a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District
a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District
As you probably saw in the newspaper or heard on television, the regular meeting was not held because we were unable to approve an agenda. DeHoff moved to suspend the rules and add a resolution to the agenda that Schaffer had written, “Calling for Relief for Students and Parents Subjected to the Diatribes of Colorado Licensed Teacher Jay Bennish.” The motion died because a unanimous vote was required (Middleton, Munn, Polis, and I – the Democrats – dissented). Suckla made a motion to add an item to the agenda for a discussion about the standards for teacher licensure, but it failed on a tie vote (the 4 Democrats dissented again). Schaffer then moved to adjourn the meeting, saying that he was unwilling to do any of the Board’s business if we didn’t address the Bennish issue, which he said was urgent and the most important thing the SBE could possibly address at this time. Munn said that often we SBE members receive calls about actions of individual teachers, but we have always allowed local districts to deal with them. He said that he believed the items on the published agenda were more important. DeHoff said that if we listen to the tape of Bennish, we would realize that it was “terrible teaching,” and he said that we need to address that as part of our role in teacher licensure. Middleton pointed out that in the past we have always discussed resolutions in advance of meetings so that we would not reach a stalemate. She said that it is unreasonable to disrupt the entire business of the day for this purpose. The motion to adjourn died on a tie vote (the 4 Democrats dissented). Munn moved to approve the original agenda. That motion died on a tie vote (DeHoff, Littleton, Schaffer, and Suckla – the 4 Republicans – dissented). Finally Suckla used her prerogative as chair and recessed the meeting until April 6, which is the date of the next regularly scheduled meeting. (For the details of what was on the proposed agenda, see Meeting Reports on my website, www.hudak.org). Work Session (Wednesday, February 8, 2006):
We discussed HB 1358, High School Postsecondary Dual Enrollment, which deals with a topic the SBE was unable to agree on last year and had hoped the Legislature would make a decision about. We were unable to reach consensus on the bill. Suckla expressed concern that it restricts funding to students with certain risk factors; she thought we had agreed that it should be equitable for all students. DeHoff said that it was “exorbitantly expensive.” Middleton pointed out that our state is “dismal in meeting the needs of all students” for access to higher education. She said that we are trying to reach kids who don’t go to college or vocational/ technical school and drop out of high school.
The reduction in federal funds from the No Child Left Behind Act that is likely next year may be problematic. The staff from the Joint Budget Committee said they interpret the statute such that we would no longer have to continue to give the 3rd and 4th grade Math tests and the 5th and 10th grade Science tests when the funding for assessments in NCLB goes away. CDE staff believes that we would be out of compliance with NCLB if we stopped giving those tests.
The Boulder Valley School District made a presentation about their impressive efforts in closing the achievement gap. The district is very affluent, but it has a growing percentage of students on free/reduced lunch, a little over 16%, with 22% minority population (mostly Latino). They showed a significant growth in CSAP and ACT scores, among the highest in the state. Not only are the Anglo children increasing in achievement significantly, but also the black and Latino children are increasing at a high rate. Dr. George Garcia, Superintendent, reviewed the district’s 6 strategic priorities that it is using to achieve this success.
Joyce Bales, Superintendent of Pueblo District 60, and Dwight Jones, Superintendent of Fountain-Fort Carson School District, made a presentation about their successes in closing the achievement gap in their districts. Bales attributes her district’s success to quality teacher education, continuing professional development for teachers and principals, good early childhood education, focus on standards, individual attention by teachers, and a focus on reading. Jones attributes his district’s success to hard-working teachers and administrators. He said that his district has no “magic pill,” that they know what everyone else knows, but they have been willing to do the hard work with “no excuses.” Bales said that CASE (Colorado Association of School Executives) has criticized CDE, but she doesn’t agree with them; she feels that CDE has been very supportive. Jones had sent a letter to the SBE saying the same thing, but he said he believes that CASE is committed to work in partnership with the SBE.
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