The study session involved reviewing the beginning of the school year and what the numbers looked like. Black Ridge and Dry Creek Elementary Schools opened this fall and there were 12 new principal assignments. STARS had 275 children in 10 schools participate in this program over the summer. We have 83 schools-55 elementary, 12 junior high/middle school, 8 high schools, and 8 special purpose schools with an enrollment of 74,310 students. We had about 80 teachers retire and about 100 teachers resign.
September is attendance awareness month and the district supports that increasing student attendance will improve academic outcomes. The district referred to a 2012 University of Utah study (http://www.utahdataalliance.org/downloads/ChronicAbsenteeismResearchBrief.pdf). The district stated that they have 2 goals- 1. to have reading ability on grade level by 3rd grade, 2. 90% or higher graduation rate and students will be career/college ready. The district defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10 or more days of school. They also stated that students are academically at risk if they miss 10% of the school year for any reason-regardless of if these are unexcused or excused absences and that this risk occurs as early as kindergarten.
Because the study lumped all absences together, I find the study a little difficult to swallow. The study showed a link between chronic absenteeism and students dropping out of school. There is a difference between a child who is truant and a child who has to miss school due to a medical condition. According to this study, my 12-year-old is at high risk for dropping out because he was chronically absent in 3rd grade due to a tonsillectomy. And my daughter's best friend is at high risk for dropping out because she traveled to Spain and missed 10 days of school. I think failing to differentiate between truancy and excused absences misses a huge point.
During the presentation, an at-risk assessment was displayed. This at-risk assessment showed factors such as 3rd grade reading level, 6th grade DRA scores, and failing the CRT in math or language arts. There was also a section for behavioral issues. A board member asked who entered info under behavioral issues and the question was never really answered. It was a little frustrating to me to see that my child's 3rd grade reading ability could be a red flag to the district for him dropping out. And it also made me think of children who have a difficult start in life. My husband and I have been foster parents and children in foster care already have a black mark in their files. Add to that a low reading score due to circumstances not under their control, and they spend the rest of their school careers fighting those labels. I understand the need to use data to provide solutions, but lumping data together without looking at individual circumstances does a disservice to our students.
Do you feel the district should distinguish between truancy and excused absences as they create policy?
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Please Stop Using "Rigorous"
So, I am starting to hate the word "rigorous." In almost any conversation about education these days, this word is brought up. We need to provide a rigorous education, we need to have rigorous standards, rigorous classroom instruction, rigorous teaching. What does rigorous actually mean? It means high standards, right? Challenging work. Nope.
Synonyms
austere, authoritarian, flinty, hard, harsh, heavy-handed,ramrod, rigid, severe, stern, strict, tough
I want my child's education to be a lot of things-challenging, innovative, hands-on, engaging. But in no way do I want my child's education to be harsh or heavy-handed.
rig·or·ous
: very strict and demanding
: done carefully and with a lot of attention to detail
: difficult to endure because of extreme conditions
What word or words would you use to describe education?
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
June 17th Board Meeting
Tonight was the board meeting that involved approving the final budget for the 2013-2014 school year and the approval of the tentative budget for 2014-2015 school year. I have exchanged multiple e-mails with Rob Smith (the district business administrator) about several concerns I had with the budget. Some of my concerns included the $42,000 we spend on dues for board members and the superintendent as well as drastic cuts to gifted and talented services as well as concurrent enrollment. Here are the comments that I made during the budget public comment:
"I would like to thank those who are involved with creating
and reviewing the budget. Deciding how
to meet the needs of over 73,000 students with half a billion dollars can be a
daunting task. Thank you for your
dedication and efforts. I also would
like to commend the board on implementing a pay-as-you-go system. To see projects like the new bus garage in
Saratoga Springs and new Lehi high school paid for instead of bonding is
phenomenal and I appreciate your stewardship over our taxpayer funds.
I am here to ask the board to allocate additional funds for
Gifted and talented Services as well as Concurrent Enrollment. When you look at best practices for teaching
gifted children, ASD does a great job.
We have ALL magnet programs in elementary schools as well as a
gifted/talented teaching endorsement available to teachers, both programs that
many states fail to offer. We are doing
well, but we can do better.
We offer interventions for children who are struggling. And we should. But to truly show equity in education, we
must provide an education for all children.
We need educational diversity. If
we are not challenging and encouraging all students, we are failing. I have had the opportunity to evaluate PLCs
over the last three years and our weakest response is to question #4, “How do
we respond to students who already know the material?” Too often, this question is left unanswered.
Once students hit junior high/middle school, our services
drop off dramatically. ALL is available
only in 7th and 8th grades. Of our 12 junior highs, only 5 offer science
as part of the ALL program. Less than
half of our junior highs are challenging our brightest students in science at a
time when we recognize the value of STEM.
Too often Flex Time is activities like movies and nail painting instead
of open science labs. Librarians cap the
number of student they will accept in the library during Flex Time (sometimes
with as few as 30 students), limiting access to materials for those who want to
learn.
On page 18 of the proposed budget, the revenue for Gifted
and Talented has been cut from $426k to $371k.
I understand that this is due to estimates from the Utah State Office of
Education. I was told that expenses were reduced to meet revenues
which means that we are cutting programs.
We are cutting this budget by 13%.
Concurrent Enrollment revenue projections fell from $760k to $419k meaning
that we are cutting this program by a whopping 45% and AP revenue projections
fell from $375k to $327k. Money drives
programs and without the board allocating funds to make up for decreased
revenue, we will be cutting programs for our advanced students.
Even a year ago, we offered more options for advanced
students. Alpine Online offered multiple
AP classes as well as foreign languages and other advanced science, math, and
English classes. When Alpine Online was
revamped last year, it was refocused on grades kindergarten through 8th
and high school was changed to East Shore Online and was stripped of almost all
advanced classes-no more AP classes, no more foreign languages. When I inquired as to the dramatic change, I
was told that the focus of Alpine Online had shifted to serve the roughly 1400
students who were just shy of needed credits for graduation. I understand the value of helping students
who need services-we provide programs like double dosing in younger grades and
packets for high school students. But we
should not sacrifice giving our advanced students a phenomenal education. We should not sacrifice one student’s success
for another’s.
Whenever I am looking at the budget, I always ask, “How does
this benefit students?” If we are
spending $100k to celebrate ASD’s 100th birthday, then we should
have funds to create programs that directly benefit students. I would ask the board to reevalute the cuts
to Concurrent Enrollment and Gifted and Talented Services so that we do not do
a disservice to our students who can succeed beyond our wildest dreams if we
only give them the tools to do so.
Thank You."
Two other individuals spoke, basically asking for the same things I did-taking out the $100,000 for the birthday celebration and putting more money into Gifted and Concurrent Enrollment.
Two other individuals spoke, basically asking for the same things I did-taking out the $100,000 for the birthday celebration and putting more money into Gifted and Concurrent Enrollment.
When John Burton (the school board president) asked for a motion to approve the budget, Debbie made a motion to approve it and Scott seconded her motion. During the discussion, Brian made a substitute motion to move $75,000 from the birthday celebration to Gifted and Talented Services. During the discussion, Rob clarified that there would be money from this budget year to carry over to the next budget year for some of these services, but he would not know how much until after the fiscal year ended on June 30th. Wendy also asked for clarification from Dr. Henshaw if my assessment of Alpine Online was correct and he confirmed that the school had been turned from academic achievement to a remediation school. He stated that had occurred due to the need-the district is consumer-driven and has to look to what the greatest need is. Wendy seconded Brian's motion, but they were the only ones to vote yes on the motion and it failed. Wendy made a substitute motion to put $75,000 from the celebration, $42,000 from the professional dues, and another $25,000 into instruction to hire additional teachers. She mentioned that Timberline and Mountain Ridge had a need for a second ALL class. Brian seconded her motion, but only they voted in favor and it failed again. Paula started to submit a substitute motion, but withdrew it. The original motion of accepting the budget as is passed, with only Brian and Wendy opposing.
Sometimes it gets frustrating to go to board meetings and see little change. It is frustrating-but this is the mantra I try and live by:
"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." Edward Everett Hale
I hope I brought some things to light and I will continue to work to make ASD the best school district it can be!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Why I Am OK With Rejection
About a month ago, I interviewed with the board of directors for the Alpine Education Association (AEA). I recently received a letter stating that they would not be endorsing me as a candidate. And I am OK with that. Let me explain why.
I stated at the beginning of the interview that I was a mom, not a politician and that I would answer their questions honestly and openly and not just tell them what they wanted to hear. During the interview, I was asked my stance on Common Core and SAGE which I have been clear on (not a fan of either). I do not support Common Core and opted my children (with the exception of my 9th grader) out of SAGE. I was also asked what assistance I wanted from the teacher's union if I was endorsed by them. And I think this next part is where I lost them.
I stated that while I would appreciate their endorsement, I would accept no money from them. I stated that my ultimate responsibility was to the students of Alpine School District and that I did not want to ever hesitate or second guess a decision I felt was in the best interest of these students because an organization had written me a check. I do not want to be beholden to any organization. And I stand by that. My goal is to fund this campaign entirely through my own money or possible individual donations, but I will not accept money from organizations. I want to avoid even the appearance that anyone has me in their pocket. One of my biggest frustrations with politics are individuals who only worry about what is in the best interest of their political party or their state instead of what is the best thing for our country. I want to represent the children of Alpine School District as an advocate with integrity.
I stated at the beginning of the interview that I was a mom, not a politician and that I would answer their questions honestly and openly and not just tell them what they wanted to hear. During the interview, I was asked my stance on Common Core and SAGE which I have been clear on (not a fan of either). I do not support Common Core and opted my children (with the exception of my 9th grader) out of SAGE. I was also asked what assistance I wanted from the teacher's union if I was endorsed by them. And I think this next part is where I lost them.
I stated that while I would appreciate their endorsement, I would accept no money from them. I stated that my ultimate responsibility was to the students of Alpine School District and that I did not want to ever hesitate or second guess a decision I felt was in the best interest of these students because an organization had written me a check. I do not want to be beholden to any organization. And I stand by that. My goal is to fund this campaign entirely through my own money or possible individual donations, but I will not accept money from organizations. I want to avoid even the appearance that anyone has me in their pocket. One of my biggest frustrations with politics are individuals who only worry about what is in the best interest of their political party or their state instead of what is the best thing for our country. I want to represent the children of Alpine School District as an advocate with integrity.
Transparency
trans·par·ent
a : free from pretense or deceit : frank
b : easily detected or seen through : obvious
c : readily understood
d : characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices
One of the things that I believe in is transparency. When I talk about transparency, I am talking about 2 things-fiscal transparency (how are my tax dollars and your tax dollars being spent) and the way in which the public is informed about our schools and decisions being made regarding them. I think our district does a good job with transparency, but I think there are some improvements that could be made, particularly with the school board.
Let's address the fiscal transparency first. I am a total nerd and love being able to scroll through the hundreds of pages of financial documents that are available each month with the school board documents. But in that, there is a bit of a problem. There are hundreds of pages of financial documents each month. These documents are often posted the Thursday or Friday before school board meetings on the following Tuesday and I wonder if school board members have enough time to review hundreds of pages of documents. Some of those pages are easy to scroll through-Kelly Services is the company we use for substitute teachers, so those pages are easy to say are legitimate and justified. And there are lots of charges for things like pizza and fruits and veggies-vendors we use for school lunches. There are also lots of checks for things like utilities. All of those make sense. It is the ones that are a little tough that I question. I should probably forewarn you that I am cheap. I like a good deal and am pretty conservative when it comes to money. My husband's car is 15 years old and my minivan is 10. And I wonder if we as a school district are always getting a good deal. When we are dealing with a half a billion (yes, that is billion with a b) dollars annually to run ASD, it makes me wonder if we are always looking to pinch pennies. I have been impressed with Rob Smith-he is the business administrator and does a great job. But I don't think he has the time to look at every expense and know if we are getting the biggest bang for our buck.
Here are a few of the items that caught my eye recently:
Foaming hand soap 17,018.88
LEHI CITY CORP/POLICE SALARY REIMB 34,000.00 34,000.00
If someone can explain to me why we are incurring those expenses, I am reasonable and can comprehend that. Maybe it just costs $17,000 for foaming hand soap for 73,000 students. I believe that the police department and school district split the salaries of police/resource officers in the high schools (which I am guessing is the above check to Lehi police). OK, I get that. My concern is that I am not sure we are questioning expenses at all. Also, the way the annual budget is created is difficult to interpret-money drives programs, but when large amounts of money are put in general accounts, it is difficult to examine how much we are investing and in what.
I would love to see a review panel of a few parent volunteers each month go through those expenses-a set of fresh eyes to see if there are ways in which we can save money. Do you have other ideas in which we can increase fiscal transparency?
The second aspect of transparency is getting the facts in an "easily detected" way. At a recent board meeting, Dr. Henshaw talked about some concerns with enrollment numbers in high school, particularly a drop off in students from the October enrollment numbers to the April enrollment numbers in 3 high schools. There was talk about working with the schools to see if this was due to kids moving out or if there was an issue with kids dropping out. Dr. Henshaw stated that these statistics could effect our graduation rates and that the important thing was that behind every number there was a student. Agreed. Here is where I have the issue-there was talk about "those three schools" and "that one school", but I felt the board was talking about an issue while withholding information from the public and those attending the meeting. I went home and looked through the notes. You can click on the link below to look for yourself-it is one page 410.
http://board.alpineschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Meeting-Documents.pdf
I find it hard to feel like discussions are "readily understood" when the board fails to articulate what schools are being discussed. And to clear things up, here are the numbers. Lehi High School lost 129 students from October 1st to April 30th, American Fork High lost 88 and Westlake lost 65. Those students could have moved out of the district, gone to charter schools, etc. My frustration is that the superintendent and board members were unwilling to just state the names and numbers.
I recently was interested in comparing a couple of high schools in the district. I first got on the ASD website and then the individual school websites to see if I was able to compare. I scoured Stakeholder's Reports and had little success. I ended up calling the schools directly who were unable to give me information like that percentage of students passing the AP test and the average ACT score as well as the percentage of students accessing remediation packets to make up lost credits. I had to call the district and the numbers were significantly different. If the district believes in transparency, I think that school info should be posted on the website so that parents can do a side by side comparison of schools. Do you have thoughts about how we can make information about schools more readily available to parents?
a : free from pretense or deceit : frank
One of the things that I believe in is transparency. When I talk about transparency, I am talking about 2 things-fiscal transparency (how are my tax dollars and your tax dollars being spent) and the way in which the public is informed about our schools and decisions being made regarding them. I think our district does a good job with transparency, but I think there are some improvements that could be made, particularly with the school board.
Let's address the fiscal transparency first. I am a total nerd and love being able to scroll through the hundreds of pages of financial documents that are available each month with the school board documents. But in that, there is a bit of a problem. There are hundreds of pages of financial documents each month. These documents are often posted the Thursday or Friday before school board meetings on the following Tuesday and I wonder if school board members have enough time to review hundreds of pages of documents. Some of those pages are easy to scroll through-Kelly Services is the company we use for substitute teachers, so those pages are easy to say are legitimate and justified. And there are lots of charges for things like pizza and fruits and veggies-vendors we use for school lunches. There are also lots of checks for things like utilities. All of those make sense. It is the ones that are a little tough that I question. I should probably forewarn you that I am cheap. I like a good deal and am pretty conservative when it comes to money. My husband's car is 15 years old and my minivan is 10. And I wonder if we as a school district are always getting a good deal. When we are dealing with a half a billion (yes, that is billion with a b) dollars annually to run ASD, it makes me wonder if we are always looking to pinch pennies. I have been impressed with Rob Smith-he is the business administrator and does a great job. But I don't think he has the time to look at every expense and know if we are getting the biggest bang for our buck.
Here are a few of the items that caught my eye recently:
Foaming hand soap 17,018.88
LEHI CITY CORP/POLICE SALARY REIMB 34,000.00 34,000.00
If someone can explain to me why we are incurring those expenses, I am reasonable and can comprehend that. Maybe it just costs $17,000 for foaming hand soap for 73,000 students. I believe that the police department and school district split the salaries of police/resource officers in the high schools (which I am guessing is the above check to Lehi police). OK, I get that. My concern is that I am not sure we are questioning expenses at all. Also, the way the annual budget is created is difficult to interpret-money drives programs, but when large amounts of money are put in general accounts, it is difficult to examine how much we are investing and in what.
I would love to see a review panel of a few parent volunteers each month go through those expenses-a set of fresh eyes to see if there are ways in which we can save money. Do you have other ideas in which we can increase fiscal transparency?
The second aspect of transparency is getting the facts in an "easily detected" way. At a recent board meeting, Dr. Henshaw talked about some concerns with enrollment numbers in high school, particularly a drop off in students from the October enrollment numbers to the April enrollment numbers in 3 high schools. There was talk about working with the schools to see if this was due to kids moving out or if there was an issue with kids dropping out. Dr. Henshaw stated that these statistics could effect our graduation rates and that the important thing was that behind every number there was a student. Agreed. Here is where I have the issue-there was talk about "those three schools" and "that one school", but I felt the board was talking about an issue while withholding information from the public and those attending the meeting. I went home and looked through the notes. You can click on the link below to look for yourself-it is one page 410.
http://board.alpineschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Meeting-Documents.pdf
I find it hard to feel like discussions are "readily understood" when the board fails to articulate what schools are being discussed. And to clear things up, here are the numbers. Lehi High School lost 129 students from October 1st to April 30th, American Fork High lost 88 and Westlake lost 65. Those students could have moved out of the district, gone to charter schools, etc. My frustration is that the superintendent and board members were unwilling to just state the names and numbers.
I recently was interested in comparing a couple of high schools in the district. I first got on the ASD website and then the individual school websites to see if I was able to compare. I scoured Stakeholder's Reports and had little success. I ended up calling the schools directly who were unable to give me information like that percentage of students passing the AP test and the average ACT score as well as the percentage of students accessing remediation packets to make up lost credits. I had to call the district and the numbers were significantly different. If the district believes in transparency, I think that school info should be posted on the website so that parents can do a side by side comparison of schools. Do you have thoughts about how we can make information about schools more readily available to parents?
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Why I Called the Governor
There always seem to be a lot of bills regarding education that come up during the legislative session. About a month ago, I called Governor Herbert's office to ask him to veto one bill. Here are my reasons behind my opinion.
SB 257 seemed great at first- a 15 member panel made up of parents that would help with evaluating SAGE questions as well as dealing with parent complaints on curriculum. But I asked Governor Herbert to veto it. What? You thought I supported parental involvement, so why would I ask him to veto the bill? There were a couple of potential problems I saw. I think that a parent panel is essential. But I am concerned that these individuals are appointed by politicians. I have no idea of the qualifications of these parents and it makes me nervous that a politician might stack the parent panel only with individuals who will vote the ways the politician wants. I also was concerned that every parent complaint about curriculum went to this State level parent panel, when I see resolving curriculum issues at a local level. And 11 of the 15 parents on the current panel actually asked for this bill to be vetoed.
I will below a letter that a parent on the panel sent to Governor Herbert. You can see news articles about the veto of SB 257 below.
Alean Popa Hunt I am a member of the Sage parent review panel, I served with 14 other parents. One who was very vocal against the common core and she too has requested a veto of this bill. I am going to include a copy of my letter to the governor. This bill does not say anything about the "core", it does not provide specifics for when, where how many questions would be reviewed? Utah has 42 districts and 100 charter schools they all can use their own currriculum, yet we are supposed to be reviewing complaints on all of it? Who does the research? No fiscal note attached? GRAMA laws and lawsuits without legal protection for us, the "volunteers". Also, this bill didn't go through an education committee. Senator Stephenson sent it through taxation committee which he sits on to avoid debate. If you watched the e cig bill also when this bill was passed the e cig nill jumped from 5th to 1st on the reading calendar. There was a deal made. 11:40 at night last night of the session as is his standard, just like last year with school grading. By the way PTA looks out for the children.
March 17, 2014
To: Governor Gary Herbert
cc: Tami Pyfer
Re: SB257
Governor Herbert,
I am a mother of 6, a public education advocate and continue to be a daily volunteer for hours each day and have been in the schools for the last 13 years. It was my pleasure to serve on the Sage Assessment parent review panel, and I would happily serve on any committee I was asked but there needs to be a common sense approach.
I have spoken to my representative, Ed Redd and am including his response to my disappointment in his vote.
Dear Mrs. Hunt:
I am so sorry. I honestly did the best that I could based on the information that I had after a limited debate at 11:40 PM which obviously was not enough. I thought by voting on this bill that I was giving parents additional input on curriculum review which apparently is not the case.
I will certainly not take offense if the governor vetoes it. I am so sorry.
Ed Redd
I have had a telephone conversation with Senator Stephenson which was very disturbing. It solidified my belief that he had not thought this bill and its consequences through. I have spoken with the curriculum director for Cache County, Curt Jenkins, and I echo his concerns that implementing this bill could cause a tremendous problem for districts when they have purchased textbooks and then a parent panel decides that there is something not appropriate and that can cause a firestorm. We are a small district and are getting ready to purchase math materials at a cost of $600,000.00-what do we do if someone with an agenda, and there is always an agenda makes this their target?
I am a firm believer in local control. I have been a very vocal parent and have never had a problem that could not be resolved at the local level. When there have been concerns over school grading or standardized testing I did speak to Tami frequently as she was my state board representative and I felt she could be the most helpful in making a permanent change. When a parent has a problem with curriculum or instructional materials it is my belief that they should have a conversation with the teacher. If that does not resolve the problem, visit with the principal, then the curriculum director, superintendent, local school board, state school board representative. At no point do I see a need to involve 15 parents from around the state who are not familiar with that particular school district or charter school's curriculum. As you know Utah has 42 districts and 100 charter schools; they all have the option of choosing their own curriculum. This is how it should be!
Last night on a conference call with Senator Stephenson we were able to ask him several questions. One thing that really stuck out was that he kept using Common Core and Curriculum interchangeably. They are not one and the same, and he should know this. We asked him when we would we review these complaints? How many complaints would we review? Who would do the research? I took notes. Here is his response- "You can review as many or as few complaints as you like. You won't be sequestered. You can do it on your own time from home or at work, whenever you like. You will be like the Supreme Court without any authority. You will shine a bright light on the common core. Wouldn't you like to know every complaint about our core? I would! The USOE will have to do all of your research and provide you with all of the information you need. They will have to log each complaint and then you can decide which complaints you will hear, it will all be up to you."
To me it sounded a lot like make up the rules as you go!
There is no fiscal note attached to this bill. When we asked him about this he said it was because the USOE had said that they could do it within their existing budget. When we asked him if he had told them they would be doing all of our research, which would be lengthy as we would know nothing about the curriculum in all the areas of the state, he admitted that he had not discussed that with them. Again, he kept referring to this as the 'common core complaint' review. That is not what his bill says at all.
Please consider the consequences and veto this bill. If more transparency is needed might I suggest appointing parents to the already existing Instructional Materials Commission. Our education dollars are too few and too valuable to put at risk the curriculum in the hands of parents who are not trained nor elected to make these decisions.
Sincerely,
Alean Hunt
http://fox13now.com/2014/04/02/governor-vetoes-3-bills-passed-by-the-utah-state-legislature/
http://video-static.clipsyndicate.com/zStorage/syndicaster2/226/2014/04/03/21/08/533dcda911cd.mp4
The next bill that was up was SB 122.
SB 257 seemed great at first- a 15 member panel made up of parents that would help with evaluating SAGE questions as well as dealing with parent complaints on curriculum. But I asked Governor Herbert to veto it. What? You thought I supported parental involvement, so why would I ask him to veto the bill? There were a couple of potential problems I saw. I think that a parent panel is essential. But I am concerned that these individuals are appointed by politicians. I have no idea of the qualifications of these parents and it makes me nervous that a politician might stack the parent panel only with individuals who will vote the ways the politician wants. I also was concerned that every parent complaint about curriculum went to this State level parent panel, when I see resolving curriculum issues at a local level. And 11 of the 15 parents on the current panel actually asked for this bill to be vetoed.
I will below a letter that a parent on the panel sent to Governor Herbert. You can see news articles about the veto of SB 257 below.
Alean Popa Hunt I am a member of the Sage parent review panel, I served with 14 other parents. One who was very vocal against the common core and she too has requested a veto of this bill. I am going to include a copy of my letter to the governor. This bill does not say anything about the "core", it does not provide specifics for when, where how many questions would be reviewed? Utah has 42 districts and 100 charter schools they all can use their own currriculum, yet we are supposed to be reviewing complaints on all of it? Who does the research? No fiscal note attached? GRAMA laws and lawsuits without legal protection for us, the "volunteers". Also, this bill didn't go through an education committee. Senator Stephenson sent it through taxation committee which he sits on to avoid debate. If you watched the e cig bill also when this bill was passed the e cig nill jumped from 5th to 1st on the reading calendar. There was a deal made. 11:40 at night last night of the session as is his standard, just like last year with school grading. By the way PTA looks out for the children.
March 17, 2014
To: Governor Gary Herbert
cc: Tami Pyfer
Re: SB257
Governor Herbert,
I am a mother of 6, a public education advocate and continue to be a daily volunteer for hours each day and have been in the schools for the last 13 years. It was my pleasure to serve on the Sage Assessment parent review panel, and I would happily serve on any committee I was asked but there needs to be a common sense approach.
I have spoken to my representative, Ed Redd and am including his response to my disappointment in his vote.
Dear Mrs. Hunt:
I am so sorry. I honestly did the best that I could based on the information that I had after a limited debate at 11:40 PM which obviously was not enough. I thought by voting on this bill that I was giving parents additional input on curriculum review which apparently is not the case.
I will certainly not take offense if the governor vetoes it. I am so sorry.
Ed Redd
I have had a telephone conversation with Senator Stephenson which was very disturbing. It solidified my belief that he had not thought this bill and its consequences through. I have spoken with the curriculum director for Cache County, Curt Jenkins, and I echo his concerns that implementing this bill could cause a tremendous problem for districts when they have purchased textbooks and then a parent panel decides that there is something not appropriate and that can cause a firestorm. We are a small district and are getting ready to purchase math materials at a cost of $600,000.00-what do we do if someone with an agenda, and there is always an agenda makes this their target?
I am a firm believer in local control. I have been a very vocal parent and have never had a problem that could not be resolved at the local level. When there have been concerns over school grading or standardized testing I did speak to Tami frequently as she was my state board representative and I felt she could be the most helpful in making a permanent change. When a parent has a problem with curriculum or instructional materials it is my belief that they should have a conversation with the teacher. If that does not resolve the problem, visit with the principal, then the curriculum director, superintendent, local school board, state school board representative. At no point do I see a need to involve 15 parents from around the state who are not familiar with that particular school district or charter school's curriculum. As you know Utah has 42 districts and 100 charter schools; they all have the option of choosing their own curriculum. This is how it should be!
Last night on a conference call with Senator Stephenson we were able to ask him several questions. One thing that really stuck out was that he kept using Common Core and Curriculum interchangeably. They are not one and the same, and he should know this. We asked him when we would we review these complaints? How many complaints would we review? Who would do the research? I took notes. Here is his response- "You can review as many or as few complaints as you like. You won't be sequestered. You can do it on your own time from home or at work, whenever you like. You will be like the Supreme Court without any authority. You will shine a bright light on the common core. Wouldn't you like to know every complaint about our core? I would! The USOE will have to do all of your research and provide you with all of the information you need. They will have to log each complaint and then you can decide which complaints you will hear, it will all be up to you."
To me it sounded a lot like make up the rules as you go!
There is no fiscal note attached to this bill. When we asked him about this he said it was because the USOE had said that they could do it within their existing budget. When we asked him if he had told them they would be doing all of our research, which would be lengthy as we would know nothing about the curriculum in all the areas of the state, he admitted that he had not discussed that with them. Again, he kept referring to this as the 'common core complaint' review. That is not what his bill says at all.
Please consider the consequences and veto this bill. If more transparency is needed might I suggest appointing parents to the already existing Instructional Materials Commission. Our education dollars are too few and too valuable to put at risk the curriculum in the hands of parents who are not trained nor elected to make these decisions.
Sincerely,
Alean Hunt
http://fox13now.com/2014/04/02/governor-vetoes-3-bills-passed-by-the-utah-state-legislature/
http://video-static.clipsyndicate.com/zStorage/syndicaster2/226/2014/04/03/21/08/533dcda911cd.mp4
The next bill that was up was SB 122.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
PTA and Where I Stand
There has been some confusion about my beliefs as I am a member of the PTA. The National PTA has supported Common Core. I do not support Common Core and I am a member of the PTA. I am currently serving as the PTA treasurer at Riverview Elementary as well as the Westlake Council President-Elect in addition to being a PTA member at Vista Heights Middle School. I have been a member of the PTA for years because I support my children and their schools. I have worked locally with several PTAs and always been impressed by the parents, teachers, and other volunteers who work so tirelessly to advocate for children. I am proud to volunteer with some of the most amazing parents as they work to make our schools better. I love PTA and the friends I have made while volunteering.
That doesn't mean that I agree with everything the PTA does. Just because I am part of an organization does not mean that organization thinks for me. And I also don't mind making waves. Last year at the Utah PTA Convention at BYU, I attended a class taught by Otha Thornton, the National PTA President. I questioned him about Common Core as well as telling him that I did not support the PTA's stance on the issue. I served as the Utah Delegate for Mom Congress in 2012 and also told Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education that I saw serious flaws in the Common Core and was opposed to its implementation.
So, what is the answer? It is easy to shoot down Common Core, but what do we do instead? I am a believer in finding solutions, not just pinpointing problems. The Fordham Institute (which has been a large advocate of Common Core) assessed math and ELA standards by state. The math we were using previous to Common Core? We received an A-, the same grade given to the Common Core State Standards and Fordham actually stated that Utah math standards were more concise and more coherent than Common Core.
What solutions do you see in making sure our children receive an excellent education?
That doesn't mean that I agree with everything the PTA does. Just because I am part of an organization does not mean that organization thinks for me. And I also don't mind making waves. Last year at the Utah PTA Convention at BYU, I attended a class taught by Otha Thornton, the National PTA President. I questioned him about Common Core as well as telling him that I did not support the PTA's stance on the issue. I served as the Utah Delegate for Mom Congress in 2012 and also told Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education that I saw serious flaws in the Common Core and was opposed to its implementation.
So, what is the answer? It is easy to shoot down Common Core, but what do we do instead? I am a believer in finding solutions, not just pinpointing problems. The Fordham Institute (which has been a large advocate of Common Core) assessed math and ELA standards by state. The math we were using previous to Common Core? We received an A-, the same grade given to the Common Core State Standards and Fordham actually stated that Utah math standards were more concise and more coherent than Common Core.
What solutions do you see in making sure our children receive an excellent education?
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