Mike Falick's Blog

Spring Branch's 8000+ Volunteers Contribute 130,401 Hours in 2005-2006

I just received this email from Linda Buchman, the District's Community Relations Officer, that shows the incredible value of Spring Branch's 8000+ volunteers.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

From: Buchman, Linda
Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 4:17 PM
To:
Cc:
Subject: SBISD Campus Volunteer Hour Leaders

Congratulations!

We’ve tallied the numbers you’ve

submitted to date,

 We’re proud to announce,

these campuses are our

SBISD 2005-2006

Volunteer Hour Leaders

—-

You all are top rate!

 Pre K Centers:

Wildcat Way

788 hours, Value: $14,215

Elementary Schools:

Hollibrook Elementary

12,707 hours, Value: $229,234

Middle Schools:

Spring Forest Middle School

5,653 hours, Value: $101,980

High Schools:

Memorial High School

16,543 hours, Value: $298,435

Special Programs

 Science Center

1,172 hours, Value: $21,142

Congratulations and thanks to all of you for supporting our

8,000+ SBISD Volunteers!

To date, our campuses have reported 130,401 volunteer hours

for 2005-2006

valued at $2,352,443*

Have a great summer!

 Linda Buchman & Sue Loudis

SBISD Community Relations

 *Based on Points of Light Foundation value of $18.04/hour

My Legislative Liaison Report from Last Night's Board Meeting

Last night Diane Jackson and I presented a legislative update to the Board that covered many of the issues I covered in this prior post.  In addition, we provided the Board with a number of very informative handouts:

Summary of Special Session Bills prepared by Moak Casey (.pdf)

Preliminary Estimates of the Impact of House Bill 1 on Spring Branch (.pdf)

The State's Fiscal Note on House Bill 1 (.pdf) (which projects a $23 billion underfunding between now and 2011)

An Analysis of the 65% Rule by the Texas Association of School Business Officials (.pdf)

Because of the complexities with the implementation of a number of the Legislature's changes, additional updates will be forthcoming.  I anticipate that in November the Board will consider its Legislative Priorities for the 80th Legislative Session, which begins January 9, 2007.

My Invocation from Tonight's Board Meeting: The Importance of Creativity

I thought tonight I would tell you something about my philosophy for education.

2500 years ago, the ancient Greek philosophers understood the importance of a broad education. 

Socrates said: “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”

And Aristotle said: “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all”

Traditional American education philosophy was summed up by 20th Century American Educator/Philosopher Robert M. Hutchins who said: “It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts…it is to teach them to think.”

A broad education is what has defined American strength.  But in today’s America, driven by TAKS and No Child Left Behind, I fear we have forgotten the brilliance of these philosophers. 

Accountability is important.  But when accountability becomes not only a checkpoint but the sole reason for being, we have lost the battle, and we have lost the future.

That is one of the reasons I am so pleased to be part of Spring Branch and this Board where one of our Board goals is to provide an education that fosters creativity and critical thinking.

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities Creates a Comprehensive Web-based Research Database: This is a Very Good Website

The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) has recently created a comprehensive website designed "to connect you to the knowledge base that the field has accumulated over years of investigation and practice." 

NICHCY, known by its former acronym when it was the National Information Center for Handicapped Children and Youth, states its purpose:  We serve the nation as a central source of information on:       

• disabilities in infants, toddlers, children, and youth,
• IDEA, which is the law authorizing special education,
• No Child Left Behind (as it relates to children with disabilities), and
• research-based information on effective educational practices.

The website is keyword searchable.  As an example, a search for "dyslexia" produced the following results:

'dyslexia'
[16 results returned]
1 - Computer Assisted Instruction in Reading for Students with Learning Disabilities: A Research Synthesis
(Hall, T.E., Hughes , C.A. , & Filbert, M., 2000)
2 - Direct Instruction
(Adams, G., & Carnine, D., 2003)
3 - Effective Interventions in Dropout Prevention: A Research Synthesis—The Effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions on Dropout for Youth with Disabilities
(Cobb, B., Sample, P., Alwell, M., & Johns, N., 2005)
4 - Effects of Training Social Competence in Children: A Meta-Analysis of Recent Evaluation Studies (Beelman, A., Pfingsten, U., & Losel, F., 1994)
5 - Experimental Intervention Research on Students with Learning Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis of Treatment Outcomes (Swanson, H.L., & Hoskyn, M., 1998)
6 - Graphic Organizers and Their Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with LD: A Synthesis of Research(Kim, A-H., Vaughn, S., Wanzek, J., & Wei, S., 2004)
7 - How Effective Are One-to-One Tutoring Programs in Reading for Elementary Students at Risk for Reading Failure? A Meta-Analysis of the Intervention Research(Elbaum, B., Vaughn, S., Hughes, M.T., & Moody, S.W., 2000)
8 - Instructing Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: A Component and Composite Analysis
(Swanson, H.L., & Hoskyn, M., 2001)
9 - Reading Differences Between Low-Achieving Students With and Without Learning Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis(Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., Mathes, PG., & Lipsey, M.W., 2000)
10 - Reading Research for Students with LD: A Meta-Analysis of Intervention Outcomes(Swanson, H.L., 1999)
11 - School-Based Interventions to Enhance the Self-Concept of Students with Learning Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis(Elbaum, B., & Vaughn, S., 2001)
12 - Searching for the Best Model for Instructing Students with Learning Disabilities
(Swanson, H.L., 2001)
13 - Students with Learning Disabilities and the Process of Writing: A Meta-Analysis of SRSD Studies(Graham, S., & Harris, K. R., 2003)
14 - Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction. Chapter 2: Alphabetics
(National Reading Panel, 2000)
15 - Teaching Expressive Writing to Students with Learning Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis
(Gersten, R., & Baker, S., 2001)
16 - Teaching Expressive Writing to Students with Learning Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis
(Gersten, R., & Baker, S., 2001)

Off Topic: Here's a Long List of Downloadable TV Theme Songs (Useless Web Stuff)

I realize this post has nothing to do with this blog, but sometimes the random things found on the web are just too hard to pass up.  On this website you can download dozens of TV theme songs -- everything from the A Team to X Men with Batman, Gilligan's Island, Monty Python, Speed Racer, and many others in between.  Enjoy.

Perhaps They are not Stars

“Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.”

- Eskimo Proverb

Melissa Christopher Crawford

April 3, 1967 - May 20, 2000

The Comptroller Weighs in on the 65% Rule: Blasts Proposed Implementation

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has issued a strongly worded letter to TEA Commissioner Shirley Neeley blasting the proposed implementation of the 65% Rule as "a huge unfunded state mandate."  She concludes her letter

Therefore, on behalf of educators, parents, and the school children of Texas, I ask you to recognize this for what it is -- bad policy -- and withdraw the proposed rule amendment.

As I have previously posted many times, my concern with the implementation of the 65% Rule is in the definition of "in the classroom" expenses, and I have advocated including all student support services, including counselors and campus leadership, in that definition.

The Comptroller's letter:

Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn's Letter to Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley 

May 19, 2006

Shirley J. Neeley, Ed.D
Commissioner
Texas Education Agency
1701 North Congress Avenue, Suite 2-185
Austin, Texas  78701-1402

Dear Commissioner Neeley:

On March 30, 2006, I sent you a letter voicing my strong opposition to the Governor's so-called "65% Rule," and most particularly to the proposal to embed it in the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST), the school district financial accountability system I recommended in my 1999 report, Challenging the Status Quo (ED 4).

Houston West Chamber of Commerce Awards Luncheon: Spring Branch Sweeps the Educational Partnership Awards and One of Our Teachers was Named the Secondary School Teacher of the Year

I attended today's Houston West Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year and Educational Partnership Awards Luncheon.  During this annual Luncheon, the Chamber presents the Christa McAuliffe In Search of Excellence Award to an elementary, secondary, and post-secondary teacher "who the Chamber feels best exemplify the spirit, energy, enthusiasm and love of learning that are synonymous with Christa McAuliffe.  The Chamber also awards three businesses "that deserve recognition for their contributions to education.

The Houston West Chamber includes 4 school districts -- Spring Branch, Katy, Alief, and Houston.

Spring Branch businesses swept the business awards with Truemark Lending, Inc., getting the award for businesses with 1 to 25 employees, Kirksey Architecture getting the award for businesses with 26 to 150 employees, and First Community Credit Union getting the award for businesses with over 150 employees.

And then, Spring Branch's Patty Nilsson, a teacher at the Guthrie Center and last year's SBISD Secondary Teacher of the Year, was given the Christa McAuliffe In Search of Excellence Award for Secondary teacher.

What a great day for Spring Branch and its business partners!

College Grads Back in Demand: Another Study Supports the Value of College

Today's USA Today has an article that adds additional support to the importance and value of a college degree.  The article cites a study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) which found that the average starting salary offer for accounting degree graduates is up 5.4% over last spring, to $46,188, while salary offers for computer-engineering graduates are up 5.3%, to $54,200.

“It's the best (college job market) in four years,” says Andrea Koncz at NACE, a Bethlehem, Pa.-based provider of information on the college job market. “With the economy improving, there is more demand for college grads. It's across the board.”

The article also cites a study by the Graduate Management Admission Council that found that recruiters plan to hire 18% more MBAs this year than in 2004, with total compensation, with benefits and bonuses, now at $99,737, up from $77,066 in 2004. One out of two MBAs is getting a signing bonus.

I have previously posted (here and here) about the value of a college and post-graduate degree.  USA Today's increased salaries only further quantify that value.

I Guess It's not an Option After All: Texas Attorney General Tells Boerne ISD It Must Make Its Robin Hood Payment

I previously posted about Boerne ISD's decision to withhold its Robin Hood payment.  Today the Attorney General's office issued its opinion (.pdf) in which the AG says

The Texas Supreme Court held in West Orange Cove II last year that the current school finance system (is unconstitutional).  In so doing, the Supreme Court affirmed the injunction of the (trial) court under which the State will be precluded fromj giving effect to Chapters 41 and 42 of the Texas Education Code if the Legislature fails to remedy the constitutional violation.

The Supreme Court then extended the deadline for the Legislature to remedy the violation to June 1, 2006.  Before June 1, therefore, no injunction is in force, and Chapter 41 of the Education Code -- which compels the District to make its recapture payments to the TEA -- remains in full effect.

After June 1, the Boerne ISD could be relieved of its obligations under Chapter 41 if and only if the injunction were ultimately to take effect.  And the injunction would take effect only if the Texs Supreme Court were to find that the Legislature failed to correct the constitutional violation.

Accordingly, the Boerne ISD must continue to make the payments required by Chapter 41 . . . unless and until the Supreme Court were (1) to hold that any action taken by the Legislature was insufficient to remedy the constitutional violation, and (2) to enter or allow a present injunction against the operation of Chapters 41 and 42 of the Education Code.

Boerne ISD's payment was due on May 15, so in essence, the AG is saying that even though the system may be enjoined in 2 weeks, Boerne must make its payment because there is no injuction in force today.  I applaud Boerne for shedding light on the significant problems with the Robin Hood system.  Good try Boerne!

UPDATE: Boerne ISD has issued this press release (.pdf) in response to the AG's decision.