Index of SPPS Budget Discussion http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/spps-posts.html _________________________________________ I'm with Tom on this. To take the point even further, do we actually think the Governor or the President cannot make some meaningful decision, when in theory they are the heads of our state and our country? They have a plethora of folks that are in the pipeline before them. If it gets to their desk after everyone else in the pipeline ahead of them cannot solve a given problem, then I would say it is a problem that warrants their intervention.
I do not think that in the budget discussion that there should be any sacred cows. The public's perception is how the public in a great part makes their decisions. If there is a growing number of people that want a better accounting of what the area superintendents really do, then I think it is legitimate to ask. And never mind what the job descriptions say, are they doing what the job descriptions say, and how much are they out on seminar junkets and the like? How long would be a good amount of time to wait for a return call from an area superintendent? A day, a week, a month, six weeks? And once they tell you they can't help you, then what. You wait for another day, a week, a month, six weeks for Ms. Harvey to contact you or do you just fend for yourself? And who is working on the quality control of the process aforementioned? Do we actually have any data on how long it takes for one of the several superintendents to return a call or solve a problem. If Wendy's can make a comment card available to their customers, why can't the district put on online for the same purpose? How much HAS the district spent in the last five years on seminars for upper level administration? I would have to say from my experience on the site council at Arlington High School that our principal and assistant principals are very adept at resolving our problems at their level within the school. If a problem needs to go somewhere beyond there, then guess what that is what the Head Superintendent makes the big bucks for. I have already shared my personal story with the manager of the list, and believe you me, I got no satisfaction from trying to discuss my situation with the Area Superintendent. If they have no answers, what is the point? I have been hammering on this issue now for about the last three years, and I didn't have all of the factual information that Tom has provided prior to today. And now that I have had some personal experience with an area superintendent, and I see the numbers we are talking about here, I am less inclined to stop hammering. I think that it should be a big enough concern to all of us, that I have heard from more than one of our school board members that Ms. Harvey has made it clear what can and cannot be on the table to be cut. It sounds like Ms. Harvey doesn't understand where the school district budget comes from. If she needs a reminder, I think all citizens who have a stake in the school system in Saint Paul, should weigh in heavily. Whenever a budget needs cutting, it is interesting to see what those at the top want to trim. I would say this as forcefully as I can and hope I am not called on the carpet for it. KEEP THE CUTS AS FAR AWAY FROM THE CLASSROOM AS POSSIBLE. Cutting ESL programs is ludicrous, cutting Special Ed when it is the largest unfunded Federal mandate on record second only to the ever popular "No Child Left Behind" mandate. I would say that Special Ed starts out with nothing from the Feds and if we think we can do the job better by cutting it further flies in the face of reason. I am also completely amazed at how these budget cutting discussions always morph into a rhetorical discourse in political theory or intellectual philosophy rather than in real time, common sense measures. When you need to cut a large amount, start first with as many high ticket items as possible. Students leave the district because we continue to return to the classroom or the school site to cut money, not because we have or do not have a few extra suits at the District Headquarters. What good is choice, if you are going to cut needed programs across the board in the school sites? Perhaps choice should be limited, and more should be done to make each school site a competitive educational marketplace. I keep hearing from School Board members and others that we can't take choice away, everyone expects it. Well I have news for everyone, we all expect lower gas prices because we have become accustomed to it, but guess what, we aren't afforded THAT choice. If my neighborhood schools at the elementary level had been better at the time, instead of all the energy going the way of the Magnet, I would have much preferred my kids attending Como Elementary. We live across the school parking lot. That would have been preferable for us, but back then Como wasn't up to the test, so we went elsewhere. Have we really surveyed people about what they would prefer, choice or strong neighborhood schools across the board. I think I know what the answer might be. I also cannot help but think that we are not very innovative in the way we do education as a whole. We don't offer our high school students a late start option. When I went to high school in the early seventies in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, (way back then) they were running high schools like colleges. I was much more prepared for college because of it. We don't offer parent teacher conferences all day so that those parents who don't work a strict 8-4 or 9-5 workday have a choice when to visit their teachers. We don't get better parental participation for the same reason at school. Can we get creative and offer some options outside of the regular school day for parents to volunteer with? But if you must, the one lower ticket item that should be trimmed is the Superintendent's compensation package, and you can probably start with the ever popular car allowance. If she wishes to keep her Area Superintendents then she needs to trim her own salary out of the pure fact they keep things off of her desk and theirs at the same time. Pam Ellison Como Park Saint Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Swift" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "List Manager" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "St. Paul Issues Forum" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, March 01, 2004 8:17 PM Subject: Re: [StPaul] SPPS: Area Superintendent Job Description > Index of SPPS Budget Discussion > http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/spps-posts.html > _________________________________________ > > > Tim says: "Does anyone really believe that over 60 > principles can report to the superintendent directly > and get the attention that they need?" > > My answer is yes they can. Do you suppose that these > 60 principals are bombarding the office of the > Superintendant with simultaneous daily calls? > > Principals are analagous to ships captains. They have > their orders (requirements set by the district), and > their job is to impliment them. In the same way, Navy > Admirals are "responsible" for many hundreds of ships > Captains and tens of thousands of other officers and > sailors....indirectly responsible, just like the > Superintendant's indirect responsibilities. > > Do you suppose that the Superintendant and her own > staff are unable to provide unscheduled direction from > time to time? > > The district says: "Area Superintendents of A, B, and > C are each responsible for approximately 15,000 > students and one-third of the school district's > schools." > > Eh, so what are the principals, vice-principals and > all of those dozens of on-site councilors doing all > day? > > It's really easy to toss out a seemingly large number > (1500 WOW!) and say that they are "responsible" for > that many kids. OK fine, just what do those day to day > responsibilities entail? How much time, every day, do > area A,B and C superintendants spend with the kids > that they are "responsible" for? > > You say you are dissapointed by folks who disapprove > of the area sup's because they don't understand what > they do..fine ENLIGHTEN us! Just what the heck DO they > do all day? Personally, I'm a little dissapointed by > folks who want to sweep tough questions under the rug. > > And let's not forget that I have directly challenged > the district's specious and unfounded justification > for the costs of these Superintendants. I'm saying > flat out their explaination isn't true. > > So be before we head off into the comfortably > amorphous discussion zone of ancedotal personal > experiences, let's have some facts and some answers > from the district representatives who've introduced > themselves to the forum. > > This discussion was prompted by the district 625's > seemingly endless financial problems. I've highlighted > several millions of dollars of spending that has > little to no direct effect on academics, and pointed > out that until the district tackles competitive > teacher compensation these problems will not be > solved. > > If we are not going to get any feedback from the > district what's the purpose of this excersize? > > Tom Swift > Cherokee Park > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Get better spam protection with Yahoo! Mail. > http://antispam.yahoo.com/tools > _____________________________________________ > SPPS Budget Reduction Forum - Feb. 23-27 > Co-Sponsored By NEAT: http://www.stpaulneat.org/ > _____________________________________________ > NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul > > Archive Address: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ > _____________________________________________ SPPS Budget Reduction Forum - Feb. 23-27 Co-Sponsored By NEAT: http://www.stpaulneat.org/ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
