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

Wed Dec 20 18:26:21 PST 2006

OK, I'll bite on this one.  Keely, you are right...

And to clarify....
Doug - it's about economies of scale.

Here is data straight from the Idaho Department of Education website:

The first numbers are full term ADA (number of students) and the second
number is dollars per student for the last reported year.

Post Falls - 4,730.46  $5,058
Moscow - 2,285.32  $7,346
Potlatch - 505.79  $7,701
Troy - 308.04  $8,705
Whitepine (Deary, Bovill, Elk River) 238.00 - $10,051

There are things every district needs, such as administrators, principals,
and the like.  They cost the same (unless a district tries an innovative
approach such as Troy has) whether you have 40 students or 4,000.

If you are going to compare school districts, make sure that you realize
that
each district has differences.  And attendance is the factor that causes the
largest change in budget figures.

We need public schools, they are the great equalizer.  Not every parent
has the resources, education or time to enhance their child's learning
experience.  Those that do, great!  Those that don't - the public schools
fill a very great need.  And the more who have the time and energy to help
who keep their kids in public schools and donate their time and energy
only help the schools become better.

Mother of three - two happily graduated, and former Whitepine school board
member--
Bev Bafus

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of keely emerinemix
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 6:06 PM
To: heirdoug at netscape.net; 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 fat

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!
 >
________________________________________________________________________
 > Check Out the new free AIM(R) Mail -- 2 GB of storage and
 > industry-leading spam and email virus protection.
 >
 > =======================================================
 >  List services made available by First Step Internet,
 >  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
 >                http://www.fsr.net
 >           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
 > =======================================================
 >

________________________________________________________________________
Check Out the new free AIM(R) Mail -- 2 GB of storage and
industry-leading spam and email virus protection.

=======================================================
  List services made available by First Step Internet,
  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
                http://www.fsr.net
           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================

_________________________________________________________________
Find sales, coupons, and free shipping, all in one place!  MSN Shopping
Sales & Deals
http://shopping.msn.com/content/shp/?ctid=198,ptnrid=176,ptnrdata=200639