At last week's PTO Council meeting, Dr. Marks talked about this year's budget which promises to be as tight as the previous couple of years. Some parents expressed budget fatigue and suspicion. Who can blame them? The budget dance with all its threats of cuts and union vs. BOE antics, is suprisingly similar year after year and parents are catching on.
Dr. Marks explained at the meeting that she is approaching budget discussions differently by forming a committee composed of Central Office administrators, union leaders, and a parent.
In one respect it makes sense to have union participation in the development of a budget. After all salaries make up up the lionshare of the district's operational expenses. Marks said the group is going through the budget line by line and "scrubbing it" presumably to get rid of any excesses. However a part of me can't help but wonder how any meaningful changes can be made if Marks has to run every idea by a union head who has the ability to say "no." Unions by their nature are supposed to act in the best interestes of their members, but Marks is supposed to act in the best interest of our children's education. Sometimes those interests are aligned. Many other times they conflict especially if you're asking teachers to change how they've been doing their jobs.
When Marks discussed the budget last Monday, I expected to hear the words like "rethink," "restructure," and "reorganize". I am waiting not only for a new process from our schools chief but new ideas that will bring about improved results. We'll see next week, when Marks presents the draft budget to the BOE whether we'll be singing a new tune or dancing the same old dance.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
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Bruce just keeps "changing partners", but one can expect the dance to pretty much remain the same. The tune doesn't really matter, Moina. As long as Bruce is around, the NFT will control the playlist, even if the conductor has misgivings. Her biggest problem will be reeling in "Captain Jack". Stay tuned for another exciting episode of Dancing With the BOE Stars.
ReplyDeleteI don't see a problem with the union participating in the meetings. Hopefully they are all working toward the same goal. I would be very disappointed if the budget is just "maintaining what we have now". It is clear that change is needed to improve student learning. It doesn't make sense to keep doing the same thing and then being surprised with the same outcomes.
ReplyDeleteHere's Albert Einstein's definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. While the tune and some of the participants might be new, I suspect the dance will remain very much the same.
ReplyDeleteTime for the BOE to start getting the fat out of the budget. What is the point of having a "intervention specialist" in every building when you have a full time social worker and an assistant principal? What about the army of secretaries downtown? The corporate world has been down sizing for years. Maybe Marks should get some job descriptions from the downtown staff. Many of the downtown employees seem to be collecting a paycheck hiding behind a fuzzy job description. Norwalk needs to get these taxes under control. How about the smartboards the teachers do not use? Why do the principals always run around with brand new laptops. Lets get this out of control spending under control.
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