{"id":336589,"date":"2010-02-18T16:40:57","date_gmt":"2010-02-18T21:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2011120929_talkingeducation.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2010-02-18T16:40:57","modified_gmt":"2010-02-18T21:40:57","slug":"talking-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/336589","title":{"rendered":"Talking education"},"content":{"rendered":"

No simple solution<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s pretty clear to me that the more someone rises in the ranks of educational leadership, the more simple-minded they become [\u201cIdentify educators who lift schools,\u201d Opinion, Feb. 17]. Mary Alice Heuschel, superintendent of the Renton School District, is the perfect example. All we have to do [she says] is \u201cagree on a common definition of an effective teacher.\u201d Oh, and we need common \u201cmeasures of student growth,\u201d that\u2019s all. I\u2019m sure no one has ever thought about these issues before.<\/p>\n

Anyone in the teaching business knows that even the simplest questions have complex answers. Just look at the one state-mandated measure of student performance we have in this state: the WASL. We have a new superintendent of p instruction who has thrown out the old test in favor of a new test with learning objectives that haven\u2019t even been disseminated to teachers!<\/p>\n

How do you compare teachers within the same building who have entirely different teaching schedules, or teachers in elementary schools who teach many subjects a day? How do you compare classrooms from property-rich school districts to those in socioeconomically deprived areas? How do you compare an elementary teacher to a high-school or middle-school teacher? You can\u2019t!<\/p>\n

Instead of simply feeding the illogical notion that there are easy answers to complex questions in education, perhaps Heuschel could tell us, specifically, which performance measures she would use for teachers, principals and students and her scheme for using these measures to distribute teacher salaries.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dan Reeder, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Consolidating school districts<\/strong><\/p>\n

I agree with The Times and Judge John Erlick that it is time to fully fund education [\u201cAn overdue conversation about education funding,\u201d Opinion, Feb. 14]. How else do we pay for better schools?<\/p>\n

Eliminating the duplication of administration \u2014 by combining the state\u2019s 296 school districts into fewer than 50 \u2014 will save the state a bundle of money. We don\u2019t need separate school districts in adjoining towns like Bellevue, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Kirkland and Redmond. Or in other towns like Mukilteo, Edmonds and Everett. Or even in Renton, Kent and Auburn. It\u2019s as if Costco had a separate headquarters for every one of its 500 stores. If it had that much overhead, it would be out of business.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read, in various places, that 30 to 40 percent of the state\u2019s $13 billion K-12 budget is spent on central administration. If we had one district per county \u2014 except for the largest counties \u2014 we could save at least one half of this.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jerry Forell, Kirkland<\/em><\/p>\n

Rethink budget, regulations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s editorial about school funding neglects to mention that schools ought to improve the way they spend the $10 billion a year they get from all state, local and federal sources \u2014 $10,274 per pupil.<\/p>\n

There is not a household in this state that hasn\u2019t audited its own budget in this recession. Why do public schools get a free pass? The primary job of our schools is to teach, yet less than half of public school employees in Washington state are classroom teachers. Any business straying so far from its primary mission should not continue to exist.<\/p>\n

According to a state Board of Education study, 64 percent of schools are only adequate or failing. Less than half of 10th-grade students pass the math or science WASL. School officials are prevented by a host of regulations and practices from doing what is necessary to improve schools. Principals need waivers from these regulations so they can place effective teachers in every classroom and give teachers the pay and support they need.<\/p>\n

Systemic reform must occur before we spend more money on our failing public-school system or we will end up with the same results at a higher price.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Liv Finne, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Pay the teachers<\/strong><\/p>\n

How about we start paying teachers $100,000 as a base salary when they reach some level of tenure, say after 10 years.<\/p>\n

We fight and claw to keep their compensation below what clerks and waste-removal workers make and yet we want our children to have \u201cexcellence.\u201d<\/p>\n

We need to prove that excellence is important and pay the teachers for it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ron Zanetti, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Students, parents should set university wages<\/strong><\/p>\n

Washington state universities have been lobbying to be allowed to set their own tuition rates instead of the Washington Legislature [\u201cBill letting universities set tuition advances,\u201d NWWednesday, Feb. 17]. University leaders want to raise tuition to \u201cshore up finances.\u201d<\/p>\n

I believe that students and parents \u2014 those who pay the tuition \u2014 should also be given the authority to set the wages and benefits of university leaders and coaches. Universities are public facilities, under the authority of the governor and Legislature.<\/p>\n

Why are the presidents and coaches of these public facilities being paid million-dollar salaries? No worker should ever be paid more than his boss. The governor of Washington state has an annual salary of $166,891.<\/p>\n

The best way to \u201cshore up the finances\u201d of UW, WSU and WWU is to bring their leaders and coaches\u2019 salaries and benefits under control. You can\u2019t tell me they have more responsibility than the governor of our state. Plus, I need to have \u201cbudgeting certainty,\u201d which I can\u2019t have with double-digit tuition increases annually.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Doreen Suran, mother of WSU student, Bellevue<\/em><\/p>\n

Keep ads off buses<\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe advertisements should not be on school buses [\u201cBus ads would help our schools,\u201d Opinion, Feb. 11]. In my opinion, it\u2019s wrong to use kids as the base in a budget-cutting exercise. Raising money for schools should be dealt with in a safer, more efficient way than using kids.<\/p>\n

For example, the article states how safety is a concern, asking, \u201cWhat happens when a driver reading an ad hits the bus?\u201d The safety of children should be placed before funding for schools.<\/p>\n

If advertisements on school buses are put into effect, people would suggest other places in school buildings as appropriate places for advertisements. This would be an unforeseen consequence that would greatly impact kids\u2019 education. By doing this, it would distract kids from their learning environment. Kids have the right to learn in a focused, peaceful learning environment.<\/p>\n

Politics and funding should not be involved with school kids. Safety, distractions and education are all involved with keeping ads off school buses.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kevin Xu, seventh-grader Tyee Middle School, Bellevue<\/em><\/p>\n

Ads don\u2019t affect kids<\/strong><\/p>\n

I found The Times\u2019 editorial \u201cDon\u2019t sell out kids,\u201d [Opinion, Feb. 1] very disagreeable. As I am a child on the bus, I find none of us really care about what is written on the bus. It doesn\u2019t influence us at all, mainly because we can\u2019t even see it \u2014 it\u2019s on the outside.<\/p>\n

I understand concern about child advertising, but when you said they have an over-excessive amount of advertising in schools, I had to disagree. Our schools seem mostly untouched by advertising companies. The only form of advertising I saw was the \u201cGot Milk?\u201d posters in the cafeteria, which are only trying to keep us healthy and drink milk every day.<\/p>\n

Another point I strongly disagree with is when you said, \u201cWhat happens when a driver reading the Sylvan Learning Center ad on the side of the school bus rear-ends the care ahead, or worse, hits the bus.\u201d This is completely irrational! The same dangers apply to any advertising on the road. Even with street signs, there are dangers.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Megan Murphy, seventh-grader Tyee Middle School, Bellevue<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No simple solution It\u2019s pretty clear to me that the more someone rises in the ranks of educational leadership, the more simple-minded they become [\u201cIdentify educators who lift schools,\u201d Opinion, Feb. 17]. Mary Alice Heuschel, superintendent of the Renton School District, is the perfect example. All we have to do [she says] is \u201cagree on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2861,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-336589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2861"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336589\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}