Moscow Education (Idaho)

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

Moscow's Logos School building will nearly double in size by next fall with the addition of a gymnasium/multipurpose room on its east side. The building will be 110 by 130 feet.

Still one of the nicest gyms in Moscow. Even the University of Idaho comes and uses it at times because it’s so nice.

From Dortha Headrick:

I write to help Paul Weingartner, an elected member of the MSD Board of Trustees, understand the concept of public accountability. The Board is accountable for running a legal supplemental levy. When we elect Trustees the least we can expect of them is to follow the law. Even so, in a July 14 letter to the Daily News, Weingartner refuses to except legal accountability by making the claim that the legality of the levy doesn’t matter because a majority of the voters approved the levy.

The Board is accountable for paying unnecessary and unlimited legal expenses to defend its weak case against Gerry Weitz’s lawsuit scheduled for a hearing before District Judge John Bradbury on August 24. Legal fees will be enormous considering that this case is destined to come before the Idaho Supreme Court. The Board is accountable for assuming its patrons have given it a blank check to pay unnecessary and unlimited legal expenses.

More importantly, the board is accountable, along with its “legality doesn’t matter” supporters, for making disparaging comments about the conciliation proposal presented by the Committee for Goodwill and Conciliation. Accepting the above-mentioned Committee’s proposal would leave the 2007–2008 MSD budget intact, save substantial legal expenses, and resolve the turmoil MSD is destined to experience during 2007–2008 if this case is not settled out of court by August 24.

A copy of the Committee’s Petition is available for signing at the following Moscow locations:

• Southside Chevron, Troy Road & Washington.
• Moscow Public Library, 110 S. Jefferson
• Tri-State, 1104 Pullman Rd.
• Stinker Station, 1044 Pullman Rd.
• Friendship Square bulletin board.

Dortha Headrick, Moscow

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Dick Armey and Steve Forbes are part of the Board of Directors of this group.

The results are really unexpected: http://www.freedomworks.org/strawpoll/

Check it out!

The following letter to the editor appeared in today’s Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

The eyes of secondary education should be focused on vocational education. As far as our local system is concerned it has been ignored, at least in the past 50 years or so. In the early 1970s there was a group of teachers and parents who tried to start the ball rolling but ran up against an administration and board that wouldn't listen or budget for a start-up program. The board's emphasis was, as always, on the preparation of students for four-year degrees not on prep courses for vocational education and careers.

According to the news, the growth age in the economy is between 25- and 35-year-olds, one-third of whom don't have educations beyond 12th grade. They are resigned to low-level and low-wage work. A lot of these kids have the ability, but not the opportunity. Of course society needs doctors and lawyers but it also needs plumbers, welders, builders, electricians, mechanics, etc. for a vibrant and advancing society. Also to give our local kids an alternative choice in careers.

Maybe this is what Gerald Weitz has been trying to emphasize for many years. Maybe he will have better luck against this stone curtain than those in the past who have given up. It's worth the time and effort. We have to try and match these forgotten students with the amount of training and education that is geared toward four-year degrees.

If the districts surrounding Moscow can have good vocational education programs, why can't Moscow?

Moving out of this area or military service should not be the only avenue left open for these kids.

Jack Rupe, Moscow

First, Weingartner needs a little econ lesson. No business or landlord pays taxes. Those are paid for by their customers and tenants.

Of course rents are going up in town when the property taxes go up. The revenue to pay those taxes comes from the tenants. That’s the only revenue generated by those properties.

Does anyone know what Weingartner does for a living? Clearly he’s not a business owner or an entrepreneur. Update: I received an Email saying that he’s an ER nurse at Gritman.

Second, there is not a parallel between saying that the electorate would vote for a $2m levy if they knew it was really for $8m; and saying that they would vote for an $8m levy if they new it was incrementing the current levy by $2m. Those are completely different things.

Show me anywhere in the paper or where MSD said that the levy would be for $8m, as it should have said in the wording of the bond. In fact, show me anywhere where MSD stated the legal wording of the bond levy.

The MSD School Board could really use fewer cheerleaders and more business-savvy members.

The following letter to the editor appeared in today’s Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

The comments of Isabel Bond at the recent school board meeting provide insight into what might be the real interest of the so-called Committee for Goodwill and Conciliation: money.

Bond's concern about the levy vis-a-vis her tenants is duplicitous. Bond stated that her tenants are angry because they will pay increased taxes. In fact, they won't. Property owners pay taxes. Tenants will only pay more if landlords raise rents in order to pay their taxes. Of course, this is the essence of the landlord-tenant relationship. If Bond is concerned about her tenants, perhaps she shouldn't pass on this cost of property ownership.

Bond also stated Moscow residents who voted for the levy didn't understand what they were voting for. Although I disagree with her, using her argument one could suggest those who voted against it didn't understand what they were voting against and would have supported the levy in greater numbers had they understood.

Regardless, her condescending implication following on the heels of an implicit concern for her pocketbook suggests an elitist attitude, one which corresponds well with Gerald Weitz's belief that the school board should do what he wants in the ways he wants it when it comes to matters of curriculum.

I have said before in this space that the wealth of individuals should not be allowed to dictate the decisions of public organizations nor unduly influence decision-making over and above the majority. Unfortunately, Weitz, through his wrath, wealth and ability to afford spiteful litigation, is attempting to do just that.

If goodwill is its true interest, the committee should encourage Weitz to have more of it.

Paul Weingartner, Moscow

Econ 101: When you have a line, that means that demand exceeds supply.

That’s no different in the government school monopoly.

I knew things were bad in L.A. I didn’t know that they were this bad — a waiting list of 28,000 wanting out!

I wonder what the line would be like in Moscow if educational choice were allowed?

From Cato-at Liberty:

Without full school choice, in which public education funding is controlled by parents and schools must respond to their demands, a whole lot of people will never be able to access the schools their children need. The failed system will simply never allow it.

An article in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times provides some very telling statistics about educational demand in the City of Angels. To get into L.A.’s magnet schools, there is a waiting list of over 28,000 students!  For admission to charter schools run by the Inner City Education Foundation, the waiting list tops 5,000! And it’s not just magnets and Inner City Education Foundation schools that have waiting lists – most charter schools in the district, according to the article, are over-subscribed.

What does this mean? For one thing, that Angelenos would love to leave the public schools to which they are assigned. Perhaps more importantly, though, it demonstrates that quasi-public schools like charters and magnets – which require approval of government entities to exist – will never be able to meet the huge demand for good schools that’s boiling over nationwide. School districts and state education departments that approve charters and magnets are simply too dominated by special interests such as teacher unions – which love the public school monopoly – to ever permit enough real choice to satisfy monopoly-busting demand.

Of course, even if an explosion of magnets and charters were allowed, the bureaucratic hoops through which school founders would have to jump would almost certainly ensure that new schools would never pop up fast enough to meet growing demand, nor would schools be able to alter their offerings quickly enough to provide for ever-changing educational needs.

What this means, then, is one thing: Without full school choice, in which public education funding is controlled by parents and schools must respond to their demands, a whole lot of people will never be able to access the schools their children need. The failed system will simply never allow it.

The WSU College Republicans are at it again.

They are bringing “The True Islam Revealed” to WSU.

Contact Daniel Schanze if you can help out with this.  

HT: Palousitics

Now here comes the rub: homeschooling.

This article scares me to death.

The thought that kids can be well educated outside of the state system galls the educrats. Here are parents who do not have education degrees; many who do not have college degrees; none who work for the unions. Yet in a good homeschool environment, they can run circles around any government school. Yet even in the most mediocre homeschool environment I’ve ever seen, the kids easily keep pace with the government schools.

But homeschooling is a major threat to the statists, and they will try to regulate, control, and stamp it out with every opportunity.

Take the time to read this section carefully, and be glad that Idaho parents are still free to educate their children as they see fit (as opposed to as the state sees fit).

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

Still, truancy can put those same parents at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly allow their children to miss school, so not everyone chooses to stay in the system. Both Dulin and Hill have seen parents pull their children from the education system before and after referrals in order to try options like private school, home school, or other public schools.

The problem is that students who leave the system for home school before referral into the courts aren't subject to any monitoring or tracking of progress because of Idaho's relaxed home-schooling laws.

State Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, taught for 38 years in Idaho and Washington and remembers that students sometimes took advantage of the law that allowed them to be home-schooled at will in one or more subjects.

"It wasn't something that happened a lot, but I remember some instances where I'd be trying to work with someone to turn around their performance and (the school) had a deadline after which students weren't allowed to drop classes," she said. "After we passed that time, they'd simply come with a note from home saying they'd be home schooled in that topic."[DMC: Compare this statement to the recent activities in Germany against the homeschool family that pulled their daughter out to be homeschooled because of problems learning Latin and Math. See Court gives Melissa back to family: Says teen not in danger in homeschooling environment. There, the state removed the girl from the parents and put her under psychological examination for being homeschooled.]

Ringo said one girl in her geometry class decided to try home schooling after having trouble with the material.

"I asked her if she wanted to borrow the book, but she clearly didn't have any idea why I was suggesting she might want the book," she said.

There is no way for school districts or youth services to make sure that students who leave because of truancy or related academic problems are making forward progress. Ringo said she has heard of parents "who keep their kids at home because they need a baby sitter, they need someone to help with the work, or reasons that are not really acceptable."

State Board of Education spokesman Mark Browning could not provide the number of students in the state who are being home schooled for any or all of their classes.

"That is a very good question and one that's difficult to put a number on, the reason being that we don't have a good way to track them," he said. "We know the number is growing, but we don't have a really accurate way to track them."

State Sen. Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston, tried to pass a bill that would require parents to file an affidavit with their local school district if their child was going to be home schooled. The bill also would have charged parents with a misdemeanor if educational neglect was discovered.

Ringo said a huge resistance emerged among the state's home-school advocates, which caused Stegner to drop the affidavit requirement from the bill and change the misdemeanor clause so that educational neglect could only apply to parents of children in public schools.

"It is an interesting dynamic," Ringo said. "The people I know that home-school are really proud of the work they do and what their children achieve. It seems they should be just as eager to do something about those people who are not comparably educating their children, yet they seem to prefer to be left alone on all accounts." [DMC: Which shows just how out of touch Ringo is. Ringo always thinks in terms of control, regulation, and the big stick. The homeschool movement is not about regulating and controlling; it’s about the liberty to school as one sees fit.]

Barry Peters, the legal advisor for the Idaho Coalition of Home Educators, did not return calls or e-mail requests for comment.

Dulin said he occasionally works with home-school families after they have withdrawn their child from public schools because of truancy issues. His office works with the family "to ensure that they are providing a comparable curriculum and education and not just using that as an excuse for their kid not to receive an education."

"I've seen both. I've seen families do a wonderful job home schooling their kids and I've seen parents completely neglect educating their kids and providing their children with an education," he said.

Dulin said these cases do happen but are not frequent, so "it's an important issue but not a huge issue as far as numbers are concerned in Latah County."

Ringo doesn't want that fact to stop the discussion.

"Some people argue that it is only a handful of children, but it's not acceptable to have even a few children that are not getting an education," she said. [DMC: Again, for the statist, the goal is to have 100% of the kids under their thumbs. Homeschooling is dangerous to their goals for society, even (especially?) when it’s done well.]

Dulin agreed that some sort of tracking could help protect the minority, while Hill just wishes he had a way to know that students who leave his school are doing all right and finding success.

Ringo said she would like to see "a meeting of the minds on this issue."

"If it would be possible for us to meet together with both groups (home-school advocates and youth services) and think of a way we can protect the few and give the others the freedom they think they need, that would be ideal," she said. "It's something we haven't been able to do so far and I don't know that anybody has approached it that way."

Notice the phrase “the freedom that they think they need.” Not that parents do have that freedom.

This article scares me to death.

Follow the money. That will always give you the reason something’s going on.

Recall that MSD is paid “by the head” — how many students are present per day. If there is a student who is truant, that amounts to lost revenue for the district. Best to put out a “bounty” and keep the money flowing.

It’s not a coincidence that this push about truancy is coming right now when MSD’s thirst for more money is increasing.

Think about the unintended consequences that this new law will have. Do you think it will increase MSD attendance, or drive more patrons further away?

This is Part 1 of a long article. Part 2 deals with the attack on homeschoolers.

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

Idaho school districts can refer truant students to their county prosecutors' office for help, but the districts can't do anything to monitor those who check out of the school system before they are referred to the courts.

There is no legal oversight when that happens, so schools and youth service organizations are trying to find new ways to keep students from slipping through the cracks.

"I think we can be more proactive at dealing with truancy, and providing services, and intervening with the family sooner," said Brian Dulin, director of Latah County Youth Services. "I think we can prevent it from becoming a bigger issue."

Many schools still require students to be in attendance 90 percent of the time, but some districts have taken it a step further.

Under a new policy approved this week, Moscow School District students can be referred to an in-school intervention program called "attendance court" after any six absences, and students who accumulate four unexcused absences can be referred to the Latah County Prosecutor's Office.

Other districts, like the Genesee School District, are trying to change their policies so they can intervene when students hit just three unexcused absences.

Dulin said the early approach can help catch students before they fall behind academically or get caught in other negative cycles.

"By giving them additional support, I think we can motivate them and the family to be successful," he said.

A referral to the prosecutor's office doesn't always bring a petition, or a charge, against a student. Sometimes the cases can be resolved informally, but if the issue can't be resolved, a student will appear in court. If found guilty, the student will be placed on probation through Latah County Youth Services, which could lead to wake-up calls and rides to school from a probation officer - or possibly getting tagged with an electronic monitoring device.

Moscow Junior High School Assistant Principal Kevin Hill said this can help families because students can be "good-sized" by the time they reach junior high and they need to get up and get ready by themselves.

"Parents can't force them to," he said.

Dulin said some families are resistant to having their children go through the juvenile justice system. Others appreciate the help.

"Once they realize we are all on the same page in wanting what is best for the kids, we are able to collaborate effectively," he said.

We clearly live in a different world. Parents cannot force their kids to go to school? If you try to start parenting when the kids are 13, then, yes, you are in trouble.

This story reminds of something right out of the Cold War. World Magazine (subscription required) has an article about American Spy Squirrels.

According to Iran's state-sponsored media, the Islamist nation just thwarted a major espionage effort by Western powers bent on using rodents as spies. "In recent weeks, intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders," IRNA, the state-sponsored news agency, reported.

"The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services."

Officials say the squirrels were sent to undermine the Islamic Republic, but offered no details on just how the shadowy Western powers blamed by Iran could train up an elite force of spy rodents.

I figured that perhaps these were from UI’s stock of “friendly squirrels”. But now UI has shifted into squirrel espionage mode…

I had meant to comment on this last week. This is from the 19 July 2007 Associated Press report.

The schools want lower math/science standards; the parents want higher standards.

Although nearly 40 percent of Washington high school students have been unable to pass a test based on the state's guidelines for teaching math, a new report is calling for even tougher standards.

The analysis of Washington's math standards says that compared with other high-achieving states and countries, Washington is not expecting enough of its students, some subjects are not being taught early enough, there's insufficient emphasis on teaching the mechanics of math and some of the learning expectations are not clear.

The draft report was to be discussed Thursday at a Washington State Board of Education meeting in Spokane, and be available for public discussion at a series of focus groups open to the public over the next few weeks.

"The bottom line is that Washington's math standards need to be strengthened," wrote Linda Plattner of the Maryland-based educational research firm Strategic Teaching, which was hired by the state to assess its math expectations. "If mathematics is the gateway to student success in higher education and the workplace, Washington is getting too few of its students to and through the door."

The report says Washington is moving in the right direction, as more students are passing the math section of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, but there's still plenty of work to do. As of this June, about 39 percent of the class of 2008 had not yet passed the math section of the WASL.

Yea, we’re stupid in math and science when it comes to the rest of the world; but in our ignorance, we feel good about ourselves.

The enlightened New York Sun has an editorial today which recognizes that

• Education markets work
• Education policy / market-based reform is a matter for the states and the people, not the federal government.

The Sun even comments favorably on the Milton Friedman Foundation.

While school vouchers haven't yet emerged as much of an issue in the presidential campaign (though Mayor Giuliani has been expressing support for them), they are quietly making progress on a state-by-state basis. Georgia earlier this year approved a law that will grant students with special needs vouchers of up to $9,000 a year to attend private schools. Utah passed a law earlier this year providing students with vouchers of up to $3,000 a year; that law will be subject to a statewide referendum in November. In South Carolina, the State this week ran out an article under the headline "Blacks Rethink School Choice." It reported on a "handful of black lawmakers who say they are concerned that S.C. public schools are failing to educate poor and minority children. Their concern could push the state's years-long debate over school choice and vouchers or tax credits for private school tuition over the finish line in 2008."

The Web site of the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation is a fine way to track these developments on a state-by-state basis, one of the many ways in which Milton Friedman's legacy lives on after his death. With the legislature back in session this week, New York lawmakers have a chance to add the Empire State to the mix by approving Governor Spitzer's proposal to make a portion of private school tuition tax-deductible. Education is primarily a state and local responsibility. The state-by-state progress, though, is appropriate for another reason. It fits the nature of the reform embodied by school vouchers in a better way than a federal voucher law does. After all, part of the attraction of vouchers is the idea that competition, decentralization, and experimentation will lead to improvement. It's true in education policymaking no less than in education.

Wow!

HT: Cato

I had posted about IRS loses challenge to prove tax liability: Lawyer is acquitted after arguing income levy lacks legal foundation

Kate pointed me to the following two YouTube videos.

There actually has been another case similar to this one.  A sharp juror in a tax case, Marcella Brooks, tells about her experience on youtube.

Here’s what the videos are about:

Marcella Brooks served as foreman of the jury in the trial of Whitey Harrell. Her account of the deliberations of this jury is both powerful and stirring due to the facts of the situation, combined with her tremendous personal credibility.

Personally, I find these fourteen minutes to be one of the most powerful accounts anyone could show to those who doubt the legitimacy of issues raised by the Tax Movement.

A complete copy of the June 29, 2000, Legality of Income Tax Conference video may be obtained at the We the People Foundation Web site, by email at acta@capital.net or by telephone at (518) 656-3578.

More information on this issue can be found at www.CuriousEvidence.com.

From Don Harter:

To:        Doug Bauer
            Daily News

As mentioned in my recorded phone message to you on July 26. 

The MSD has mislead Kate Baldwin concerning her article in the July 25 Daily News.  Please run a correction as soon as possible. 

1. Brian Thie, attorney for Dr. Weitz, has not filed a motion for summary judgment.  This is a false claim.
2. The delay from August 24 to October 5 was caused by the MSD’s amendment to their own motion for summary judgment that was made by the MSD on June 29.

I’m sending a copy of today’s e-mail to Attorney Thie.  His phone number is 208-882-0754.  Also please check the record at the Latah County Courthouse to affirm the above statements.

Thank you so very much for correcting the misleading information provided by the MSD.

Sincerely,

Dr. Don Harter
1129 East Seventh Street
Moscow, ID 83843
208-882-3087

So if you cannot make the score, what does the State do? Lower the bar! Then turn around and call that making progress!

From today's Idaho Statesman:

Idaho students in kindergarten through third grade aren't getting any better in reading, based on statewide test scores.

Results from the spring 2007 statewide Idaho Reading Indicator exam show the early elementary students' performance is virtually flat compared to 2006 and 2005.

…

Lack of progress is frustrating to Linda Clark, Meridian School District superintendent. "We haven't made much movement toward that," she said. The IRI emphasizes fluency in reading. Students who read smoothly tend to better understand what they have read. In third grade, students are expected to read 120 words in a minute, a high goal that many students don't reach, Clark said.

A new version of the test — coming out in fall — will drop the words per minute for third graders to 110, which is more realistic, said Don Coberly, Boise School District curriculum director.

From today's Idaho Statesman:

Idaho students in kindergarten through third grade showed little progress in reading based on statewide test scores released by the State Department of Education today.

Results show two-thirds of Idaho third-graders reading on grade level, virtually unchanged from spring 2006.

Other results showed:

• 80 percent of kindergartners reading on grade level, compared to 82 percent last year.
• 71 percent of first- and second-graders reading on grade level compared to 72 percent last year for both grades.

Test results are from the Idaho Reading Indicator, a 10-minute reading test given to students three times each year in kindergarten through third grade.

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

MSD wants courts to decide outcome of levy lawsuit; next hearing postponed until Oct.

The Moscow School Board will return to court in October for the next hearing in its $7.6 million lawsuit despite listening to appeals Tuesday night from patrons who want the district to seek a settlement.

"The delay makes things difficult, but we're not afraid of the ultimate decision of the court," said Margaret Dibble, board vice chairwoman. "We certainly believe in the law. We want to do the right thing and we believe that is abiding by the will of the electorate."

Voters approved a $1.9 million increase to the district's indefinite supplemental levy March 27. The increase brought the total amount of the levy to $7.6 million.

Moscow dentist Gerald Weitz challenged that election with a lawsuit he filed on May 4. He also threatened the full levy amount because his lawsuit alleged the district failed to follow state law.

The district lost an attempt to dismiss the case at its last court hearing June 29. The same day, the district's attorneys filed a motion for summary judgment and received a hearing date for Aug. 24, when the judge would hear the facts of the case and issue a ruling.

MSD attorney Amy White sent a notice to the district Monday with information that Weitz's attorneys have filed a similar motion. The legal procedure extended the deadlines and required the hearing date to be pushed back. With Second District Judge John Bradbury unavailable for a hearing in September, the earliest date available for the hearing is Oct. 5.

"The district continues to remain optimistic that they will prevail on this matter and firmly believes that they complied with all the legalities for this election," White wrote.

About 14 people attended Tuesday's meeting and many participated in a heated exchange that brought people out of their seats as they argued for and against the possibility of negotiating a settlement.

The board's decision to stay within the court system upset Moscow resident Don Harter, who spoke in favor of his plan for conciliation. His proposal would require the district to rerun its levy as an ordinary supplemental levy that would need to be repeated annually or biannually in exchange for a legal agreement from Weitz to drop his lawsuit.

"You have more options and more control than your opponent," he said.

Harter predicted a winning outcome would lead to a worse situation because he believes Weitz would appeal and carry the process out another 18 months.

"If you win, you'll immediately go into prayer," he said.

Harter also predicted that if Weitz won, the district would have to pursue its option to appeal, which he equated to "you shoot yourself in the foot by keeping in turmoil another 18 months." He warned that staying within the court system could keep escalating the case.

"Good luck with your legal expenses to see it all the way through the Supreme Court," he said.

Moscow property owner Isabel Bond spoke about her concerns with the levy while she offered her support for Weitz's agenda to have more professional-technical education in the district.

"I'd like to see some negotiation," she said. "I'd like to see the taxpayers have a real say in what's going on."

Bond didn't think voters understood the election and she questioned the election because she said there was a low voter turnout.

Moscow resident and former teacher Bob Weisel stood up to support the election results.

"I voted in that levy. I knew what I was voting for," he said. "Anybody that didn't understand what they were voting for should've asked somebody."

He also spoke to comments Bond raised about Weitz's educational philosophy.

"For some strange reason, we've got somebody who feels he knows more about education than the people we hire to run" the district, he said.

Moscow parent Michael Jennings was concerned that negotiating with Weitz would cause instability in funding that would eventually "deconstruct" the schools.

"I want to encourage the board to stay with the law, to move forward within the legal system," he said.

Jennings brought up Weitz's tumultuous history with the district, including both his time on the board and his resignations from it at times of disagreement.

"He's a bully," Jennings said. "He's held our children hostage to blackmail, to wanting to do it his way."

Board chairwoman Dawn Fazio had to call the room to order as the comments from opposing sides intensified. She pointed to the arguments as an example of why "we can't resolve this here."

At the end of the night, Dibble said the district followed its legal counsel and held "a perfectly good, democratic election."

"This negotiation would have to be with the 56.7 percent of people that voted for it," she said.

The following was presented at the Moscow School District on 24 July 2007.

I’m working my way through the Idaho School Superintendents’ Association conducted a “Management and Operational Review” of MSD.

As you read this, recall that it’s from 2002, so enrollment is higher then than it is today.

Page 6 of the report has this to say:

The student population in the district is approximately 2,350 of which a high percentage of its graduates go on to higher education. The college preparatory program offered at the secondary level appears to meet the needs of students going into higher education. However, dual credit, advanced placement (AP) courses, and professional/technical courses are perceived to be lacking. Students are housed in facilities which consist of one high school, one alternative school housed with the high school, one junior high school, and four elementary schools. School facilities, however, are a major issue in the district because of age and usability. Currently, the student population is decreasing each year because of smaller families, two charter schools, a private religious school, and home school.

Two things to note:

• The complaints that MSD has been lacking in Vo-Tech options has been ongoing for years and years. This is not something that Weitz alone came up with this year.
• Who knew that there was only one private religious school in town? I thought we had St. Mary’s, Montrose Academy, Palouse Hills, Turning Point, Logos, etc. Perhaps MSD only feels threatened by one of those?

Back in 2002, the Idaho School Superintendents’ Association conducted a “Management and Operational Review” of MSD. This is an outside look at the good, the bad, and the ugly at MSD. Talking to some MSD parents, I understand little has changed since this study was released.

You can read this 85–page report over at the MSD website: http://sd281.k12.id.us/Board_of_Trustees/manage_op_review.pdf

Or you can download it here (in case it disappears from the MSD site).

Here is an interesting section on MSD enrollment problems, and the reasons for those problems. From section 1.3.5 on page 17.

The district is facing a problem of declining enrollment, partially due to patrons choosing charter schools or private/parochial schools over schools in the Moscow School District. In increasing numbers, parents are also choosing to home-school their children. This is in part due to perceptions regarding personnel performance within the district. Parents and/or patrons have voiced the following concerns:

• Students are disrespectful to each other and to teachers, and some teachers too often tolerate this.
• Some staff members are openly “grouchy” to students. This practice has been allowed to continue year after year.
• Some veteran teachers have lost their enthusiasm.
• Supervisors may not be willing to, may not have the authority to, or may not have the skills to help improve staff performance/attitudes.
• When parents new to the community call the school, the receptionists or principal may not take advantage of the opportunity to “sell” the school to the parent.

According to the Idaho School Superintendents’ Association, much of MSD’s enrollment problems are self-inflicted.

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune.

MOSCOW - Former University of Idaho football player Tone Taupule was sentenced Tuesday to five to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to robbing a fellow student who admitted he was Taupule's drug dealer.

Second District Judge John Stegner retained jurisdiction in the case, and will reevaluate Taupule after he spends six months in the state penitentiary in Boise.

The retained jurisdiction - or "rider" - was part of a plea agreement reached in May that dropped a weapons enhancement and an aggravated battery charge.

Taupule was arrested in March after UI student Sean Fitzmaurice called police and told them Taupule pistol-whipped him and stole cash from a safe in his off-campus apartment.

At a preliminary hearing, Fitzmaurice admitted to frequently selling marijuana to UI football players, including Taupule.

But the county prosecutor said Fitzmaurice couldn't be charged because no physical evidence was found at the apartment.

Where is a kooky “ethnic studies” professor going to work after this? McDonald's?

From the Rocky Mountain News:

BOULDER — The first, very long chapter of the Ward Churchill saga ended this afternoon as just about everybody — including Churchill — had predicted: He was fired from his job as ethnic studies professor at the University of Colorado.

The next chapter is set to begin Wednesday, when the controversial academic and his civil rights attorney, David Lane, sue the university in Denver District Court.

Churchill warned that his dismissal is the beginning of a wider attack on scholars with unpopular political views.

"If you think I’m the endgame, you’re wrong," Churchill told supporters. "This is the kickoff."

He raised his fist and smiled defiantly when the school’s board of regents voted 8-1 in public, following three hours of private discussions, to fire him.

The ruling was greeted with boos and the beating of drums by about 100 supporters — including American Indian Movement leader Russell Means — standing in the back of the meeting room.

HT: Dave M.

Check out the very last line of this article from the Columbia Basin Herald. Just the kind of person you want to have a doctorate in educational philosophy.

MOSES LAKE -- Ex-Moses Lake High School teacher Sam Lyman pled guilty in Moses Lake District Court Monday to charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.

The charges stem from a March incident where Lyman was accused of entering the Moses Lake High School cafeteria without permission and began shouting, claiming he was being treated inappropriately by school administration.

Lyman was placed on probation until March 19, 2008, according to the clerk's office. The judge declared the charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct will be dropped if he does not have any other criminal offenses during his probation.

The March date was chosen because it is approximately one year from the date of the criminal offense.

In March, Lyman began protesting. He was placed on paid administrative leave for the remainder of the school year after students complained of inappropriate comments made by Lyman. He claimed he did not get proper documentation on his administrative leave.

The comments leading to his administrative leave concerned references to Brigham Young University.

After a sidewalk protest, Lyman entered the high school and disrupted the students during a lunch break, yelling profanities.

He was carried out by four school officials and escorted off the property by Moses Lake police.

The high school did not extend Lyman's contract, effectively ending his employment.

Lyman declined to comment after the Monday court hearing.

The Office of Professional Practices within the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction is investigating the incident to determine how it would affect Lyman's state teaching license.

Probation and criminal charges are taken into consideration.

Lyman is earning a doctorate in educational philosophy at Washington State University.

HT: David D.

At least according to the Idaho Statesman.

This is the media poll:

1. Hawaii (32): 494
2. Boise State (26): 490
3. Fresno State: 361
4. Nevada: 337
5. San Jose State: 321
6. New Mexico State: 233
7. Louisiana Tech: 157
8. Utah State: 110
9. Idaho: 107

This is the coaches poll:

1. Hawaii (6): 62
2. Boise State (3): 59
3. Nevada: 45
4. Fresno State: 40
5. San Jose State: 39
6. New Mexico State: 31
7. Louisiana Tech: 25
8. Utah State: 13
9. Idaho: 10

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

The Moscow School Board will hear from one frustrated patron during its Tuesday night meeting when Moscow resident Don Harter uses the public comment period to ask for a negotiated settlement of the lawsuit against the district.

The lawsuit began May 4 when Viola resident Gerald Weitz filed a complaint alleging that the district's indefinite supplemental levy should be invalidated because it failed to comply with the state's laws.

The board meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the board room of the district's administration building, located at 650 North Cleveland St.

Harter already decided what he thinks is a fair outcome. He wants the district to enter a binding legal agreement to rerun the contested indefinite levy as an ordinary maintenance and operations levy in exchange for Weitz agreeing to drop the lawsuit.

Harter drafted this agreement into a petition he refers to as both the "conciliation petition" and the "olive branch proposal."

Weitz offered a brief comment on the petition by phone.

"Our side has never blocked, nor would ever block, direct negotiations with the district for resolution of this matter," he said.

Harter began circulating the petition in the community early this month as a member of the Committee for Goodwill and Conciliation, which boasts members including Roger Falen, Gary Young, Isabel Bond, Dortha Hedrick and Jim DeMeerleer.

Harter wrote an e-mail to the board July 17 and sent a fax July 19 asking for the petition to be included on the agenda for the board's Tuesday meeting, but his request was declined by the board secretary. He was told he could attend the meeting and speak during the time allotted for public comments.

Board secretary Annette Erickson said the deadline for items normally is the Wednesday two weeks before a meeting. The agenda is reviewed and approved the next day, and then she goes through the process of distributing the agenda as well as posting it online and in the district office.

"I didn't receive his fax until a little after 7 a.m. on July 19, which was the day I was getting packets out," she said. "They had already been finalized."

Erickson called Harter that morning to tell him it was too late. She said he was frustrated that an exception hadn't been made.

"I can't act to make an exception, and neither can the board without having a meeting," Erickson said.

Harter said he believes the delay will prevent a negotiated settlement from being sincerely considered since the lawsuit will continue in court Aug. 24, when the judge will issue a summary hearing, and the next board meeting isn't until Aug. 28.

"We're sincerely trying to put an olive branch before the school board," he said. "We have a right as patrons to have it before the school board as an agenda item."

Board chairwoman Dawna Fazio also offered Harter time to address or question the board in an e-mail response she sent July 20, but she also warned him about the board's current stance on the lawsuit.

"The Board is not interested in rerunning the levy that voters approved in March 2007," she wrote. "Until the court tells us otherwise, we believe that we have followed the intent of the (Legislature) in running our levies since 1992."

Superintendent Candis Donicht said addendums, or late changes, do occasionally happen to the agenda but they normally are related to items within the consent agenda such as hirings or resignations that aren't of much public interest.

She said the board tries to be more cautious with controversial items because its members know people will want to come to either support or contest the issue.

"The reason for putting an agenda out is so that people who are interested in the items on it can come to the meetings," she said.

Donicht said she does not expect the board to make any immediate decisions based on items from the floor, although any public comments do become a part of the record. Normal comment time lasts about three minutes.

"We have not kept any kind of a tight rein" on the length of time allowed to speak, Donicht said. "People have been allowed to speak without being gaveled."

 

I predict that we’ll see a move by the Moscow School District to consolidate its power.

And all of Jack’s warnings to Oregon apply in spades to Latah County — there are negative economies of scale when it comes to government sucking power upward — away from the parents and into the hands of unions and other special interest groups. 

This warning is especially true concerning our Moscow School District.

This was written in March 2005.

Some Oregon legislators are about to fall into the “bigger is better” trap. They want to consolidate Oregon’s Educational Service Districts from 20 down to nine and consolidate the state’s 198 school districts down to 36, one for each county.

Instead of pushing a clearly failed idea, they should design a plan to do exactly the opposite—deconsolidation.

Oregon’s Education Service Districts administer some state and federal programs and provide other services for local school districts within their boundaries. School districts administer the bulk of state, local and federal education funding and control the public schools within their boundaries.

So, why have past consolidation efforts have failed? The idea behind consolidation is that districts will reap economies of scale, reduce costs, boost efficiency and leave everything else the same. The reality is that when you consolidate districts, a lot of other things change, and just the opposite happens.

“Consolidation sucks power upward and away from parents and students into top-down, centralized, and inflexible political arrangements…”

Consolidation sucks power upward and away from parents and students into topdown, centralized and inflexible political arrangements, where unions and other special interests have more political clout. This causes accountability to decline and results in higher per pupil costs and lower educational results.

Consolidation is nothing new in Oregon. From 1992 through 2001, legislation resulted in 277 school districts being consolidated down to 198. Rather than fewer districts resulting in less administrative overhead, at the end of the period there were actually more central office staff per pupil than at the beginning. Also, non-teaching staff grew faster than teachers and real per student spending rose more than 11 percent.

Over longer periods the effects of consolidation nationally have been even more dramatic. Real per-pupil costs have risen 600 percent since World War II and over the last century the local share of school funding has dwindled from 80 percent down to 45.4 percent. It is no coincidence that much of this increase and shift in funding occurred during the post-war period to the mid-1970s when the number of school districts fell by 83 percent.

The nationwide shift in funding away from the local level went even farther in Oregon, where only about 30 percent of school funding still comes from local taxes and power moved upward to Salem. There, special interest groups are better able to secure larger hikes in school funding and to divert much of the incremental increases toward themselves and their members.

“Indeed, private (and charter) schools almost never have any administrative structure above the school level, and they deliver at least comparable education.”

What did we get for this massive increase in spending and centralization of funding and decision making? Not much. The national data show constant or gradually improving student performance from the early 1950s until the early 1960s. From then until the early 1980s scores plummeted. There has since been some recovery in scores, but all test scores are well below what they would have been had the pre-1960s trend continued.

It all happened largely because consolidation discouraged competition and education diversity. Economists Sam Peltzman (Univ. of Chicago) and Caroline Hoxby (Harvard) have found that the deterioration in pupil performance was greatest where the shift in funding from local to state sources was greatest and that the upward movement of power added to union influence.

Consider teacher pay and work rules. Teacher unions bargain at the district level. As districts become larger, negotiators on both sides are farther removed from direct knowledge of individual teachers and schools. District-wide, inflexible pay schedules and work rules become more homogenized and detached from the performance of real teachers and schools.

Based on the evidence, current consolidation proposals will further raise education costs and reduce student performance. Conversely, de-consolidation would help stop escalating costs and improve student performance by bringing schools closer to parents.

Indeed, private (and charter) schools almost never have any administrative structure above the school level, and they deliver at least comparable education. They are about one-third to one-half the size of public schools and operate at about 60-65% of the per pupil cost.

Legislators interested in controlling costs and improving student performance should support deconsolidation that will

1. reduce administration above the school level,
2. give principals real control of their schools, including control over budgets, staff and collective bargaining,
3. distribute money to individual schools on a per student basis, and
4. give parents choice among schools — open enrollment, with money following the student.

Proposals for more consolidation go in exactly the wrong direction.

John T. Wenders
Dr. “Jack” Wenders was an adjunct scholar at Cascade Policy Institute,
a senior fellow at the Commonwealth Foundation in Pennsylvania, and
Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Idaho

For all the facts about Idaho education go to: http://www.edexidaho.org

From 15 Nov 2005.

The recent Supreme Court decision allowing local governments to take private property for economic development set off a firestorm of protest. States are now scrambling with various proposals to neutralize the effects of the Kelo decision.

Lost in all this is another, more important, eminent domain problem -- one that goes to the very heart of the relationship between ordinary citizens and their government. This problem goes well beyond the right of governments to claim the real property of citizens. It concerns the practice of claiming a property interest in a citizen's children and then holding them hostage to the self-interested demands of the largest government entity in our nation--the public schools.

Of course, the public school establishment will never say outright: "We own your children." But their mind-set and behavior presume exactly that.

Economists are naturally drawn to market solutions. Empowering parents with choice is viewed as a way of injecting improvements and efficiency into a public school system dominated by monopoly power, bloated spending, and poor product quality.

When making such proposals--whether they be for charter schools, vouchers, tax credits for private education, or open enrollment among public schools--one is inevitably faced with a unified education establishment that answers: "But your suggestions for parental choice will hurt the public schools. We will lose students and funds."

Think for a moment about what that means.

To claim that you will "lose" something implicitly presumes that you own it. But, you cannot "lose" what you don't own in the first place. So, at bottom, the widespread argument that the public school establishment will "lose" students and funds implicitly assumes that the public schools have a presumptive property right in children.

So, reduced to its essence, the position of the public school establishment is that, at birth, children are by default the property of the public schools, and that allows them to lay claim to certain funds through the various public school funding formulas. If parents have the audacity to choose to send their children to a private, charter, or home school, this "takes" these children from their presumptive owners, the public schools, which then "lose" monies to which they are entitled.

Putting it this way lays naked the moral absurdity behind the position of the public education establishment. This is the immoral foundation upon which the arguments of the education establishment rest. And once this is realized, these arguments collapse in an immoral heap.

John T. Wenders
Professor of Economics, Emeritus, University of Idaho

For all the facts about Idaho education go to: http://www.edexidaho.org

This will be good for the State of Idaho; and good for those in Boise.

But it will be bad for Moscow overall since fewer students will be coming to Moscow.

Another sign of a long-term malaise for Moscow…

From 2News:

Faculty with the University of Idaho's College of Law are looking at ways to increase the school's presence in Boise.

Dean Don Burnett says all options are on the table -- including moving the school south from Moscow or simply opening a small institute in Boise. But he says more likely is a proposal to create a second location in the capital city.

He says the University of Idaho is charged with providing a statewide legal education, and the demand for law degrees in the Boise region is growing.

Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald Schroeder says a proposal by the high court to expand the state law library could fit nicely with the College of Law's plans.

The Supreme Court hopes to move the library to a larger location in Boise, with classrooms and remote learning technology. Schroeder says the University of Idaho could share the facility, if it's interested.

Some comments:

1. This won’t be a “small institute”. The demand for law classes in Boise will be (is!) significantly greater than the demand for law classes in Moscow.
2. UI has to do something since the “charge” to provide statewide legal education could be given to another, larger, more responsive, well respected educational organization already in Boise…

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

Moscow School District's new superintendent, Candis Donicht, officially took office and has spent the past two weeks getting acquainted with people and learning about operations.