WCCUSD's Lifetime Health Insurance Crisis

"Borenstein: Retiree benefits could bankrupt West Contra Costa Schools" by Daniel Borenstein, 04/26/08 Contra Costa Times

The beleaguered West Contra Costa school district is sitting on a financial time bomb that if not defused could eventually send it into bankruptcy.

This column takes a very one-sided and simplistic view of the situation involving WCCUSD's lifetime health insurance benefit. He quotes school board trustees and district officials but no teachers or union representatives.

District contracts with teachers and other workers expire this summer. Officials plan to seek changes to the retiree health benefits. For the solvency of the district and the sake of the children, let's hope trustees stand firm and employees wake up. To be sure, the district is in a tough position as it seeks to attract qualified teachers to work in some of the Bay Area's poorest schools. But if the district goes broke, it's likely that a state receiver would impose more job cuts and benefit reductions.

This is a district with a shortage of teachers willing to work in underperforming schools for lower salaries than in many neighboring districts and with many employees who have worked for decades in part because of the promise of these benefits and Borenstein thinks they just need to "wake up"? There are nearby districts facing the flip side of this problem - union's that gave up health insurance in exchange for salary increases (deals which appear foolish in hindsight). Would he tell those unions to "stand firm" about changing those deals?

There's no easy solution here but it isn't right to expect teachers to just accept broken promises that they've relied on in good faith for so many years.

Palo Alto's Castilleja School

"Head of the class: Palo Alto school prepares girls for leadership" by Julia Prodis Sulek, 05/02/08 Mercury News

The college preparatory, teaching grades six through 12, was founded in 1907 specifically to make girls ready for the rigors of Stanford. About 20 percent of each graduating class enrolls there.

It's a fairly glowing profile of the school for girls. Sure, it's $29,000/year but it's only for 7 years (grades 6 through 12)!

More Bureaucrats - Hurray!

"Ousted schools chief tapped for new post" by Sharon Noguchi, 05/01/08 Mercury News

Colleen Wilcox, who was ousted as schools chief of Santa Clara County after an investigation found she humiliated employees, soon will return to the education spotlight as an advocate for teachers in Silicon Valley.

Wilcox briefly discusses her new job.

"We'd really like to elevate the status of teachers throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara counties" by dramatically improving teaching, Wilcox said. The goal, she said, is to "create the world's greatest teachers" and entice them to stay put.

I'm very skeptical of things like this. This isn't a program putting more resources into training and recruitment. It's a program spending money (on Wilcox) to lobby for more training and recruitment. Do we really think that teachers are suffering because there aren't enough bureaucrats? Sure, the teachers have unions but someone who lost her job because she humiliated her employees is what they really need.

WCCUSD's Bruce Harter Out of Touch

The WCCUSD Reporter is the district's quarterly newsletter. The Spring 2008 issue starts with a message from Superintendent Harter. First, he refers to his signature school visits - "I’ve made unannounced visits to all our schools this year—at least three visits per school and well over 200 visits since the year began." I think this demonstrates the opposite of what he intends it to. If he had a clue about what is going on he wouldn't have to be constantly visiting schools like some foreign dignitary. He says "But if you could visit schools like I do, you too would know the reality that our schools are safe places where our students are on task and the focus is on teaching and learning." He acts like the district is suffering from bad PR instead of decades of underperformance. I find this kind of talk disingenuous.

Korean Prep Schools Sending Kids to the Ivy League

"Elite Korean Schools, Forging Ivy League Skills" by Sam Dillon, 04/27/08 New York Times

“Even my worst students are great,” said Joseph Foster, a Williams College graduate who teaches writing at Daewon. “They’re professionals; if I teach them, they’ll learn it. I get e-mails at 2 a.m. I’ll respond and go to bed. When I get up, I’ll find a follow-up question mailed at 5 a.m.”

This is an interesting piece about Korean prep schools catering to the current fad of preparing kids for Ivy League schools in America.

Richmond's Kennedy High an "It" School?

"Richmond's Kennedy High to start alumni foundation" by Kimberly S. Wetzel, 04/24/08 West County Times

Kennedy was the "it" school in West Contra Costa in the 1960s and 1970s, boasting superior academics and a waiting list to get in. Pinole Valley High Principal Sue Kahn, West Contra Costa school district administrator Paul Ehara and NPR reporter Richard Gonzalez all received diplomas from Kennedy in 1972.

That's hard to imagine. The school was already developing a poor reputation by the 1980s and it has declined significantly since then.

But in the past five years or so, a devoted group of school staff and administrators has worked hard to return a positive feel to Kennedy, which is enjoying a resurgence with improved test scores and one of the best safety records of any West Contra Costa high school.

I think it is true that the news from the school has been relatively positive lately. Unfortunately, its strength within the district does not hold up when compared to schools in other districts.

Jobs in Education and Recessions

"Recession-proof jobs do exist" by Tapan Monroe, 04/18/08 Contra Costa Times

"Education: In the U.S., this is an area that has been historically quite recession resistant. However, California's current budget crisis triggered by the 2008 economic downturn has upset the apple cart as far as K-12 education in the state is concerned. California, with a potential budget deficit of nearly $16 billion for 2008-2009 (state Legislative Analyst, Sacramento, Feb 21, 2008) is facing a tough and painful situation. State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O'Connell, recently announced that an estimated 20,000 teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses, and support staff have been given layoff notices. We are not sure what the exact final outcome will be as far as the total layoffs are concerned. One thing is for sure—it will be difficult to define K-12 teaching as a recession resistant job for a while, at least in the state of California. My rating: high degree of recession proofing at the college and university level, and modest degree of recession proofing at the K-12 level."

Unlike the recent Money Magazine article on the same subject, this is a much more reasoned look at the relative job safety of careers in education. Shouldn't the national magazine do better than the suburban newspaper?

WCCUSD Parcel Tax

"West County district parcel tax could pass, study shows" by Kimberly S. Wetzel, 04/17/08 West County Times

The good news: According to polling research, the West Contra Costa school district could get enough voter support on a parcel tax measure in November.

The bad news: The research shows that voters probably would not be willing to pay more than they already do to help the district stay afloat financially.

Is the "bad news" really a suprise to people? The last push for an 11 cents/sq. ft. tax failed and the current (but due to expire) tax of 7.2 cents/sq. ft. is already questioned by many. Despite how the tax is pitched there's really no effective limitation on what the money is used for.

Home Schooling Controversy

"Home schooling: Parent-teachers aim to prove skeptics wrong" by Dana Hull, 04/20/08 Mercury News

"Home-schoolers cobble together a comprehensive education, one that matches their children's interests and learning styles. They carry the valley's start-up ethos to the kitchen table.

So they were insulted when a California appeals court ruled in February that parents who home-school must have a teaching credential. It suggested, home-schoolers fumed, that parents can't teach."

I think home schooling is an important option and the requirement for a teaching credential basically ridiculous but obviously there needs to be some level of government supervision.

Private Funding for Public Schools

"California public schools seek private money just to cover the basics" by Seema Mehta, 04/20/08 LA Times

"Parents in well-to-do communities can raise significant sums of money to augment their local schools' budgets, while schools in low-income neighborhoods fall further behind," said state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "This is part of the reason that we have an achievement gap in California. We have an economic and moral imperative to close this gap."

The disparity in public education programs from one district to another is truly amazing. The differences in state, local, and now private funding add up to make serious differences in the resources available.

Money Magazine Hates Teachers

The May 2008 issue of Money Magazine has a piece on the "Best careers to have in a recession" and rounding out the top ten was "teacher" about which the article says "Try to get fired from this union job. Just try." There have been waves of pink slips this year as districts prepare for the anticipated state budget shortfall and this kind of attitude is just salt in the wounds.