[Vision2020] School Board gives nod to March levy; Voters will determine fat

[keely emerinemix]

Ooooh, ooohh -- I know this one!

Post Falls is one of a handful of districts statewide experiencing 
phenomenal growth.  And the administration of public schools, particularly 
in light of the confusion and occasional chaos surrounding No Child Left 
Behind and various other changes in requirements, is vital to keep schools 
doing what the State and the Feds say they need to do in areas of 
curriculum, standards, assessment, reporting, special ed services, 
nutrition, etc.  There are very real penalties for getting this stuff wrong 
-- and private schools like Logos aren't held to the requirements, with the 
dollars and other strings attached, that MSD is.  Beyond that, MSD voters 
have approved previous levies for things like smaller class sizes, which are 
considered to be beneficial to children.  It hardly seems fair to penalize 
them for that.

Private schools could spend $47.35 per student per year and teach whatever 
they want, as long as their constituent marketplace foots the bill; public 
schools have very little freedom in choosing what to teach.  Private schools 
can choose to accept only higher-achieving kids, as long as they don't 
discriminate against protected classes; public schools accept all children 
and willingly do whatever they can to educate them.  Private schools can 
operate with significant, near-seamless autonomy; public schools are subject 
to tremendous control from stakeholders and the government.  Last, private 
schools have the luxury of answering only to their constituent families and 
choosing to not work with families they deem not sufficiently committed to 
the particular vision of the school; public schools can't "opt out" of 
things that draw criticism when those things are mandates, and they can't 
dismiss children or their parents if they get troublesome.

Here's another way to put it:  there's no "bozo filter" operating in the 
schools.

I don't intend to spend another winter and spring defending MSD, as I did 
two years ago -- but I will continue to argue that public schools are an 
inherent good in society, and all of us in Moscow have particular reason to 
be enthusiastic in supporting them, because we have a school district that 
stands head-and-shoulders above so many others.

keely

Please vote to support the levy increase --


From: heirdoug at netscape.net
To: london at moscow.com, vision2020 at moscow.com, tomh at uidaho.edu
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] School Board gives nod to March levy; Voters will 
determine fate of proposed $1.97 million increase
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 18:51:04 -0500

Bill,

Maybe you could explain to me your understanding of why it costs nearly
$8,000/student here in Moscow. Did you know that  13% of that money
goes to the adminstration of the school system? While in Post Falls the
administration costs per student is 1/2 of that amount.


lemeno, Doug!

-----Original Message-----
From: london at moscow.com
To: vision2020 at moscow.com; tomh at uidaho.edu; heirdoug at netscape.net
Sent: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020]  School Board gives nod to March levy; Voters
will determine fate of proposed $1.97 million increase

The health of the public school system is vital to all of us, whether we
have children in that system or not (our daughter has graduated, so we
do
not).
BL



----- Original Message -----
From: <heirdoug at netscape.net>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>; <tomh at uidaho.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 1:33 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] School Board gives nod to March levy; Voters will
determine fate of proposed $1.97 million increase


 > Yes Tom, I could have said that. But it only effects the children when
 > one's children use the services of MSD. Mine don't!
 >
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