Moscow Education (Idaho)

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

Moscow School District Superintendent Candis Donicht revealed plans this week for the district to temporarily set aside facilities planning that has been ongoing for years, and first learn more from the community and address a supplemental levy increase.

And now that she has her $8m, she’ll be ready to go back and revisit all that other lovely property tax money she wants…

The Spokesman Review has an article out about the problem of swearing in the government schools:

Profanity is on TV, in the movies and laced in chart-topping songs. You hear it on the street and in grocery stores and restaurants.

As profane words pervade everyday life, profanity also has grown more prevalent in public schools.

Local educators say the "f-bomb" and other off-color language still should be taboo in the classrooms and hallways.

"I don't even know why anyone would even misunderstand why it wouldn't be appropriate," said John Brumley, Lake City's principal.

But walk down a high school hallway or attend a sports game in the Inland Northwest, and you'll probably hear it.

Having been associated with both parochial and non-parochial private schools, most of those do not tolerate vulgarity.

Vulgarity is an outward sign of something far sinister going on inwardly. And toleration of it is also a sign of rottenness.

Here's the new 2008 Idaho higher ed guidebook.

http://www.boardofed.idaho.gov/HiEd/HigherEd2008.pdf

It includes NSA again, plus Boise Bible College, NNU and the other private and public colleges and universities in the state.

NSA has the centerfold spot again this year.

(click to enlarge)

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

Church-sponsored education is becoming more popular on the Palouse. Three new private schools opened their doors in Palouse, Albion and Moscow within the past two years and existing private schools report either stable enrollments or significant enrollment increases.

And many of those same schools are still open and prospering.

And many new ones have arrived.

There are better, cheaper, more parent-friendly education opportunities on the Palouse these days.

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

Some Moscow residents are upset that the new teacher contract included an increase in wages. Residents are irked the district raised pay in a year when there were tremendous state holdbacks, and the district said it wouldn't.

And why is anyone surprised by these tactics?

MSD has money to burn.

Of course, it’s all from our property taxes… 

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

Moscow School District Superintendent Candis Donicht announced she will bring a formal proposal to the school board seeking approval to run a ballot measure for a $2 million supplemental levy increase.

And so it began.

Another incredible post by Jeff Harkins, faculty member in the University of Idaho's Accounting Department.

I’ve reformatted it for the web.

From some online research, here are some of the activities that substantiate Dr. Weitz's efforts on behalf of the Moscow School District and public education:

1. Chair and founder of Moscow Rotary Youth Exchange (18 years).
2. Chair Education Committee Moscow Chamber of Commerce (1993-1997). Received member of the year award from the Chamber (1995), Awarded Spirit of the Chamber (1996). Committe appears to have sponsored numerous focus groups and town hall meetings concerning school-to-work issues.
3. Awarded Parent of the Year Moscow High School 1995
4. Chair MHS Parent Advisory Committee (1993-95)
5. Chair Palouse Partnership Council (School-to-Work)
6. Co-Chair School-to-Work Region II, which partnered with Albertson's Foundation, UI College of Education and the federal School to work folks which brought into the district about $200,000 worth of grants for the management of change.
7. Member Moscow School Board 1997-2000
8. Worked with the National Guard, Congress and State Officials to acquire a "free Skills center" - apparently not yet a reality.
9. Airconditioned: Russell and MacDonald
10. Provided the building, remodeled to the District's specs. and provided infrastructure, (desks, chairs, computers, lockers, furnishings, telephone system etc.) for alternative HS.
11. Offered to acquire Tidyman's for conversion to a skills center, went through architectural concept drawings.

I am sure there are more activities, but this is what I have been able to document thus far. If any of the above are incorrect, please advise and I will edit as needed. I think these "facts" speak for themselves - Dr. Weitz has been a committed advocate for k-12 education.

It's interesting that Ms. Hovey chose to bring up the Billy Bob Teeth project. As I recall, the MSD teacher's union originally agreed to participate in that project and later withdrew its support citing "too busy" to help with that. Perhaps Ms. Hovey can bring forward some numbers to substantiate MSD personnel involvement in that activity.

The facts are that Dr. Weitz has been a solid advocate for MSD and k-12 education. The evidence suggests that Dr. Weitz is keenly interested in education and in particular, vo-tech education - and he has backed up his interest with effort and investment. Frankly, his decision to challenge the permanent levy seems to have legal foundation and while there are some that question his decision to pursue that course of action, it appears it was a valid action. While there appears to be a link between the legal action and vo-tech education (Dr. Weitz has indicated that he would be "pleased to see" additional investment of some of the levy proceeds invested in Vo-tech) there is no requirement that these activities be linked at all. Frankly, if the district did not comply with the "rules" for the levy, then the fault lies with the district, not with the actions of the citizen who initiated the challenge. It is in our long-term best interests as taxpayers and citizens and in the long-term best interests of governmental entities if governments and citizens follow the rules.

Some want to advance the "tyranny of the majority" argument to discredit Dr. Weitz's tactics; thankfully, even in our neck of the woods, a minority position is allowed.

The real issues for me in all of this are integrity and by extension, accountability. Some questions beg to be addressed, including

1. can the taxpayers, patrons and other constituents trust the actions of the MSD leadership?;
2. is it wise for governmental entities to have "permanent" taxes, not requiring persistent periodic taxpayer review?
3. is it wise for governments to rely on "permanent levies" that can only be extended by support of a new "permanent levy"? and
4. is it appropriate public policy to provide one local government with a permanent levy while the other local governments must compete with each other for their "right" to fund their activities, is public education more important than health and safety, than dealing with our water problem?

To encourage a rich discussion of these and other important issues, I will attempt to offer facts and dialogue on these issues in the coming weeks. Hopefully many of you will join in the dialogue - there are many questions to be considered and a thorough examination of the facts could lead to a better school district for us all - and a more knowledgeable voter base.

Please! Let's stop the fingerpointing and name calling - it gets us nowhere. Fact, there are a substantial number of folks in our area that did not support the district's request for a permanent levy increase. Now is the time to deal with that. The next levy is on the horizon…

The University of Idaho is one of two universities to receive grant money from the US Department of Agriculture to quantify the conservation benefits of watersheds.

From Northwest Public Radio:

The USDA has announced that the UI and North Carolina State University will share more than a million dollars in federal funding to improve management understanding of the benefits of agricultural conservation.

Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Connor says the two studies are the first phase of the USDA’s work to understand the effects of conservation practices benefiting a watershed.

The researchers at North Carolina State University will use $600,000 to develop a framework to evaluate thirteen previously funded watershed projects, including the Paradise Creek watershed in Idaho, to better understand the influence of conservation practices and maintenance.

The team from the University of Idaho will use about $420,000 to study these watersheds for their benefits to the land as well as the benefits to surrounding communities.

Does anyone think it’s a little coincidental that Mark Solomon is starting his PhD in Water Resources right when the $420k hits the University of Idaho?

According to official sources, the following is a video of the most important question slated to be asked at the CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate.

HT: Scrappleface

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune.

Idaho's schools chief will talk about his proposed teacher pay plan with students and teachers tonight at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston.

The plan includes a provision that requires teachers to give up job security in order to qualify for some pay increases.

Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna has been traveling the state plugging ISTARS, a plan to give bonuses and ongoing pay increases to some public school teachers.

At 7:30 p.m., he will be in Room 100 of Meriwether Lewis Hall. He was invited by the Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society, which is a society of education students. The public is invited.

Luna has said the provision requiring teachers to give up job security is necessary to convince Idaho leaders to approve the $60 million proposal.

Under the plan, all teachers qualify for $1,200 or $2,400 bonuses if their schools improve or rank high in student standardized test scores. All teachers also can receive a $2,400 bonus if their school districts deem their jobs "hard-to-fill."

Only teachers who forgo continuing contracts forever would get a $2,400 permanent increase. Only those teachers would qualify for a permanent $2,400 increase for getting more expertise and a $2,400 bonus for "taking on leadership duties" outlined by their districts.

The extra money would go on top of the existing pay scale, which starts at $31,000 a year.

This is not a debate, said Kappa Delta Pi advisor Ken Wareham, an LCSC education professor. But Luna will answer questions after his 20-minute presentation.

From today's Idaho Statesman:

Idaho ranks near the bottom of the nation in awarding four-year college degrees and must improve if it is to remain competitive with top states and countries, according to a national study.

But the state also ranks above the national average in the number of two-year degrees awarded.

Results point in part to a lack of college preparedness by many Idahoans, who often leave college out of frustration when they realize they aren't ready, Idaho State Board of Education officials say. Concern for college readiness led the board to boost high school rigor by increasing the amount of math and science students must take to graduate.

ARE IDAHOANS UNDEREDUCATED?

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE COLLEGE REPORT:

• Idaho ranked in the bottom five states for the number of four-year degrees it produces each year per 100 full-time equivalent students in college. Idaho produced 14.8 in 2005. The national average was 19.1. Washington led the country at 26.1.
• Idaho produced 14.9 two-year degrees per 100 students, compared with 12 nationally.
• 33.7 percent of Idahoans ages 25-64 have a college degree, compared with 37.4 percent nationally.
• By 2025, 45.9 percent of people ages 25-64 nationally are expected to have degrees; in Idaho the number is projected at 39.8 percent.

The report, "Adding It Up: State Challenges for Increasing College Access and Success," was released last week by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation for Education, both known for their work to improve access to -and success in - college.

"Idaho's civic health, prosperity and success in creating good jobs for its citizens depends on its ability to increase college success for all students, including low-income and first-generation college-goers, adult learners and students of color," the report said.

The nation needs to produce 64 million new college degrees by 2025 to keep pace with the top college-educated industrialized nations in the world and to provide for its own work force, the report said. But the United States is on track to award only 48 million degrees, a shortage of 16 million.

The report also says Idaho lags behind the nation in the percentage of adults ages 25 to 64 who hold degrees. That is expected to continue.

Neighboring Washington state leads the country in degrees awarded, according to the report, which uses 2005 data.

Idaho's lackluster record on higher education isn't new.

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave Idaho a D for college participation in a 2006 study. The study found that just 26 percent of Idaho's 18- to 24-year-olds went to college, compared with 42 percent in high-performing states like Michigan and Connecticut.

HT: DFO

From TownHall:

I like the Lexus LS 460. I also like Dell computers. Many other people have a different set of preferences. Some might prefer a Cadillac and an HP computer while others prefer a Chrysler and IBM computer. With these strong preferences for particular cars and computers, we never see people arguing or fighting in an effort to impose their preferences for cars and computers on other people. There's car and computer peace. Why? You buy the car and computer that you want; I do likewise and we remain friends.

There's absolutely no reason for car and computer choices to remain peaceful. Suppose our car and computer choices were made in the political arena through representative democracy or through a plebiscite where majority ruled. We would decide collectively whether our cars would be Lexuses or Cadillacs or Chryslers. We also would decide collectively whether our computer would be a Dell or HP or IBM computer.

I guarantee you there would be nasty, bitter conflict between otherwise peaceful car and computer buyers. Each person would have reason to enter into conflict with those having different car and computer tastes because one person's win would necessarily be another person's loss. It would be what game theorists call a zero-sum game. How would you broker a peace with these parties in conflict? If you're not a tyrant, I'm betting you'd say, "Take the decision out of the political arena and let people buy whatever car and computer they wish."

Prayers in school, sex education and "intelligent design" are contentious school issues. I believe parents should have the right to decide whether their children will say a morning prayer in school, be taught "intelligent design" and not be given school-based sex education. I also believe other parents should have the right not to have their children exposed to prayers in school, "intelligent design" and receive sex education.

The reason why these issues produce conflict is because education is government-produced. That means there's either going to be prayers or no prayers, "intelligent design" or no "intelligent design" and sex education or no sex education. If one parent has his wishes met, it comes at the expense of another parent's wishes. The losing parent either must grin and bear it or send his child to a private school, pay its tuition and still pay property taxes for a school for which he has no use.

Just as in the car and computer examples, the solution is to take the production of education out of the political arena. The best way is to end all government involvement in education. Failing to get government completely out of education, we should recognize that because government finances something it doesn't follow that government must produce it. Government finances F-22 Raptor fighter jets, but there's no government factory producing them. The same could be done in education. We could finance education collectively through tuition tax credits or educational vouchers, but allow parents to choose, much like we did with the GI Bill. Government financed the education, but the veterans chose the school.

Government allocation of resources enhances the potential for human conflict, while market allocation reduces it. That also applies to contentious national issues such as Social Security and health care. You take care of your retirement and health care as you please, and I'll take care of mine as I please. If you prefer socialized retirement and health care, that's fine if you don't force others to participate. I'm afraid most Americans view such a liberty-oriented solution with hostility. They believe they have a right to enlist the brute forces of government to impose their preferences on others.

HT: David D.

Here are the quotes showing that The San Francisco Chronicle and their web site SFGate.com are deceiving their readers through comment-deletion trickery.

If you make a comment on an article posted at SFGate, and if the site moderators then subsequently delete your comment for whatever reason, it will only appear as deleted to the other readers. HOWEVER, your comment will NOT appear to be deleted if viewed from your own computer! The Chronicle’s goal is to trick deleted commenters into not knowing their comments were in fact deleted. I’ll give evidence below showing how they do this.

Why would SFGate do such a thing? Because ever since public input was first allowed at SFGate, many commenters who had their comments deleted would come back onto the comment thread and point out that they had been silenced for ideological reasons — i.e. they weren’t sufficiently “progressive” — or because they had pointed out ethical lapses at SFGate and the Chronicle. Or any number of other reasons that the Chronicle did not want known. So, to pacify these problematic commenters, the SFGate moderators came up with a very clever and underhanded coding trick to prevent deleted commenters from ever finding out that they had been silenced.

Think Progress is pulling the same trick. Konservo has screen shots to prove it.

HT: Dave G.

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

Moscow School District's Facilities Planning Committee agreed to bring a recommendation for a new high school to the board by March. That could place a $20 million facilities bond before voters in September.

Money, money, money.

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

The Moscow School District is attempting to draft new graduation requirements. They hope to have the new requirements in place for the class of 2002.

I posted yesterday about America’s largest charity evaluator: Charity Navigator.

Chris W. pulled up the Southern Poverty Law Center and found that they got a one-star for efficiency.

No wonder it’s dubbed “Morris Dees’ piggy bank”, with Dees drawing a $266,833 annual compensation. From Wikitionary:

On February 12 through 14 1994 Dan Morse in the Montgomery Advertiser published multiple articles alleging financial mismanagement, poor management practices, and misleading fundraising.The newspaper summarized its investigation as producing evidence of "a complex portrait of a wealthy civil rights organization essentially controlled by one man: Morris Dees."^[13] Morse referred to Dees as "a giant success story--a self-made millionaire by the age of 29, a chief fundraiser for four presidential candidates, a nationally recognized civil rights lawyer."^[13] Morse cited Dees former business partner from the 1960s who said Dees was a very driven person whereas others noted that "a continuous stream of positive media accounts had added to the Dees legend."^[13]

Then again, the SPLC has money to burn.

For those of you who don’t know about the SPLC, here’s Selwyn Duke’s take on it:

Now, for those of you not acquainted with the SPLC, I'll point out that it's a leftist "civil rights" organization headed up by Morris Dees, a man with a dubious past who, after having sued certain white supremacists into oblivion, finds purpose and fund-raising success by casting anyone to the right of Mao Tse-Tung as a clandestine Klansman.

No wonder Moscow’s Intoleristas have a love affair with SPLC.

The following letter to the editor appeared in today’s Lewiston Tribune:

Confused on levies

I continue to be at a loss to understand why the fact that the property owner/levy system for school finances has been declared unconstitutional (illegal), but nobody seems to care. How can any court make a decision of any kind on school levies until this defect is corrected?

The Idaho Supreme Court has upheld the unconstitutional status of the levies on property owners that provide money for schools, and the Idaho Legislature continues to ignore the problems of the Idaho Constitution requirement that they provide a complete education for all Idaho students at no cost. As far as I can see, the Moscow suit in their levy did not touch on this. Why?

C.M. Vogelsong, Riggins

I have no idea what Vogelsong is talking about. Since when are property taxes directed towards the government schools illegal?

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune.

The attorney for a dentist who sued the Moscow School District said his client has no plans at this time to file an injunction to keep the district from receiving money from an election ruled null and void by a judge earlier this week.

"We aren't taking any further action right now," said Brian Thie, attorney for Gerald Weitz.

A recent decision by 2nd District Court Judge John Bradbury ruled the March levy election void. A repeat election Nov. 13 was not addressed in his decision, leaving it valid. Both elections were favorable for the school district with voters approving a $1.97 million increase to the existing levy.

Tax bills sent out this week contain the increased levy amount. But the tax bills are based on certification from the state tax commission that came after the first election. Latah County Prosecuting Attorney William Thompson said the county is required to send the tax bills based on certified numbers from the tax commission. Those numbers are final the fourth Monday of October.

The county held off printing and mailing the bills until close to the Nov. 26 deadline to see if a judge would stop the collection.

"When that didn't happen, the county had no option but to send the bills to collect," he said.

Thompson said Weitz could file an injunction for all the taxpayers.

"Dr. Weitz, because he was the plaintiff, he would have the legal standing," Thompson said. But anyone with a tax bill could file an injunction asking to be relieved of the increase to the school levy. It would then be up to a judge to decide. If left alone, the money will be collected. A court order could keep the county from paying that collected money to the district.

On the billing, the amounts are listed separately as supplemental levy one and two, Thompson said. The treasurer's office will account for the money separately, also, since the money from the increase is in question.

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

Moscow dentist is willing to make deal with school district;
Superintendent calls tactics 'blackmail'

Confusion surrounding recent developments in a lawsuit filed against the Moscow School District by Moscow dentist Gerald Weitz has people wondering what Weitz's next move will be.

The recent ruling by Second District Court Judge John Bradbury opens the possibility for any school district patron to file an injunction against taxes collected for an increase to the district's indefinite supplemental levy.

Bradbury declared the school district's March levy election "null and void" Monday, a day before tax bills that included the increase were sent to patrons.

Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson said Bradbury could rule to withhold the money from the district if Weitz or another patron files an injunction.

"I'm not going to go after them to have the money withheld," Weitz said of the $1.97 million earmarked from the March election.

Weitz's lawsuit, filed in May, argued that the March election - approved by 56 percent of district voters - was illegal and invalid because it asked voters to approve an increase of $1.97 million but didn't state that the total amount certified would be $7.6 million.

Bradbury sided with Weitz on that issue, but deferred his written judgement and gave the district six weeks to correct the ballot language and rerun the election. The school district reran the levy election Nov. 13, and the increase was approved by 57.7 percent of voters.

On Tuesday, Weitz reiterated his claim that the issue still can be resolved amicably.

"The district could simply talk to us and we'd drop the lawsuit, which would validate the March election and everything would go through," he said.

Thompson said the Idaho State Tax Commission included the $1.97 million increase on tax bills because it was certified before Bradbury filed his final judgement.

"I don't know what they're going to do from here," Weitz said of the district. "In order to avoid more, it would seem logical to me to simply have both sides come together.

"When we first alerted them there was a problem they refused to even talk to us."

Moscow Superintendent Candis Donicht said the district never refused to talk to Weitz.

"We have had several conversations," she said. "Early on we had a number of e-mails ... and of course once things are at the lawsuit stage the appropriate way to manage that is the lawyers interact on behalf of their clients."

Weitz said no one has expressly told him they plan to pick up the lawsuit and file an injunction.

"It's not something I've pushed at all," Weitz said.

Donicht said the district understands that someone could file an injunction and that it is an obvious concern.

"Any school official would be concerned because of the potential this has to pull resources from the district," she said. "People have voted twice. People want these resources spent for the benefit of the Moscow School District."

I think it would be fair to say that 2,065 people do not want these resources spent. It makes sense to me that MSD should follow the law.

Donicht said the recent turn of events is confusing to some people because the lawsuit was complex.

"It had multiple issues to address and this has transpired over a long period of time," she said. It "took a long time to get to the Oct. 5 hearing date and it involved several sections of the code. I think everyone understands we're filing new ground here."

State Rep. Shirley Ringo said she fielded calls from school district patrons all morning Tuesday who were confused about some of the media coverage surrounding Bradbury's final judgement and its relation to tax payments.

Ringo said she received numerous phone calls from people who "really just didn't understand where things stood right now."

"Some ... were afraid the judge was overturning our most recent vote, which thankfully isn't the case," she said. "I think we all hoped it was settled. I think Gerald Weitz intended to hold the district hostage and I think that's just what he's done."

Weitz has contended from the beginning that the lawsuit was never about money and said Tuesday it still isn't.

"In a lot of respects it's about local control and when you give a taxing entity money forever that takes a lot (of control) away from the patronage," Weitz said of the indefinite supplemental levy.

Weitz said he has requested attorneys fees from the district, claiming that the district caused his expenses to go through the roof.

He said the fee payment still hasn't been solidified, but that as far as he knows he's "entitled to some" money.

Donicht said the district does not feel Weitz is entitled to the fees.

"I think that statement speaks for itself, 'It isn't about money but I asked for legal fees,' " Donicht said of Weitz. "We didn't file the lawsuit, he did. We advanced an aggressive defense."

Donicht said the last time the district calculated its legal-fee expenditure it was more than $40,000.

"We have some insurance, but in the big picture these are taxpayer dollars as well," she said.

Weitz, a former Moscow School Board member, has long argued for the district to offer more professional-technical programs, more dual enrollment opportunities with the University of Idaho and more days of instruction.

Weitz said the reason he's so invested in "the kids who aren't going to college and for the kids who need dual enrollment" is because he has seen children in his dental practice who "have zero future (and) no skills."

Weitz said he's traveled enough to know that other countries "do not discard these children," which he feels is being done in Moscow.

The district could have its money, Weitz said, by simply getting together with him and engaging in discussion about offering these students more professional-technical programs and more dual enrollment.

Donicht said the process for approving curriculum lies in the hands of the elected school board and that no individual - herself included - can dictate curriculum.

"There's a governing body elected by the community to make those decisions," she said. "If 'do what I want or I sue you' is blackmail, then I guess" that is what it was.

Weitz contends he has never blackmailed the district by suggesting it offer more professional-technical courses.

"I'm offering them an out and it's a very efficient, clean out," he said.

Donicht said the district is "of course very, very disappointed with the judge's ruling."

"People worked very hard in a very short period of time to pass the November election," she said. "The voter margin of approval had increased, and now I don't think anyone can say they didn't know what was going on ... Our electorate has spoken twice."

Donicht said she has been able to find positives throughout the ordeal.

"Of course the good news is that in the long term our supplemental levy increase is in place for the '08-09 school year," she said. "It is only this year that is now in question."

From today's Idaho Statesman:

Idaho ranks hear the bottom of the nation in the number of four-year college degrees it hands out and must improve if it is to remain competitive with top states and countries, according to a national study released Wednesday.

But the state also ranks above the national average in the number of two-year degrees that are awarded.

The report, titled “Adding It Up”, was done by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation for Education, both known for their work for improving access to and success in college.

The report also says Idaho lags behind the nation in the percentage of adults ages 25 to 64 who have degrees. The trend is expect to continue at least through the next 18 years.

“This will leave the state short of the college-educated population needed to meet workforce demands and compete with best-performing nations,” the report said.

The report underscores the lack of preparedness by many high school students when they go onto college, said Deck Sanders, with the State Board of Education. Part of the problem lies with state high school standards outlining what students should know that don’t reach much beyond the 10th grade level — the benchmarks students must meet to get a high school diploma in their senior year, Decker said.

The report shows:

• Idaho awards 14.8 four-year degrees per 100 fulltime equivalent students compared to the national average of 19.1.
• Idaho produced 14.9 two year degrees compared to 12 nationally based on the same measurement.
• 33.7 percent of Idahoans ages 25-64 have a college degree compared to 37.4 nationally.
• By 2025, 45.9 percent of people age 25-64 nationally are expected to have degrees; in Idaho the number is projected at 39.8.

I’ve got the MSD levy rates from 2006 and 2007 for MSD:

2006:

2007:

Let’s do a little math. Here’s the change in percentage:

Our property taxes to MSD have increased by 20.7% from last year to this year.

Oh, and don’t forget about that increase in the Idaho sales tax that is also your “contribution” — one out of every 100 dollars you spend also goes to the schools.

Truly robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Below is the Latah County percent levies for 2007.

They held off from the statutory requirement of 1 Sept until after the 13 Nov re-run of the MSD levy to send these out.

Hopefully someone will challenge their right to break the law in order for MSD to get their money.

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune.

There has to be some way to pay excellent teachers more for their contributions than mediocre teachers.

Of course, the current salary grid is one of the major problems with reforming government education in the US.

Idaho Superintendent of Public Schools Tom Luna is defending a proposal requiring teachers to give up job security in return for higher pay.

The Idaho Education Association said the plan leaves teachers vulnerable to the whims of school district administrators.

Luna plugged his teacher pay plan, called ISTARS, at a meeting of school superintendents from 16 north central Idaho districts Tuesday in Lewiston.

Luna wants to give Idaho teachers "the largest pay increase in the history of Idaho."

But the $60 million plan must pass this year, he warned.

"We already have the support of the governor and key legislators," Luna said. "If we're talking about this a year from now, we're going to be talking about this five years from now."

Luna responded to critics who say it will be too easy to fire teachers if they are forced to give up continuing contracts to get most pay increases. Continuing contracts require administrators to give teachers due process rights when trying to fire them.

"There is some confusion that teachers become at-will employees," he said. "That's not true."

Teachers would move to shorter contracts of one, two and three years. Under those contracts, teachers would have due process rights similar to rights they have now, he said. He also said new contracts would have a property right attached, as do current contracts.

…

Luna outlined the six-step due process system a teacher would get under the new contracts if an administrator wanted to fire the teacher.

The teacher would get an evaluation, a letter of explanation, an improvement plan, eight weeks of probation, another evaluation and, if fired, a chance to appeal the decision to the local school board, he said.

Under the pay plan, all teachers qualify for $1,200 or $2,400 bonuses if their schools improve or rank high in student standardized test scores. And, all teachers can receive a $2,400 bonus if their school district deems their job "hard-to-fill."

Only teachers who forgo continuing contracts, forever, would get a $2,400 permanent increase. And only those teachers would qualify for a permanent $2,400 increase for getting more expertise and a $2,400 bonus for "taking on leadership duties" outlined by their district.

The extra money would go on top of the existing pay scale, which starts teachers at $31,000 a year and move Idaho up from 36th highest in teacher pay into the top 20, Luna said.

From TownHall by Michael Barone:

Education is not ordinarily thought to be in the purview of a Federal Reserve chairman. So it's striking when Alan Greenspan in his memoir, "The Age of Turbulence," raises the subject.

"Our primary and secondary education system," he writes, "is deeply deficient in providing homegrown talent to operate our increasingly complex infrastructure." The result: "Too many of our students languish at too low a level of skill upon graduation, adding to the supply of lesser-skilled labor in the face of an apparently declining demand."

So if you're concerned about widening disparities in income, Greenspan tells readers attracted to his book by its publicists' promise of criticism of George W. Bush, then what you need to do is to "harness better the forces of competition" in educating kids.

As Greenspan concedes, we have done that to some extent. Governors Republican and Democratic have worked to make public schools more accountable, charter schools provide some needed competition, and the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act has further prodded states and localities in those directions. But except for a few cities, notably Milwaukee and Cleveland, we have not had school choice programs with vouchers allowing parents to choose private as well as public schools.

Vouchers are adamantly opposed by the teacher unions, which spent millions persuading Utah voters last week to repeal a voucher law passed by the legislature. No one can say for sure how much vouchers would improve education. But they are "forces of competition," as Greenspan puts it, which we're almost entirely prevented from harnessing because of the power of teacher unions -- the power, more specifically, that they wield in the Democratic Party.

I was reminded of this by a recent exchange on theatlantic.com between libertarian blogger Megan McArdle and liberal bloggers Matt Yglesias and Kevin Drum. These are three of the most intellectually interesting and usually independent-minded young liberal bloggers, but on vouchers they advanced one lame argument after another. On this issue, they were playing team ball.

The teacher unions are an incredibly important source of money and volunteers for the Democratic Party -- about one in 10 delegates at recent Democratic national conventions have been teacher union members or their spouses. When they snap their fingers, the Democrats jump. Vouchers threaten to dry up dues money, and that is that.

I encourage you to read the entire article.

HT: David D.

This is a companion piece to the one that ran this morning in the LMT.

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

Moscow School District patrons will be billed for an increase to the district's indefinite supplemental levy passed in March, but it remains unclear when or if the district will see any of the money.

Second District Court Judge John Bradbury on Monday issued his written decision in a lawsuit brought against the district in May by Moscow dentist Gerald Weitz. In his judgement, Bradbury declared the March election "null and void ... due to the inadequacy of the ballot language submitted by the Defendant to the voters."

Bradbury's final ruling clears the way for Weitz or any other district patron to file an injunction against the tax money that is collected, which could block the distribution of money, Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson said.

Thompson said the Idaho State Tax Commission included the $1.97 million increase on tax bills that will be sent to patrons because the March election results were certified before the judge's final ruling.

Latah County Treasurer Connie Jain Ferguson said the tax bills will be sent out today.

Weitz's lawsuit argued that the March election - approved by 56 percent of district voters - was illegal and invalid because it asked voters to approve an increase of $1.97 million but didn't state that the total amount certified would be $7.6 million.

Bradbury sided with Weitz on Oct. 5, giving the district six weeks to correct the ballot language and rerun the election.

The school district reran the levy election Nov. 13, and the increase was approved by 57.7 percent of voters.

If an injunction is filed, Bradbury will decide if and how the money will be distributed, Thompson said.

"We will comply with any order the court issues," Thompson said. The money "would be set aside and distributed by the court, or the judge could order that the money couldn't be distributed."

Bradbury's final judgement also states that the district court did have jurisdiction over the case, refuting an assertion in the proposed judgement recently submitted to the court by Moscow School District attorney Brian Julian.

Bradbury had asked both parties to submit a proposed judgement in the lawsuit, Thompson said. A proposed judgement is an outline submitted by both parties that details what they think the judge's final decision should be.

Thompson said the judge could accept or reject the suggested wording in either or both of the proposed judgements.

Julian said Bradbury expected the school district-proposed judgement to parallel his final judgement. However, the district contended the court had no jurisdiction over the hearing because it was not held 30 days after the district received its court summons May 3.

In its proposed judgement, the district stated it had "been prejudiced by the failure to hold the hearing within 30 days as required under Title 34, Chapter 20, Idaho Code."

Julian said Weitz was able to amend his complaint in May and if he hadn't been allowed to do this, the school district could have requested a trial be held within 30 days.

"We have suffered prejudice by allowing Weitz to amend after 30 days," Julian said. "Because the election was held in November and the state tax commission should certify in October we were placed in an awkward position at best."

Bradbury wrote that although hearings on the motion took place in October and not within 30 days of the summons, that the "district participated ardently and well in all of the substantive motions without complaint." He also wrote that it is now "unseemly for the district that fully participated in the process to now argue that the agreed facts, the briefing, and the decision" have no jurisdiction because of a 30-day time frame.

Bradbury also wrote that because the district's proposed judgement was inconsistent with his decision he will treat it as if it was a "motion for reconsideration."

Julian said stating the judge had no jurisdiction was in no way a personal affront.

"Every time you have a novel legal issue, you either win or lose with the judge," he said. "That's why we have two levels of appeal courts in our state."

District officials estimated the levy increase will add $1.18 per $1,000 of assessed taxable valuation to property tax bills. District property owners previously paid $5.54 per $1,000 of assessed valuation toward schools.

This is as I predicted two days ago — MSD wants to invalidate Judge Bradbury’s jurisdiction so that they can back-date the bills and get their money. And they have two million reasons to do so…

This from our Rep. Shirley Ringo:

The March vote was certified.  The County Treasurer was forced to send property tax bills based upon that fact.  Now, she has the information that the judge officially declared the March vote null and void.  She is creating a special line showing revenues from property taxes that specifically and separately accounts for the funds provided as a result of certification of the March levy.  At this time, Treasurer Ferguson will await direction concerning the how and whether to disperse those funds.

 

The possibilities include the following:

 

School District Attorneys and Weitz attorneys could meet with the judge and seek resolution.  I am told that in a civil suit, the judge could possibly give no further directives unless the plaintiff asks that he do so.  Given the track record of Gerry Weitz, I am sure he still intends to hold the district hostage on the issue of vocational education.  He also wants the District to pay his attorney fees.  It seems unlikely that there will be a meeting of the minds that will help the District.

 

I am told that the judge could unilaterally give further direction concerning these funds, but that is unlikely.

 

Treasurer Ferguson, who is in a very awkward situation, could ask the judge for direction.  Undoubtedly, she would prefer that this not be necessary.

 

Apparently the District lawyer is challenging Judge Bradbury’s jurisdiction in the matter.  This issue may conceivably be pursued.

 

As is stands, because of deadlines that must be met, the funds from the November levy election cannot be collected until the next school year.  (2008-2009)  Unless there is some intervening action, the District will have to live with adverse actions taken to save money this school year. 

 

This is my best understanding of the current situation.  Let me know if you have questions.

Given the doom-and-gloom, sky-is-falling scenarios that MSD predicted would occur if they didn’t have the money, I’m looking forward to seeing how nothing changes in the coming year if they don’t get the money.

Then I’ll be able to look back a year from now and say “I told you so.”

Ah! Recall previously when I said that there was a political reason for MSD to say that Judge Bradbury didn’t have jurisdiction in the case? Here it is. They have $2 million reasons to want to overturn Bradbury’s jurisdiction in the case.

The voters should expect that the Idaho State Tax Commission and the Latah County Treasurer will follow the law, regardless of the political pressure to do otherwise.

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune.

MOSCOW - Tax bills including the increased school levy amount will be mailed to Moscow School District patrons today but whether the school district will see that money may require another judge's opinion.

A decision filed Monday by 2nd District Court Judge John Bradbury said the March election, on which the tax assessment is based, is "null and void."

In the final decision of a civil case brought against the district by Gerald Weitz, Bradbury said the court has jurisdiction in the case, that all earlier elections Weitz opposed were time-barred and the election earlier this year was invalid.

"The only reason (the increase) is on the tax bill was because it was the amount certified by the (state) tax commission," said Latah County Prosecuting Attorney William Thompson. He has worked with Latah County Treasurer Connie Ferguson to properly administer the tax bills caught in the middle of a civil dispute between Weitz and the district.

The county has until Nov. 26 to send out the tax bills, Ferguson said, and so decided to wait until after the district reran its levy request last week. That rerun was mandated by Bradbury with the requirement that the total levy amount, not just the increase, be stated on the ballot. He gave the district six weeks to accomplish the task. The district did so and received even more support, with 57.7 percent of voters in favor. The district now has a permanent levy of $7.57 million.

Ferguson said her staff worked all weekend to prepare the tax bills.

Thompson said the levy amount on the tax bills is based on the best information the tax commission had at the time of validation. School levies must be validated by Sept. 30 to apply to the December tax bill in any year. Because the March levy was ruled moot, it could affect this tax bill. But because the deadline has passed for the tax commission to change the amount and the bills have been sent, the tax will be collected, Thompson said.

But one of the parties to the civil suit could choose to ask a judge to place an injunction on that money and not disperse it to the district, he said.

Weitz's attorney, Brian Thie, had not seen the decision as of late Monday and said he couldn't say what he will do on behalf of his client.

"I don't know how they can tax citizens from a levy election that the judge just ruled null and void," he said.

Weitz said earlier in the day he is waiting to decide what to do next. But he said the dispute will only be settled if the district will establish goals for vocational education, goals for working with the University of Idaho for dual enrollment, write a letter to patrons in conjunction with him calming the community uproar and pay his attorney fees.

"The district has the ability to settle the case with me any time it wishes," Weitz said. "We wouldn't have to go through this charade."

Candis Donicht, superintendent of the Moscow School District, has said Weitz used the levy election as a way to get back at the district for not implementing curriculum the way he thinks it should be done.

The school district's attorney, Brian Jullian of Boise, said he disagrees with the judge's ruling that the court has jurisdiction. When Weitz originally filed the complaint, Jullian said, it stated the wrong statute in Idaho law. Bradbury allowed Weitz to change that statute after the case was active rather than dismissing it for lack of jurisdiction. Jullian said a trial was required within 30 days under the proper statute and because of the mistake, that time line was extended. If the case had been filed properly, the district would have met the Sept. 30 deadline of the state tax commission.

It is a point that could be appealed to a higher court.

Even with the passage of the levy this month, the district could still face not having levy money to apply to the 2007-08 school year. The money from the December tax collection would apply to the 2007-08 school year, Donicht said. The district has already cut $400,000 from its budget for 2007-08 through some reductions in staff, budget freezes and increases in class size.

She said earlier that she hoped to rectify those cuts at semester with the passage of the levy, but an injunction could keep them in place for the remainder of the school year.

Passage of the levy increase last week will mean the taxes can be collected for 2008-09 and keep the district from having to cut another $ 1.5 million for next year.

But the entire case and any ruling on any item Weitz raised in the initial civil suit could be appealed to a higher court. Weitz said he did not know yet if he would appeal. He said the suit has already cost more and gone farther than he thought it would.

“The fact that you can do something awesome with $15 million does not mean that you could do something super-awesome with $150 million.”

—Megan McArdle, discussing the problem of scaling, particularly in public education. The Atlantic.com, 14 November 2007.

From EIA:

Last week's story on the need for two million new teachers in the next ten years reminded University of Missouri economics professor Michael Podgursky that he debunked Hussar's study more than five years ago. Read it here.

 

From The Education Intelligence Agency.