North Kansas City Schools Have Only a Limited Amount of Funding Available

North Kansas City schools need to receive enough funding to ensure that students have the tools they need to learn. The problem with school budgets in general (not just the budget for North Kansas schools) is that the people in charge of those funds tend to forget exactly where the money comes from. The government can only collect so much in taxes, after all.

The challenge faced by North Kansas City schools is how to keep costs in line, while still providing a quality education. Since the vast majority of school board spending is on salaries, this is the budget item that might fist be examined for possible cuts. School business is a tough business. Teacher salaries are always a topic for debate and yet talented teachers are in demand and schools are finding it difficult to address budget needs at the teacher level.

Budget Goals at North Kansas City Schools Can Be Met Without Cutting Staff

I applaud the decision taken by board officials responsible for North Kansas City schools in deciding to look at where the public's tax dollars are being spent and make some changes where the lion's share of the money is being spent. No jobs will be cut, but the board officials at North Kansas City schools will be making adjustments to make better use of the human resources they already have.

The easy approach, by far, would be to get the axe out and start swinging. I was very glad to read that any reductions in the staff working at North Kansas City schools will be done through attrition. The schools can be thought of as being in the service industry; they get funding to provide educational services to our young people.

When you start cutting back too deep or too quickly, the quality of that service will suffer. When the quality of education suffers, then we will all end up paying for it. The children going through North Kansas City schools are our future leaders. If we start cutting the budgets for North Kansas City schools without having a detailed plan in place, we may end up with a generation that is not well prepared for life as adults when they finish school.

We use a portion of our tax dollars to invest in the next generation because we know those young people are worth it. The board officials need to spend those funds wisely, and that may mean making changes to class size or choosing not to run some courses where there isn't enough interest to justify keeping them going. North Kansas City schools are on the right track; more school districts need to follow in their footsteps.

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Kansas City Missouri school district.

Original Post: Online Schools

Trimming The Budget At North Kansas City Schools Good News

Los Angeles schools who attend these failing schools (approximately 13 in all) may feel like they are being taken care of by their school board, if they take the time to even think about it. Most likely, they have their minds on other, more pressing (to them) matters, such as living in poverty, learning to speak English, learning with disabilities and whether or not to stay in school at all.

These students attending these Los Angeles schools may look to their school as a place of sanctuary, but given the habit of teens to bring wear their problems on their sleeves, it’s doubtful that even the best school can offer much sanctuary from a stressful life.

The Plan: Inspired or Misguided?

So is the “Plan” misguided? I believe that the leaders of Los Angeles schools truly want to improve their schools that need improving. Is the plan the best way to go? Well, let’s take a look at a few of its high points.

• Local Control – individual Los Angeles schools will be given control over how they will improve. With district support, these Los Angeles schools can use what methods work best for their particular students. (One has to wonder, however, that if the administrators of these Los Angeles schools were doing their best in the first place, whether the problems would be as extensive as they currently are.)

• Rigorous Curriculum – Setting a higher standard for students to reach is all well and good, but if the students attending these failing Los Angeles schools are already behind, (and it’s a good bet that this is so, especially if we’re talking about those in danger of dropping out or with learning disabilities) it’s hard to see how raising the bar will help. Perhaps more concentration should go into getting these students of Los Angeles schools back on track academically speaking.

• High Quality Instruction – This simply means putting better teachers in the classrooms. Too often, low-achieving schools are the dumping ground for what’s wrong with the teaching profession; they’ll take any assignment they can get in order to keep their jobs. They’re teaching for the paycheck (as unbelievable as THAT may be) and little else. Improving teacher quality is imperative; principals have got to be able to rearrange, reassign, retrain or even FIRE ineffective teaching staff. Failing teachers working at failing Los Angeles schools really do not deserve job security. We wouldn’t accept that from a doctor, lawyer, policeman or even preacher, so why should teaching be any different?

While these are only a few areas which are addressed in “The Strategic Plan for High Priority Schools”, it is easy to see that Los Angeles schools have their work cut out for them. Reform is necessary, and won’t be simple. Hopefully, the leaders of Los Angeles schools will stick to their jobs for the long haul and fix what’s wrong with these Los Angeles schools.

Patricia Hawke is an expert researcher and writer on real estate topics such as economics, credit improvement tips, home selling advice and home buying preparations and education for relocating families. For more information please visit Los Angeles Unified School District

Original Post: Online Schools

Can Strategy Save Failing Los Angeles Schools?

No Gap Between Graduation Rates for African-American and White Students

The news item made a point of mentioning that the gap between graduation rates for African-American and white students had been closed. While ideally one would wish that such a statistic would not be necessary to reveal, the reality is graduation gaps between ethnicities are a major challenge among larger school districts and Cincinnati Schools are to be applauded for the effort and success of closing this gap while raising the overall standards and expectations of students.

Cincinnati Schools Did Their Homework to Make a Plan for Success

In hindsight, the preparation for this day began when administrators of Cincinnati schools studied the policies and procedures that were working on other jurisdictions with higher graduation rates for high school students. Administration assessed what could be taken and implemented to their school district and schools and set an ambitious goal - to increase the high school graduation rate to 75 percent and to close the gap between white and nonwhite students. More importantly, they devised a plan to reach that goal.

Other Districts Can Learn from the Success Achieved in Cincinnati Schools

This lesson in goal setting that worked so well for Cincinnati schools can be applied to other jurisdictions where the graduation rate for high school students remains a concern. The fact that the Cincinnati schools were successful in reaching their goal means that improvement is not only possible and achievable; it should be demanded by the public.

The best way to be successful in school district goal setting is to find a jurisdiction that has obtained the results an aspiring school district aspires to and adopting the policies and procedures that got the results for the model jurisdiction. This seems simple enough. The difficulty is for school district leaders to mire through the agendas and personalities of school board members while working within limited budgets provided by the state.

Cincinnati adopted policies and procedures that emphasized the drastic life differences between graduates and non graduates. They have successfully reached potential drop outs by demonstrating that a young person who leaves high school before graduating may not realize at that time that their decision will significantly decrease their quality of life for years to come. Taking this step effectively closes most doors toward increasing their education later or selecting a career that is fulfilling and financially rewarding.

We all have a responsibility to the next generation to try to give them the tools they need for success. One basic tool is a high school diploma. The increased graduation rates at Cincinnati schools means that more young people will have a better chance of being productive, contributing members of our society.

A big congratulations to the administrators, staff, and students at Cincinnati schools for the excellent progress. Now is not the time to rest on your laurels, though - there is still room for improvement in the graduation rates.

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Cincinnati Public Schools.

Original Post: Online Schools

Increased Graduation Rate At Cincinnati Schools Proves Improvement Is Possible