Summary of March 28, 2012 meeting
LPS Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council: Summary of 3/28/12 meeting
The fourth meeting of the Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council – called together by Superintendent Steve Joel – was held at Lincoln High School on Wednesday,
March 28. Here is a summary of the highlights.
Superintendent Update
Redevelopment and rebuild of LPS District Offices
LPS Superintendent Steve Joel gave a general update on redeveloping the 5901 O street site with a new LPS District Office building and additional stores and shops.
“It will be a thing of beauty, built very economically,” he told the group. “There will be plenty of open meeting spaces and conference rooms – and, I assure you, plenty of parking spaces.”
Budget/Finance
Joel said the school budget continues to be tight, which explains why school staffing points are frozen again next school year.
“I deeply empathize with schools,” he said. “We are also consolidating jobs at the district level whenever possible.”
Joel said he believes the state is becoming more fiscally sound, “but there are just so many other needs – and that all impacts education…We will keep our belts tight and live to fight another year.”
Social media
Joel said his experience with the Fake Steve Joel Twitter Account was a learning experience for him. “And I know we are spending more and more of our time dealing with those kinds of issues…for students and adults.”
Teacher Advisory Council members pointed out the growing problem of cyber-bullying and the many related issues.
Comments:
“I worry that the increasing high expectations for academics leaves us less time to build relationships…and it’s easy to be a bully for someone you don’t know.”
“I believe we should spend more time in the curriculum talking about bullying issues.”
“I worry about allowing students to use cell phones at school. What exposure do we have? Are we responsible for anything they do on those cell phones while at school?”
Guest speaker: Jennifer Fundus, director of Special Education at LPS
Fundus gave the group a summary of what she has been focusing on as she begins the new job.
Her focus has been on:
- Transitions from elementary to middle school, and from middle to high school: Supports in place for students, and education for parents
- Making sure the special education website provides the necessary information and resources
- Ensuring there are consistent behavior plans for all students receiving special education services
- Dealing with growing special education needs – instructional and behavioral needs – while facing significant cuts in federal funding
“Our student needs are definitely growing,” she said. “We don’t fully understand all the reasons why….but I don’t think they are going away, and we’ll have to continue to get better at addressing the needs.”
Q&As for Dr. Joel
Q: What keeps you awake at night?
Joel answer: “Well, our budget…But the clock is also ticking on our Community Learning Centers. Our grant money is running out, and the Lincoln Board of Education has challenged me to create a sustainability plan for our CLCs by June 1.”
“I also think a lot about all the top administrative retirements at LPS…We’re definitely seeing the impact of Baby Boomer generation aging, and I know we are losing some very good people.”
Q: I think the budget is on everyone’s mind….as we are forced to do more with less. This is a serious problem. Can you give us any words of encouragement?
Joel answer: “I believe we really all need to start stating our case for public education. The economy is improving, but for some reason it’s not making its way to public schools….
“I would urge all of you to constantly talk to people in our community… I assure you there are many people who pay property taxes and believe there is waste in our budget. Tell them how we are being asked to do more with fewer resources. If we trim any more, we’re going to start trimming bone.
“Talk about how we take all kids – we don’t get to choose…Show me a school district with a 43 percent poverty rate, a 30 percent minority rate – with achievement results as good as we are having. But there is a price for that excellence…
“And do not apologize for the cost of education. We could not have a democratic society without public education. We have the most important commodity in our hands – kids. You are the profession that makes all other professions possible.”
Q: Why is our school district reluctant to allow practices such as looping?
Joel answer: “I know there are reasons why we do things the way we do. They are research based, best practices…
“But I also think we need creative innovative thinking…we must think about how we can do things differently. I share an invitation to the buildings, that if you think you have different ways of delivering instruction, and you have data to back you up and ideas for informed pilot programs, let me know.”
(FOOTNOTE: There is no school district policy against looping; that is a school building decision – as the assignment of teachers to grade levels varies in each school building depending on the number of students, staff preferences, etc. Many teachers regard looping as more difficult, in that they have to learn a new grade level of curriculum every year.)
Future Teacher Council meetings:
May 2
Updated April 2, 2012
