[Winona Online Democracy]
Terri and all:
I'm not sure about the best way to make the spread sheets available, but one
suggestion is to send them to Craig Brooks ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and have them
posted on the WOD website. Then you can include a link to that URL in your
posting.
This does lead me to another topic that we'll be looking at in the near
future--that of a change in format that edemocracy has engineered. Tim
Erikson demonstrated this at a steering committee meeting earlier in '05 and
it will basically eliminate the whole problem of filling up members'
in-boxes because we will have the option of being totally web-based (I think
that's right--Bill and Craig and Randy and others please chime in here!).
This will involve a change in the technology we use for WOD and should
enhance the process for many of us. Those who like the strictly email
format may still opt for this method with the new technology, at least
that's the way I understand it. I think that Randy will be convening a
steering committee sometime soon in the the new year to look more at how
this will come about and I encourage those interested to join us!!
Kathy Seifert
----- Original Message -----
From: "terri hyle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2005 10:24 PM
Subject: RE: [Winona] School Administrators/NPR bias
[Winona Online Democracy]
If I have the chance this weekend, I will try to post spreadsheets, or at
least summaries of information I've collaged from the MN Dept of Education
website which details dollars spent on various categories, including
administration (which is a broad category in the state's info that does
include such personnel as the admin support staff, business office, etc.)
I think I still have it on my computer. Caveats: I compiled this info on
spreadsheets, in a 'cut and paste' fashion, but all of my info was from
the state site. I last worked on this probably a couple of years ago.
The last couple of times I tried, I wasn't able to navigate the state's
site very well. When Pawlenty took office, the site was re-organized and
much of the information I used to be able to access very well seems to be
hidden now. But then, I haven't had much time to really sort through it,
so maybe it's just me.
I would appreciate hearing from Kathy or someone with better technical
understanding as to whether it would be a good idea for me to try to post
spread sheets, assuming I can find what I did before. I don't want to
over-load the server or anyone's computer and I don't want there to be any
worries about viruses or other nasty little cyberspace thingys.
A few quick things:
My family moved to Winona just over 17 years ago, with 4 kids, two of whom
were elementary students at the time; the other two were ages 1 and 3. At
that time, each school building had its own principle, with perhaps the
exception of Dakota/Ridgeway who shared a principal for many years,
although I cannot swear that was the case 17 years ago. At that time,
elementaries were K-6. My oldest son was in the first group of 6th
graders to go to the middle school. A few years later, when he was at the
high school, the teachers were feeling the impact of having an extra grade
added to the building--it had become much more crowded and the stress was
apparent when you walked into the building for conferences. There was no
full time librarian at the high school library, a pitiful excuse for a
library (no fault of the teachers, the high school or the librarians in
the district. At that time, they were librarians, too, not media
specialits). It was shameful then and has been shameful since.
Class sizes: My two elementary aged kids entered classes in grades 1 and
5 at Madison with 30 kids already in the class. The class sizes were
slightly smaller for my oldest when he went to the middle school and
throughout high school, his class sizes were mostly 25 to 30 students,
with some exceptions (smaller advanced German classes, for example). He
graduated in 1996. The 4 period day was instituted during his junior
year. It was instituted over teacher protests, and rumor had it, accepted
by teachers only because of some rather dire threats. The promise of the
4 period day was that it would save money (something that was repeatedly
proved mathematically impossible by more than one PhD in math dense
areas--but not believed by administration until the high school math
department ran the numbers--without increasing class sizes or letting
students leave school during study halls). Another promise was that the 4
period day would ease scheduling and allow for more flexibility for
teachers and students, and allow for more team taught classes. Prior to
the 4 period day, challenge English and History classes were 'team taught'
at 10th grade level, but after the 4 period day, they were not. High
school teachers have been lambasted for not working to contract, but if
memory serves, there was an amendment to the contract that exempted them
from classroom duties to accomodate the adminsitration's new scheduling
scheme. As a side note, my observation has been that the teachers at the
high school typically spend their free hour in prepping for classes,
tutoring students, supervising hallrooms and other areas, working with
students on projects, etc.
Am I a total fan of the 4 period day? No, I could go, point by point,
about what I see as the good vs what I see as the bad about that
scheduling configuration, but I said I'd be quick and I've already
exceeded quick by quite a lot.
Terri Hyle
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