This is a message to the members of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) from Charlie Kyte, outgoing Executive Director.
On the Road with Charlie, July 26, 2011 from MASA on Vimeo.
The video and audio podcast above are each about 7 minutes long.
K-12 EDUCATION BILL.... THE GOOD AND THE BAD:
We have complained a lot about the 60-40 school aid shift. While most of us will figure out a way to borrow money and get by, the ramifications for the state are larger. By delaying school aids, the state has put off a final solution to their budget problems for another two years and will be back revisiting the same situation again. This is poor public policy!
On the other hand there were several policy changes in the K-12 Ed Bill that were positive steps forward. We saw some mandate relief, some funding flexibility and a fairly thoughtful way to move forward on teacher evaluations and integration aid.
There was also some new money in the Bill. Beside small increases in the foundation aid, the new funding for small schools and for positive literacy results are positive news for school districts.
CHANGES UNDERWAY IN OTHER STATES:
I just returned from a meeting of the other state association executives and had a chance to hear about changes in other states. On reflection, the changes in Minnesota’s K-12 Bill are much better thought out and less radical than we are seeing in other states.
As an example, Michigan just signed into law the complete elimination of tenure and we all know about the changes in neighboring Wisconsin. Many states saw outright reductions in school aids.
MDE SUPERINTENDENTS CONFERENCE.... A ‘MUST’ ATTEND:
The changes in the K-12 Bill are the largest we have seen in a dozen years. Several of these changes are phased in and it is important that every school leader become versed on what the changes in finance and policy actually mean to their schools.
Thus it is VERY important for every Superintendent, and indeed all MASA members, to attend the MDE Summer Superintendents Conference on August 9 and 10. It will be at the Northland Inn and MASA is facilitating the registration on behalf of the MDE.
Registration materials are on the MASA website (www.mnasa.org). They are the third item in the main section.
TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL EVALUATIONS:
The K-12 Ed Bill contains a pretty good process to bring quality professional evaluations on line in Minnesota. While some Districts already have well developed systems, many do not. We will begin with annual evaluations of Principals this year and a stepped up program of mentoring and evaluation of non-tenured teachers.
Over the next year a stakeholders group will create a template for doing tenure teacher evaluations and a second year will allow us to train supervisors to do these evaluations in a professional way. The actual annual evaluations will begin after this introduction period. One new provision is that student academic growth needs to account for about 35% of an evaluation. This will be a challenge to do, but is far superior to the original requirement of 50% based on test scores.
Overall, the new evaluation provisions have a good chance to move the quality of our educators forward over time.
MANDATE RELIEF:
The K-12 Ed Bill contains several mandate relief provisions and well as more flexibility on how a District uses their funds. The 2% Staff Development set aside has been waived for 2 more years, the MOE for support professional staff has been repealed and the January 15th negotiation penalty has been repealed as well. The population required for a District to be required to have a licensed Community Education Director has been raised.
With these changes also comes a responsibility for school district managers to act responsibly. We should continue to invest in the professional development of staffs, try to get negotiations concluded as soon as possible and to keep a fair balance of professional employees to serve the needs of Minnesota’s students.
THIS IS MY LAST ‘ON THE ROAD’ MESSAGE:
Gary Amoroso is now on the job as director of MASA. Thus this will be my last ‘On the Road’ message. Gary is taking over the communications with our members from this point forward. I’ve enjoyed doing these communications and hope you have found them helpful.
It's great to hear from you and see what you've been up to. In your blog I feel your enthusiasm for life. thank you.
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