By Kayla Gahagan, Journal staff

If you missed the Rapid City school district board meeting last Thursday when the group of business leaders gave their recommendations about the budget to the board - you don’t have to miss out of the report. We’ve got it right here: http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/media/Report.pdf

We’ve been waiting for this report because it’s a look at the district’s handling of money - by community members. Be sure to check it out and let me know what you think. I’m all ears.

 

 

 

By Kayla Gahagan, Journal staff

The talk of a possible opt out continues and there is still no move by the Rapid City school board or anyone in the community … that I know of … to pass a resolution or come forward with a petition to take it to a vote.

The majority of the board says it needs to be a community-led opt out. Is anyone hearing anything about a grassroots movement to start a petition? If not, what are you hearing?

 

 

By Barbara Soderlin

Tonight is the last of three meetings for the community to tell the Rapid City school board how to reduce next year’s school district budget by $2 million compared to this year.

The meeting is at 6 p.m. tonight (Thursday, Jan. 15) at West Middle School.

What’s your priority? Sports over calculus? Calculus over debate? Debate over administrator raises? Let the school board know.

The board is also trying to gauge whether there is community support for an opt-out, in which people would pay more property taxes so there wouldn’t have to be a cut to the budget. Personally, I in general don’t mind paying more taxes for schools, but I think like a lot of people I don’t think I have enough information on what’s at risk if we don’t do an opt-out, to make that decision yet. Also, I have concerns about whether the district’s current spending priorities reflect what’s really needed to prepare students for life after 18. That’s not just a criticism of our district — probably most American high schools struggle to set aside social opportunities for academic and job training opportunities that are organized in a way that theyr’e meaningful to kids.

But that’s a blog for another day.

After tonight’s meeting, there will be another next Thursday at which a group of community business leaders will present its ideas for cutting the budget and prioritizing district spending.

Just wanted to remind you to get over to West tonight if you want to have a say.

By Barbara Soderlin

Here’s a math question for you.

What’s $46 worth? A pair of new jeans from the Gap? Lunch for four co-workers at the Olive Garden? Four take-out Little Caeser’s pizzas and four six-packs (Friday night with the gang)? A tank of gas, a Coke and a pack of Camel Lights to get you on down the road? Taking your kid and his friend to the movies and buying them popcorn and candy? For a lot of people, yes.

It’s also the difference between paying the electric bill and putting it off. Between buying two cans of baby formula, and hoping there’s some this week at Mommy’s Closet. Between buying a calling card, and not calling home. Between paying a little extra on your credit card, or just paying the minimum.

Money’s relative. Maybe it takes you two hours to earn $46. Or a half an hour. Maybe it takes all day.

If you’re the fictional owner of a home valued at exactly $100,000, it’s what it would cost you in additional property taxes if the Rapid City Area Schools successfully opts out of state property tax limits, in order to avoid program and staff cuts. It’s the difference between community sacrifice, and educational sacrifice. Or maybe sacrificing sports, since school districts aren’t at all required to provide them, as beneficial as they can be for kids.

I heard about the concept and thought, $46, big deal, that’s less than $4 a month. I spend that much in the hot chocolate machine at work in a week. I spend that much if I’m at the grocery store and I want Starbucks coffee instead of Folgers. If I’m at Walgreens and I want the good shampoo and conditioner instead of Suave.

I said to a co-worker, “$46? That’s like, nothing.” She looked at me like I was crazy and said, “Oh, but it is!” Then she went and did a story about other people who also think it’s a lot.

I guess it’s up to the school board and superintendent to convince us if $46 is a lot, or not a lot, depending on what it can buy. It’s all relative.

By Barbara Soderlin

We were talking in the newsroom this morning about whether one way for the Rapid City Area Schools to save money would be for all employees to skip their annual raise next year. The district is looking to cut $2 million out of its current budget (or $4 million out of its proposed 2009-2010 budget). It seems like one way to avoid having to cut as many programs or staff positions would be for everyone to maintain their salary next year, since money for pay raises is probably figured into the budget (though we don’t know for sure because details haven’t been released).

Arguments for it: State employees may not get a raise either. It’s better than cutting positions or programs that directly affect students. We can argue for bigger raises in the future when the economy picks up. Gas is pretty cheap right now. We get paid pretty well already for 10 months of work, and we can make up the difference with summer jobs. Many employees are already on a schedule of “step” increases so every other year or so they get what amounts to a raise anyway. Stan Adelstein can’t bail us out forever. If we really value education, we can show it by making a personal sacrifice.

Arguments against it: Health insurance will probably go up, so my take-home pay will go down if I don’t get a raise. The unions will stall and strike and school won’t start on time. All the teachers will move to Wyoming if we don’t give them raises. If we really value education, we can show it by making sure educators are well-paid.

Did I miss any?

By Barbara Soderlin

Does your kid lack basic manners? Does he offend everywhere he goes? Does he drive other children out of school?

There have been two interesting stories in the Times lately about the consequences of American children’s bad behavior. The first is about how immigrant parents in Minneapolis are sending their children to charter schools, because the American children at public school are having a bad influence on their kids.

One Somali mother said her boys’ behavior changed after they started going to public school. “They wanted to wear shorts,” she said. “They’d say, ‘Buy me this.’ I said, ‘Where did you guys get this idea you can control me?” So she moved them to a school founded by East Africans. Soon, she had control over her children again. At the new school, children respected their elders, studied and avoided materialistic influences.

The other story was an essay by a pediatrician, about a bad child who was his patient, a kid who’d hit the doctor, scream at his mother, and generally exercise no self-control when it came to interecting with others.

I liked this diagnosis:

“I did not enjoy visits with my rude patient. Despite his generally good health and his normal developmental milestones, I couldn’t help feeling that the adult world had failed to guide and protect him. He was loud and demanding and insistent, but one of his basic needs had not been met: no one had taught him manners.

As a pediatrician, I worry about the trajectories of children’s growth and development: measuring a baby’s head size, weighing a toddler, asking about the language skills of a preschooler. Manners are another side of the journey every child makes from helplessness to autonomy. And a child who learns to manage a little courtesy, even under the pressure of a visit to the doctor, is a child who is operating well in the world, a child with a positive prognosis.”

What does this have to do with education? First, kids’ behavior in school affects the teacher’s ability to control the class, cover the material and impart knowledge. I often think I would love to teach English, journalism and reading to high schoolers — then I think of the discipline part of the job, which wouldn’t be so bad if you knew the parents would back you up. Second, as the pediatrician pointed out, parents’ failure to teach manners actually harms the child in the long run, making it harder for him to get along with others in business and society.

While teachers swear children get worse each year, I don’t buy the argument that bad manners are a new phenomenon. The behavior I watch on Super Nanny every Friday night comes from the same place as what Roald Dahl parodied in one of my favorite childhood books,  the 1964 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Remember Veruca Salt, the girl who begged daddy to buy her a squirrel? And Mike Teavee, who watched WAY too much TV? Augustus Gloop, the greedy fat kid? Violet Beauregarde, who can’t stop smacking her gum?

Of course, Dahl makes it clear who’s to blame — the parents, though the children are the ones who suffer. For these ills and others, the pediatrician recommends the tongue-in-cheekily titled, “Miss Manners’ Guide to Rearing Perfect Children.” I wonder what local parents observe in their children’s schools and groups of friends. Is bad behavior getting worse? And is it really the parents who need to change, before the parents of well-behaved children start their own charter school?

 

 

By Kayla Gahagan, Journal staff

Yes, it’s a week of meetings - but these are conversations you don’t want to miss.

After last night’s Rapid City school district meeting about a proposed district-wide activity coordinator,  the district is well on its way to making decisions about cuts to next year’s budget - and it’s going to be grueling.

To avoid last year’s criticism of not enough transparency in the process, the district is asking lots of people to weigh in on the budget process this year, teachers, staff, administration, board memebrs, community members, and parents … And, the group of community business leaders that was gathered to make recommendations on the budget.

The group has been meeting since August, has not allowed the public into its meetings and is expected to make the much-anticipated recommendations Thursday night at the district’s board meeting.

It’s in the City/School Administration building at 5:30. I’ll be there, you should be too.

 

 

By Kayla Gahagan, Journal staff

Right now I’m writing a story for Monday’s paper about the discussion the Rapid City School District Board of Education members will have Monday night about changing some of the activity directors’ positions.

I have a couple more interviews to do today, so I don’t know how all the numbers will shake out, but administrators say the changes will save the district money, while critics are saying that’s not true and the changes are unnecessary.

To hear the conversation between administrators and the board members, come to the meeting - it’s open to the public and it’s at 5:30 p.m. on the third floor of the City/School Administrative Center (on 5th St.)

See you there!