Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Sign The Petition To Stop The Energy Tax
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Monday, July 13, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Waterford Middle School
In the July 3rd edition of the Waterford Post in the opinion section, I had 4 teachers reply to my letter to the editor about how the house system is working. One writer chose to question my facts and in her own “persuasive writing” was able to confirm many of the concerns I have as a taxpayer. The biggest concern is the reduced number of student the teachers have each day.
The writer of this opinion piece argues that they don’t have an extra prep period but rather a common planning time. What ever it is called it is not time with students. They already have at least one early release day per month for meetings that use to be held after school.
I have been very careful not to criticize the teachers or their abilities or their concern for the students. My beef is with the administration and past school boards. They have ignored WGSD Policy 343.2 Class Size Goals. They have chosen the house system that guarantees that more teachers are required at an added cost to the taxpayers. I estimate the addition cost is between $250,000 and $500,000. If the superintendent is looking for a place to trim the budget, I suggest here.
I provided to the Waterford Post a spreadsheet with data backing up my information. I obtained the test scores from the WSAS, WKCE and WAA Combined from the DPI website. Other data was obtained from the administration. You can find the spreasheet below.
One area that is misleading is the number of teachers employed by the school district. Many special ed. teachers have been transferred to special ed. consortium but they are still paid for by the WGSD.
The writer also suggests I need to spend time at Fox River Middle School. The principal will confirm that I made arrangements to visit on one of my few vacation days to work with the TAG students on the candidate’s forum. I have also presented Electrical Engineer as a career at the high school. I don’t see teachers or administration coming to my place of employment to learn about high tech careers.
The writer might want to provide the paper with student/teacher ratios (using FTEs), class sizes, and number of aids or cost per student and let the taxpayers decide if those are reasonable numbers. The only numbers I did see was the 17 seventh graders and 20 eighth graders that have RTI needs. This is about 2 per classroom. I don’t believe that this is unreasonable.
I do question why 10% of our students need RTI (Response to Intervention). The curriculum director has spent a lot of time mapping out what should be taught and when to help with the WKCE scores. Some might call this teaching to the test. Still our scores continue to fall.
Second problem is that you need more classrooms. You may have heard about some students that are being taught in the basement. If you get the class sizes back to the right size, the basement classrooms would not be needed except for classes that need special rooms.
OK if you are an “advocate for education” you might feel this is a small price to pay for “the children.” That said, I don't believe that the house system providing the results they where looking for.
For 3 straight years, the DPI measurement of Advanced + Proficient students has declined from 88.8% in November of 2005 down to 85.0% in the most recent tests last November. That includes declines of 4% in Science and Social Studies this past year alone. I understand that the house system has only been in place for 2 years, but the house system has not changed the trend.
When the administration says there is nowhere to cut the budget, I see this as a huge cost burden. I believe that we had to add 20% more teachers in the Middle School because of the House System. It is time to scratch this costly program and examine our curriculum.
Regards,
Paul Beyerl
Former WGSD Board Member
CLICK ON "wta" TO OPEN THE SPREAD SHEET....or you can scroll side/side - up/down.
24 Minimum MS Class Size
27 Average MS Class Size
30 Maximum MS Class Size
5 Classes as normal load
120 Minimum number of students taught per teacher
135 Average number of students taught per teacher
150 Maximum number of students taught per teacher
384 Minimum Number MS Students for House System
432 Average Number MS Students for House System
357 2008-2009 MS Enrollment
22.3125 2008-2009 MS Class Size
89.25 2008-2009 Students taught per teacher
51.26% Additional Teachers need because of fewer students being taught.
The writer of this opinion piece argues that they don’t have an extra prep period but rather a common planning time. What ever it is called it is not time with students. They already have at least one early release day per month for meetings that use to be held after school.
I have been very careful not to criticize the teachers or their abilities or their concern for the students. My beef is with the administration and past school boards. They have ignored WGSD Policy 343.2 Class Size Goals. They have chosen the house system that guarantees that more teachers are required at an added cost to the taxpayers. I estimate the addition cost is between $250,000 and $500,000. If the superintendent is looking for a place to trim the budget, I suggest here.
I provided to the Waterford Post a spreadsheet with data backing up my information. I obtained the test scores from the WSAS, WKCE and WAA Combined from the DPI website. Other data was obtained from the administration. You can find the spreasheet below.
One area that is misleading is the number of teachers employed by the school district. Many special ed. teachers have been transferred to special ed. consortium but they are still paid for by the WGSD.
The writer also suggests I need to spend time at Fox River Middle School. The principal will confirm that I made arrangements to visit on one of my few vacation days to work with the TAG students on the candidate’s forum. I have also presented Electrical Engineer as a career at the high school. I don’t see teachers or administration coming to my place of employment to learn about high tech careers.
The writer might want to provide the paper with student/teacher ratios (using FTEs), class sizes, and number of aids or cost per student and let the taxpayers decide if those are reasonable numbers. The only numbers I did see was the 17 seventh graders and 20 eighth graders that have RTI needs. This is about 2 per classroom. I don’t believe that this is unreasonable.
I do question why 10% of our students need RTI (Response to Intervention). The curriculum director has spent a lot of time mapping out what should be taught and when to help with the WKCE scores. Some might call this teaching to the test. Still our scores continue to fall.
Second problem is that you need more classrooms. You may have heard about some students that are being taught in the basement. If you get the class sizes back to the right size, the basement classrooms would not be needed except for classes that need special rooms.
OK if you are an “advocate for education” you might feel this is a small price to pay for “the children.” That said, I don't believe that the house system providing the results they where looking for.
For 3 straight years, the DPI measurement of Advanced + Proficient students has declined from 88.8% in November of 2005 down to 85.0% in the most recent tests last November. That includes declines of 4% in Science and Social Studies this past year alone. I understand that the house system has only been in place for 2 years, but the house system has not changed the trend.
When the administration says there is nowhere to cut the budget, I see this as a huge cost burden. I believe that we had to add 20% more teachers in the Middle School because of the House System. It is time to scratch this costly program and examine our curriculum.
Regards,
Paul Beyerl
Former WGSD Board Member
CLICK ON "wta" TO OPEN THE SPREAD SHEET....or you can scroll side/side - up/down.
24 Minimum MS Class Size
27 Average MS Class Size
30 Maximum MS Class Size
5 Classes as normal load
120 Minimum number of students taught per teacher
135 Average number of students taught per teacher
150 Maximum number of students taught per teacher
384 Minimum Number MS Students for House System
432 Average Number MS Students for House System
357 2008-2009 MS Enrollment
22.3125 2008-2009 MS Class Size
89.25 2008-2009 Students taught per teacher
51.26% Additional Teachers need because of fewer students being taught.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Bloviating of a WUHS Teacher and a WGSD Teacher
There was a letter to the editor ("WGSD is a great school district") by Kathy and Chad Gordon that appeared in the July 3, 2009 edition of the Waterford Post.
The Gordon's bloviated on and on about their selection (through open enrollment - they live in Eagle) of the WGSD for their children's education.
For the record, we agree that the WGSD is a fine school district, and the School Board, Administration, Principals and Teachers deserve credit for providing a quality education to the children.
However, it turns out that (according to the Waterford Post) Mr. Gordon is a teacher at the Waterford Union High School, and Mrs. Gordon was recently hired as a teacher in the Waterford Graded School District.
What a coincidence...the WGSD they boasted about happens to be the same WGSD that Mrs. Gordon works for. The WGSD is of course is a very convienent place to send their kids.
We wonder if perhaps the letter to the editor is more about parroting in disguise the talking points of those opposed to real progress and change at the WGSD than it is about the school of obvious conveinence.
The Gordon's bloviated on and on about their selection (through open enrollment - they live in Eagle) of the WGSD for their children's education.
For the record, we agree that the WGSD is a fine school district, and the School Board, Administration, Principals and Teachers deserve credit for providing a quality education to the children.
However, it turns out that (according to the Waterford Post) Mr. Gordon is a teacher at the Waterford Union High School, and Mrs. Gordon was recently hired as a teacher in the Waterford Graded School District.
What a coincidence...the WGSD they boasted about happens to be the same WGSD that Mrs. Gordon works for. The WGSD is of course is a very convienent place to send their kids.
We wonder if perhaps the letter to the editor is more about parroting in disguise the talking points of those opposed to real progress and change at the WGSD than it is about the school of obvious conveinence.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
WGSD Middle School House System
In the June 19th edition of the Waterford Post, the writer asked how well the house system is working. The house system is set up to co-locate students in four major classes. The idea is that students would have less of a chance of falling through the cracks. There is an emphasis on having teachers communicating with each other about the students in their house.
When this program was proposed, I voted against it. The school district has set up guidelines for class size. The middle school class size is suppose to be between 24 and 30 or an average of 27. The minimum size for the middle school should be 384 students, 4 classes X 4 houses (2 in 7th and 2 in 8th grade) times the minimum class size of 24. Using the average class size of 27 students, the middle school should have 432 students. At the time Fox River had 354 students and the following year it went down to 331 and 357 students last year. This means that the class rooms have an average class size of 22.3 which does not meet the school board minimum size.
Having too few students in a class room has had two negative results. First, the district had to hire more teachers. With the house system, teachers are given an extra prep period. In the past a teacher would have 5 classes of 27 students or 135 students. With the current house system, they have about 90 students per day. This is only 2/3 of the students.
Second problem is that you need more classrooms. You may have heard about some students that are being taught in the basement. If you get the class sizes back to the right size, the basement classrooms would not be needed except for classes that need special rooms.
OK if you are an “advocate for education” you might feel this is a small price to pay for “the children.” That said, I don't believe that the house system providing the results they where looking for.
For 3 straight years, the DPI measurement of Advanced + Proficient students has declined from 88.8% in November of 2005 down to 85.0% in the most recent tests last November. That includes declines of 4% in Science and Social Studies this past year alone. I understand that the house system has only been in place for 2 years, but the house system has not changed the trend.
When the administration says there is nowhere to cut the budget, I see this as a huge cost burden. I believe that we had to add 20% more teachers in the Middle School because of the House System. It is time to scratch this costly program and examine our curriculum.
Regards,
Paul Beyerl
Former WGSD Board Member
When this program was proposed, I voted against it. The school district has set up guidelines for class size. The middle school class size is suppose to be between 24 and 30 or an average of 27. The minimum size for the middle school should be 384 students, 4 classes X 4 houses (2 in 7th and 2 in 8th grade) times the minimum class size of 24. Using the average class size of 27 students, the middle school should have 432 students. At the time Fox River had 354 students and the following year it went down to 331 and 357 students last year. This means that the class rooms have an average class size of 22.3 which does not meet the school board minimum size.
Having too few students in a class room has had two negative results. First, the district had to hire more teachers. With the house system, teachers are given an extra prep period. In the past a teacher would have 5 classes of 27 students or 135 students. With the current house system, they have about 90 students per day. This is only 2/3 of the students.
Second problem is that you need more classrooms. You may have heard about some students that are being taught in the basement. If you get the class sizes back to the right size, the basement classrooms would not be needed except for classes that need special rooms.
OK if you are an “advocate for education” you might feel this is a small price to pay for “the children.” That said, I don't believe that the house system providing the results they where looking for.
For 3 straight years, the DPI measurement of Advanced + Proficient students has declined from 88.8% in November of 2005 down to 85.0% in the most recent tests last November. That includes declines of 4% in Science and Social Studies this past year alone. I understand that the house system has only been in place for 2 years, but the house system has not changed the trend.
When the administration says there is nowhere to cut the budget, I see this as a huge cost burden. I believe that we had to add 20% more teachers in the Middle School because of the House System. It is time to scratch this costly program and examine our curriculum.
Regards,
Paul Beyerl
Former WGSD Board Member
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