Speed Gibson

Two large public school districts, Robbinsdale (281) and Anoka-Hennepin (11) need new Superintendents starting July 1, 2009. Both have begun the process, seemingly the same process:

• Hire a consultant
• Tell them what you want
• Review their findings
• Interview the top candidates
• Score them on criteria
• Negotiate a contract, starting with the top scorer on down until one accepts.

I have a question: does this process really work, given the constrained pool of applicants?

Let me ask this another way. In how many districts would the parents largely say that the Superintendent was a great hire, doing a terrific job? From what I've read, I don't think that's a long list. The list of the unhappy is likely longer, much longer. Even in Eden Prairie, there is a petition asking the Board to only grant a one year contract extension to its incumbent.

I mean no disrespect, here. I doubt private industry does much better in hiring Chief Executive Officers. What I'm asking is, does a Superintendent really have the power to make the difference that the selection process seems to think is possible? Or do regulations and finances limit that, so that while a bad choice can do significant damage, a good choice can't really excel?

If there is one characteristic that both matters and varies greatly, I'd say it's communications, with the staff, parents, students, taxpayers, and the media.

We elect Minnesota Supreme Court justices. We elect County Sheriffs. We elect District Attorneys and Attorneys General. These are all important, powerful positions. Many run their entire department without any Council, Board or Trustee supervision. Why not do the same for public school district Superintendents?

There would have to be a number of structural changes in the position.

1. The Superintendent of the Future (SOTF) would have no power to tax. Funds are limited to current State funding and local donations. The latter includes payments from the host cities served by the district.
2. As such, there is no further need for an elected School Board.
3. The term is four years, on the same cycle with the Governor
4. The SOTF cannot sign or renew any contracts effective beyond one year after the end of the current term.
5. The SOTF is paid per a Legislated formula based on district size and demographics. There is no merit pay or bonus plan. The SOTF cannot accept donations. There is no severance or accrued hours paid at the end of the term.
6. The SOTF continues to report to State agencies, primarily the Department of Education and the State Auditor.
7. There is no certification required.
8. The Department of Education, with the approval of the Governor, may place a troubled district into Receivership, removing the incumbent. The Governor will appoint an interim SOTF and call for a special election for a replacement if necessary.

Don't forget that the State already regulates these districts heavily, and may increase that further here.

I like the idea of the member cities paying the district, i.e. they would set the property tax levies as part of their own budgets. If the district operates within just one city, like Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center (286), it's really no change at all.

For districts serving multiple cities, however, this could create some healthy competition. If a city truly values a local school, it can raise its contribution accordingly, and that's not wrong for neighborhood schools are a strong drawing card for attracting new residents.

Notice I also dispense with licensing. Anyone can get elected State Attorney General, and with good executive skills could do an exceptional job via good hiring and management. The same would clearly apply here.

Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman says Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) would have "cleaned up" the U.S. Senate Race weeks ago. This is ridiculous on its face.

Let's first look at the current situation, a very close race that yes, may not get resolved for still more weeks. Given the stakes, the losing side will likely claim that a great injustice was done. Really?

Elections are obviously much more precise than polls, but are not perfectly so, especially in major contests like here, with millions of votes cast. Every recount will likely produce a slightly different outcome. When the margin of victory is on the order of the margin of error, God only knows who truly won. The losing side should maturely accept the outcome, barring a credible reason to do another count.

About the same number will be pleased as disappointed and there is no injustice either way. Even with IRV, that reality remains. Except that IRV could make things far worse, for IRV would often deny the candidate with the most votes the victory. That would be an injustice, no longer a contest of one man, one vote. Elections would soon be engineered with shadow candidates to deliberately take advantage of this new non-linearity.

Imagine what the DFL would say if Franken had won by say, 45-43 only to have Barkley's 12 points divided up by IRV to give Coleman a 51-49 win? They would not go quietly, and they'd have the moral high ground were it not for their role in enacting IRV.

I am concerned for the spoiler role that third parties are too often playing. The clear answer to me, if one is needed, is to resolve this in a true Primary in September, the top two moving on to the General in November. In Minneapolis, that might mean two Democrats or a Democrat vs a Green. Elsewhere, it might mean two Republicans, one a Ron Paul follower. But it preserves one man, one vote.

You talkin' to me?

Maybe I'm being overly vain or paranoid as a second or third tier blogger about town, but I think it's just possible that I was among those that Mitch Berg was calling out on his 11/22 NARN broadcast.

I get mildly irritated at some of the criticism that [Governor] Tim Pawlenty gets from the right here in the Twin Cities, especially from some [in] the local blogosphere. There’s a couple of local bloggers who’ve taken to calling Pawlenty and [U.S. Senator] Norm Coleman as good as Democrats. They call them both RINO’s. I shake my head and say “Good Lord, do you have any idea what the alternative is?” And better yet, can you get an alternative anywhere near get elected Governor in this, let’s face it, very, very, very purple state? What else do you bring to the table here? I just want to smack some of these people.

Now I get Coleman, even if Minneapolis Star Tribune endorsed him, on national security alone. I voted for him. I could be happier, but there was never a doubt.

But as for Prime Minister Pawlenty (there I go again!), yes I voted for someone else in 2006, largely on the basis of how he was so easily outflanked by former Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson the last two years, and of course, his infamous mega-honking flip-flop on the Twins Stadium.

I wasn't aware we had litmus tests in the Republican Party. We might be envious of the solidarity of the Democratic Party where breaking ranks is punished quickly, but that's no reason to demand blind loyalty via smack talk.

MDE's Michael Brodkorb tried this earlier, chiding some good Republicans for not honoring what he thought was an obvious state-wide GOP obligation to work on a special Legislative election. I didn't follow that line of reasoning, either.

Mitch, you mean well, but even metaphorically, talk of smacking people with whom you disagree only concedes the argument.

We on the right get an occasional chuckle when competing factions of liberals go at each other. Maybe we have another one coming, P.S. Minnesota vs Growth & Justice.

P.S. Minnesota is "a coalition of education & parent groups who believe in educating our children to lead in the 21st century." Earlier this year, they said we needed to increase K-12 Education funding by $2 billion to meet the needs of the 21st century. They came close to saying that it would in fact be enough.

But hold on! Growth & Justice now says that their "smart investment" approach only needs $1 billion in new spending, some of which is actually spent in post-secondary programs. Don't these people talk to each other?

Growth & Justice's work seems the more robust effort with a 32 page report, self-described as "an important contribution to the education policy discussion in this state." Even if it was, I regret to tell its dozens of contributors that politically, this is Dead on Arrival, even if the DFL had total control. For no matter what the facts say, no matter how obvious the results would be, favors must be granted, faction by faction. You know, like giving the Minneapolis Public Schools substantially more money, despite substantially less results. Or, keeping all those redundant MnScu campuses open as a rural jobs program.

Their report is flashy and classy, but riddled with non-sequiturs and unfounded assumptions. Still, it does make some interesting points like this:

[Our ] education system is still organized, regulated, and funded according to a disjointed model of Pre-K, K-12, and higher education that sets up competition over resouces - while leaving no coherent, evidence-based framework for achieving lasting results for the student.

The obvious solution is to let the parents make those decisions, student by student, as The Big Stink recently observed. It works in Europe, right?

But unlike the current model and future model Growth & Justice envisions, such a system doesn't need thousands of experts, like the ones who crafted this report. No, they advocate for still more experts. Is anyone surprised?

I have a counter-proposal, since the Legislature clearly won't have the money to do any system wide changes for at least two years. Instead, implement and fully fund the Growth & Justice plan in St. Paul. Implement the European model in Minneapolis, so that parents are economically freed to choose the best public, private, or charter school for their children. And let's see what happens.

Today marks the beginning of the winter of 2008-2009 on the Speed Gibson calendar, given that we haven't reached 40 degrees the past seven days.

So, fall lasted just 49 days, exactly 7 weeks. That's a lot shorter than the published 13 weeks or so. If spring arrives on April 20th like this year, then winter will take up the slack at 21 weeks. Those of you who know that d(sin t)/dt = cos t understand that spring and fall are shorter periods of faster transitions. Summer, even here, went 16 weeks on my calendar.

The Minneapolis Public Schools hired a real public relations professional in August, Susan Eilertsen, previously an officer at the New York public relations firm Weber Shandwick. And, they upgraded the position to Chief Communications Officer, reporting directly to the Superintendent. That means she is at the cabinet table when decisions are made, and like her peers, accountable for implementing the 2007 Strategic Plan. Per the Minneapolis Star Tribune,

To date the best example of her influence on the district is the inaugural state of the schools address.

Dozens of civic, business and nonprofit leaders gathered at the downtown Minneapolis library last month as Green explained that the district didn't meet its goals in four of five academic areas. Why were they so forthcoming with mostly bad news?

"We promised to report out regularly on our progress or lack thereof, and we felt it was extremely important to follow through with that," Eilertsen said.

Less than a month after the address, city voters approved Minneapolis public schools' $60 million year excess levy.

Could it be that honesty is indeed the best policy?

The linked article also notes that she wants "common street language" communication, without the usual jargon and acronyms. Communication we plebes cannot understand is not communication.

Finally, she also gets that timing is important, and that importance should affect timing. Before, the article says, each "silo" in the District would simply forward articles to the communications office "for immediate release" whether an emergency or not.

The most challenged district in the state seems to be willing to make the most true reforms. The surrounding districts might do well to follow Minneapolis's lead.

What do [Anoka-Hennepin] school workers want in new leader? Survey says: someone whose top priority is teaching and learning.

District 11 has to replace Superintendent Roger Giroux, who like Stan Mack II in District 281 is retiring at the end of this school year. Both districts have started their search for a replacement, both with the help of consultants. District 11 already has some survey results that the above linked Minneapolis Star Tribune article reports.

The most interesting number was that only 14 percent of the 1,500 surveyed chose "effective political influence" as their first or second criterion in judging a new Superintendent. For I suspect that I'm not alone in thinking this ranks much higher on the School Boards' minds, those making the decision. I would have to think this is especially true now, with money tighter and the Legislature curiously more indifferent to their plight these days.

Let's be honest. Who is more likely to get a contract renewal, the Superintendent that raises test scores 10 percentage points, closes the minority achievement gap by 10 percentage points, or successfully lobbies the Legislature for special favors adding 10 percent more money?

The real question behind this question is for the Legislature: what's it worth to you to have a public school district raise its test scores 10 percentage points and / or close the minority achievement gap by 10 percentage points?

It's the Semi-Finals, 4 teams left chasing 3 slots in the Finals.

The evening opened with two brutal dances, the first from front-runner Brooke. The judges were overly kind on her second number but still her worst week to date. There's a chance she could be going home, though clearly Len wants that to be Cody, who also fell flat.

Warren's jive number exceeded expectations to the point where I think he's safe.

The big news is that, as we started to see last week, there's a new leader, Lance Bass, who with partner Lacey Schwimmer garnered a 28 and a 29 from judges hard to please this week.

Brooke, Warren, and Lance should clearly be the Finalists. Cody clearly should be going home. Should be.

The Results: He did. This is an interesting finale coming up next week, Lance or Brooke, but even Warren has a chance.

I watched George Carlin's "It's Bad For Ya" show on HBO recently, taped in 2008, rather looking his age of 70 years. As we know, he didn't make it much further. Plus, he's making a lot of jokes about death and the hereafter. "Phil Davis died. You're kidding! Why, I saw him just yesterday. Didn't help, did it?" It was kind of creepy to watch, practically daring God to strike him down.

I'm turning 60 next year. One thing I won't be doing is inviting metaphysical retribution as Carlin did.

Finally, some good news for the Minneapolis Public Schools. The Nellie Stone Johnson
Community School has reportedly made huge gains in the past year. A year ago the school bottomed out at 89 percent of the students testing below grade level. The new numbers aren't shown but supposedly great progress has been made in all grades. Plus, one of its teachers received a prestigious $25,000 award from the Milken Foundation.

How did this happen? Better you should who made this happen, principal Mark Bonine, but here's the how: he was allowed to run the show! Per WCCO.com's account by Sue Turner:

One of [Superintendent Bill Green's] first decisions was to appoint Mark Bonine as principal. Bonine interviewed the teachers at the school; he kept four of them. He also hired the best 60 teachers he knew or could find as the 400 students in K-8 turned into 750 as other area schools closed.

Did you see that? He kept just four of the existing teachers, which means he rejected several dozen others that the previous principal and/or power structure felt were adequate. After all, they all have degrees, certificates, licenses, and union cards.

Bonine prefers to check results it seems, spending two hours a day in the classroom. He no doubt uses that observation time in evaluating his staff three times a year. Plus, there is a weekly 90 minute staff meeting to work on quality and preparation expertise.

Score another one for accountability.

In case I have any impressionable youth reading, take a look at what's happening to Minnesota's Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie. This is generally a low profile job. Generally you're at your best when you're not making headlines. Only now, fate has him overseeing one of the closest State elections in decades.

Back up about a year, to when Ritchie was caught using State voter registrations for his own fund-raising, then lied trying to cover it up. There hasn't been a successful cover up since the 1960's, and this one didn't work either.

What Ritchie did wasn't a big deal, as the State Auditor ruled once Ritchie finally cooperated with the investigation. But it certainly was embarrassing for someone who ran on being non-partisan while falsely accusing the incumbent of being partisan. It was so unnecessary, and that's my point.

You never know when life will test you the most. But when it does, your reputation to date looms large. How could Bill Clinton deny Juanita Broderick's serious charge given his hound dog reputation? If someone falsely charges you with some sort of impropriety at work, what chance do you have if you've been playing the system to your personal advantage, wearing it like a coat of arms?

So now stands Ritchie trying to appear impartial and the Republicans aren't buying a single vote of it. Truth be told, should Franken have legitimately won the election, many Democrats will secretly have to wish that Mary Kiffmeyer had won in 2006, to avoid the obvious taint.

But Ritchie moves on, giving the appearance as one tampering with votes or tolerating the actions of those who are, unconcerned about the statistical red flags people are noticing a thousand miles away. His reputation precedes him.

Even Chad Knaus wouldn't try to push his luck this far in a single race.

What is it drunken fans often call out to the zebras? "You're missing a great game, ref!" The judges tonight seemed to be watching another channel. A ten for Warren Sap's tango, 28 overall, when if anything it was a mess?

Most improved by far over last week were Cody and partner pro tempore Edyta, maybe not perfect technique, but great energy and creativity.

Brooke and Derek are still the team to beat, all but safe even if maybe it wasn't their best week.

Lance and Lacey's fox trot was one of the best dances of the season I thought, but their samba fell a little short. Like the previous two couples, I think they're safe.

I though Warren and Kym were in big trouble, despite the judges fawning over their first number. But Sap broke out big with the tango and the audience agreed. He's safe, too.

So, I think Maurice and Cheryl are going home tomorrow, if for no other reason that Green should be doing better than he is by now. Not that he's doing badly, not that the judges weren't pleased, but the bar is rising faster than he is.

By the way, I loved seeing an upright bass in Harold Wheeler's orchestra tonight. There is no substitute.

THE RESULTS: Hey, I got another one right. Plus I'm feeling better about Lance and Lacey making it to the finals. It's going to take a less traditional approach to beat Brooke and Lacey just might do it.

There are so many credible reasons to be of poor cheer these days. The election, the economy, the media, even the arts. After confirming that the sun did indeed come up Wednesday morning, I decided that I needed to stay calm and to that end, subscribed to Pragertopia to get the commercial free, higher quality Dennis Prager podcasts.

I used to subscribe to Prager until he had and lost his dispute with Salem Radio. They have been available for free on Townhall, only now with all the commercials. Even with a good MP3 player with skip and replay buttons it's a hassle. In my hour of need for calm, it's worth the money to get the quality audio and uninterrupted stream of conscientiousness.

I will continue my subscription to El Rushbo, of course, and never miss the 8 hour Strom and NARN weekend extravaganza. But beyond that, it's Old Time Radio and Live 365 music.

Teachers are the focal point of my T.E.R.M. paper. A commenter asked, am I talking the basics like English and Mathematics? Social studies and Art? Special education? Sports? Where do I draw the line?

Good question, but not one to be answered here. All of those subjects are important, but that's a subjective assessment at every level. For my project, I don't think it matters that much because the union contracts are such that the district spends about the same for all subjects, at least during the 6+ hour prime time.

No, I think the place to start is with time, the student's time, from the time stepping on the bus in the morning to the step stepping off in the afternoon. I call it "face time." I want to know who at any given minute is in charge of the student and what service is being performing. That will be the bus driver at times, a playground supervisor at other times, but mostly, teacher time.

This fits my "sales and sales supporting" dichotomy I presented in my first post. Just as the salesperson at Dayton's was the predominant point of customer contact, so is the teacher the predominant point of contact with the student - the customer, if you will.

So what I need to put together is the answer to "how was your day at school?" - one minute at a time.

There are times when I think I dost gush too much regarding District 281, or at least not give its critics enough time. But Chad the Elder is on the job, picking up the Sun Newspaper account of referendum campaign spending, tens of thousands for YES, a few hundred for NO.

The number one contributor? The Robbinsdale Federation of Teachers, who donated $ 7,500 plus all the hours of in-kind donations. It's just like at the Legislature, when Education Minnesota's delegation outnumbers the Minnesota Taxpayers League by about 50 to 1. This is a problem, a definite conflict of interest, but the cures are probably all worse than the disease. I'd rather have free speech and full disclosure.

The school districts should be equally committed to free speech and not sue parents groups like the Osseo district recently did. That case was dismissed in court last week, but that group had the resources to fight it. Robbinsdale has reminded its citizens that it can sue someone making "false" statements against a referendum, actionable per a state law. For someone with few resources, that amounts to a threat, even though I'd have to think an honest court would easily find that law unconstitutional. Besides, the district itself might have to explain a false statement of its own.

The elections are over. The District 281 Referendum passed, both questions. It's time to get back to what was my original intent in studying the District this past year. It's time to write my T.E.R.M. paper, where I will develop a Transparent Expenditure Reporting Model for making the District 281 financials more understandable by the general public.

I will do this gradually, of course. The District's 2008-2009 budget is almost 200 pages. The T.E.R.M. paper should be more like a typical corporate annual report to shareholders, and no larger. That's a lot of cabbage to boil down.

***

I begin with a story from my corporate youth, when I worked for the Northwest's Great Store: Dayton's. The management always had a clear dichotomy in its structure and operation: sales and sales supporting. That applied to people, expenses, capital, even square feet. This wasn't meant to snub the support aspects. It was to keep us all focused on the customer, who almost totally dealt with sales people on the floor. If a customer bought it, a salesperson sold it.

If you weren't on the front lines making sales, you were there to support those who were. We bought the goods, mopped the floors, manned the receiving dock, dipped the strawberries, designed the store windows, ran the computers, kept the books, and developed - Santa Bear!

Everything we did in sales support was to make the store a destination for our customers and give the salespeople what they needed to keep them coming to Dayton's.

***

So it is with education, that most basic of human interactions that differentiates us from the animal kingdom: a teacher teaching a learning learner. Just as the salesperson was the focal point of Dayton's, so is the teacher the focal point of K-12 education. And if you're not a teacher, you're doing something to help that teacher.

Let me go further, for some may think they are directly serving the children, driving the school bus or preparing lunch for example. Not really, not in my T.E.R.M. view. The bus driver brings the students to the teacher. The luncheon cook satisfies primal hunger so the students can function better in the afternoon. Without a teacher, there is no point in a school organization driving children around or preparing meals for them. L'insegnante è tutto!

In two large, adjoining, demographically similar school districts in the Northwest Metro, each puts two referendum questions before its voters. They both pass in Robbinsdale (281). They both fail in Osseo (279). Why?

I've been casually following events in 279 via the Sun Post, Channel 12, and a newsletter from citizen group "District 279 United." Most of you know I've been watching 281 much more closely. To be honest, I thought maybe Osseo's Question 1 would pass since they had some success last year, and that the rest would fail given the economy.

One never knows why, of course. Maybe the retirement of Disrict 281's Superintendent allowed some to forgive and forget whatever grudges they might have carried. But my best theory is that the 281 voters perceived that their Board is truly listening to them.

A year ago, the Board suddenly had to make budget cuts in response to the 2007 levy failure. Initially, they were to close 3 buildings, then suddenly just 1 building. A couple of the Board members bravely observed that the District really didn't understand the situation. They had assumed that the referendum would pass like all those before. After a few noisy but civil public hearings, the Board listened and decided to wait at least a year on closing any building.

In Osseo, however, the public was stunned to suddenly see two schools closed and another "re-purposed." After all, it had passed one of the three referendums. But a consultant had been hired, made the recommendation, and the Board matter of factly, even coldly I would say, enacted it.

Robbinsdale listened to the public this past year. Osseo did not. I think that was the difference.

I understand that automated dialer calls are going out today and tonight, in opposition to the District 281 Levy. I don't approve, whether illegal or not. I don't like automated calling in any form. I especially don't think this is an appropriate forum for promoting candidates or referendums.

Call it spite, but I will now be voting yes on Question Two of the District 281 referendum. I still think the return on "investment" is much less than for Question One, but it's not much more a year regardless. Superintendent Mack's honorable decision to step down also figures in my new decision.

Now, to review the real facts of the situation.

1. All other local units of government can set operating levies without referendums, including the profligate Hennepin County Board.
   
2. This referendum is largely about restoration of prior budget cuts. No change or innovation is promised. You can read the list on the rdale.org site.
   
3. No matter what you think should happen, the Board will not make the cuts you think they should make if the referendum fails. They'll make the cuts also listed on the District site.
   
4. History shows that saying yes or no to referendums has virtually no lasting effect in restraining rising education costs, thanks to the Legislature. Here at least you know what you're buying.
   
5. Right or wrong, real or not, a perceived lack of funding makes it difficult to then demand accountability.
   
6. If you are otherwise voting for big spenders, which includes most of the current Legislative delegation covering District 281, you can hardly complain about the relatively small amounts here.
   

I still respect anyone's right to say no. I agree that K-12 costs are rising too quickly, especially given basically flat enrollment and test scores. But fight the right battle at the right time at the right place. This isn't it.

I wasn't crazy about the team dancing as it turned out, but it was worth a try I suppose. As the judges said, it would have been a total waste without Lacey, who never looked better.

Individually, Brooke and Derek got the season's first perfect 30 and it was perfect. I forgot for a moment who was the pro. Len wasn't taken with Lance and Lacey's barefootin' but I think it was a great call - this once.

So who's going home? The judges overrated Susan Lucci again, but her team scored poorly to offset. She's the one.

***

THE RESULTS: She's the one.

There's a lot of choices to make on the ballot this year, from President of the United States to the Soil and Water Conservation Board. And then there are all those judges on the other side. But there's room for more.

I note that the Osseo Schools are electing School Board members in this, an even year. Robbinsdale Schools do this in odd years. Cities like Minneapolis hold Mayoral and other contests in odd years as well. Referendums can happen any time.

One general election every two years should be enough for all State and Local offices. Hold them on even years with the Federal offices. One Primary election every two years should also be enough.

Part of my reasoning is that office holders who will be working together should be elected together as much as possible, such as a Legislator and a Mayor who will then beg that Legislator for money and favors. And of course there are those referendums to sneak past the goalie.

Mostly, though, after each election I think we all deserve a full year off from any serious campaigning - and all those awful ads.