The Cost of Failing to Educate our Kids

Franklin Schargel* was interviewed on Eye on New Mexico on Sunday, February 20th, 2011. The show was broadcasted all over the state and in El Paso, Texas.  The interview touched upon legislation and Franklin's personal opinions and ideas, but focused on real data in light of New Mexico's new educational and political landscape. At the end of the segment, Franklin made this summarizing point:

"But the reality is education, even though it's taking over 50% of the state budget or close to 50%, is not expensive. Ignorance is very expensive. The U.S. Department of Justice says that 82% of all of our prisoners are school dropouts. Well, as a society, we can either pay for education upstream or the lack of education downstream. As a society, not just here in New Mexico, we are more willing to spend money downstream in incarceration. The average cost of incarceration in the country is $41,000 a year. Per inmate, per year. I don't know of any school system that is willing to spend or capable of spending that much money on education."

Schargel recently spoke at a graduation workshop held by the United Way of Cass-Clay in Fargo, ND. Over 100 community leaders listened as the author identified the top reasons students quit school: alcohol or drug use, poor teacher quality and curriculum planning, and low parental involvement. His advice was for policymakers to "recognize that we have a very severe problem," adding that teachers should make an effort to get to know their students.

Schargel is the author of many books on dropout prevention, including 152 Ways to Keep Students in School: Effective, Easy-to-Implement Tips for Teachers and co-author of titles such as Creating School Cultures that Embrace Learning:  What Successful Leaders Do.

*Franklin P. Schargel

Educator, Author, Motivational Speaker, Trainer, Consultant

Franklin Schargel, a native of Brooklyn, New York now residing in Albuquerque, NM, is a graduate of the University of the City of New York. Franklin holds two Masters Degrees: one in Secondary Education from City University and a degree from Pace University in School Administration and Supervision. His career spans thirty-three years of classroom teaching, school counseling and eight years of school supervision and administration.

Governor Sends Budget Back to House - Action Could Cause Problem for Southwest Learning Center

On Tuesday, Governor Martinez met with legislative leaders and asked them to re-look at the proposed state budget. It is reported that Governor Martinez is unhappy with the depth of cuts to education, medicare, and the corrections department.  The legislative leadership agreed to evaluate some of her concerns and sent the bill back to the House Appropriations Committee for further review.

The Governor would like to see the state lower the subsidy provided to the film industry when they film in New Mexico.  Currently the state reimburses film producers 25% of the money they spend in New Mexico while shooting a film.  The Governor would like to see this reduced to 15%.  The Albuquerque Journal reported today that in 2010, the state reimbursed $65 million dollars to film companies.  The proposed reduction would have presumably saved the state $6.5 million last year.  However, opponents argue that reducing the film credit will drive producers out of New Mexico.  Thus, the actual savings will be considerably less and more New Mexicans will be out of work as a result of the industry moving to other states.

This is important to the Southwest Learning Center because the original budget bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee did not contain any provisions to eliminate the small school size funding for charter schools and districts that house multiple schools in a building.  In order to meet the Governor’s request to limit cuts to education, corrections, and medicare, the funds will need to come from somewhere.  This puts the elimination of the small school size funding back in play.  We are asking all parents, grandparents, friends, and supporters to watch the proposals coming out of the House Appropriations Committee carefully.  If the small school size adjustment is brought back into play and eliminated, the three schools that make up the Southwest Learning Center (Southwest Primary, Southwest Intermediate, and Southwest Secondary) will be forced to either move or close. 

Neither option is a good one.  Moving will cost the taxpayers of New Mexico more money in the long run as facility, administration, insurance, transportation, utility costs, etc are all triplicated.  It will disrupt the educational process significantly.  Closing is even less appealing as 500+ students will be forced to change schools, 40+ people will be out of work and many families will be negatively impacted.  Furthermore, the results the Southwest Learning Center achieve continue to break the mold with no achievement gap and the highest test scores in the state on the standards based assessment.  We will continue to monitor this budget situation carefully and keep parents informed of any changes.

Finally, we want to also alert you to a rumor that has begun to spread.  It is believed that once the budget is passed from the House to the Senate, budget leaders in the Senate will move to add language to “correct inefficiencies in the funding formula”.  This is legislative language to remove the small school funding for schools that share facilities and to limit charter schools from receiving growth units when their populations increase significantly.  Charters continue to experience large growth as more parents become aware of their successes and apply to charters.  The Southwest Learning Center currently has more than 3700 students on the waiting list to get in!  Rumor has it that the most likely places this language will be inserted are in the Senate Finance Committee or when the two chambers meet in conference committee to resolve discrepancies in the budgets. 

What can we learn from standardized testing?

Albert Einstein once said, “Not everything that counts can be measured, and not everything that can be measured counts.” This statement is very true when it comes to measuring success in public education. There is almost no greater catalyst in debates over education than the role of standardized testing. In the United States, success on standardized testing is used to determine school achievement, is linked to high school graduation and college acceptance, and in some communities can even determine property value. Some lawmakers have proposed that teacher pay should be linked to test results as well.

Although standardized testing does have limitations, using standard tests as a tool to determine whether or not students are getting the basic building blocks of a good education makes sense. While some would argue that a generic test is no substitute for looking at the overall academic accomplishments of a student, standardized tests give educators and leaders a picture of whether students are learning fundamental skills they will need to succeed as future members of the workforce and society.

There are two main types of standardized tests. Norm-referenced tests compare students to one another. The most well-known norm-referenced test is the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or the SAT. Criterion-referenced tests measure how well students perform relative to set standards. Criterion-referenced tests are most commonly used across the United States to determine success in K-12 education. The standardized tests developed individually by states in accordance with the “No Child Left Behind Act” are examples of criterion-referenced testing.

Standardized testing has been relied on across the world for centuries. Standardized testing was first seen in ancient China where tests were given to anyone seeking employment in government. By World War I, the United States was using standardized tests to assign jobs to Army servicemen. Standardized tests don’t tell educators everything about the kind of education students are receiving, but they do give insight on how schools are doing with the basics.

Each year in New Mexico, students are given the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment (SBA). This assessment tests students on material that makes the basic framework of what they should learn in their grade-level. As announced yesterday, Southwest Secondary Learning Center seventh graders and Southwest Primary Learning Center 4th and 5th graders received recognition for their extremely high test scores and year-over-year gains on the SBA. Although the Southwest Learning Centers recognize that the SBA can’t measure a student’s attributes like creativity, sense of humor, social skills, emotional maturity, or positive attitude, we hold that the SBAs give valuable information on student progress in core subject areas.

The information gathered from the New Mexico SBA results for the 2009-2010 school year shows that the Southwest Learning Centers’ innovative methods are successful. The Southwest Learning Centers clearly provide a superior education to students without the achievement gap seen at most other schools. While the Standards Based Assessment does not measure everything that counts in education, the recent results show the Southwest Learning Centers to be a continued model for success.

Furthermore, when policymakers, community leaders, and parents use these results to make decisions regarding their child’s education – the tests are important. And, if this is the standard that we have chosen to measure schools by, then it is also the standard by which schools that achieve this standard should be celebrated! Congratulations to the students and teachers at the Southwest Learning Center – you have achieved what very few have, and you deserve all the accolades that accompany this accomplishment!

More Money for Classrooms

This is the last in a four part series analyzing Governor Martinez's plan to reform New Mexico's educational system - from the perspective of practitioners. 

Governor Susana Martinez has this to say about sending more money to New Mexico classrooms: “We can no longer afford to fund programs that leave our kids unprepared for the rigors of college and the workforce. We must get a better return on our investment in education.” According to the budget officers group, the United States spent a grand total of $337.4 billion on education for fiscal year 2010. On average, one in three dollars in state government goes to fund primary and secondary education. For fiscal year 2010, New Mexico spent over $2 billion dollars on education.  With all of the tax dollars that go toward education in New Mexico, taxpayers have every right to demand better returns for their investment.

Currently, New Mexico ranks at the bottom of the list as far as educational achievement. Governor Martinez says, “New Mexico is 49^th in the nation in education because there is more of a focus on throwing money into the system instead of simply improving student education.” Currently, only 61 cents of every education dollar spent in New Mexico makes it to the classroom. Nearly a third of education spending goes to what Governor Martinez refers to as “the bureaucracy”: people who are not in the classroom teaching every day. As part of her “Kids First, New Mexico Wins” reform plan, Governor Martinez wants to put less of the education budget into the bureaucracy and put more money toward students and meeting their needs.

Governor Martinez has asked school districts in New Mexico to cut 1.5 percent of unnecessary administrative costs, increasing the percentage of funding available for classroom spending. While some districts have argued that there is no wasteful spending and nowhere to cut in administration, Governor Martinez pointed this out: “APS principals are making three to four times more money than teachers and its schools are still failing.” She added that bloated administration and bureaucracy could be found at every one of its schools.

At Southwest Learning Centers, ensuring funds get to the classroom is a top priority. According to the schools’ business manager, nearly 80 cents of every dollar goes straight to the classroom. The focus at Southwest Learning Center is providing students with a solid education and other opportunities that will help them succeed in the future.  By pushing such a high percentage of funds directly toward student education, Southwest Learning Center is able to provide innovative programs such as the student flight program. Because students and learning are the priorities at Southwest, students are much more successful than in nearly any other public school in New Mexico.

New Mexico’s students deserve more from the public education system than wasteful bureaucracies and imprudent spending. Taxpayers need spending priorities to be put in place to guarantee a better return on education investments. Governor Martinez’s plan will ensure positive results in education by securing access to quality schools and teachers for every New Mexico student.

(AP) Carlsbad Newspaper: Small school districts may close

Possible closure faces small school districts

Updated: Sunday, 16 Jan 2011, 1:19 PM MST
Published : Sunday, 16 Jan 2011, 1:19 PM MST

• STELLA DAVIS,Carlsbad Current Argus

LOVING, N.M. (AP) - A proposal to close, consolidate or redistrict small school districts in New Mexico is weighing heavily on the minds of parents in Loving.  Schools Superintendent Kristina Baca, who strongly opposes the idea, said the proposal is on the table but is not a done deal.  However, fearing imminent closure, Baca said several parents have withdrawn children from Loving High School and re-enrolled them at Carlsbad High School. The middle and elementary schools have not seen a shift in student population.

Baca said it's her understanding school redistricting legislation is being drafted and will be proposed during the upcoming 60-day legislative session that begins Tuesday. "The Government Restructuring Task Force has made the recommendation. The task force was formed by former Gov. Bill Richardson to explore ways to reduce the state's budget shortfall," Baca explained.  One area the task force considered was consolidation of small school districts. Baca said there are 89 school districts in New Mexico, and more than 60 percent are considered small.

In a pamphlet sent to Loving parents and others in the community, Baca said "redistricting is premature and an ill-conceived concept to save a few bucks on the backs of small school districts. Consolidation is not the answer to closing the New Mexico funding gap."  Baca has urged parents and district supporters to contact their legislators. Before the Christmas break, some parents in Loving began circulating a petition opposing any proposed legislation to close small school districts.

"We have the ability to speak with a united voice and help our local legislators spread our message. We should not let Santa Fe make decisions for our community and rural New Mexico," Baca told parents.  Baca said research does not support the concept larger school districts will improve learning, nor will it be less expensive. "They don't have a model for that," Baca said. "It will require a costly and time-consuming study. Even if they decide to close and consolidate the small districts, it's not going to happen this year or next year. Also, I think politically, it will face great difficulty."

Baca said she believes if the proposal is approved, small communities like Loving will lose representation as they're absorbed into larger districts. Baca said that until the mid-1980s, when Loving approved a bond to build a high school, students from Loving attending Carlsbad High School had a roughly 50 percent graduation rate. Since the high school opened in Loving, the rate has increased to about 81 percent. One reason may be the low student-teacher ratio of 11 to one.

Parents said the closure of the district would be devastating to students. "It would be a tragedy," said Maria Hernandez, mother of a high school senior. "These kids have grown up together from kindergarten through their senior year. If this happened today, my son would have to start over again at another school. This school is their life. They are like family."
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Information from: Carlsbad Current-Argus