobs!) for those who do not excel.
  
• Finally, I do like the positive incentives. I wish that I had had the opportunity in high school to use such credits. I finished the last math class that my school offered when I was in 10th grade. The next two years were spent doing self-taught workbooks to learn advanced math to stay ready for college (I have a math and physics undergrad). I could have completed my A.A. degree and all of the math available at our local junior college during my 11th and 12th grade years, if I had had this kind of opportunity. I’ve mentioned before that my 9th grad son finished Algebra II in 9th grade. He may finish Trig over the summer, putting him in Calculus in 10th grade. This means that during his 11th and 12th grade years, he would be free to take a slew of math classes at the University of Idaho.
  And for Jeff Harkins: you don’t need to worry about him or any other Logos student taking remedial math at the UI. Math is a graduation requirement. If you cannot successfully complete three years of high school math (Geometry, Algebra II, Trig (or Functions & Stats)), you do not graduate. Shouldn’t that be the standard everywhere?

Those are the initial thoughts that come to mind. Feel free to jump in.

Update: Below is the news release from Luna’s office concerning his budget with all of the specs.

Idaho State Department of Education                                        Contact:

For Immediate Release                                                 Melissa McGrath

January 18, 2007                                                                      (208) 332-6818

                                                                                                www.sde.state.id.us/Dept/

 

 

SUPERINTENDENT TOM LUNA

UNVEILS BUDGET

 

BOISE – Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna unveiled a public schools budget today that includes his “Classroom Enhancement Package,” earmarking nearly $24 million to meet specific needs in schools throughout Idaho.

 

“My budget specifically directs money to the classroom, where it is needed most,” Superintendent Luna said. “This is our first step in creating a customer-driven education system – one that puts parents and students first and recognizes the contributions that our teachers make every day.”

 

The $1.38 billion general fund budget represents a 7 percent increase over the current year’s general fund appropriation. About $24 million comprises Superintendent Luna’s Classroom Enhancement Package, which includes enough money so teachers can get the classroom supplies they need without digging into their own pockets and school districts can replace worn-out textbooks.

 

Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter endorsed earmarking funds for classroom supplies and textbooks during his State of the State Address earlier this month.

 

Highlights of the Classroom Enhancement Package:

 

• Classroom supplies: $5.18 million Classroom supplies currently compete with salaries, utilities and employee health benefits for discretionary funding. Superintendent Luna recommends specifically earmarking funds for classroom supplies. Under the new plan, 14,800 teachers will be able to access $350 each so individual teachers are not left footing the bill for their own supplies when discretionary funds are exhausted.

• Textbook allowance: $9.95 million Teachers and parents in school districts throughout the state are concerned about the use of worn-out or outdated textbooks. To remedy this, Superintendent Luna recommends the Legislature earmark funding specifically for the purchase of textbooks. Under Superintendent Luna’s plan, the state would pay $3 for every $1 schools put in for textbooks.

• Remediation: $6 million Many school districts must choose between paying for additional technology and paying for remediation programs for students who struggle academically. That’s because technology and remediation funds are tied together. Superintendent Luna wants funds specifically earmarked for remediation to help roughly 20,000 students who score below proficiency on the ISAT two years in a row. He also recommends tracking the results over a three-year period to evaluate remediation efforts. The budget includes $9.8 million specifically earmarked for technology. 
  
• Dual Credit Class allowance: $3.5 million While assisting students who struggle academically through remediation efforts, Superintendent Luna also wants to focus on advancing the education of other students. More states are offering more opportunities for students to begin their college education while still enrolled in high school. Superintendent Luna recommends the Legislature provide money to pay for more than 6,000 students to take six credit hours of college-level courses.

Other requested increases:

 

• $500,000 in additional funding for professional development of teachers for gifted and talented programs for K-12 students, including dual enrollment and Advanced Placement classes, at the discretion of the school district.
• $350,000 to create a math initiative to provide students with early exposure to mathematics and to show students, teachers and parents measurable information as to how well the student is doing.
• $150,000 to fund a study and report to the Legislature on school security deficiencies in Idaho. Governor Otter endorsed this request during his State of the State Address.
• $700,000 in additional funding to accommodate growth in enrollment in online Advanced Placement courses through the Idaho Digital Learning Academy, which provides a statewide online learning environment for high school students in Idaho.
• $100,000 for the Rural School Initiative, which will provide funding to develop plans to solve problems related to declining enrollment and teacher recruitment in rural areas of the state.

 

Superintendent Luna also requested a $121,300 supplemental for fiscal year 2007 for the Kootenai and Cascade school districts. The money would be used to remedy an unintended consequence of HB 1, which was passed in the extraordinary Legislative session in August 2006.

 

Superintendent Luna also supports the $3.8 million supplemental request for fiscal year 2007 for agriculture replacement funds.

 

# # # # #

I’ll post a copy of this as soon as I get it.

I’ve asked this rhetorical question before: why, when the number of students are increasing, do the school districts say they need more money; and, when the number of students are decreasing, they say they need more money?

Here’s what one local blogger had to say about this:

But in this case, and in this election, I think all these standard issues are really beside the point. The real point in this election is one of simple affordability. The major industry in town (the University of Idaho) is in serious decline. Our Moscow civic leadership has been busy chasing new prospective businesses out of town. Within the next year, a good portion of the tax base is going to move just across the state line, and the businesses in the new mall there will no doubt set up some blinking lights to summon Moscow shoppers over. Ross Perot's famous phrase about the giant sucking sound comes to mind.

Another illustration that comes to mind is the one about champagne tastes and a beer budget. And you can't chase all the champagne vendors out of town, and then complain about the beer. As a simple matter of economics, tax support for the MSD requires a thriving tax base. When you cut the latter, you cut the former. Some might want to complain, if this levy goes down, that it was the nefarious work of home schoolers, Christian conservatives, or what not. But this one appears to me to have been done already, without any opponents of "government schools" lifting a finger.

No, this was done by the liberals running the Moscow show. You can't take a chain saw to the orchard, and wonder resentfully the following autumn about the apple shortage.

As reported in today's edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The Moscow School District is moving forward with plans for its $1.97 million supplemental levy increase, which will go before voters March 27.

Superintendent Candis Donicht worked with the district’s school board members during their Tuesday meeting to develop a draft of an informational newsletter that will hit mailboxes in the coming weeks.

The newsletter will give a brief explanation of the indefinite supplemental levy. It also will explain how the levy increase works, what it will cost taxpayers, and what it pays for within the district. The newsletter also will answer other basic questions.

Board members discussed changing the time the polls would be open for the election. Board clerk Annette Erickson reported to the board the effects of a 7:30 a.m. opening of the polls that had been suggested at their December meeting by board member Margaret Dibble. The board decided to maintain its current plan to have the election from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Exhibit Building of the Latah County Fairgrounds.

Board members also discussed how to support and offer their assistance to groups of parents who want to support the levy.

In other news, Donicht reported on the district’s first participation in the city of Moscow’s 18-month long-range planning process. Three district administrators and two board members participated in a facilitator training session about 10 days ago. If selected by the city, they will go into sections of the community to help gather input from residents on issues such as neighborhoods and growth.

The following article by Murf Raquet appeared in today's edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. This is the consensus of the Daily News editorial board.

Tom Luna may not the bogeyman many thought he was during his two campaigns for Idaho public education chief. At least his initial plans so otherwise

His first budget proposal as the new superintendent of public instruction was an eye-opener and one worthy of his Democratic predecessor. Luna requested $1.38 billion, a whopping 7 percent jump over this year’s budget.

“I think that we need to make decisions in education based on what’s best for the customers of education and not what’s most comfortable for the bureaucracy,” Luna said.

Not bad for a conservative Republican with little political experience.

Quite a slam — an Education Director with stripes indistinguishable from the Democrats.

Read Tim White’s logic: we’re retaining more and more of fewer and fewer students. UI’s doing great!

From the Associated Press:

Leaders of Idaho's major four-year colleges and universities converged on the state Capitol this week, part of their annual pilgrimage to ask the Legislature to increase faculty pay, maintain or expand facilities and boost research.

The University of Idaho in Moscow, Boise State University, Idaho State University in Pocatello and Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston want $295 million from the state for the year starting next July, a 13.3 percent increase.

Gov. Butch Otter has proposed an 8.6 percent boost, to $275 million.

The presidents' request includes an $11.8 million "salary competitiveness" program, on top of a 3.5 percent raise that would cost $9 million. Otter favors a 5 percent raise for all state employees including at universities.

U of I President Tim White said he's struggling to keep his professors, especially with Washington State University just eight miles across the border in Pullman, Wash., where faculty are paid up to 20 percent more. A study of 19 state schools shows pay for U OF I faculty trailed all but two, and was 17.6 percent lower than average, he said.

…

White offered reassurances the U of I is again on solid financial ground after a failed expansion attempt in Boise exacerbated budget woes that had been caused by years of overruns. Now, he's turning to some $207 million in deferred maintenance on the school's facilities.

The presidents touched on the realities of attracting more Idaho students to their schools at a time when just 45 percent of the state's high school graduates go directly to college, the fourth-lowest rate in America.

ISU and U of I enrollment dropped this year. At BSU, enrollment rose just 1.3 percent, even though southwestern Idaho is one of the fastest-growing regions in America's third-fastest growing state. LCSC's full- and part-time enrollment rose less than 1 percent, according to state budget figures.

The presidents said a $38 million scholarship endowment, proposed by Otter for low-income students, will help.

White also told lawmakers the enrollment figures by themselves are misleading, contending they should also focus on Idaho institutions' success in retaining students. At Idaho, for instance, 78 percent of freshmen return for their sophomore years, compared to the 58 percent statewide average.

From today's Idaho Statesman:

BOISE – Outgoing North Idaho College President Michael Burke made a strong pitch Tuesday for community college education when he appeared before lawmakers looking to expand community college options in Idaho.

Burke, who will leave his nine-year post for a California college in March, proudly described an expanding system, but one that hinges on the economy and availability of financial aid for students.

Burke said the "skills gap" for American workers compared to foreigners and the "equity gap" for underrepresented Americans receiving access to education provide challenges at national and local levels.

 

As reported in today's edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The University of Idaho Foundation continues to wait for a resolution after its trial date was postponed in its $7 million civil lawsuit against the developers in the University Place project.

The University Place project began in 1999 as a way to create a satellite campus in Boise. It collapsed by 2003 after financial scandals surfaced and left a series of lawsuits between the involved parties.

The last piece to be resolved is the UI Foundation’s lawsuit against California-based Civic Partners.

The foundation filed its lawsuit in July 2004. It alleged that Civic Partners should reimburse $7 million to the foundation due to breaches of warranties and representations in their contract.

The trial, which was set to begin Monday in Boise, was postponed by Judge Daniel Hurlbutt during a hearing last fall. Hurlbutt rendered a legal determination on issues that relate to the legality of binding obligations in the contract. Hurlbutt told the parties he wanted it resolved by the Idaho Supreme Court before a trial occurred.

“We have not been able to resolve it,” said Beth Andrus, attorney for the UI Foundation. “The parties are still litigating their disputes.”

Andrus, with the Seattle-based firm Skellenger Bender, said the foundation is waiting for Hurlbutt’s fall decision to be received in writing. Once that happens, the foundation will appeal it to the Idaho Supreme Court and wait for a ruling before the lawsuit can go to trial.

Andrus said she cannot estimate when that will be.

“The foundation is quite committed to seeing this through to the end, and seeing that it only paid for what it legally and legitimately should have paid for,” she said.

The following article by Steve McClure appeared in today's edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

This is the consensus of the Daily News editorial board. And, again, I am amazed at the right-mindedness of the collective body of editors — including Nathan Alford. Or was Alford gone when everyone else had a right-minded attack?

Most school districts in Washington don’t have a problem passing levies.

A handful, though, can’t seem to get their requests for more tax dollars through, and that’s prompted the latest round of legislative hype to push a constitutional amendment that would lower the approval requirement from 60 percent to 50 percent plus one vote.

While some lawmakers seem downright giddy that this might be the year to push this through Olympia, we don’t share their enthusiasm.

The 60 percent requirement was put into place during the Depression as a means to protect property owners and taxpayers. The Depression is a distant memory for most, but the protection offered by the requirement still is necessary and, in our mind, promotes local accountability.

The requirement that school levies be approved by more than a simple majority requires extra legwork and more explanation by supporters. We don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Undoubtedly, supporters of the simple majority language will pull out the “majority-rules-we-live-in-a-democracy” card. They’ll conveniently forget that our republic includes a number of safeguards to prevent the minority political opinion from being railroaded, including the two-thirds approval requirement that’s needed to put this amendment to the state constitution on the ballot.

There will be others who espouse that when 56 percent of less than 50 percent of the registered voters give something the nod it’s a “textbook landslide.”

The truth of the matter is a school superintendent worth his or her salt knows a levy that’s passed with 50 percent plus one vote doesn’t speak to a ringing endorsement of the district’s direction. In fact, it means supporters did a better job of getting people to the polls for an election outside the normal primary/general election cycle — and still almost half the district didn’t like the plan.

The 60 percent mark means school officials must build consensus among patrons and clearly articulate how tax dollars will be spent. It’s an achievable number that well-run districts with the support of their residents routinely attain.