Moscow Education (Idaho)

From Northwest Public Radio:

In Moscow, ID, University of Idaho officials say spring enrollment is down 2.3 percent, to just below 11,000, but say they’re pleased with the growing number of freshmen, up 42% from a year ago, and with the growing number of high school students in the state taking university course credit, up almost twenty two percent.  

That's one way to spin it — more high schoolers are taking college classes!

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

The dentist who sued the Moscow School District last year said he wouldn't do it over again if given the chance.

Gerald Weitz said he's personally endured severe community backlash, and his Moscow business, Bearable Dentistry, saw a steep decline in clientele throughout the duration of the lawsuit.

"It was not worth it for my partner and my son," Weitz said of his practice. "They own part of the business, and it wasn't fair to my staff."

…

Weitz said that his business is beginning to recover, and numbers for January 2008 may be the highest it's ever been.

"It'll bump back," he said. "The first month (of the lawsuit) it was about a 20-percent decrease. I think this month, so far, is the strongest. It's coming back."

Although Weitz was denied legal fees in the final ruling, he said supporters have kicked in money to help cover the thousands of dollars he incurred during the lawsuit.

"People have helped, people who are interested," Weitz said. "One person wrote out a $4,500 check. What does that say? It says people are afraid to speak up in this town because they're going to be bashed."

Weitz maintains that he's the public advocate for others in the community who hold similar positions.

"I've been here going on 35 years," he said. "I don't know anyone who's taken more heat than I have. I have maybe 60 letters (from Moscow community members) that are afraid to send letters (to the newspaper).

"It seems incredible that enlightened people would be incensed that someone would critique our education system."

Although Weitz's lawsuit didn't address any logistical education problems, it did allow for Weitz to point out problems he thinks exist within the Moscow School District.

They don’t have the nickname “intolerant liberals” for nothing.

If you compare the number of letters to the editor supporting/against the MSD levy verses the number of votes for/against the levy, you will quickly see the disparity. There are a lot of people who won’t say a word publicly against MSD for fear of retribution from the progressives.

Now there’s progress for you!

No one has yet answered my question: does this include the cost of living difference? You cannot compare Moscow’s cost of living to Davis (Calif.). Even if the two universities are “peers” (which is debatable), the cost of living between Davis and Moscow is significant.

It looks like no one is really comparing apples to apples here.

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune.

The presidents of the University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College recently pleaded with legislators for better faculty pay. Tim White of the UI and Dene Thomas of LCSC said their schools lag far behind their "peer institutions" and are at a competitive disadvantage when trying to recruit the best teachers and researchers.

But just which schools are those peers, how are they chosen, and is it a fair comparison?

UI Provost and Executive Vice President Doug Baker, the school's top academic officer, said his list of peers includes other land-grant universities without medical schools that have similar programs.

"We're trying to attract faculty here to help us attain our goals within our mission as a land-grant institution," Baker said. "So that means we have to hire in that marketplace."

That marketplace includes larger and wealthier schools like the University of California-Davis, the University of Nevada-Reno and Michigan State University, which pay full professors an average of more than $110,000 annually, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics.

More sad news for UI and for Moscow. Moscow’s economy is linked at the hip to how well UI is doing.

This is bad news for everyone in Moscow.

And this is not a small slip. Enrollment here in Moscow is down 2% from this time last year.

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

The University of Idaho's official 10-day count for the spring 2008 semester shows another dip in overall student enrollment.

The university's total spring semester enrollment, graduate students and undergraduates, was 10,994 as of midnight Wednesday, compared to last spring's 10-day count of 11,251. UI had 11,846 total students enrolled in spring 2006. Total enrollment includes the Moscow campus and satellite campuses across the state.

The number of students at the UI's Moscow campus dropped from 10,184 in spring 2007 to 9,980 this semester.

WSU enrollment is up; UI enrollment it down. No surprise there.

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

Washington State University's freshman class on the Pullman campus still is the biggest ever, now 19.65 percent larger than one year ago at this time, according to 10-day enrollment figures released Friday afternoon.

Overall enrollment on WSU's Pullman campus is up 3.3 percent, mostly due to the freshman class - which consists of 2,965 students - and a 5.36 percent increase in graduate students.

The senior class is the largest class on the Pullman campus with 5,042 students. That's up from 4,965 one year ago - a 1.55 percent increase. There are 2,872 sophomores and 3,921 juniors enrolled in Pullman.

WSU reported enrollment growth at all four of its campuses this spring, with a total spring semester enrollment of 22,741 students, up 4.8 percent from last spring.

 

This could be interesting.

File Attachment: Idaho Main Street Proposal.pdf (105 KB)

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

Second District Court Judge John Bradbury ruled Thursday that the Moscow School District can collect tax money generated from its March 2007 supplemental levy election.

"Judge Bradbury has ruled," Moscow School District Superintendent Candis Donicht said in a voicemail message left at the Daily News. "It's been really interesting. Neither side has been declared to prevail. However, the injunction has been denied, therefore we'll be able to collect tax money for 2007

Then again, given that it costs $10k per year to educate a child at MSD, and only $4.4k per year at UI, it would be most cost effective to completely out-source Moscow High to UI.

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

The Moscow School District and the University of Idaho are working on plans to offer high school students a new dual-enrollment engineering program.

Brian Rutherford, assistant professor in technology and engineering education at the UI, outlined the proposed program at the Moscow School District meeting Tuesday at Moscow Junior High School.

Rutherford said the model he's working on, titled Engineering Education K-20, would incorporate technology, engineering, education, mathematics, and science - something that hasn't traditionally been done in the past.

Rutherford said this plan was devised because he feels students are not receiving enough technical education. The program could be made available to high school students throughout the state.

"If a student never experiences technological skills, it's hard to choose a career path," he said.

Rutherford said engineering education has previously only used computer simulation, and allowed students to cut and glue wood to construct things like bridges. That could be linked to a decrease in enrollment and graduation rates in engineering.

In this proposal, Rutherford said there would be a statewide technology and engineering pathway from grades 9-11 that would include fundamentals of technology of engineering, introduction to engineering design, and advanced technology and engineering design.

After 11th grade, students would have the option to take a variety of technology and engineering classes based on their interests, and specialization in areas of local importance.

Rutherford said this system would benefit two types of students.

"I think this is a great opportunity, but it is very complicated from a philosophical perspective," Moscow High School Principal Bob Celebrezze said. "We (could) engage both at-risk and high-achieving students."

Rutherford said he hopes "reason prevails in whatever decision the state makes."

"It's going to take money," he said. "We need an investment and we need to revitalize education to where it's fun, interesting and exciting."

Rutherford said some corporations have expressed interest in helping fund the project and that there would be an update on the process in February.

From the Northwest Professional Educators:

The American Heritage Education Foundation (AHEF) www.americanheritage.org has informed Northwest Professional Educators that it is making a supplemental K-12 civic/social studies lesson plan resource, "America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty" available to teachers at no cost.  AHEF is a non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation dedicated to the understanding and teaching of America's factual and philosophical heritage to promote constructive citizenship and freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility among our students and citizens.

 

The American Heritage resource is a quality, supplemental K-12 lesson plan resource to help teach America's factual, philosophical heritage and founding principles.  It was developed by and for professional educators through collaboration of education/service organizations.  The resource, valued at $150.00, is paid for by foundation funding and is being utilized by teachers and schools in all 50 states.

 

This resources meets all national standards and guidelines.  The lessons correlate with NCSS and Core Knowledge social studies standards.  It is useful for the teaching of social studies, civics, American government, American history, economics, geography, music, reading, and related or interdisciplinary subjects.

The resource is easy to use and requires no special training.  It utilizes an award-winning design and presentation.

You are invited to download or bulk order additional copies of the free resource at www.americanheritage.org. 

Please share this information with your colleagues if you find it beneficial. 

Warm regards,
Cindy Omlin
Executive Director

Well, maybe not.

Via: Wittenburg Door

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune.

If the two teacher pay proposals were in a prize fight, they both took hard punches and came away bloody from the first round.

Education committees from the Idaho Senate and House met together for the first of four hearings Monday in Boise to look at the plans: "ISTARS" from Idaho Superintendent Tom Luna and "WE Teach" from the Idaho Education Association.

Lawmakers abandoned the beat-around-the-bush questioning committee decorum often inspires.

"I know of no research that would indicate that taking away a continuing contract makes for a better supervisor or enhances a teacher's ability in any way - I know of none." said Sen. Dick Sagness, D-Pocatello. "Why is that so stinking important to this process?"

Does Sagness know of any research that demonstrates that it does not? Of course not. The teacher unions have never allowed it. They are totally against merit-based pay.

As for criticism, the Idaho Education Association endured a pummeling as well. The teachers' union has a competing plan that would let school districts write their own teacher merit plans, under a framework set by the Idaho Department of Education.

The plan lets districts volunteer for a program that can set pay bumps for teachers that move from "novice" to "professional" to "master." A provision offers "group-based performance" awards for employees that help achieve locally-set student achievement goals.

Read that carefully. There’s nothing here that has to do with performance or merit.

What does it mean to move from “novice” to “professional” to “master”? More college credits? More continuing education classes? That has nothing to do with bettering the kids.

And there’s nothing there for the individual teacher. What happens if an excellent teacher is weighed down with poorly performing peers? This is one reason that many teachers are for having merit pay based on their personal performance and not the performance of the collective.

"I see an awful lot of red tape here," said Sen. Tom Gannon, R-Buhl.

Others worried about how hard it would be to figure out how much the plan would cost. And a school board representative said school boards have too little input in setting goals and standards.

Blaine County School District Superintendent Jim Lewis, who is also president of the Idaho Association of School Administrators, noted the teachers' union failed to offer a merit-based pay plan two years ago. "We Teach" might not be sincere about making Idaho more competitive, he said.

"Is 'We Teach' an honest proposal, or is it just to muddy the water?" Lewis asked.

They are going to have the union bosses breathing down their necks for saying this.

How dare they question the union pay scale:

• college credits + years teaching = worth as a teacher
• 4 years of teaching = tenure for life

Nothing there about merit, quality, or proficiency.

Just the way the unions like it.

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

Dave Neumann is in favor of anything that helps rural school districts.

The Genesee Joint School District superintendent said Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna's Idaho State Teacher Advancement and Recognition System proposal will do just that.

"There are numerous items that benefit rural schools," Neumann said of the proposal, which would pay teachers bonuses based on their success in the classroom.

"I'm supportive for the most part of the program as it was presented," Neumann added. "It will provide a necessary pay increase to Idaho teachers."
…
Idaho's current teacher pay system rewards teachers based upon the number of years they spend in the classroom and the number of education credits they earn. Under the I-STARS program, a teacher could earn up to a $15,600 pay increase per year. This increase would be a 50-percent raise for a teacher making the minimum teacher salary of $31,000.

"I think over the long run, if we can increase pay significantly, it will attract more people to the (education) profession," Neumann said. "For teachers who are close to retiring it's a great thing because it would increase their pay, which increases their retirement."

Neumann - who was a member of Luna's transition team after Luna was elected in 2006 - said the only thing about Luna's I-STARS proposal that may be a deterrent to some teachers is the Category 4 contract, which would be required for a teacher to receive a leadership bonus.

Under this time-specific contract, there are six steps of due process and a personal property right for teachers, but the terms require teachers to sign a one-, two- or three-year continuing contract instead of the lifetime continuing contracts that currently are available.

Teachers also would not be considered at-will employees.

"The big kicker is the Category 4 contract," Neumann said. "I don't see it as a huge impediment, but I've talked to a number of teachers and I think that probably they're split.

"Some (find it) favorable, some don't."

The other option teachers would have is to enter a rolling contract. Upon signing a three-year contract, teachers could ask their schools to add an additional year onto their contract after the first year is complete. Teachers could extend their contracts on an annual basis under this plan, pending district and state approval.

Neumann said he thinks if a teacher is worried about entering into a Category 4 contract, they "would never elect to get off the continuing contract." They also would be ineligible for leadership bonuses.

Whitepine Joint School District Superintendent Daryl Bertelsen said he and many teachers in his district also like the terms of the I-STARS proposal.

"I believe it will help improve education and learning in the state of Idaho because it offers some incentives, rather than a flat salary schedule that schools have had" in the past, he said.

From EIA:

If you ran a liberal political, advocacy or research organization and you went to the National Education Association last year with your hand out, chances are good you came away with a fistful of dollars. An Education Intelligence Agency analysis of NEA's financial disclosure report for the 2006-07 fiscal year reveals the national union contributed $12 million to a wide variety of advocacy groups. The total nearly tripled its contributions from the previous fiscal year.

 

The expenditures include a host of payments connected with ballot initiatives in both November 2006 and the first eight months of 2007. They range from $2.3 million to Citizens for Education, who campaigned in favor of a school funding initiative in Michigan, down to several smaller grants to groups such as Rainbow/PUSH, FairTest, Amnesty International, Sierra Club and Human Rights Campaign.

 

Here is an alphabetic list of the recipients of NEA's largesse, with relevant web links:

• ACORN - $218,452
• American Council on Education - $10,000
• American Library Association - $5,000
• American Rights at Work - $5,000
• Americans United for Change - $350,000
• Amnesty International - $7,500
• Arizona Minimum Wage Coalition - $28,000
• Arizona State University Office for Research & Sponsored Projects Administration - $250,000
• Asian American Justice Center - $5,000
• Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund - $6,000
• Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies - $5,000
• Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance - $5,000
• Bloggerpower.org - $10,000
• Business and Professional Women/USA - $5,000
• Campaign for America's Future - $40,000
• CAP Charitable Foundation - $5,000
• Celebrate ME - $50,000
• Center for Community Change - $25,000
• Center for Equity and Biliteracy Education Research - $8,000
• Center for Law and Education - $50,000
• Center for Policy Alternatives - $10,000
• Center for Teaching Quality - $277,485
• Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association - $81,500
• Children's Defense Fund - $10,000
• The Citizenship Project - $25,000
• Citizens for Education - $2,316,000
• Citizens United to Protect Our Public Safety, Schools and Communities - $550,000
• Citizens Who Support Maine's Public Schools - $195,000
• Coloradans for Excellent Schools - $792,000
• Coloradans for a Fair Minimum Wage - $20,000
• Coloradans for Responsible Reform - $50,000
• Committee for Education Funding - $18,902
• Committee to Protect Our Children's Legacy - $560,000
• Communities for Quality Education - $273,000
• Communities United to Strengthen America - $150,000
• Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. - $40,000
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute - $90,825
• Conserving Arizona's Future - $50,000
• Creating Arizona's Future - $425,000
• Democratic GAIN - $10,000
• Democratic Leadership Council - $40,150
• East Meadow Jewish Center - $5,000
• Economic Policy Institute - $150,000
• Educational Testing Service - $21,134
• Everybody Wins DC - $8,000
• FairTest - $35,000
• Ford's Theatre - $10,000
• Funniest Celebrity in Washington - $10,000
• Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation - $6,000
• Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network - $130,000
• Give Missourians A Raise - $200,000
• Give Nevada A Raise - $25,000
• Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice - $300,000
• Harvard Labor and Worklife Program - $5,000
• Harvard University Office for Sponsored Research - $50,000
• Healthy Schools Network - $5,000
• Human Rights Campaign - $15,000
• Invest In Our Kids' Education - $720,000
• James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy - $15,000
• Japanese American Citizens League - $5,000
• Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies - $15,000
• Labor Council for Latin American Advancement - $15,000
• Latina Initiative - $25,000
• Leadership Conference on Civil Rights - $15,000
• League of Rural Voters - $15,000
• League of United Latin American Citizens - $5,000
• Learning First Alliance - $54,240
• Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund - $15,300
• NAACP - $56,500
• National Alliance of Black School Educators - $11,000
• National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education - $5,500
• National Association for Bilingual Education - $5,000
• National Association for the Education and Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans - $5,000
• National Association of Hispanic Journalists - $5,000
• National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund - $10,000
• National Association of Legislative and Political Specialists for Education - $14,021
• National Baptist Voice - $15,450
• National Board for Professional Teaching Standards - $8,000
• National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training - $10,000
• National Coalition on Black Civic Participation - $10,000
• National Conference of Black Mayors - $10,000
• National Conference of State Legislatures - $42,275
• National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education - $348,585
• National Council of La Raza - $14,700
• National Hispanic Media Coalition - $5,000
• National League of Cities - $40,000
• National Partnership for Women and Families - $5,000
• National Parent Teachers Association - $5,000
• National Public Pension Coalition - $135,000
• National Staff Development Council - $70,500
• National Urban League - $10,180
• National Women's Law Center - $10,000
• Nebraskans Against 423 - $500,000
• Nebraskans for the Good Life - $250,000
• Not In Montana - $310,000
• Ohioans for a Fair Minimum Wage - $680,000
• Organizations Concerned About Rural Education - $5,000
• Partnership for 21^st Century Skills - $55,803
• People for the American Way - $275,000
• Project New West - $86,000
• Rainbow/PUSH Coalition - $10,000
• Rebuild America's Schools - $20,000
• Second District Religious, Educational Charitable Development Project - $5,000
• SEIU - $15,000
• Sierra Club - $50,000
• Southeast Asia Resource Action Center - $5,000
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference - $12,771
• Task Force Foundation - $10,000
• Teachers Count - $50,000
• U.S. Action - $100,000
• U.S. Fund for UNICEF - $7,500
• Vote Early Denver - $25,000
• Women's Campaign Forum - $15,000
• Women's Voices Women Vote - $75,000
• Workers Independent News Service - $5,000
• Working America - $150,000

EIA will have further revelations from NEA's disclosure report in the weeks to come.

 

From The Education Intelligence Agency.

The publicity for the University of Idaho just keeps getting worse and worse.

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

Group of retirees consider class-action lawsuit; they allege university failed to meet contractual obligations

John Hendee and other disgruntled University of Idaho retirees are waiting out a 90-day period the UI has to respond to a claim filed against it by four former employees in December that could be a precursor to a class-action lawsuit.

The former employees are considering further legal action against the university, alleging the university failed to deliver on contractual promises of up-front cash, continued pay for health insurance and salary-equivalent life insurance policies in a retirement buyout offered in 1999. About 270 former UI employees took the buyout offers.

Hendee, a former dean in the UI College of Forestry, said the incentives the university offered him were a deciding factor in his retirement.

"No one works forever," Hendee said. "I was getting older, but I could have worked for several more years. This was part of the package that was explained to me when I came to the University of Idaho."

Hendee, who retired from the UI in 2002 and moved to Sausalito, Calif., said he's also concerned because as dean of his department, he hired new faculty and told them they would receive the same retirement benefits he was offered when he took his position.

"I explained to them that this was the University of Idaho's policy. ... You take jobs based on the policy and how they treat their people," Hendee said. "I feel badly because my integrity was impugned."

UI officials released a one-paragraph statement in December regarding the allegations. It reads, "The University of Idaho has received notice of a claim under Idaho's Tort Claims Act. The president's office received it on Dec. 12, 2007. The claim arises from revisions to the university's retiree benefits. The notice is being analyzed by university counsel and by the state's Office of Risk Management."

UI officials are abstaining from further comment.

Hendee said he was promised lifetime health insurance at no cost, which he calculated would be equal to or greater than $100,000 over the rest of his life.

To replace his insurance at the prices the UI offered, Hendee said he'd be paying $178 per month, or $2,136 per year.

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

Indoctrinating children

Tom Henderson [editorial, Jan. 10] might do well to review history and study what some of the past world leaders thought of education and its purpose. Former Soviet leader Lenin stated, "Give me your 4-year-olds, and in a generation I will build a socialist state."

For Hitler it was a similar theme when he stated, "Let me control the textbooks and I will control the state."

And last but not least, the founder of public education in America, John Dewey, said, "You can't make socialists out of individuals - children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society which is coming, where everyone is interdependent."

Education of the child is a powerful tool in shaping the society we live in. We can consolidate this power and teach our children what to think, or we can disseminate this power among the individuals and teach them how to think. Our public school system has been failing our children for almost four decades because we do not educate our children on how to think. I believe the 19th-century American poet William Ross Wallace stated it most eloquently when he said, "For the hand that rocks the cradle, is the hand that rules the world."

Mr. Henderson, you wish to smear conservatives for their traditional leanings of raising and educating children as Soviet-style. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Jim Chmelik
Cottonwood 

One out of every four pre-schoolers in Pullman are Special Ed? What are they putting in the water over there?

#2 son (my 13 year-old) says that it will soon be special not to be special ed.

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

The district pays ELS for 23 preschoolers who receive special education, including speech, occupational or physical therapy. This number has been steadily increasing and this year there is an unusually high number of deaf or hearing-impaired students in the preschool.

"It's higher than it has been in the past. As the numbers are increasing, we are looking to see what we are going to do," Reyes said.

Early Learning Services Director Sue Kreikemeier said about 25 percent of the preschool students served have special education needs.

"It's higher than 25 percent now," she said, adding that ELS has 20 other tuition-paying preschoolers.

This is Hacking Democracy 1 of 9.

Scary, really.

There’s a NY Times article that pretty much goes along with it.

HT: Chris W.

I don’t even know what to make of this statement below.

I would think that any teacher should be able to teach elementary mathematics without needing more examples.

And what does it mean that you cannot teach elementary math because math isn’t your “natural language”?

My wife’s got an elementary education degree. Her first comment upon reading the article below was that any teacher should be able to teach any material at the elementary level; and even at the Junior High level with some review.

That’s my take as well.

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

The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is in the midst of a quick, massive overhaul of math standards for K-12 students, the final draft of which is to be finalized by Jan. 31.

OK, think about this one: the government doing a quick, massive overhaul of math standards. Doesn’t that just give you a warm feeling?

"We're trying to raise your awareness and get your perspective on where we are in the process," state Superintendent Terry Bergeson told teachers and school administrators via teleconference Wednesday. "A second draft is to be posted Jan. 20, and we're another step beyond where we were last week."

Bergeson urged superintendents across the state to share the information in public forums with parents, other teachers, community and local business leaders. The process began Oct. 3 and the preliminary draft was posted Dec. 4.

Pullman teachers had their printed copies of the 144-page draft, and flipped through pages with ease and familiarity while listening to the teleconference at the Pioneer Center in Pullman - where the district offices are located. In the six weeks since the draft was posted, teachers have printed and examined the standards in order to provide feedback.

Lisa Cartwright, a fourth-grade teacher at Franklin Elementary School, already submitted her comments to the state. She said the draft is unwieldy, even for some teachers.

"Many teachers will look at this document and say, 'What?' " she said. "I liked the rigor. My comments were focused on the fact that there were areas that needed more examples for teachers, especially if math is not a teacher's natural language."

The following article ran in today’s Lewiston Tribune.

BOISE - A task force studying the plight of Idaho's rural schools is backing a controversial plan to reform teacher pay. The group also wants another year to come up with proposals and plans to study the effect of four-day school weeks.

The Rural Schools Initiative task force, made of educators, lawmakers, and other interested folks, are looking for "solutions to known issues rural schools face," Nick Smith, deputy superintendant of the Idaho Department of Education, told the Senate Education Committee Tuesday.

The group has zeroed in on three issues: teacher recruitment, the technology gap between urban and rural schools and the high cost of insurance.

As for getting more certified teachers, Smith said education professors offer the same answer.

"College deans said it was simple, 'You guys don't pay your teachers enough,' " Smith said.

A $60 million teacher pay plan put forward by Smith's boss, Superintendent of Public Schools Tom Luna, could cure that, Smith said.

The plan would give teachers raises and bonuses in return for forever giving up continuing contracts, which provide job security.

Otter has proposed a 5 percent pay increase for teachers, which the governor wants Luna to use to create a merit-based pay system.

At 5 percent, Otter's proposal comes to $34.8 million for teachers. But Luna told the Lewiston Tribune if he can take some money from administrators and classified staff, he thinks he could raise the amount for teachers to close to $45 million.

In a survey of Idaho Education Association members, 90 percent of teachers oppose Luna's plan. About 13,000 of Idaho's 15,000 to 16,000 teachers are IEA members.

No surprise here. The IEA has a financial incentive to keep the status quo — an expensive, low-performing labor force.

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

The attorney for the Moscow School District said he expects Second District Judge John Bradbury to rule within 10 days in the case brought against the district by Moscow dentist Gerald Weitz.

Brian Julian, attorney for the district, was in Boise Tuesday for a hearing with Bradbury. Moscow School District Superintendent Candis Donicht also was present as were Weitz's attorneys, Richard Hearn, Brian Thei, and Scott Smith.

Tuesday's hearing was prompted by Julian, who filed a memorandum in Second District Court last month maintaining the school district's successful November levy election "cured any defects" with its challenged March levy election.

Julian argued the successful November election should enable the district to receive taxes collected for the increase to its permanent supplemental levy.

"Weitz, through his attorneys, argued the district should not receive any money," Julian wrote Tuesday in an E-mail. "The school district argued that the voter's decision should not be nullified as the election was held as soon as possible after the judge's opinion."

Weitz's lawsuit argued that a March levy election - approved by 56 percent of district voters - was illegal and invalid because it asked voters to approve an indefinite supplemental levy 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.

In a Nov. 19 judgement, Bradbury declared the school district's March election "null and void ... due to the inadequacy of the ballot language submitted by the Defendant to the voters."

On Dec. 4, Bradbury notified attorneys representing the school district and Weitz that his judgement was vacated until further notice.

As a result, the taxes collected ($1.97 million) for the March levy election are being withheld from the school district until Bradbury issues his final ruling on the case.

The question remains whether the school district should receive tax money collected from the March levy election if it is ultimately deemed invalid, or if Bradbury considers the November election to be a clarification of an election that was deemed deficient.

Julian's memorandum also asked whether - and if so, why - the school district should have to pay Weitz's legal fees stemming from the lawsuit he filed.

Julian said last month he thinks Bradbury will side with the Moscow School District.

"We feel it did" take away deficiencies, Julian said. "We feel that that's probably the way the judge will end up going. We feel fairly strong in our position."

Moscow School District Business Manager Sue Driskill said last month that the district normally would receive the money from the levy increase by Jan. 25.

"We've already taken some steps to hold back expenditures and cut back in anticipation," Driskill said. "It's going to make it pretty tight.

Tight? MSD said that the apocalypse would occur if they didn’t have that $2m.

Glad that MSD doesn’t have to live like the rest of us — on a tight budget.

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

Wild Rose Foundation founder holds back funding after company's stock takes a nosedive 

The University of Idaho and the Wild Rose Foundation still plan to expand the UI's branch campus in Sandpoint, despite a stock plummet that put the project on hold last year.

Those plans may take a little longer than expected, however.

UI Vice President for Northern Idaho Larry Branen said the Sandpoint campus put the brakes on its expansion plans after Wild Rose Foundation founder Dennis Pence decided to postpone funding further development after the women's clothing store he co-founded, Coldwater Creek, took a stock nosedive in 2007.

"The whole campus is dependent upon the Wild Rose Foundation," Branen said. "They have put all of that on hold due to stock prices. But we are continuing to operate like we have."

Coldwater Creek stock was trading at $18.65 a share in February, but has since dropped to around $5.14 a share.

Branen said despite the stock situation, trees, berries and other experimental fruit work will be moved this spring from the Sandpoint Research and Extension Center to 18 acres of land the Wild Rose Foundation donated in December, located just north of Schweitzer Mountain Road.

Is anyone surprised? If UI doesn’t jump on this ASAP, someone else will. There’s a huge demand for a law school in Boise.

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

The time for talking about moving University of Idaho law school services to Boise is over and the time for action is nearly here, University of Idaho President Tim White said.

White told legislative budget writers today he'll bring a business plan to the state Board of Education later this year that he hopes will govern an expansion of the Moscow-based law school in Idaho's capital city.

He likely will ask the 2009 Legislature for money to pay for the expansion.

White says he wants to "solidify" the law school's footprint in north-central Idaho while moving some classes to southwestern Idaho, where the population has grown dramatically.

"I'm not interested in doing too much more talking," White said. "I'm very interested in moving to some actions."

The UI College of Law held a legal education conclave in Boise in July, where stakeholders discussed plans that could either expand and enhance the Moscow program, relocate it entirely to Boise, or follow a phased dual-location approach that would gradually establish a second location in Boise.

Conclave participants also analyzed how the college meets the current and coming trends in legal education.

College of Law Associate Dean Elizabeth Brandt said the proposed expansion to Boise will be discussed at a faculty meeting tonight.

Brandt said the faculty will be re-examining the law curriculum and assessing the courses the UI currently offers to its law students.

"I think any educational institution has to take a look at itself from the inside ... in order to be able to conceive of how we would" expand law school services to Boise, Brandt said.

"There's lots of changes going on in the legal profession (in terms of re-examining) curriculum," she said.

College of Law Dean Don Burnett has said there are 191 accredited law schools around the country. Private and for-profit institutions have focused on the country's metropolitan areas, and Boise is one of only five metropolitan areas - and the only one that is a state capital - left without a law school either in them or within 50 miles.

"Law schools need to look at how they teach and what they're teaching," Brandt said. "In that sense it's related to (the proposed expansion to) Boise ... It's looming out there."

As I’ve said before, I find this discussion as a symptom of our times.

Logos School requires all students to take Algebra in 8^th grade; Geometry in 9^th; and Algebra II in 10th grade.

After that, they still have to do at least one more year of math (Trigonometry or Functions/Statistics). The majority end up doing Calculus in 12th grade.

My own son did Algebra II in 8^th grade and is taking Trig in his 10th grade year. He’ll take Calculus in 11th grade, and then a cadre of buddies will take Calculus 2 at UI their senior year of high school.

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

Colfax schools Superintendent Michael Morgan is extremely concerned about the state Board of Education's consideration of more stringent graduation requirements.

The state board is considering requiring students to take algebra as a third year of math requirements. Whitman County superintendents are asking the state to leave discretion for the third year of math to the local school district.

"We need the flexibility to make those decisions for our students," said Pullman Superintendent Paul R. Sturm.

Morgan is urging the state board to look at the requirements for community colleges, technical colleges and employers of students with a high school diploma - and set those as the minimum graduation requirement.

"The State Board is composed of highly educated individuals. How many of you use advanced algebra in your careers?" Morgan wrote in a letter to the state board.

That final paragraph belongs in a training environment not in an educational environment. In education, you are taught how to think. In a training environment, you are taught how to “do” (screw this into this hole…).

Our government education system became a training environment many, many years ago.

The cost per child at MSD is $10,000 per year.

The cost per child at UI is $4,410 per year.

It would be more cost efficient to completely outsource MSD to the UI.

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

An Idaho Department of Education spokeswoman says state Superintendent Tom Luna's request for $3.5 million to pay for dual enrollment would enable Idaho to model its program after other states that have led the way in that area.

"The $3.5 million would go toward providing money so each (Idaho high school) junior and senior could take six college credits each year," Melissa McGrath said. "It adds more rigor and relevance to high school, where some students are struggling or facing the senior slump."

Currently, Idaho students who opt to take dual enrollment courses have to pay out of their own pockets.

The $3.5 million, McGrath said, is based on an estimate that 30 percent of students would take advantage of the system, at $50 per credit.

Moscow School Superintendent Candis Donicht said dual enrollment allows high school students to take classes that are approved for both high school and college credit.

"They're fulfilling high school requirements as well as building their college transcript," she said. 

Recall the article that I posted previously about Idaho teachers being well paid? (Teachers in Idaho paid more than most other state)

Now this from today's Idaho Statesman:

But Idaho teachers say the study doesn't tell the whole story.

"It leaves the impression that we are doing OK," said Jacque Lowry, Meridian Education Association president. "That's a falsehood."

Idaho average teacher salary was $41,150 in 2005-06, the latest year for which figures are available. In raw dollars, the state ranked 38th in the nation, down from 30th four years earlier.

Starting teachers in Idaho make about $31,000, which is not attractive to many people thinking of going into education, especially if they come out of college with thousands of dollars in loans, said Sherri Wood, Idaho Education Association president.

"We are still having a difficult time getting young folks to come into the profession," she said.

Let’s look at this argument.

First, Lowry makes it appear that ed majors are the only students graduating with loans. That’s bogus.

Second, they never mention that this salary is for only 9 months of work. While everyone else is earning that in 12 months, teachers get three months of vacation, or they can work elsewhere to supplement their income during the summer. Or they can just enjoy that vacation.

How many of those other professions would love to have three months paid vacation every year? And with guaranteed employment/tenure after 4 years?

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

Northwest Professional Educators, Washington state's only nonunion professional educators organization, applauds the Idaho Attorney General for petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Idaho's Voluntary Contributions Act.

The VCA, which prohibits payroll deductions for union dues of local government employees, such as teachers, for certain purposes, including political activities, was challenged by the Idaho Education Association and ruled unconstitutional by Idaho's high court.

The IEA believes that it can do whatever it darn well pleases with union dues whether it represents the teacher or not.

Hundreds of dollars are taken from union teachers' paychecks that are directed to IEA and National Education Association political activity that runs afoul of many teachers' beliefs and interests. This isn't fair.

The VCA ensures that teachers have the right to engage in local collective bargaining without having their pockets picked for unrelated state and national union politics.

Refusing union membership on political grounds deprives teachers of their collective bargaining rights. One option for teachers is to disaffiliate their local bargaining unit from the NEA and establish an independent, local only bargaining unit that focuses on representation without funneling dues to divisive politics.

Teachers interested in learning about this option can contact Northwest Professional Educators for more information.

Cindy Omlin, executive director Northwest Professional Educators, Spokane

As I mentioned when the Yardley report first came out, there were many errors in the report.

Here in today’s edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News is some of the fallout.

Ray von Wandruszka doesn't take criticism lightly, especially when he feels it's not constructive.

Von Wandruszka, a University of Idaho professor and chairman of the department of chemistry, was among the first UI faculty members to file a rebuttal against allegations made by the Yardley Research Group, a higher-education consulting company.

"I filed a few corrections within the last two or three weeks since it's come out," von Wandruszka said. "I wrote the rebuttal personally, but I discussed many of the details with various colleagues."

The UI paid more than $130,000 to the Yardley Research Group for a 435-page draft consulting report that criticized nearly every graduate department at the UI for not securing enough research grants or contracts and failing to publish more research findings.

The consultant firm also personally affronted faculty members by calling them "provincial," among other things.

Provost Doug Baker asked faculty of UI graduate departments to file rebuttals if there were misstatements in the report about their department.

"If there are errors in there we want to correct those," Baker said. "If there are errors we will fix them."

Von Wandruszka, who spoke with Yardley Research Group consultants during their visit to campus, said he took issue with a number of claims in the report.

"The publication record was one of the issues that the Yardley report banged us on," von Wandruszka said. "They said we came out at a low percentile and this is completely false."

Von Wandruszka said Yardley consultants compared UI colleges to others at universities that have little in common with UI.

"We were compared to some schools, in the view of myself and colleagues, (that were) totally unrealistic," he said. "For example, if you compare yourself to Harvard you'll come up short, but you still strive to be like Harvard."

Von Wandruszka said he disagrees with the report's claims, and he doesn't feel the means the consulting firm used to compare many elements of the chemistry department were fair.

"We continuously improve our graduate program," he said. "I disagree with them heartily. They did a superficial job, used wrong data, and made the remarks that our research is dated."

Von Wandruszka said Yardley consultants weren't qualified to say what is or is not "dated" in terms of research.

"The timeliness is difficult to judge even by experts in discipline, which they are not," he said.

Von Wandruszka said another claim he refutes is "a point that we lacked focus in our research program."

He said he made the argument that with recent hires working in bio-related and materials-related chemistry, as well as nanoscience and environmental chemistry, there is a definite departmental focus.

And there’s a University of Idaho connection in this article.

Read on!

Via Christianity Today: 

When Guillermo Gonzalez, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, was denied tenure at Iowa State University (ISU) in November 2006, department head Eli Rosenberg said the decision had nothing to do with Gonzalez's support of intelligent design. Recently released documents, however, told a different story.

In Gonzalez's tenure dossier, Rosenberg stated, "The problem here is that Intelligent Design is not a scientific theory. … The fact that Dr. Gonzalez does not understand what constitutes both science and a scientific theory disqualifies him from serving as a science educator."

Gonzalez said he never taught intelligent design (ID) in his classes. "The recent controversy surrounding me is strictly about the research I have done on ID," he said. "My ID research [published in The Privileged Planet] was funded in part by a grant from the Templeton Foundation, which ISU administered."

Faculty members who question Darwinian evolution say they often run into trouble at secular universities.

…

At the University of Idaho, where tenured professor Scott Minnich supports intelligent design, president Timothy White issued a statement banning anything other than Darwinian evolution from being taught in science courses.

"Most institutions would have serious doubts about the professional credibility of teaching intelligent design alongside evolution in a science class," said Jonathan Knight of the American Association of University Professors. "It could be taught in terms of contemporary social issues, or in a philosophy course."

This is totally amazing. I feel like I’m living in an alternate reality.

The following is from a press release by Sen. Tom Coburn.

Voice of America removes “Capitalism” from its approved vocabulary list

Recently, the Voice of America (VOA) removed the word “capitalism” from its Special English vocabulary list that all its English broadcasts to Third World countries are encouraged to use. Explaining the decision, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the U.S. agency in charge of U.S. broadcasting, stated that a word search of VOA scripts was done, and words that appear less frequently were replaced with words that are finding more frequent usage.

U.S. law dictates that U.S. broadcasting effectively presents the policies of the U.S. government which includes an economic policy based on individual rights, the rule of law, and private ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth—in other words “capitalism.”

With an annual budget of over $650 million, the BBG has the means to effectively communicate U.S. policy. Instead of wasting time and energy censoring away “capitalism” and other words, the BBG might focus on its statutory mission of promoting democracy in the darkest corners of the earth, including stepping up the use of words such as “democracy,” “capitalism,” “freedom of press,” “freedom of speech”, “freedom of religion” and “human rights.” Unfortunately, BBG’s Third World audience will be lucky to hear the word “capitalism,” let alone its principles of individual rights and freedoms that make the U.S. economy the strongest in the World.

But as we just saw, it’s not due to teachers being paid poorly since Teachers in Idaho are paid more than most other state.

So what is the reason?

Details from Spokesman Review Betsy Russell's blog An Eye on Boise.

Ouch. Education Week has released its latest ranking of education quality among the states, and Idaho is in a six-way tie for last place. Joining us at the bottom of the rankings, with a grade of D+, were Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, and the District of Columbia. The six indicators, which looked at everything from preschool to college and careers, were identified as: “Chance for success; K-12 achievement; standards, assessments, and accountability; transitions and alignment; the teaching profession; and school finance,” according to Education Week. Idaho got its worst grade, an F, in the “transitions and alignment” category, which included early childhood education, college readiness and economy and workforce. Education Week’s “Quality Counts” study and rankings were funded by the Pew Center on the States. You can read the full report here.