Bill Gates and Michael Dell, along with other technology gurus, founded the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). It's a program aimed at improving the performance of students in our schools in - surprisingly - math and science! This initiative focuses specifically on increasing the number of students taking advanced placement courses in these subjects, but not if you live in Washington State, ironically the home of Microsoft. In May, NMSI announced that a 13.2 million grant that was to be given to the public schools in Washington was being scrapped. Why? Well, it seems there was a conflict between how the grant money was to be used and the collective bargaining agreement of the teacher's union.
You see, the grant money was to be used to compensate teachers directly and include extra pay based on how well students performed on AP exams. Gee, pay based on performance? We can't have that in the public schools now, can we?! Under the teacher contracts, the union is the exclusive agent for negotiating teacher pay, not public-private entities like NMSI. In other words, union officials were willing to turn away free money - a lot of it - for their teacher members rather than abide this kind of merit pay.
The odd thing is that ther heavily unionized states, Massachusetts and
Connecticut for example, did manage to reach agreements and will receive the math and science money even though they have similar bargaining agreements. Even more ironic? The Washington union has a pending lawsuit against the state for alleged inadequate funding of public schools. Sure, decline $13.2 million in free money, but spend millions suing the state for inadequate funding. Makes you wonder if union officials care more about protecting their union monopoly than they do about about actual student performance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Part 2 of Talisman/ChemGeek's "What the hell is that?" SEM image contest is in full swing. Even if you missed Part 1 of the contest, you still have a chance to win, and she's given hints this time making it a bit easier. Click HERE for all of the details and click HERE for the images!~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I did something on Thursday that I've never done before - no, this has nothing to do with the nip pic although that was a virgin experience as well - this task actually has the potential to facilitate positive change in my community. I wrote a letter to the editor of my local paper and I emailed my state legislators.
I decided when my son started middle school this fall that it was time for me to become more involved in the education process and the community in general. I know, I know, the standard mom thing to do is to be involved in the early years of education, but I have a different philosophy on that. When do kids have the most potential to get in to trouble? When they are 6 and their biggest concern is recess and snack time, or when they are 12 and going through puberty, and thinking they are now men and women? Speaking from personal experience only, I'd have to say the middle and high school years have the greatest potential for catastrophic decision-making.
I signed up for the Parent Volunteer Committee (PVC) during the 6th grade orientation this past fall. I became an active member of the committee - even taking on a position as an officer of the committee. On Monday, I was asked to attend a meeting of the PTO/PVC Officers from all of the schools in our district. I was amazed at all of the information that was shared at that meeting that directly affected my son's education. One of the key issues was funding for new schools and school renovations.
I live in a very small, but rapidly growing community. Our current population is 3500, but is expected to be somewhere near 35,000 in ten years. In fact, the community is so small that currently the middle school and high school kids attend classes in the same building, however that changes next year. The district built a new high school in my community and has scheduled renovations of the current middle school/high school for this summer in order to make the "new" middle school more functional. We passed a referendum in 2005 that increased our property taxes in order to pay for the new high school and the renovations to the middle school.
What does all of this have to do with writing a letter to the editor? Well, when the referendum was passed, part of the deal was that the state would reimburse a percentage of the construction costs incurred with the new high school. Guess what? That's right, the state has not held up its end of the bargain. In fact, the state has not issued any reimbursements for these approved projects since 2002. Our district must receive the reimbursement by January in order to go forward with the middle school renovations.
As a parent and community member, I had read about the state budget impasse, but had no idea that this affected my family, my community and me. My theory is that if I didn't understand this concept, chances are others in my community do not understand it either. What better way to explain the challenge, as well as offer a solution (writing our state legislators) than through a letter to the editor? So I did!
Will my efforts facilitate change? Honestly, I have no idea, but if they do, it's a huge success for my community. If they don't? Well, at least I have earned the "right" to bitch about the situation by actually doing something to change it.
I challenge all of you to take action the next time you find yourself complaining about something. It really is a good feeling knowing that you haven't just watched from the sidelines, but actually participated in the game - whether you win or lose. Now, if I could just implement that thought process in all areas of my life that are in need of change ...
Bill Gates and Michael Dell, along with other technology gurus, founded the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). It's a program aimed at improving the performance of students in our schools in - surprisingly - math and science! This initiative focuses specifically on increasing the number of students taking advanced placement courses in these subjects, but not if you live in Washington State, ironically the home of Microsoft. In May, NMSI announced that a 13.2 million grant that was to be given to the public schools in Washington was being scrapped. Why? Well, it seems there was a conflict between how the grant money was to be used and the collective bargaining agreement of the teacher's union.
Connecticut for example, did manage to reach agreements and will receive the math and science money even though they have similar bargaining agreements. Even more ironic? The Washington union has a pending lawsuit against the state for alleged inadequate funding of public schools. Sure, decline $13.2 million in free money, but spend millions suing the state for inadequate funding. Makes you wonder if union officials care more about protecting their union monopoly than they do about about actual student performance.