Summary of September 24, 2012 meeting

The first meeting of the 2012-13 Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council – called together by Superintendent Steve Joel – was held at Lincoln High School on Monday, Sept. 24.

Purpose of group

Superintendent Steve Joel thanked the new group – with half new members, and half former members – for their participation.

“This group is quite valuable to me,” he said.  “I get into as many classrooms as possible, but it’s just not feasible for me to be everywhere.  That’s where you can help out… Collectively, I want to know how we’re doing as a school district.  I want your perspective.  How is it all working?”

Joel reminded the Teacher’s Council of the mission and ground rules of the group:

Mission:

  • To offer a bridge of communications between the Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent and LPS teachers.
  • To provide valuable school district information to Council members.
  • To open up a discussion of challenges, issues, questions and successes in the school district.
  • To give the superintendent a sense of the major issues and concerns in the school district.

How it works:

  • At each meeting the superintendent will give Teacher Advisory Council members a broad overview of the current, major school district issues.
  • The superintendent will invite questions and comments.  He will make sure all questions are answered.
  • The superintendent encourages Teacher Advisory Council members to share the information they receive with colleagues at their individual schools.  They might post minutes on a bulletin board.  They might make presentations to school faculty groups.

Ground Rules:

  • The conversation and questions at these Council meetings should be targeted at overall and broad issues and concerns – not specific or personal issues, and not any collective bargaining issues.
  • After each meeting a summary of the session will be posted on the LPS website’s Staff Center (http://wp.lps.org/tac/.) The summary will include the superintendent’s update, as well as questions and answers. However, the names of individual Council members will not be used in the summary.
  • Members of the Council are not compensated, and half the membership will change annually.

Superintendent Update

Graduation rate

“I have come to believe that the graduation rate is most impacted by what happens in preschool, probably birth to 5,” Joel said.  “This is an area that American public education has recognized very, very slowly.”

But he said he has great hope in the new Educare facility under construction next to Belmont Elementary School – a collaboration of many Nebraska groups – that will open in January.  The new facility will offer a year-round, full-service early childhood preschool opportunity for low-income children.

Technology

“As a country, we will be digitally converted in the next five years – and the required skill set of all LPS employees will be very different than it is today,” Joel said.  “I believe it’s going to happen…and we need to be prepared…We are lagging behind, as a state, but it’s a shift we must make.”

Joel pointed out that national textbook companies are starting to envision that conversion.  “It’s just a matter of time when those book bags students carry are only a memory.”

He said the school district is now asking the critical questions: What should the classroom of the 21st century look like?  What staff development do we need to make sure teachers develop the skills needed to be successful?

In the coming year LPS is making a commitment to purchase a large number of laptops – and will seriously look into applying for new federal grants now available for school district technology needs.  In addition, several LPS schools will be part of a Harvard University national research study designed to answer the question: Can online access to educational resources help lead to greater student achievement?

Career academy  

LPS is exploring the concept of developing a high school career academy in collaboration with Southeast Community College – a stand-alone high school that could enroll 1,000 students: 500 in the morning and 500 in the afternoon.

Joel said LPS is now doing significant groundwork in talking with local business and industry to identify the appropriate career clusters that Lincoln needs. “We want to make sure our kids have opportunities for internships and apprenticeships…This is about creating more options for our kids.”

Balance in school district day

Joel pointed out that school districts have added hundreds of programs – many mandated – in the past 50 years, and have not added any time to the school day.

“Yet we have a difficult time taking anything away.  We find it very difficult to selectively abandon anything…We cannot go out there and keep adding.  We have to start changing the way we do some things.”

Student enrollment 

The school district continues to grow – less this year due to the calendar change in kindergarten eligibility – but the reprieve will be brief, Joel said.

“A lot of our schools are getting crowded and crammed…and we’re seeing infrastructure needs in many schools…When I ask schools what they need, the list gets longer and longer.”

He said a bond issue is in the future of the school district, and community support will be needed.

Questions and comments from Council members

Question: Moving ahead as we are in technology, will we equalize the technology resources available in our schools?

Joel answer:  One word I stay away from is equalize, due to all the differences in our schools.  But certainly our technology must give all our teachers the resources they need to do their job well.

Question: What are the cost benefits of focus programs, and can that money be better spent in a possible career academy?

Question:  As a focus program teacher, I believe I need to say that focus programs provide a place for many students that speak to their interests.  It’s a kind of vocational training…I have seen nothing but wonderful things at the focus programs.

Joel answer:  Our focus programs are under-utilized, even though they have worked to increase student numbers. But every one of the focus programs is making a difference in the lives of kids.  We are including focus programs in the conversation, considering whether we can deliver in a more centralized place….Transportation also needs to be part of the conversation.”

Question: Is common core part of this conversation?

Joel answer: Yes, it has to be, but I think we’re getting closer.  We’ve left a lot of dollars on the plate because we have not yet adopted common core standards.

Comments

  • “I see kids right now starving for a career academy, so many kids who love working with their hands and who don’t want to go to college… I think the career academy is a grand slam.”

Future Teacher Council meetings:

Oct. 17, Dec. 19, March 20 and May 15