Great Opportunity

We have a number of great organizations in Riverside that support our community, our youth, and our schools.  Recently, we had the integration of 2 of them.  Annually the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce sponsors their year-long leadership program which culminates in a community project sponsored by the members of their class/team.  THIS year the group is undertaking a project to raise money for our education foundation (REEF -- Riverside Educational Enrichment Foundation)  along with the Alvord USD education foundation.

This year's project is the Citrus Classic Bike Ride on Sunday, October 17th in Riverside, of course.  The Citrus Classic slogan is:  Education -- Ride of a Lifetime.  As a rider you have a choice of options from the Kiddie Ride to 101 mile Century Ride (with middle distances of 7, 27, and 54 mile rides).   So with all those options there is something there for ALL of us (actually I am thinking of one of middle distances for myself).  AND it supports REEF and our students.

Sandy Ramirez, and several other Leadership Riverside attendees have brought this to my attention.  I am planning to be there and I hope that you and your family will be there as well.  It should be a great time.  You can see the options and sign-up for this event at:  http://www.riversideca.gov/citrusclassic/

Budget

July 1st had come and gone, and of course, there is predictably no state budget. In fact, Sacramento has essentially shut down to go “home” for the holidays and the month of July – though they can be “called back” if there is a need for discussion and action. Essentially the process begins to move to the negotiations and mechanizations of the “Big 5.” Essentially this group consists of the Governor and 2 leading Democrats and 2 leading Republicans from both houses of the Legislature.


The fact is, there is NO budget in sight, with most prognosticators thinking that August would be an EARLY answer to the state budget and the more likely scenario being late summer or possibly early fall – when the state begins to run out of cash (which kinda’ forces the issue). In the interim, predictably state employees will face any number of difficult actions including being paid with vouchers (or the like).

With an approximately $20 billion deficit along with this being an election year (November) – it is not surprising that we have a delay and are likely to be faced with attempts to “kick the can down the road” for others to figure out. This circumstance is further affected by the fact that a number of the key players are also “termed out” with someone new coming to replace them.

Probably what is most critical, regardless of your politics or view, is a real solution for the California budget and state economy. All the “tricks” and “smoke and mirrors” have been tried unsuccessfully – it is time for California’s Executive and Legislative leadership to articulate a new vision of what we need to do to regain our leadership and performance in the national and international discussion.

At the local level, our budget started on July 1st (with the new budget and school year) and we are spending inside the budget year based on our adopted budget projections – but really without fully understanding what we will or won’t receive from the state of California. We are NOT currently in any short-term financial danger, but we will surely be negatively affected by the state’s final budget adoption. There are already proposals and discussions of shifting this and that – all of which results in additional responsibility and financial pressure on local school districts.

Stay tuned for an interesting summer as we watch Sacramento with anticipation.

National Standards

National standards has certainly begun to dominate the conversation in education circles everywhere.  Here in California the evolution of national standards also continues, as there has been legislation already enacted (in January) that says California will adopt such. So the only question that remains is WHICH of the national standards we in California will embrace. As such, the Governor has appointed a commission ()Academic Content Standards Commission) of interested parties, including some teachers, to address the issue.
We are blessed in that one of the teachers appointed to the commission is our own Steve Dunlap that most recently taught at our Highland Elementary School this past year. Due, unfortunately to the budget issues and impacts, Steve will be moving to the secondary level – though I am sure he will well. Steve was appointed by the Governor in June to serve in this capacity. Steve is very interested in providing standards for California that are solid and functional. Additionally, he is interested in representing the interests of those of us in Riverside and Inland Empire.

This commission is an assignment that will be fast-paced and intense. I hope that you will contact Steve and share your thoughts and interests with him so that he has a broad-base of information and perspectives regarding this important matter that will influence our future for some time to come.

Riverside in the Future

I had the pleasure of attending a meeting in LA hosted by the Secretary of Education, Bonnie Reiss, earlier this week, along with Tracy Arner. We were there along with major publishers, representatives from selected technology companies, and representatives from LA Unified, Long Beach Unified, and Fresno Unified. The topic of the meeting was Digital Textbooks and how we in California will handle that matter in the future as we progress and face the new instructional challenges of our time. The discussion seemed particularly relevant given the ongoing development/distribution of new delivery commercial mechanisms (e.g., Kindle, iPad, Nook, iPhone, etc.).
The issue of digital texts is really expanding (in the meeting and beyond) to utilization of "interactive “textbooks” and instructional materials. The first generation of materials had a “2D” look (e.g., pdf documents) and replicated textbooks online rather than being “hardcopy.” This discussion and its results begins to look more like a diversity of electronic options that would include: narrative/text, audio podcasts, video representations (like You Tube or Teacher Tube), along with possible feedback options. This “3D” approach also provides for the text itself to be enhanced – much like you might currently find with Wikipedia (i.e., keywords hyperlinked to additional explanation). All in all, this is a much different experience for students and teachers. The point is that this type of reality is more than just possible, it is happening – and not just limited to California.

The reason we were invited to the meeting was due to the great work of many of our teachers and support staff that are actually implementing these solutions in our classrooms this past year. That effort will expand to an even greater degree in the coming year with the additional outside financial and computer support provided to Riverside USD. All of this will provide a much more exciting and engaging future for our students.

Facilities and Construction

In the midst of very difficult budget times, we continue to have funds that can only support providing additional facilities for our students and staff. As many of you know, we have lots of students and teachers in temporary classroom facilities. We currently have a number of projects that provide work for our local construction industry and families while providing new permanent classrooms for our students.

As has been stated before, these construction bond funds (by law) can ONLY be used for construction of capital facilities and NOT for operational purposes. This is like bad news (can’t deflect our layoffs with this money) and good news (we can improve our classrooms for students).  Additionally, these projects support our local citizens and businesses in the construction industry.

These projects are currently under construction at Pachappa Elementary School, Central Middle School, Emerson Elementary School, and Mt. View Elementary School. I am including some quick pictures with the idea that possibly a picture is worth 1000 words.

Enjoy!


Pachappa Library and Classrooms

Central Middle School MPR

The King HS Field begins to take shape

Mountain View Library

Emerson Classrooms and Library

More Jobs

Good news from last night!!  After a looong day of negotiations (finishing in the evening) there is an agreement for CSEA/Classified furloughs (5 days) that will restore many classified positions across the District.  I appreciate the efforts of the combined team and their continued focus to get to the best solution possible.  Now we will all move to the ratification process in the most expedited way possible.

Okay, okay ...

You are right, I have been remiss and have not posted to this blog as I should.  It seems with the end of the year I have been up to my ears and beyond with projects, commitments, etc.  As several of you have pointed out, I have not posted since June 10th.  Sorry, I will do better and get back on track.

Best regards,

Rick

And OUT of the Darkness Comes…

I am reminded that when things get dark and cloudy in the mountains and it looks very foreboding – there comes light and brilliance as we approach the goal. So through the darkness we can suddenly see the mountain goal in its brilliance.

While things certainly have been dismal with budget issues, state funding, etc. in the past months …I am reminded here as well that there is brilliance in the midst of this all. If any of you doubt that, I wish that you had attended the commencement exercises (a culmination of 12+ years) at our high schools in the past several nights. We have extraordinary students that are doing extraordinary things – and often with extraordinary stories of perseverance and overcoming – thanks to their teachers and families.

Last night (much as in prior evenings this week) it was a collage of great student music, “graduating” (retiring) staff members, inspiring student speeches, diplomas, and Junior Class ushers waiting their turn. Of course, all topped off with a dance of joy and glee between students and faculty in total celebration. If it doesn’t make it to YouTube – it should, as it was total and appropriate exuberance.

Congratulations to all of our teachers & staff and the graduating students!

So Now It Is Official

On Friday, our 4 elementary schools that have been recognized as 2010 California Distinguished Schools officially received their plaques and designation from California Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell. It was especially gratifying to have our own California Teacher of the Year, Amber Carrow (Chemawa teacher), announce each of our four schools. 

It is always good when we have others recognize the great work and performance of our teachers and school staff. The California Distinguished School Award process is much more rigorous than in earlier times. The process starts with a “nomination” based on performance data, which is followed by an “application” from the school describing their “signature practices.” That application is reviewed and a smaller number of schools are selected for “validation visits” where CDE representatives come to your school for the day to review and validate the substance of those identified practices. Finally, there is a subsequent selection of the California Distinguished Schools. This year, there is a comprehensive listing of signature practices (from California Distinguished Schools) from across the state by various attributes – which provides a mechanism for sharing best practice.

Congratulations to the school, parents, students, and staff of each of our 4 California Distinguished Schools:

• Benjamin Franklin Elementary
• Mark Twain Elementary
• George Washington Elementary
• Woodcrest Elementary

Let the Graduations Begin

Yesterday morning the Board of Education voted in favor of all the RCTA agreements presented and will have the MOU for ratification on Monday, June 14th. 

However, the main event of the year began last night with the graduation for 20 students in the Project TEAM program at the Adult School.  Kudos to both the students and the staff for their diligence and mutual caring.  Great performance and great culmination to their work.

Monday, we will begin with all the high school graduations and middle school promotions.  In all the cases, the culminating activity not only for the students and their families, but for the staff and what they have been working on all year -- or even all decade.  I am looking forward to those activities that I will be able to attend (can't make them all due to duplication of times).

So What Does This All Mean?

I trust that as you read this, the School Board has today done the following:

• Rescinded most of the 7-12 RIF notices such that we have the normal contractual staffing levels
• Had a public disclosure of the MOU (ratification will come on June 14th) that was ratified by RCTA last week, and
• Hopefully, approved the ERIP based on mutual determination of how it will be paid for (it was not cost neutral).

Which I am sure raises the question with many of you (and with me) – where are we then in the restoration of the many certificated employees that have been notified of possible layoff (RIF). THAT is not an easy question as there are multiple variables and many moving parts in that equation. However, let me make an attempt at it realizing that this is an estimate (not a specific) and I will probably be close, but not perfect.

We started with notices that affected 455 people – in a variety of categories including teachers, counselors, administrators, librarians, etc.  What is included herein is based on people not FTE (Full Time Equivalents), as this is an issue that obviously impacts people not statistics.

455 Original notices of possible lay off
-90 Notices that were rescinded in early May based on: resignations, retirements, leaves of absence, etc.
=======================
365 Balance
-74 Rescission of RIF notices to secondary teachers
=======================
291 Balance
-56 Rescission's based on the MOU that will affect some elementary teachers and librarians
=======================
235 Balance
-64 Rescission's based on the possible retirements reflected in the ERIP
=======================
171 Balance
-43 Rescission's based on reduction/elimination of credential impacts
=======================
128 Balance

Huge progress has been made on a very difficult task. While none of us can quite imagine the size of the problem when we began, together we have been able to make a sizable dent in the problem. However, 128 left with NO rescission is too many, AND it is still clear that this causes genuine damage to our schools:

• to what happens every day in schools and what resources are available to our students
• to staff members and families that still are in layoff status
• to the future unless these agreements are extended …as this is only a 1 year (2010-2011) agreement

The related question is – if my RIF notice has been (will be) rescinded – where will I be placed for an assignment? Clearly, our interest is to maintain as much stability as possible and as such NOT move people unless absolutely necessary. However, again the situation is effected by many variables including: how many staff are allocated to a particular site; rules, contracts, and policies governing this situation; specifics regarding each individual (e.g., credential and seniority); etc. Bottom line, probably the key determiner will be seniority.

In any case, thank you all for your work and cooperation to moving these issues forward.

R and R

I hope that you all had a great weekend and Memorial Day. Hopefully, you took time to remember the purpose and meaning of Memorial Day within the holiday gala. I had the great pleasure of “getting away” with my son and going to where I can best gain perspective – the High Sierras – hopefully above 10,000’ – “Woo Who”. Day one we saw 7 people and on day two we saw 4 people. It was great and restful – hopefully it was the same for you.

For those that are interested, I don’t usually look like my standard blog portrait (above), but rather more like the picture to the right.

It was also a time for catching up on some reading and reflection. Had the opportunity to read The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey. It was an interesting read that talks about the requirement of trust in a global, 21st century environment.

Furloughs

I extend my most ecstatic congratulations to RCTA and the certificated staff of our District that have agreed to furloughs to save the positions of our fellow employees. This past Friday RCTA passed their ratification of furloughs in excess of 82%. This adds to the furloughs that have agreed to by our administrators and managers in the District. The School Board will have public disclosure of the RCTA agreement (public disclosure is by law required 10 days before ratification) on Thursday, June 3rd. They will then ratify the MOU with RCTA on June 14th (after the prescribed disclosure period and review by the county office). We are hopeful that there will be more good news as the data from the ERIP is being considered.

We are in difficult and unusual times indeed!! Who would have ever thought we would need to take such action to do the right thing for each other and for the well being of our public education institution?

The budget and funding issues from the state level continue to be a mess and RTTT continues to border on the bizarre -- and we are left to attempt to do what is best for our students as well as the rest of us.

Realizing that time is drawing close to the end of the year; I know that there are lots of questions about what will happen to people's jobs and lots of other things. While there rarely are answers as quickly and clearly as we would hope, we do need to work with as much energy and focus as we can muster to find and deliver those answers. As such, I want you as readers to be aware that there is a Special Board Meeting that has been scheduled to as expeditiously as possible give answers to some of the pressing questions such as: 1) the MOU with RCTA that can save certain ELEMENTARY (primarily) certificated positions and 2) restoration of Secondary staffing levels that will bring back many that have received notices of possible layoff.

Many of these issues cannot be resolved until there is a formal action of the Board and there are certainly rules, laws, and requirements regarding how those meetings are structured and function. As such, the first meeting regarding the MOU on June 3rd meets the legal requirement to "disclose" the financial impacts of the agreement. There will then be a second meeting on June 14th to actually approve the furlough/elementary teacher MOU (this is similar to what you saw on some of the earlier MOU agreements).

This is hurtful to fine people and their families to go through these horrific budget impacts handed down from the State. They involve all of our employees including classified, certificated, and management. We have been and continue to work with all due diligence to gain solutions as quickly and accurately as possible.

Budgets and Early Retirement

As many of you might be aware, there is now a 3rd Early Retirement Incentive Program (ERIP) discussion taking place. On the negotiations update website, there is a copy of the current discussion. It should be noted that this is NOT actually an agreement.  It is a mechanism to reduce the assumptions and determine if there is some workable ERIP that is possible at this time. While we would hope that it works, you will notice that section 6.0 points out that when the data is collected, there will be a determination as to whether it is cost effective (IF it is not then it won’t be done). You will also notice that we must utilize transfer options to make this ERIP plan workable (currently there appears to be over 20 positions that may require such an action to make this effective).  Additionally, if the plan does not prove cost effective then those that make indicated they might retire may rescind their retirement.

In like kind, there have been and continue to be discussions about the possibility of furlough days, salary changes, etc.  As been reported on the Negotiations Update, there appears to be possible RCTA agreement over furloughs, etc that would move us to the ratification and public disclosure process (a specified legal procedure).  There is a similar CSEA possible agreement as well.

Ultimately, it is my opinion (and everyone else is entitled to their opinion), that the only way out of this budgetary mess created by the state – is for all of us to take in some equitable manner salary reductions. The fact is our funding level has reverted back to the 2000-2001 level – we have lost 10 years of funding. While this is by no means comfortable for any of us, it will only be all of us together that can make this work and succeed for our students and community.

Margaret Mead may have stated it best, when applied to our situation, she said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” On the other hand, she did not indicate nor would I that it would either be easy or simple.

California Funding of Public Schools

To continue the discussion of the Robles-Wong v California, there are interesting “beyond California” perspectives in the Washington Post and NY Times. While this is a big splash it will quickly go to a quiet, court-laden process. The more interesting question will be how any or all the candidates for State office will respond to the issue: either IN the campaign OR once elected to office. This is about the future of education and funding in California – not quick answers!!
An interesting book that is due for publication any day is Smart Money by Jacob Adams. He and his colleagues from a policy perspective ask, “How do you use resources to realize ambitious goals?” Within that question they believe there are four components:

1. How much money will it take? – the adequacy question
2. Are the resources equitable?
1. In state
2. Across states – which has never been looked at before
3. Are the resources used productively?
1. Within the using of resources
1. We typically and exclusively have measured compliance within budget categories rather than effectiveness
2. But the real question is have we used the resources effectively (On a policy basis, we don’t have much information as NO one has really ever researched this from that perspective)
4. Do we account for the resources within the ambitious goals that have been established (did it make a difference?)?

It might be an interesting read for Legislators

Lawsuit Filed

In an era when we see budget woes all around us and certainly we are all aware of how those issues affect our students, our families, and our programs in RUSD, what can we do?  In that regard it has been an interesting week. On Wednesday afternoon there was a demonstration on Olivewood and 14th by CSEA trying to point to the problem and encourage local citizens to be proactive in contacting their legislators to do something to assist our schools and students. That is certainly a move in the right direction.

On Thursday, there were press conferences in both San Francisco and Sacramento announcing a historic class action-style lawsuit (Robles-Wong v. California) against the State of California based on the long-standing inadequacy of funding for California schools. We, as RUSD along with parents and students in the community have joined with PTA, ACSA, and CSBA in filing this suit challenging the constitutionality of the current situation.  The challenge is that the funding process is "irrational, unstable, and insufficient" funding for the 21st century challenges.

There has been news coverage at a local, State, and national level regarding the suit and its relevance.  Clearly, this type of matter is not a quick fix and not a fix for our current budgetary situation -- rather a challenge to the basic system AND an opportunity to fundamentally change the system itself.  The resolution of such a suit will obviously take time (years) but is essential to the long-term health and well-being of California citizens.  Failure to invest in our students is a failure to invest in our future and ourselves.

If you are interested in more detail about the suit -- either now or in the future, you can find the original documents along with much more on the web at:  http://www.fixschoolfinance.org/

Monday Night's Board meeting

Okay so I am not particularly emotional and demonstrative about things that occur (at least as my family tells me). That being said, I was moved to a fairly emotional state on Monday night with our regular School Board meeting. We had each of the high school AVID (Achievement Via Individual Determination) programs come forward and introduce approximately 10 of their AVID students and then one of those students shared their story and dreams.

The student stories were all about overcoming, persevering, and the strength of the AVID “family.” The personal experiences of these students were borne of situations such as: immigration, arrival speaking only a language other than English, poverty, child protective services, adults that didn’t believe, and overall difficult life situations.

Enter passionate, dedicated educators at the elementary, middle school, and high schools – that made a huge difference and even saved lives. If those in Sacramento are wondering about their investment in public education in California – they need only to visit with our AVID students and hear their stories. Thank you all!!

FASTER, Faster, faster...

This is always the time of the year when we are hurried, rushed, and pressed. It is the annual race to graduation (or the end of the school year). Between Spring break and graduation week (June 7th through 11th) it gets increasingly intense each week with testing, wrapping up units, trying to “get it all in” before the end of the year, and less and less sleep. Graduation (and commencement) is not only the ultimate education exercise for students, but also for us as educators.  This year has been and will be no different in that regard. We are now just 3 weeks away from that culminating week and the last day of school on June 10th – the pace picks up. Thank you all for your urgent and brisk work at this time of the year on behalf of our students.

May Revise

We have been waiting in anticipation for some time for the May Revise to determine what further impacts that we would have on our local RUSD budget. The Governor released his budget on Friday at 1 p.m. Generally the news is bad, as there is dramatic impact with a number of state programs. However, in the arena of public education the Governor’s May Revision is GREAT – overall there is basically no change from his January proposal and commitment to “protect education.” While analysis is still going on he seems to have lived up to his promise. That is certainly great news for all of us.

The next question is what the Legislature will do in adopting a budget?  Most prognosticators are indicating that there will be a substantial debate over all of this and we should NOT expect the May Revise to hold. While I am a bit more optimistic than that, I am clear that the Legislature does not like the large reductions or eliminations in the social programs. On the other hand, I don’t believe they wish to impose further reductions (beyond the Governor’s recommendations) – particularly in an election year.

All that being said, it should be an interesting summer.