May 14, 2013
Dear President Needham, Board colleagues and Mr. Dansby.
Following are my goals for the FWISD strategic plan and 2013-14 budget.
Restoration of Class Size increments. A recent article comments that African American and Hispanic children receive twice the academic gains from smaller classes as white children.[1] Our first task is to use increased state funding to replace money taken from students’ classes in 2012-13.[2]
Reform of substitute program. For too long FWISD has cheated our students by providing insufficient numbers of substitute teachers for teachers who are taken out for workshops or for personal business or illness. The current shortage is one empty classroom for every eight teacher absences.
Student Achievement. Where possible, the strategic plan must present goals for student achievementas measured by a reliable test and averaged for several grades which extend over elementary, middle and high school. Measuring student achievement is necessarily fraught with problems, both because of the unreliability of the measures for individual students and the fact that most courses are not testable. Also, because Texas’s state-mandated tests have shifting passing rates, they are not suitable for assessing student progress. The Stanford 10, currently used by the district, is suitable.
Elimination of many district-mandated tests. Principals and teachers know best how much to require students to prepare. The district must not require schools to test children and submit scores except where mandated by state and federal law.
Increase in number of available schools of choice. District data indicates over 1000 students are on waiting lists for the district’s programs of choice and schools of choice, including over 700 for schools of choice. We have several traditional schools with large numbers of openings. I recommend we consider converting one of these to a school of choice. I particularly favor a District 6 school, as there are many parents here who would welcome such an opportunity, including many homeschoolers.
Inclusion of complete staffing ratios for school sites in district budget. Staffing ratios, including ratios for the ALCs, Montessori and YWLA and YMLA must be part of the budget because they form the core of the budget (approximately 55%, or $330 million).
Inclusion of salary schedule and list of employee positions in district budget. Both the Arlington and Dallas budgets include these (and also staffing ratios); they are necessary to maintain control of costs and would have prevented the expenditure of $820,000 in increased central office salaries without board approval.
[1] Leonie Haimson and Diane Ravitch, “Unequal Schools.” The Nation, May 6, 2013, pp. 41-43.
[2] This year the district increased our classroom staffing ratios by approximately 7% district wide, eliminating about $20 million in teacher slots without either community input or board approval. At the same time, funding for auxiliary positions and central office staff increased by $5 million. This is controllable via the budget, which is the board responsibility.