Comments on: U.S. Education Secretary’s guide to budget cuts

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:49:58 +0000

The Supt is willing to place school children’s safety “at risk” by reducing the secretarial staffs to below safe levels and yet refuse to consider the following cuts I proposed on March 1:
1. Eliminate all medical benefits for board members.
2. Reduce the Supt and all Asst Supt’s salaries by 20%.
3. Reduce all directors salaries by 15%.
4. Double up small elementary schools to share one principal.
5. Eliminate Vice-principals at Middle Schools. It worked in Elementary schools.
6. Cut by 50% vice-principals at high schools.
7. Rescind the Gang of Five raises.
8. Hire another in house lawyer for the legal department and reduce outside lawyers to $100,000 from $600,000. Require ALL inside lawyers, including Rolen, to have 2000 “billable” hours per year.
9. Immediately freeze all longevity salary increases of administrators.
10. Immediately stop ALL overnight travel, seminars, conferences, unless approved by the board.
11. Stop watering the lawns, reduce mowing to once a month, and stop weeding.

By: MDUSD Teacher

MDUSD Teacher — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:00:55 +0000

In response to 4students…

3. It seems counter-productive to “Eliminate Vacation Buyout; convert to use or lose” (potential cuts round 1, 10-N16).

This does not apply to teachers, but to all the other employee groups. (CST, M&O, DMA,CSEA)

By: 4Students

4Students — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 18:33:46 +0000

A few questions from the agenda:

1. How many music teachers are in MDUSD? If they cut 33.55 music teachers, is that the entire music program, including all middle and high schools?

2. Did they consider moving Glenbrook Areas 4 and 5 to Valley View? Then could they redirect the Title I funds, instead of bussing students to Oak Grove, and spend those funds in classrooms? By the way, it looks like they renamed and updated with asterisks the online document “Matriculation Channels of Enrollment” http://www.mdusd.org/Schools/Documents/matric.pdf

3. It seems counter-productive to “Eliminate Vacation Buyout; convert to use or lose” (potential cuts round 1, 10-N16). Then teachers will take more vacation days and our students will have more substitutes! Did they factor in the expense of substitutes? Either way, more teacher absences will be bad for “student achievement”!

By: 4Students

4Students — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 17:43:35 +0000

Overnight it appears the agenda was posted, and hallelujah the Measure C link was updated!

However Measure C questions remain. The “fullprogsch” shows “modernization” in 2013, after solar, technology and HVAC. But the most recent bond sale listed new classrooms at 2 high schools? Does that mean those new classrooms will come before the other priority items? If so, who set this priority?
http://169.199.90.240/MDUSDFacilities/files/FULLPROGSCH.pdf

And more detailed questions – the photo of Central Services shows parking lot instead of landscaping, but the scope of work includes irrigation. If there are plants can they just stop watering (like we do at our homes to conserve water and water bills)?

Under HVAC, what is LVAC? Is that Loma Vista a/c? Why is it it “Group I” ahead of our K-12 schools? Gary Eberhart said K-12 classrooms should have priority!

Would it make more sense to install solar first at the schools that will receive HVAC first, because they will have increased electrical usage? But only one school Sun Terrace is on Solar “Increment I” list and HVAC “Increment I” list. I assume there’s a good explanation, that the electrical capacity can handle the boost until solar is installed, and I hope they’ll give some reassurance about this boost.

And why are Glenbrook and Holbrook in “Increment I” for solar?

Going back to other comments, I think it would be great to get the students involved. CVHS started a “Community Service Academy” a few years ago and assume it’s still going and might generate some ideas? And for the district web site, I see that it now has links to UMDAF and MDMEF which is good, but still doesn’t have links to our education foundations FPHE and PEAK, or to the Chamber(s) of Commerce or other business partnerships which many other district web sites have on their home pages.

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 07:13:20 +0000

FYI, the agenda for Tuesday’s board meeting is at http://bit.ly/hmBQF6. It includes school closure plans, deep budget cuts and more layoffs.

By: Mr. S

Mr. S — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 07:07:20 +0000

Theresa,
It certainly appears that the school closures were not equitable across the district. Due to the fact that the Holbrook Community did not have a representative on the School Closure Committee, it is fair to say that they were not included in the decision.
In addition, Holbrook is a Title One School with 64% of its students on free and reduced lunches. It definately would qualify as a school that Secretary Duncan would refer to as “one to protect”.Even more so given that Holbrook is a school that has a thriving PLC with a great shot at reaching an 800 API this year. Do you think Duncan would go along with closing this school? With the state and nation’s economy in such a troubled mess,it would seem logical to invest in schools that are working and making excellent strides.

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 04:55:47 +0000

I think it would require some concessions from the unions to allow parents to replace employees.
Students, on the other hand, could do “service learning” types of projects that could be mutually beneficial to both the district and the schools.
The city of Walnut Creek used to hire teen interns to help them feel “ownership” of the city in which they live — working in a host of different depts. including police, planning, parks and rec and maintenance.
The students learned new skills and the city benefitted from bright, talented teens who were eager to get out of the classroom and see first-hand how city government works.
Unfortunately, I believe the the city has discontinued the paid internship program, due to budget cuts.
But you make a good point about parents being able to help in a pinch. I was surprised at the Glenbrook school closure meeting, when Superintendent Steven Lawrence said his PowerPoint presentation wasn’t posted online because his secretary wasn’t there. Surely, someone else in the district knows how to post a PowerPoint online — I’m sure the Mt. Diablo HS Digital Safari students would be able to figure out how to do it.

By: Linda

Linda — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 02:07:55 +0000

Theresa,
I think the District under utilizes both its student and parent resources. Look at the amazing things students and parent do at individual school sites. During the one of the last rounds of budgets cuts it was suggested that a parent help with District communication. The response was that a volunteer can not replace a laid-off position. Even when it was pointed out that the parent role would be much less than what Sue Berg did, the reaction was still “no”
If they would reach out and make those partnerships some great things could happen.

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:28:10 +0000

Perhaps the district could turn to its own students for help.
Northgate HS is planning a new Global Outlook program designed to give students indepth experience interacting with community leaders to solve problems: http://www.spodawg32.net/GlobalOutlook.html.
Ygnacio Valley High has an education academy that could serve as a resource for the district office. Students would likley appreciate getting hands-on experience in district administration.
Statistics classes could analyze the school closure data and come up with their own recommendations.
Mt. Diablo HS has an entrepreneurial program that teaches students how to write business effective plans. The school also has a highly sophisticated “Digital Safari” academy filled with students who could likely help the district update its website and make it more user-friendly. A few years ago, one of these students helped the city of Concord update its Website.
One member of the Parent Advisory Council recently complained that the district’s budget information is difficult to find and understand online. Yet, the organization the district turns to for its financial projections — School Services of California, Inc. — has told education leaders that clear communication to stakeholders is essential, if they want the public to support the governor’s proposed tax extensions.
Mt. Diablo HS teacher Dan Reynolds and his Human Rights class has proven that students can bring new ideas to the district and help improve it.

By: Wait a Minute

Wait a Minute — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:52:40 +0000

Good points Jim.
Like I said in another thread on here as the MDUSD flounders, well run and innovative charter schools will come in and fill the vacuum.

These and residents opting for home schooling (shutting schools or having unsafe schools always increases this) will lead to further revenue shortfalls for the district and the whole cycle becomes one of a self-perpetuating correction to the terrible leadership of Eberhart, Lawrence and others.

Most school districts today are 20 plus years out of date in a structural sense.
They are based on large and costly bureaucracies that simply can’t adapt to change and exist only to suck money out of the classroom into mostly worthless district level positions.
Only about 60% (or less) of the shrinking total revenue is actually being spent on the children. Outrageous I say!

Another indicator of this inefficiency/incompetency is the MDUSD’s legal costs. Close to a million dollars yearly is being spent on legal. Absolutely outrageous considering the district has a full-time in house lawyer (Rolen). Whenever a district is having to spend money defending itself in court there needs to be immediate corrective actions taken to reduce these costs which take away from the children.

As others point out, how could the MDUSD not embrace the technology being invented right here in the Bay Area like good online foreign language courses!!!
I could go on and on.