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Blog Entry 26 of 34 Life in the St. Vrain
News and commentary on educational issues, especially as they pertain to education in the St. Vrain Valley.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~BradJolly

School Board Continues Policy of Rewarding Failure

Contributed by: Brad Jolly   on 7/5/2008

One might be inclined to admire the tenacity of the St. Vrain school board. Their unshakable belief that money will fix public schools allows them to plod ahead with their failurist funding model against the very teeth of a gale of overwhelming data demonstrating its futility.

On the other hand, a complete unwillingness to adjust one's approach in response to repeated failures can be a sign of mental dysfunction; one wonders where the board's collective judgment falls on the continuum between healthy persistence and insane obliviousness.

Consider the recently released budget for 2008-09. Once again, the board's favored failures (Columbine, Central, Loma Linda, Rocky Mountain, Spangler, etc.) will receive substantially more money per student from the general fund than the high performing schools (Alpine, Longmont Estates, Hygiene, Niwot, etc.)

To cite just one example, Central Elementary will get $1.83 million in employee salaries and benefits from the general fund, though it has a projected enrollment of 354 students. In comparison, Niwot Elementary will receive $110,000 less, though its enrollment is projected to be 120 students more than Central's.

This difference does not even include all of the money in the governmental designated purpose grant fund, which also goes disproportionately to the low performing schools. Nor does it include the general fund categories of English language acquisition and student assistance, both of which also tend to favor the low performing schools.

By sticking with this failure-rewarding funding model for many years, the district has painted itself into a corner. Suppose the parents at, say, Spangler managed to successfully transmit the "habits of learning" (school board member Creighton's apt phrase) to their children to the point that Spangler children scored among the very best in the district. What would the board do then? Would they punish Spangler's success by withdrawing funding? If not, what rational basis would allow continued overfunding?

Of course, one might as well worry how the board would respond to a herd of unicorns grazing on the artificial turf at Everly-Montgomery field. Both scenarios seem equally likely.


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Showing 1-4 of 4 comments
Submitted By: Brad Jolly
posted on 7/30/2008 @ 10:45:49 PM
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Jo, it is nice to hear from you, but you misread my blog entry. Yes, Title I money is for economically disadvantaged children, as it should be. My article was about the fact that certain schools are receiving "substantially more money per student from the GENERAL FUND." Title I money goes through the "Governmental Designated-Purpose Grant Fund," which is an entirely different thing. I thought I made it perfectly clear by saying, "This difference DOES NOT EVEN INCLUDE all of the money in the governmental designated purpose grant fund, which also goes disproportionately to the low performing schools. NOR DOES IT INCLUDE the general fund categories of English language acquisition and student assistance, both of which also tend to favor the low performing schools." Please tell me where I am misinformed, or point me to the part of the URL you cited that says general fund teacher money must go to the Title I schools at the levels St. Vrain is funding them.
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Submitted By: Jo Charlton
posted on 7/25/2008 @ 11:05:01 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Brad, Brad, Brad I was searching for a printed article you wrote that a friend had seen in the printed version of yourhub. All I can find is this blog. Regarding the above article, I have to tell you, you are ill-informed on this. Try reading about FEDERAL mandate Title 1 for economically disadvantaged children. The St Vrain board has no choice in this matter--it is a federal mandate: http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg1.html and as usual, with most of the educational federal mandates made by the current administration, the federal $$ are not there to cover the cost. your buddy Jo
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Submitted By: Brad Jolly
posted on 7/6/2008 @ 6:05:32 PM
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Thank you for your comments, Doug. It occurs to me that you and I probably disagree on 80% of the political issues out there, but we are 100% aligned on the school district. See, they really are bringing people together!
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Submitted By: Doug Wray
posted on 7/5/2008 @ 10:31:12 PM
Rated Blog Entry
This evaluation is 100% spot-on. It's hard to disagree with the numbers! Something has to change.
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Showing 1-4 of 4 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Brad Jolly

Longmont , CO

Brad Jolly has posted 34 blog entries and 24 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Brad Jolly 's average blog rating is 4.11.
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