The Dream has ended- but not quite

The Dream is Ended- but not quite.

I received a birthday gift in 1992.   It was the book, Horace’s School.  From that gift came a seismic shift in the way The Harbour School would go forward.  Horace’s School was written by Theodore R. Sizer.  It is about a fictitious school and faculty.  The book depicts the staff’s struggle to make their school more relevant to the students.   In the end the faculty decides upon an approach that does not measure learning by tests, but rather by what the students can DO to demonstrate what they have learned.   A rather radical concept for our school and for all schools at that time.

Out of that concept came a group that today includes 150 schools that have agreed to adhere to the coalition’s ten principles of what schools should be.   The principles are impressive.

After I read the book, I thought- we could do that!   Harbour never joined the Coalition of Essential Schools.   It was expensive and required a commitment that we could not afford.  But we did adopt and adapt the principles.

Over a period of five to six years, faculty determined what we wanted our students to be able to DO once they left our school.  These became our Global Competencies and were identified in our first year.  What is so intriguing is that 24 years later those competencies are still relevant and just as critical today as they were then.  Perhaps some even more so, such as the competency that students would be able to use media to get correct information.  Once we had the Global Competencies we kept scaffolding backwards from graduation, to high school, to middle school and finally to lower school.  At each level, we asked and identified, what students needed to do in order to reach the next level of skill.

This approach has served our students and our school well.  Our annual graduation survey shows that each year about 93-94% of our graduates are either in post-secondary education, working or both.  These results are far better than any other post-graduation surveys that are out there.

While The Harbour School has blossomed using this approach, The Coalition of Essential Schools has not.   The Board has decided to end the Coalition.   Part of the problem is that the current schools’ climate would be abhorrent to Sizer.  He believed that teachers were professionals and that they needed to meet the needs of students not the central office.  He would never have allowed tests to measure what kids learn.

The Coalition is no more.  That part of the dream is ended.  But the belief in kids and teachers and teaching students for a better life rather than a better test score lives on in many places- including The Harbour School.

Honoring character when it is in low supply

Honoring Character when it is in low supply.

As an educator, teaching character is one of the most important things that I do.  I believe it is one of the most significant end products of a good education.  In today’s climate, it is difficult to make the case for the importance of good character, when all around us people who are supposed to be our leaders are demonstrating poor character and mocking the good character in others.

Each of us lives in a box of our own experience or choosing. How we each got in our box varies by individual.   Some of us made poor decisions.  Others may have had negative events happen to us through no fault of our own.  Still others may have worked very hard to create the best box imaginable. Many people have had opportunities that have allowed them to build a good box.  Other people have managed to build wonderful boxes by making their own opportunities.   For some the quality of the box is measured by the number of dollars one has amassed to put in the box. A great space or a challenged space, our box is still our comfort zone.  

 No matter how wonderful the box, a person should not stay within those confines. The number of windows and doors in that box will determine the quality of our lives.  Coming out of our box helps to build character.  The more we explore beyond our box we see the character of others and that everyone is a variation of ourselves.

People with good character have a moral core.  That moral core does not belong to any one faith.  Indeed, it may not be a part of any organized faith at all.  We need to see other human beings as people who have wants and needs just as we do.  Who, on some scale, struggle to achieve the same things- good health, safety (physical and emotional), food, shelter and freedom to become whatever our talents lead us to.  We must see and respect the kernel of dignity in all of us. 

In the middle of the night, when fear is often rearing its ugly head, we all need a hand to hold; whether that hand is physically present or figuratively present in some special relationship.  It is something that cannot be purchased.  It is earned by the good character that creates connections with others.  We may think that power is important; that character does not matter.  But power has a very short shelf life.  Character is enduring.  If you ignore the circumstances of others because of your vaulted position, what kind of person are you?

We must teach our children to reach out to a hand that may be trembling.  The time may come when that trembling hand is yours and you will be grateful to whomever provides comfort to you.

Gambling on Good Schools

Gambling on Good Schools

Fact:  Maryland is the wealthiest state in the nation based on typical household income. ($75,847)  Fact: Marylanders were sold on the concept of casinos and gambling in Maryland because the money was going to go into the Education Trust Fund.  Fact: In the last seven years, income from gambling has pumped 1.7 billion dollars into the Education Trust Fund.  Fact: Maryland was ranked #1 in the nation in the quality of its schools for several years in a row.  Now it is #5.  Still pretty good.  Fact: Maryland does the best job in the country of even funding of education throughout the state.  At least it did up until a couple of years ago.

Now for the rest of the story.  While it is very true that 1.7 billion dollars have gone into education from the gambling enterprises, it is also true that this money has been used to supplant the state money that used to go into education.  That money has gone into salaries, roadwork and to support other government services.  So even though a lot of money is coming in, a similar amount is going out the other end and not to schools.   Sort of like a funnel.  In fact, Baltimore City, one of the most strapped districts in the state, has actually received less money, not more, and it stands to lose another 42 million under the Governor’s latest FY 18 budget.  And it has the Horseshoe casino right downtown. 

One of the reasons Maryland has received credit in the past for having the most equitable spending is that Maryland has had an adjustment fund in addition to the mandated maintenance of effort funding required by law.  This additional fund gave extra money to school districts such as Montgomery County that has a very high cost of living.  It also gave supplementary funds to the poorer school districts to help them to compensate for lower local revenues.  Last year, even though the State Legislature found the money to fund this compensatory fund, the Governor refused to allocate the funds.   For the FY18 budget there are no monies appropriated for this fund. 

The law that allowed the casinos required the profits to go toward school funding BUT that law did NOT require that the funds would need to increase state funding for education.  And indeed, the profits have not.  Instead the money has been used to supplant funding.   Because the school state funding mandate requires the Governor to allocate more money to schools each year, he can assert that his budget has allocated more money than every other governor.  That will be true next year and the year after that, regardless of who is governor unless the Legislature changes the law, which is not likely.  

The casinos can continue to advertise that the profits from casino gambling are pumping millions of dollars into state education.  This is true.  Not the casinos fault that the Governor is using those funds to take the place of State funds, leaving schools no better off.   In fact, in 2011, before gambling, Maryland spent $31 billion, 21% of its overall budget.  Today with gambling, the State spends just 18% of its budget on education.

Maryland is the wealthiest state in the union.  Why does it need to play a shell game and gamble with our kids’ education?