Chalkboard Project Prepares for Action

By Guest Author

Shirley Skimore is Communications and Outreach Director of the Chalkboard Project. Executive Director Sue Hildick recently visited our office and updated us on the Chalkboard Project's work and plans for this coming year. They have been researching Oregon's K-12 school system for two years; while the work continues, they have developed important conclusions and recommendations they are now bringing to the public.

Five of Oregon's biggest foundations created the Chalkboard Project in 2004 to take a fresh look at Oregon K-12 schools in an independent and non-partisan way.

What did Chalkboard find? Oregon schools are pretty middle of the road. Student achievement is rising, but not fast enough to keep up with our peers in other states. And Oregon continues to be saddled with a high dropout rate, a high turnover rate for new teachers, and one of the most unstable school funding systems in the country.

After two years of extensive research, Chalkboard has come up with several ideas to improve our schools, from reducing K-1 class sizes to creating a guaranteed level of state spending per student. The ideas meld proven practices that have raised student achievement elsewhere, and the opinions of Oregonians themselves about the school improvements they want.

Those improvements center on four areas:

Educator quality: Chalkboard research shows a high-quality teacher in every classroom and a skilled principal leader in every school are critical to raising student achievement. Nearly 40 percent of new Oregon teachers leave within five years. So let's provide more support. That includes three years of mentoring for each new teacher and administrator, and making sure all of the ongoing training they receive is focused on how it will pay off for students in the classroom.

Early learning: Students who can't read well by the end of the third grade are likely to never catch up academically and are at much greater risk of dropping out of school. Investing in early learners will provide big achievement payoffs. Chalkboard proposes lowering kindergarten and first grade class sizes to 15 students, and providing a reading tutor to every K-3 student who needs one.

Accountability: Chalkboard found there aren't many remaining places to save in statewide school budgets. Yet 40 percent of Oregonians believe schools need to spend their money more efficiently. It's clear our schools need to make a better case that they are spending citizens' money wisely and efficiently. Chalkboard is making school spending easier to understand through a new online tool, Open Book$ (www.openbooksproject.org). And it's identified a few ways school districts could save more money, primarily by looking at purchasing practices and back office efficiencies, and by revamping the school transportation funding formula.

Funding: School funding is a divisive issue. Half of Oregonians believe schools need more money (although that support is "soft"), while a full 40 percent think schools already have all the money they need. There's more agreement that school funding needs to be stable. That's why Chalkboard is proposing expanding the state school rainy day fund (and filling it with the personal and corporate kickers), and setting a guaranteed state spending level per student that Oregon will meet in both good and bad economic times.

For more information about Chalkboard's proposals or to get your questions answered, visit www.chalkboardproject.org or write Chalkboard at info@chalkboardproject.org.

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Posted Sat, 09/02/2006 - 8:25pm.

[[ Categories: Education | News ]]

Don’t Touch the Personal Kicker

Submitted by Terry Parker on Thu, 09/07/2006 - 4:38pm.

Once again school funding is being placed on the backs of too few taxpayers. Instead of making an end run to confiscate the personal income tax kicker, the field of taxpayers must be broadened. That would include increasing the State’s minimum corporate income tax, increasing big business taxes in general such that they add to state coffers far more than the current 6% of total taxes collected by the State, requiring that the schools receive there full share of property taxes for increased and new development in urban renewal districts, and a repeal of tax abatements and tax abatement policies that are applied to high density and TOD development so property taxes on these properties can help support the schools and other government services.

As for class sizes, if you look at any major corporation in the US, they are usually being run by people of the baby boomer generation. Baby boomers that went through the Portland Public School system had class sizes that ranged from 32 students to as many as 40 students or more. These people appear to be educated even though there were no computers or internet connections at the time that definitely make learning and doing research easier. The mini-classes Chalkboard recommends are simply too small. 28 to 30 students should be considered the norm.

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Think out of the box

Submitted by mmmarvel on Sun, 09/10/2006 - 8:37am.

Part of Chalkboard's problem is that it is looking for the answers inside the way that schools presently run. Our schools are run pretty badly, not the pits (save that for Washington DC, Seattle and other places) but that is where we are headed. The system as it is presently structured isn't working - the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results; that is what we are doing in our school system. I know, some of you will object and say that they've changed this requirement, that they have tried programs to keep the drop-outs from being drop-outs; but they are superficial and small when viewed from the overall picture - not to mention that for the most part they haven't worked.

You want to change the system? You want to make it work for the kids? Then think of the following items:

GET RID OF ALL TRADITIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND GO TOTALLY CHARTER. Despite news reports (which are biased against charter schools) most folks don't realize that charter schools ARE public schools (did you know that?). In addition, charter schools receive less in the way of funding (typically 80% or less) than a comparitive traditional public school - yet the results are equal or better than what the traditional public schools produce.

PLACE ELS KIDS IN A ONE YEAR FULL EMERSION PROGRAM. Let's start by looking at California which did away with it's ELS program and replaced it with full emersion. It saved the school systems (the state) millions of dollars and the kids learned english MUCH faster and were up to speed and in a regular class by the next year. However, this change is very hard to bring about because schools get so much extra money for every ESL student that they are hard pressed to see that money go away. They get the equivilent funding of 1.5 persons (or more) for every ESL student, that is just one of the many reasons that they won't go to full emersion and instead drag ESL kids through 3 to 5 years (or more) of being classified as ESL. BTW - when the embassy or the armed forces are about to dispatch someone to a foreign land where english is not the native tongue, wanna guess how they get them up to speed on the new language? Yup, full emersion!

STOP THE MADNESS THAT EVERY CHILD HAS TO BE PREPARED FOR COLLEGE. Wanna find a way of making more dropouts? Then do what we've gone to which is having the vast majority (if not all) kids get prepared for college. It's the old, fitting a square peg into a round hole problem. Not every kid is cut out for college, not every kid wants to go to college. There are tons of occupations that DON'T require a college diploma. Some require associate degrees, some require additional training like apprenticeship programs. Do you know what a journeyman plumber or electrician earn? Ever found out what a qualified auto mechanic earns? I'd rather have my kid become an electrician than a college graduate with an english degree; as far as earning power. The trades have been given the short shift in schools and many kids are interested in them (or might be if they were exposed to them). Instead the kids are forced into a one-size fits some mold and those who don't fit come out of the system ill-prepared to do much of anything. We need to reform the system to include them and help them, we don't do that now.

OHHHH - RADICAL IDEA ON THE HORIZON ... IF THE KID ISN'T INTERESTED IN SCHOOL, WE GET THEM A JOB. Bet that one shakes up more than a few folks. However, think about it, do you know more than a few kids who don't care about school, no matter what is put in front of them, no matter how it's structured, they just won't do anything? Then these kids are prime for the work world, doing things that they are qualified for - which won't be much to start with, but better they find that out now then when they are 18. We work with employers and find them a job that starts them out at less than minimum wage, afterall, they are learning and don't have ANY skills. One of three things happens - 1) the employer has a career path for them, they take whatever classes the employer deems necessary, plus the work they are doing and they climb the ladder, increasing pay and working towards a career. 2) they will work for a while, realize how limited their future is and explore the avenues that education has to offer - they can come back into the educational system but have to commit to stay at least a year (or they continue in a job we've found for them). 3) those who don't show up for work are rounded up and taken (we can't rely on them to show up) to a special school where there is a mentor/guard (call them what you want) who will sit with them through the day and make sure that they attend classes and do the homework. They are picked up early and get home very late, but they are basically sat with to make sure they are doing what they are suppose to be doing. How do we enforce it? If they are suppose to be in catagory 3 and leave home before trasportation arrives, then they are on a 'wanted list' and when the police see them they are picked up and put into detention for a week where ALL activities are controlled.

Radical ideas? You bet - but we know that what we are doing now isn't working, maybe it's time for some radical ideas. I've got other ideas but I'll let you all chew on these for a while.

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Ideas

Submitted by Geo Grant on Wed, 01/31/2007 - 5:25pm.

I like some of your ideas, although once you factor in socioeconomic status and/or the privilege level of those attending, charter schools don't appear to be better. A search on Google with the following terms - "charter schools" "public schools" study - will show the same, that charter schools are not the answer. When considering radical ideas, or any new idea, it is important to look at the research to see what has worked in the past, not what you think might work.

It seems there is a stigma about not going to college in this country and that is a shame. I don't think you will find so much of this in Europe, where skilled tradespeople may be more respected.

BTW it is immersion, not emersion, which refers to "the reappearance of a celestial body after an eclipse".

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