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Marcia Andrew
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 09 2010 Status: Offline Points: 365 |
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Vet, in my first post on this thread, I stated that 4 assistant principals were among those RIF'd. That leaves assistant principals only at the high school (1800 students) and Vail (800 students). There are no "assistants to the assistants"; I don't know what you are talking about. And no, the school district is not top-heavy with administrators. The school district is a large operation with approximately $90 million in revenue from many different funding sources coming in and being spent; approximately 750 employees (full and part-time). Can't run a business that size without some operational people handling purchasing, accounts payable and receivables, compliance with all the state and federal laws, etc., and management and leadership. See my response to Tony for part of the role of central office in aligning teaching methods and substance. You need an HR function. You need buildings & maintenance functions.
Ms. Alberico's salary is more in the range of $65,000, not $98,000. And her job involved far more than giving quotes to the Journal (although she does respond to requests from the media almost every single day). She also is the person who responds to public records requests, is the central point for all questions and complaints from students, parents, community, media, whomever, either finding an answer directly or directing the inquiry to the person with knowledge/responsibility. Multiple requests every day. She writes newsletters and other communications to parents and taxpayers about what is going on with the public schools. She keeps the website current. These are just some of her job responsibilities, there are others. Similarly, someone has to be in charge of technology when you have hardware and software in 12 buildings, internal and external networks. Both operational software and educational software. Doesn't maintain itself.
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Neil Barille
MUSA Resident Joined: Jul 07 2010 Status: Offline Points: 238 |
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Thank you for your service Ms. Andrew. Serving on school boards is a difficult task, especially in Middletown. Sadly, through the efforts of the Section 8 slumlords, their ENABLERS on council and city admin (you know who you are), and even the stubborn old time teachers who failed to embrace new ways of teaching, our student population is now comprised of kids with many hurdles in front of them. This doesn't necessarily mean that the district's methods are poor, but it does mean that continued effort is required. unfortunately, we're not Mason or Centerville here and can't pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.
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Marcia Andrew
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 09 2010 Status: Offline Points: 365 |
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"Let me ask you then, why are other districts in the area outperforming ours?" Tony B, you ask what seems like a simple question, but I am going to give you a very long response. I am not trying to evade the question; it is just that educating low income urban kids is a very complex problem. If there were an easy answer, MCSD would have done it, and so would the thousands of other similar school districts across the country struggling with the same problem. While some public schools and charters have found success with one building, no one has come up with a model that will work across a whole system, when you have to be successful with EVERY child.
I would also like to state up front that I am speaking only for myself, as a 5.5 year member of the school board and a parent of 3 kids in MCSD schools for the last 11 years. I am not speaking on behalf of the rest of the board or on behalf of MCSD.
First, I don't believe that other districts in the area are actually outperforming MCSD, if we could compare apples to apples. Some people will say it is a cop-out, but the absolute truth is that the single most predictive factor of how kids will perform on standardized tests is their socio-economic background. Generally (of course there are exceptions), if they live in a middle or upper class household, they will tend to score better than if they live in a poor household. The state report card just tells you the total percentage of kids in each grade who pass each test. On like the 5th page, the report tells you the percentage of students in the district who are on free/reduced lunch, the proxy used for economic disadvantage. What it doesn't tell you is the percentage of kids from each income level who passed. Over 70% of MCSD students are economically disadvantaged. None of the surrounding school districts comes even close to this percentage of poor kids.
The closest the state report card comes to some type of comparative score that takes into account where the kids started from is the value added measure, which uses a secret formula (not kidding; it is not disclosed to the school districts) to determine whether the students in a district achieved a year's worth of academic growth in one year, or more or less. 2 years ago, MCSD achieved more than a year's growth overall. Last year it met but did not exceed a year's growth overall (some buildings did exceed). Again, not perfect, we need to repeatedly see more than a year's growth each year to catch up, but if the students who attended MCSD learned a year's worth of academics in a year, I don't think its fair to condemn the schools as terrible, or the worst in the state.
Also, MCSD has a higher percentage of students with special needs than surrounding school districts--almost 20%. These kids are expected by the state to pass the standardized test for their grade level. To earn an indicator, 75% of the students in that grade have to pass the test. This is a hard bar to reach if you start with 20% of the kids off the top struggling to overcome a disability, which may range from dyslexia to ADD to severe mental retardation.
All that said, it is probably true that MCSD was slow to react to the dramatic change in the demographics of its student body, which went from around 40% free/reduced lunch to over 70% in about 5 years in the early 2000's thanks to the city's Section 8 policy and more students leaving the district. (The students who leave are usually the ones who would have scored better on the tests, no matter what district they were in). Kids from poorer homes can learn, but it requires a more intensive effort, and the school is put in the position of having to teach many basics, including behavior, that it didn't used to have to teach. When a child enters kindergarden never having even SEEN a book (no kidding, this happens often), you can appreciate the extra effort it will take to get that child up to grade level.
It is also probably true that MCSD was slow to accept the reality of standardized testing and to change the way instruction was delivered. While I share your view, Tony, that today's standardized tests are a poor measure of academic quality, that is the game mandated by the federal government and if we don't accept the rules, we are going to lose the game. The state has established content standards for each of the tested subjects as to what students are expected to learn in each grade. This may seem obvious, but we have to teach the students all of that content if we expect them to pass the test. We can't let each teacher teach whatever she wants to in her own classroom. We need a centralized effort to align the curriculum to the content of the state standards, and then we need to monitor the teachers to make sure they are staying on track and covering all the material. [Vet: like it or not, this requires administrative personnel, even though you believe them all to be completely unnecessary]. We have a lot of kids that move several times during the school year between different schools, so if a teacher at Amanda is covering the material in a different order than a teacher at Creekview, when that kids moves, he is going to cover fractions 2 or 3 times and never long division. You may not be surprised to learn that many (not all) teachers did not appreciate being told what to teach and when to teach it, and did not appreciate having principals and central office administrators showing up in the classroom to make sure this was happening and to try to suggest alternative ways the teachers could teach the material if the students didn't learn it the first time through. All of this has changed, and the central office is working harder to support the teachers on the front line, but it takes time. The fact that some buildings have improved faster than others is something that is being examined. Why? was it the leadership in the buildings, the staff, the makeup of the student body, or a particular program or initiative? The district has also been slow to teach test taking skills. Some deride this as dumbing down education. But its not fair to the kids to have them take these high-stakes tests and not give them the tools they need. Many kids weren't even told, if you can't finish at least guess. There should be no blank answers. You wouldn't put a basketball team on the court without making sure they knew the rules of the game.
I have written a book here, and could go on and on. I'll stop with the comment that education is not passive. It is not the teachers' job to pour knowledge into an empty vessel. Learning is interactive, and requires active participation from the students. Many (not all) students in our district do not put forth the required effort. I don't know the students in other districts, so I cannot say, but if they are putting forth more effort (due to self motivation, parental involvement, or whatever reason) than Middletown students, then that would account for a difference in results.
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TonyB
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 12 2011 Location: Middletown, OH Status: Offline Points: 631 |
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Mr. Beagle, thanks for your post. I also feel bad for the 2 individuals who lost their jobs. I can't comment on the job they did and I don't know them but I don't like to see it and I hope they find success in their next ventures.
I would like some clarity of issues as well. I see the story about the audit and I applaud the attention to detail that this demonstrates. This is the kind of thing that builds trust with the public which I perceive as somewhat strained. Let me also state for you that I have no personal or professional interest in this. I have read numerous threads on this blog about citizen dissatisfaction and the perceived decline in the quality of education. I've always heard the phrase "the children are our future" since I was a child. The issue to me becomes are we providing the children in our school district the best education we can with the resources provided by the public. As I pointed out above, while 3 of 8 is better, it would be even better to understand why the other 5 schools did not achieve. What did the 3 schools that succeed do that the other 5 did not? Why are children in neighboring districts achieving better results? It's quite true that the same solution doesn't work in all situations, the fact that others are succeeding while we are merely improving upon failure should give some pause. It was state above that we all know the answer as to why we're not succeeding. I don't or I wouldn't be asking. Ms Andrew, I'm making the effort to inform myself, enlighten me to the questions above. I can watch TV and read documents. If the public can understand what the School Board is doing, you might be able to gain more support. If my education has taught me anything it's to have an open mind and listen to all arguments. I've said it before, multiple perspectives lead to a clarity of vision. As a community, how do we get to where we want to get?
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John Beagle
MUSA Official Joined: Apr 23 2007 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 1855 |
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Thanks for you well thought out post Marcia Andrew. I appreciate the clarification of issues. I feel really bad for Debbie and Gary, I know them both personally and they both did a fine job for Middletown Schools.
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Ms. Andrew states "The administrative positions cut include 2 directors (Debbie Alberico, the district communications director", .......
"Their positions will not be filled and they are not being re-hired in other positions. That is an empty rumor that has no basis in fact. Both of these directors performed important jobs whose work still needs to be done"....... I hope the school district is not done cutting. What about all the assist. principals, assist. to the assistants, etc. The schools are top heavy like the city building is, isn't it Ms. Andrew? With all due respect Ms. Andrew........The fact of the matter is that in the case of Ms. Alberico, as "communications director (a fancy title to a school spokesperson on behalf of the superintendent), we taxpayers received very little from her services for her salary of $98,000 I believe) The fact is that she would be quoted on occasion, offer a quick blurb of what we already knew and retreat back into oblivion until the next standard line from the schools needed to be spoken. Her job could have easily been incorporated into another's job at half the cost. Why do school people want to embellish the importance of some of these positions when they could be incorporated into other jobs and not miss a beat? It's like the President having a spokesperson, drawing a high salary at the taxpayer's expense, fielding questions from the press. Why? Just eliminate the position and march any lying, full of bs politician out in back of the podium and start spewing the horsecrap they are trained to spew. It doesn't matter what they say. We don't believe them anyway. JMO |
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Bill
MUSA Citizen Joined: Nov 04 2009 Status: Offline Points: 710 |
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oh no, here it comes..... |
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TonyB
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 12 2011 Location: Middletown, OH Status: Offline Points: 631 |
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I'm sorry gentlemen, I don't understand why you would advocate taking tax dollars and giving them to people to pay private schools. I do not want to pay money to both a public school system and a private school support where my tax dollar goes into someones pocket as a profit!!! I have nothing against private schools; they are private because they support themselves. This is one of those "economy of scale" moments also, because public education is about trying to educate as many as possible with the resurces made available by the public. Taking resources out of the public system isn't the answer; it's doing our best to ensure the quality of public education. |
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middletownscouter
MUSA Citizen Joined: Oct 11 2010 Location: Sunset Park Status: Offline Points: 501 |
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Acclaro, are you talking about a program like the Ohio EdChoice program, but rolling it out on a larger scale with less restrictions?
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acclaro
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878 |
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Ture MP. My solution: vouchers giving parents a choice so property tax is applied to the privates, and then the public system becomes competitive. Of course, I know the other rationale its the "composition" of the student, which may be true to some extent.
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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"Let me ask you then, why are other districts in the area outperforming ours? I would be interested in any insight you could provide and, in your opinion, what we can and should be doing to improve the quality of education provided. I look forward to your reply".
TonyB, you have just asked THE question that has been asked since the 70's through many different school boards, many different supers, many different school administrations and many different curriculum changes/ teaching methods. Most of us believe we have never received an answer that has really addressed the question. Rather, for years, with many different school people, we have received denial or the standard, canned answers that talked all around the subject, but never hit the target. Don't know if the school folks all these years really don't know the answers or if they are talking all around the subject to keep from indicting themselves with the truth about why this district has suffered through such a long stretch of poor performance. All I know is that this school district is a shadow of it's former self in performance and reputation among the surrounding communities. Sad. |
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TonyB
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 12 2011 Location: Middletown, OH Status: Offline Points: 631 |
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Ms Andrew - thank you for your post. I re-read the post from my friend and his statement was that admin overhead had consistently been among the highest in Ohio. He did not provide figures and since I had asked him for his impressions about the district, so I provisionally stand corrected about the "highest in the state' admin overhead. As to changing; different faces doesn't necessarily mean change. I received my public education from the MCSD (1976, Monroe High) and while I'll admit that 3 out of 8 is better than 1 out of 8, by any stretch of the imagination or grading, that would still be an "F". I would hope that no one considered that "good enough". I for one have little faith in testing as a measure of quality education; yes, I know; it's the law. Education is much more than what you learn, it's developing the skills of how to learn so that you can apply those skills throughout your life. I certainly am not implying that I don't think teachers work hard or don't care.
Let me ask you then, why are other districts in the area outperforming ours? I would be interested in any insight you could provide and, in your opinion, what we can and should be doing to improve the quality of education provided. I look forward to your reply.
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Marcia Andrew
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 09 2010 Status: Offline Points: 365 |
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All Middletown City Schools employees, including administrators, have been on a pay freeze this year. The contracts expire June 30th and are currently under negotiation. We have to negotiate despite SB5 because that bill won't take effect until after the referendum in November (if then).
MCSD is making over $5 million in reductions to its budget for next year. This includes closing school building and repurposing another to be a 6th grade center. It also includes RIFs. So far, about 30 administrators and support personnel have received RIF notices. The administrative positions cut include 2 directors (Debbie Alberico, the district communications director, and Gary Canterbury, the technology director). Their positions will not be filled and they are not being re-hired in other positions. That is an empty rumor that has no basis in fact. Both of these directors performed important jobs whose work still needs to be done, but it will be re-allocated to other central office employees, who will all have to do more. Other positions cut include a principal, at least 4 assistant principals, a number of secretaries and others that support the delivery of instruction. These cuts will be felt, but we have tried to keep the impact on students as small as possible.
There is quite a bit of information about these budget issues on the district website and in the Journal and all our meetings are aired multiple times on TV Middletown. I have no problem with people criticizing the schools but at least make an effort to inform yourself.
Tony B, you say it doesn't seem like much is changing. Well, let's see...we have a new Superintendent, who has been with us for just a year. New CEO seems like change to me. Last school year, 2 additional elementary schools moved up to a rating of Effective on the state report card, joining Miller Ridge, which was already Effective. So now, 3 out of 8 elementary schools are Effective. Seems like change to me. No one on the school board or the central office thinks that is good enough, but we have to start somewhere. Other buildings moved up a rank as well. The buildings that improved their score did not happen by chance. It is the result of an intense focus on improving the level of instruction and targeting the extra help that is provided to the many students who need it. The teachers and other staff are working very hard and provide a good education to students who meet them half way with a little effort.
"he said that MCSD has the highest overhead administrative costs in the state" -- I believe this is false, but will consider any citation you can provide. 2 or 3 years ago we requested an audit of our personnel costs, including administrative, from the state of ohio. The results said that overall we were in line with other similar districts, although we had more of some positions and fewer of some others. That is what local control is about. Each district decides what is right for their student population. There is no formula (x number of special ed teachers per 1000 students, y number of secretaries, etc) that is right for all communities.
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TonyB
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 12 2011 Location: Middletown, OH Status: Offline Points: 631 |
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Vet - I asked someone I went to high school with about some of the issues you bring up here. He told me a few things and also told me that he relocated from the area because of the deteriorating quality of education. He said that the MCSD has the highest overhead adminstrative costs in the state. He also said that gross mismanagement is what caused Monroe to split off into their own district and that it was the first time it had ever happened in the state of Ohio. He also was of the opinion that the death knell for Middletown was when Armco first moved it HQ out of town. You and he seem to bear each other out that the decline started in the mid 80's and has continued now for over 25 years.It also doesn't seem like much is changing over at the Board of Education.
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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I agree Bill. Middletown seems to have two doors to their district. One door marked out is for the school employees that we hear are retiring and occasionally read are leaving the district. It is located on the front of the building for all to see. There also seems to be another door, apparently located behind the building, out of sight and not publicized as much, that is for new hires to the district and for those who we are told are leaving but are really not leaving but have been provided a different job.
Correct me if I'm wrong but Alberico comes to mind with her position recently eliminated and the last I heard she was possibly being rehired in another position. This is the old peanut/shell carnival game of deception isn't it? Could be wrong but I can't remember an announcement from the schools that anyone has taken a salary decrease like the AD did in Monroe. The schools are operated like the city. Fat, bloated salaries/bennies/ retirements eat up most of the budget money and, like the city, the people don't get much for their money. The schools performance is as pathetic as the city governments performance and we're paying top dollar for this crap. Frustrating. |
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Bill
MUSA Citizen Joined: Nov 04 2009 Status: Offline Points: 710 |
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There is an article in the MJ about Monroe schools getting a lot of Open Enrollment interest from Middletown and Lakota parents. It then ends with: "The district recently made $890,000 in budget cuts that includes eliminating four educational aides, three classroom positions by attrition, one assistant principal, two central office positions and not filling a vacant custodial position.
Athletic Director Dave Bauer agreed to take a salary decrease of 17 percent to $65,308 from $78,684 annually, said Broc Bidlack, Monroe Schools director of personnel and business affairs." ---------------------
Hmm, when's the last time we read about anyone in MCSD giving up ANYTHING!? |
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