"Race to the Top" Grant

This is somewhat related to teacher performance, and of course, money, so it's tangentially related to this topic of getting students to excel.

During Monday's Board meeting, Superintendent Wachholz made special note of his visit to DC as part of Blue Ribbon Award ceremony recognizing Walker school. He mentioned some of the specific things that Secretary Duncan had to say about continual education for teachers and staff. He made specific mention of something that a woman by the name of "Stephanie Harvey" was doing for the West Allis teachers in this regard. Me, being the inquisitive and slightly cynical person that I am, started doing a little research. Here's what I found about a seminar that Stephanie Harvey put together earlier this year down in Chicago. I'm assuming that the program Superintendent Wachholz alluded to is VERY similar if not identical to this one.

http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=687487

Is this the same 'Stephanie Harvey' that's going to tell our teachers how to teach? She's only charging $325 PER PERSON to share her 'expertise', plus an extra $130 if you want a CIU to prove that you attended. I'm sorry, but is this REALLY needed? Look at the DETAILS and AGENDA tab at the top of this page. Doesn't this sound like fluff that really should be eliminated immediately? Really, look at the Agenda and tell me that this is particularly profound, or if it's worth anywhere near the $325 (not including food/lodging) that us dumb taxpayers are being forced to pay for this seminar. Don't teachers know all of this already?

I don't want to hear any more crockodile-tears as to how the District is cutting expenses to the bare bones and that teachers and staff members are starving.

I hope you take note, Mr. Sotiros. Please pass my concern on to the other Board members about these junkets.

I hope everybody realizes that Doyle's plan to "get Federal funding money for the state of Wisconsin" really means getting more money from us dumb taxpayers. In case anybody's interested, here is a list of every employee in OUR School District. Don't you think that if the District 'needs' more money, maybe they can take it from this huge pot of gold?

It took me a while to quit saying, "Oh My God!" after I saw some of these numbers:
http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/dataondemand/33534649.html?appSession=992058793131028

Maybe you'll have a similar reaction.

School parents and residents often have questions about practices and policies in the school district, but seldom do they bring their questions or concerns to the people who can help them or address their questions. Good dialogue among decision makers and interested citizens is the best way to effect change if change is needed.

Kim comments about the Stephanie Harvey professional development program. She is correct in that there is a cost. Often, but not always, you get what you pay for. Teachers have several times reported to the school board about the value of this program, how it has helped their practice and made them more effective even after many years of teaching. There is not a consensus among experts about the best way to deliver professional staff development and there are plenty of opinions. So far, this program appears to be meeting the goal that was intended. The understanding of cognitive science and how kids learn has grown tremendously in the past few years. Our teachers should be up to speed on this science and a single seminar or meeting among teachers doesn't always meet the need.

Everyone can be sure that the school board examines the expenses related to such initiatives and that departments, in this case curriculum, have budgets that they must adhere to. The bottom line in all school improvement and staff development initiatives is student achievement.

I heard something on Mark Belling's show yesterday that caught my interest. He's generally an anti-union guy and specifically a vocal critic of the WEAC teacher's union. I'm going from memory, so I MIGHT get some facts wrong, but just consider the overall theme. Belling said that recently, one Waukesha School Board member found that United Health Care had a plan equivalent to what was being offered by the 'WEAC Trust', but that UHC was MILLIONS of dollars cheaper. They're recommending switching to UHC. I wonder if the health insurance plan for our West Allis District employees is run by 'WEAC Trust' or by some other provider. If it's run by WEAC trust, you have to ask yourself where all that extra money is going to? The West Allis School Board should look into this since it would save the taxpayers a few $MILLION, give or take.

Could it be that 'WEAC Trust' is grossly overcharging the School Districts for providing health care to teachers and staff so that they can siphon money from the annual premiums to line their pockets for other purposes OTHER than providing health care? I'm sure WEAC doesn't want our School District to save the taxpayers any money by switching to UHC for health care since that would eliminiate this potential gravy train. Does anybody out there care about this? Am I the only one?

I couldn't find anything (yet) to back up what I've written above, but here's a similar story from a few years ago from down in Kenosha. I'm sure the situation outlined in this article is NOT unique to Kenosha. I'd bet anybody $20 that it applies to West Allis as well.
http://www.biztimes.com/news/2006/6/9/kenosha-teachers-stick-with-weac-insurance-so-district-cuts-jobs-2

You get what you pay for. Teachers/staff contribute NOTHING for my annual premiums (and I have considerable OOP costs). I contribute 100% for theirs (and they have negligible OOP costs).

Here's the segment of Belling's show yesterday in which he talked about 'WEAC Trust' grossly overcharging to provide health care to their members.

http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/MILWAUKEE-WI/BLNG-IP/Belling4_12-9-09.mp3

Judge for yourself if this is newsworthy or not. I think he makes a compelling case in his analysis. What am I missing?

Mrs. Stalewski, to clear one thing, I was not the one who brought up the speaker issue, however I agree with Stubborn Old Man. The district finds ways to cut corners on providing supplies to the teachers, make students pay outrageous fees for "assignment" notebooks, among other things. I am sure there are way cheaper ways of continueing education for the teachers. As I recall we are in a recession and our economy is in trouble, so why than does the superindent get a large raise? why is the district paying for such "staff developement" seminars. Who paid for Knoll to go to Washington DC? This districts needs to spend more money on class budgets and less on staff improvements, because THAT will improve the student achievements.

Another note, maybe if kids actually had to work to get good grades, maybe student achievement would show!

Come on, Sue... Do you HONESTLY think that ANY teacher is going to tell the School Board that anything like the Stephanie Harvey seminars are a waste of money or that they DIDN'T think it was anything less than a fantastic seminar? Really? I don't. I've seen enough School Board meetings to know that the general theme of these meetings is to say that EVERYTHING is wonderful and great.

The Board really needs to review ALL spending requests rather than simply rubber stamp everything just because a teacher SAYS that it's great.

When will you see to it that the School Board will start to ACTIVELY seek less expensive health care options than is presumably offered right now? Waukesha found that UHC had an equivalent program, so I think that would be a great place for you to start. The taxpayers deserve some representation by you and the other School Board members, don't we?

You wrote, "Good dialogue among decision makers and interested citizens is the best way to effect change if change is needed." Well, I'm doing my part in contacting you here. Do you think that change is needed in this regard? Why or why not? If I'm being disrespectful to you, show me specifically what I've written to/about you that could be considered disrespectful. Assuming I'm not being disrespectful, it's appropriate for you to respond to my questions above.

give me a call - I am happy to talk to anyone about any of their concerns.
FYI - the last round of contract negotiations did include serious investigation of other healthcare options. Making a change is easier said than done. You can be sure that this is an ongoing concern. As posted in another comment, almost no one calls or even actually writes about any of this. No feedback often translates into no concern.
Sue Stalewski