South Jordan City District Split Talks

As you have seen in the news, South Jordan City has decided to move forward with a feasibility study about splitting from Jordan District.  A flyer with inaccurate information was distributed over the weekend.  We need to be educators of the public about the harm that will come to students should another split occur! 

As JEA President, I have attended nearly every open study session and school board meeting over the last four years.  Based on my experience, I can also speak to some of the misinformation in the flyer.

"Jordan School District kept important information from voters during last year's bond election debate!"  I was involved with the bond campaign from the beginning.  The Jordan District and Friends of Jordan School District were very open and trying to get the information out using websites, social media, and open houses.

"Now that they are planning on it (bond election) again, but here's what they didn't want you to know last time --"  First, this is not a grammatically correct sentence.  That teacher bit aside, I have heard very little discussion on a future bond.  Occasionally, a board member will say that they want to run a bond again in November.  Others will then say the district needs to wait 2-3 years.  The decision to try for a bond again has not been made.

"On their website, they pointed to South Jordan's growth as a reason to build new schools, but in the first bond they planned for schools in Riverton, Herriman, West Jordan and Bluffdale, but not in South Jordan."  The Bingham feeder system is most of South Jordan.  A new elementary school was to be built in South Jordan from the bond funds.

"The State Legislature is giving South Jordan one chance, this year, to decide if they want to split off."  A law was passed that stated if a district were to split that the property tax revenue to one district cannot be more than 5% higher than the property tax revenue for the other district.  This was a major problem in the Jordan/Canyons split.  Jordan had 60% of the students and 40% of the tax base, while Canyons had 40% of the students and 60% of the tax base.  If South Jordan doesn't decide to vote on a split this year, they still could in the future, there would just be more restrictions.

Back in February, the South Jordan Journal ran an article about a possible South Jordan split from Jordan District.  I wrote a letter to the editor that was published in March.

Dear Editor and South Jordan residents,

I am concerned with the South Jordan City Council looking to form its own school district. I am against this for many reasons including costs, quality of education, and employee morale.
There are students living in South Jordan City boundaries who attend Herriman or Copper Hills High, Copper Mountain Middle, Midas Creek Elementary and other schools on permit. Current schools in South Jordan city boundaries are not large enough to hold all the students living in South Jordan City. This means new schools would need to be built necessitating a bond.

The Jordan/Canyons split in 2009 cost $33 million through months of negotiations and mediation with transition teams from both sides. In addition, Jordan District had to cut $17 million in the 2010-2011 budget year. These cuts hurt students. One example is the money for aides in Special Education classes being reduced leaving those students who are the most needy without the support to help them be successful. Canyons District promised no tax increases, but within two years, property taxes had increased and a bond was passed to build a new high school and rebuild several other schools.

The quality of education students receive will suffer. Jordan District has an excellent curriculum department that provides many resources for teachers at all levels. The new district would likely be unable to hire those types of specialists, leaving teachers on their own to create curriculum. As an elementary teacher, I appreciate having those specialists who can align curriculum to the Utah Core, provide quality assessments, and give curriculum maps for pacing subjects taught throughout the year. If my time had to be spent doing those types of activities for all the subjects I’m required to teach, there would be less time for me to work with students and provide them with the feedback they need to improve.

Many employees on both sides of the Jordan/Canyons split felt like they were just assets assigned to a building. The morale is just now, five years later, beginning to improve. Employees have not received their step increases three of the last five years. While this is a different pay system than in other industries, when teachers are hired, the District explains the pay system, so there is an expectation that has not been met. If South Jordan were to break off to form their own school district, employee salary increases in both districts would likely be nonexistent. At the time of the Jordan/Canyons split, I felt discouraged and frustrated with my career. I have become more optimistic as I have utilized the tools provided by Jordan District. I am proud to have been teaching in Jordan District for 22 years.

Please stop the discussion on breaking away from Jordan District now!

Jennifer Boehme
South Jordan resident and Elk Meadows teacher

Oppose Republican Resolution on Partisan School Board Elections

There is a new resolution that will be proposed in the 2014 Utah Republican Nominating Convention on April 26, 2014 that you may want to review asap.  We are asking that, for those of you who are Republican, to contact your Republican delegates immediately and ensure they vote NO on the Resolution to Promote Partisan School Board Elections.  Here is some helpful background:

·        The resolution is titled Resolution to Promote Partisan School Board Elections and is at the end of this post and can also be found on the Utah Republican Party website at:  http://www.utgop.org/utgop.asp where you can “click here to view submitted Amendments and Resolutions that will be considered at the convention.”  It is the fourth displayed item.

·        Astoundingly, the resolution states that “. . . most school board members seem to welcome federal control of education, and fail to understand that states are (or should be) sovereign with respect to education, . . .”  and then resolves that “legislators affiliated with the Utah Republican Party are encouraged to enact and support legislation that would make candidates for Utah’s State Board of Education and school districts subject to partisan nomination and election .”

 

·        The resolution to be considered by the upcoming Republican convention has only 6 sponsors listed in support.  The chief sponsor is Oak Norton, a resident of Utah County who remains regularly agitated about public education.

 

·        Partisan politics has no place in the State Board and certainly not in our local school boards of education.  A bill to support partisan state school board elections in the most recent legislative session was strongly opposed by UEA and it failed.  This Republican resolution concerning local school boards clearly does not reflect the view of Utah’s public and the parents whose children attend our neighborhood schools. 

 

In order to oppose this resolution, you will need to contact the Republican delegates and state leaders from your area that are invited to attend the 2014 Utah Republican Nominating (State) Convention on April 26, 2014.  Thus, your contact must occur before April 26^th.  Delegate contact information can be found by calling the Utah Republican Party offices at 801-533-9777 and asking for the names of your state Republican delegates.  Knowing your precinct is helpful.  Thank you!

Resolution to Promote Partisan School Board Elections

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will become the philosophy of government in the next;” and,

WHEREAS, experience shows that the views of school board members find their way into the classroom; and,

 WHEREAS, most citizens do not know how school board members view important issues such as religious reedom, state and family sovereignty, private property, Second Amendment, limited government, and American Exceptionalism; and,

 WHEREAS, the Republican Party has an excellent vetting system by which grassroots-elected delegates can identify who among the candidates will best adhere to the principles in our party platform, most notably the principles of fiscal responsibility and local control of education; and,

 WHEREAS, approximately 65% of our state budget goes to education; and,

 WHEREAS, school district budgets, whose district officers are determined via non-partisan elections, in some cases exceed county budgets, whose county officers are determined via partisan elections; and,

 WHEREAS, most school board members seem to welcome federal control of education, and fail to understand that states are (or should be) sovereign with respect to education; and,

 WHEREAS, in Texas—where school board elections are partisan—when “Common Core” was presented to the states, Texas rejected it and created their own high-quality standards; and,

 WHEREAS, choosing school board members via partisan election is not about partisanship in education, but is about ensuring the selection of candidates whose principles match those found in the party platform.

 WHEREAS, state school board nominees are currently selected by an unelected panel—unaccountable to the public,

 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT, legislators affiliated with the Utah Republican Party are encouraged to enact and support legislation that would make candidates for Utah’s State Board of Education and school districts subject to partisan nomination and election; and,

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT delegates to the Utah Republican Party Convention are encouraged

to research and vet state and local school board candidates, in order to identify the candidate(s) who will best support limited government and local control of education; and,

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Utah Republican Party is encouraged to host debates for state school board candidates and conduct a straw poll among state delegates, wherein state delegates living within a given state school board district may cast a non-binding vote for their choices of state school board members, and that the results of this straw poll be made public on the party web site; and,

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT county parties are encouraged to host debates for school board

candidates and conduct straw polls among county delegates, wherein county delegates living within local school board districts may cast a non-binding vote for their choices of local district board members, and that the results of these straw polls be made public on county party web sites.

 Respectfully submitted to the Utah Republican Party on March 26, 2014

 Sponsor: Oak Norton, HI 07         

Co-Sponsors: Kimberly Park, TA 11, Jennifer Orten, HI 06, Tina Okolowitz, Orem 38, Marie Nuccitelli, LE16, and Aaron Hymas, MAG004

 

 

SAGE Message from Utah Superintendent Martell Menlove

Superintendents and Charter Administrators,

 

There have been multiple instances the past few days of what I believe are serious violations of test security and testing protocols.

 

It is inappropriate for anyone, students, teachers, proctors, media, etc., to take screen shots of any computer screen containing a test item or individual student information.  I believe the sharing of such a screen shot not only violates test security but is also illegal and violates copyright laws.

 

Testing environments need to be maintained to assure accurate testing of students without outside interference.  Only those authorized educators should be in the room(s) while testing is occurring. 

 

I sent a document Monday concerning opting-out of testing.  Parents have the right to opt students out of testing.  However, this right is not extended to anyone other than a child’s parent or guardian.   I believe it is a violation of testing protocol and educator ethics for a licensed educator to encourage or suggest that individual students or groups of students not participate fully in State administered testing.

 

Please communicate with all licensed educators that those involved in sharing, or allowing the sharing, of any SAGE, DWA or other State assessment items will be referred to the Utah Professional Practices Commission and action may be taken against their teacher license.  This includes the requirement that all testing protocols will be followed.  Additionally, those who do not honor a parent’s right to opt out of testing, or those who inappropriately encourage or facilitate opting-out will also be referred to the Utah Professional Practices Commission for possible action against their license.

 

Thanks again for all your efforts to provide quality educational opportunities for Utah students.

 

Martell Menlove, Ph.D.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

UEA President's Message April 2014 - SAGE

All of us who have been administering the SAGE assessments know about the problems from system crashes to students needs multiple hours to complete the test.  Please respond to the surveys about SAGE you will receive the week following Spring Break.

SAGE Issues

Please send issues and concerns about SAGE to the UEA president at sharon@utea.org  There were some major problems with testing yesterday.  See the response from USOE and AIR below.

We have been working with AIR today and this evening to investigate, diagnose, and respond to today’s testing problems.  After receiving an update from AIR this evening, they have assured us that all server problems contributing to the SAGE system issues seen yesterday and today, have been resolved and that testing can proceed as scheduled tomorrow. 

 AIR has provided the following response to Utah’s concerns:

 

SAGE Summative -3/26/14 System Disruption Update

AIR has identified and corrected the cause of the issues experienced today in some schools. After making the correction late this afternoon, AIR continued to closely monitor the servers. The performance of the servers immediately returned to their normal operating state. We are confident that students should not experience any further problems related to the SAGE servers. We will be monitoring the system closely throughout the day tomorrow. Additionally, AIR is confident that no student data was lost. If you have any concerns about student data, or if you want to report any other concern, please call AIR’s Help Desk at 1-855-570-7239. Thank you for your patience.

 

SAGE Help Desk Improvement -3/26/14 Update

AIR is committed to providing Utah teachers, test proctors, and students with the best possible customer service and timely information from our Help Desk.  In support of ongoing process improvement we are working with USOE to update all our Help Desk reference materials to ensure they are consistent with USOE testing policy and reflect the system requirements of SAGE. Help Desk staff will be retrained on updated communication protocols and SAGE-specific reference materials. Knowing how important timely responses are to the schools, AIR is adding additional Help Desk staff that will be dedicated to the SAGE program.

 

Julie Quinn

Coordinator
Test Administration and Reporting
Assessment and Accountability
Utah State Office of Education
Julie.Quinn@schools.utah.gov 

 

 

 

Kim Burningham on the Utah Legislature

This was sent to me by UEA President Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh.  Mr. Burningham has been serving on the State Board of Education, but he is not seeking re-election.  He is a voice for students and teachers and will be missed.

A blog from Burningham:  GRADING THE LEGISLATURE’S EDUCATION EFFORT

Dear friends:

(Note: In this email, Mr. Burningham speaks in his own behalf; the point of view expressed in this blog does not necessarily represent any organization of which he is a part.)

With the 2014 Utah Legislative session complete, a report card is due.  (After all, if they insist on grading schools, the Legislature itself ought to be graded.)    Many ways to grade exist; my grade is a personal evaluation of how the Legislature did on school issues.

My grade: C-

I could be harsher; others have been. 

Bob Bernick, noted political analyst and former Deseret News reporter now a regular writer for UtahPolicy.com, was one.  On his grading scale of 1-10 “with 10 being the highest of success and promise” Bernick evaluated the session as follows:

            Public education funding = 0

            Public education reform = 5

An editorial evaluation in the Salt Lake Tribune didn’t use grades, but observed: “Education fared better this year than during the Great Recession but not as well as it should.”

The fact is the Utah Legislature basically did more of the same.   You know Utah ranks far below any other state in per-pupil spending.  The best that can be said is the Utah Legislature’s commitment maintains that same rock-bottom status. 

Trying to paint a rosier picture, some will brag about a 2.5 percent increase in the WPU or point to a total dollar increase in education funding.  But much of that increase in funding is for new students; and the WPU increase will do little more than fund basic education and employee health and retirement funds.   The appropriation of the Utah Legislature will not begin to pull Utah out of the basement.

Politicians genuinely interested in strengthening our education system must do something more about the inadequate funding.  The huge class sizes, limited professional development, and meager teacher salaries are outrageous!

One effort to increase education funding received much press.   Speaker Becky Lockhart advocated placing a one-to-one computer device in the hands of every student.   Estimates of the cost of such a program vary.  Lockhart suggested between $200 and $300 million would do the trick.  The Governor’s Office, using a study by his education commission, indicated that figure was way low!

The one-to-one device initiative fell flat.   Many observers fear that the gesture was mostly posturing for political capital in the future.  When Speaker Lockhart was offered a measly $30 million by the Senate for the program, she walked out on the talks.   The ballyhooed effort “got none.”

All of us want to improve public education.  Lower class sizes, increased technology, better training for teachers, and increased opportunities for pre-k students will take significantly more dollars.

Our remarkable teachers are laboring in huge classes, offered insufficient support, awarded  nominal compensation.  Until the Utah Legislature and the Utah public is willing to increase funding, we can expect little more than we now get.  Utah’s children deserve more!   Our economy requires the best education possible. 

I keep hoping and looking for political leadership that will act, not pontificate!   Status quo funding will not make the grade!

Sincerely,

Kim Burningham

 

Year Round PTC and Caucus Meeting Conflict

I know that C and D Track Parent Teacher Conferences conflict with the Republican Caucus meetings this week.  We have never had this problem before, so I looked into why the problem happened this year. 

In 2010 and prior caucus years, which is every even year, both the Democrats and Republicans held their caucus meetings on the same night, Tuesday.  Due to changes in the Utah Republican Party timelines, the Republican Party chose to move their caucus meeting to Thursday, so they meet after the candidate filing deadline, which is Thursday at 5:00. 

2012 was the first time the two parties met on different nights.  That year, C and D Parent Teacher Conferences were held March 7-9, so there was no conflict.  This is the first year the conflict has occurred. Now the Year Round Committee can be aware of this conflict and plan Parent Teacher Conference dates for weeks other than the third week of March when the caucus meetings are scheduled.