Attrition Update - End of July

As of the end of July, 328 certified employees have resigned or retired from the district in 2014.  This is more than 13% of the total certified staff and an annualized turnover rate of almost 25%.
Please be informed and vote in November, the future of our District depends of YOU!

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice

Tonight at our school board meeting, the board majority:

1 - Repeatedly utilized Robert's Rules of Order as an excuse to limit discussion.

2 - Reinstated a teacher who had previously resigned while on a performance plan, concluding that additional follow up on performance concerns was not necessary.

3 - Refused to re-hire another teacher, concluding that additional follow up on performance concerns was necessary.

4 - Continued to expend time and effort to dismantle an English curriculum which has raised test scores and repeatedly been given high marks in 3 separate feedback surveys of teachers, students and parents.

Yes, I got carried away with my applause during the meeting.  However, I refuse to accept that these actions by the board majority are right, moral or in the best interest of educating our children.

The blog title is a quote from Barry Goldwater's acceptance speech as the 1964 Republican Presidential candidate.

Attrition Update - End of June

Well, we finally cross over the 300 number.  As of the end of June, 301 certified employees have left the district in 2014.  According to the department of education, GPS had 2564 certified employees for the 2013-14 school year.  This means that almost 12% of our teachers have left the district this year!

Please remember this when you vote in November.

Is Ron Bellus anti-business?

At the school board candidate forum on Thursday night, Ron Bellus indicated his opposition to Arizona College and Career Ready Standards.

Businesses and Business organizations across the state have come out in favor of the standards including:

• Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce
• Arizona Business and Education Coalition
• Southern Arizona Leadership Council
• Arizona Public Engagement Taskforce

Here are a few interesting links as well:

• Graduatepreparedaz
• AzEdNews

Is Ron Bellus anti-business?  It will be up to you to decide and vote accordingly in November.

Fact check - Andy Biggs and % school funding

During the mid-May school board meeting, Julie Smith went to great length to defend Andy Biggs and public school funding.  She claimed that public school funding has been flat at 41% of the total state budget for more than a decade.

The azleg.gov numbers tell a different story.  The red text is mine, everything else is straight from the then and now comparison published on the site.

Also, I am not sure but suspect that the percentage of the K-12 money going to district public schools has declined by more than the illustrated 5% due to shifts in money to charter schools and empowerment scholarships.

Whether you think this is good or bad is your own opinion, however, please get the facts straight!

Attrition Update - May 13th board meeting

There has been a suggestion that since the end of April attrition numbers had decreased, that the exodus from Gilbert Public Schools was slowing.  Unfortunately, the reason for the low numbers was vacation and a short work week.  The mid-May numbers continue to show an alarming trend.  Attrition to date in 2014 is up 176% over 2012!!

It's not the public comment, it's the board!

Dr. Rice was interviewed and quoted several times yesterday regarding the new public comment policy.  He made two points to which I would like to respond:


"Meetings would drag on for hours and this keeps them on track"

• Yes, meetings certainly drag on for hours
• No, the public comment is not responsible
• The January 28th meeting was 4hrs in duration and had 51min of public comment
• The February 11th meetings was 4hrs25min in duration and had 59min of public comment
• The Dec 10th meeting was 5hrs46min and had 33min of public comment
• Public comment was 16% of these 3 meetings
• There have been 2 meetings since the new policy was put in place
• The April 8th meeting was 2hrs50min in duration and had 30min of public comment
• The April 22nd meeting was 3hrs51min in duration and had 25min of public comment
• Public comment was 16% of these 2 meetings

• What does make meetings drag on for hours?
• Breaks that take too long
• Board member discussion - especially on non-education topics

"Several of our teachers went to a conference.  When they were introduced as being from Gilbert, other teachers snickered and giggled.  Other teachers told them that our board meetings are really entertaining."

• Dr. Rice is absolutely right and we should be embarrassed.  However, it is not the public comment that others are laughing at.  It is the behavior of majority board members acting in ways that are detrimental to public education.

Please don't penalize the citizens of Gilbert for the behavior of a few board members - we are suffering enough already!