Speed Gibson

Lauderdale Completed

City #20 was done in a day.  It is only 0.4 square miles, after all.  Falcon Heights is next, both part of my Rosedale project.  I read that these three cities were orginally just one as their borders suggest.

STEAM Escapes Me

Long ago I was on a student committee to come up with our Homecoming slogan to rally the St. Louis Park Orioles over the Robbinsdale Robins.  We voted for "Kick the L out of Robbinsdale!" but our faculty advisor vetoed it.  Today's letter to kick around is the A in STEAM, the new magnet program starting this fall in the Robbinsdale Area Schools, District 281.

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics, a variant of the STEM concept being adopted by many schools nationwide.  Here is a Connecticut school district's summary:

[Our STEM Magnet School] offers an advanced academic program focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Students receive a rigorous, academically challenging curriculum with rigorous and intense science and math instruction. Teachers use an innovative, hands-on inquiry approach for instruction in all content areas. Students at STEM not only receive a state-of-the-art education, but are also immersed in a nurturing and collaborative environment that is built on a partnership between the home, school, and the community.

You have to wade through a lot of Edu-Speak before you realize how little is being said here.  What non-STEM educators would agree that by comparison, their programs aren't advanced, rigorous, challenging, or innovative?  What classes are taught today without any nurturing or collaboration?

But let's take it at face value, that some students will respond better to a left-brain approach emphasizing the quantitative as opposed to a traditional right-brain qualitative experience.  I'm willing to see what happens, though my left brain insists on asking: how much better, and at what cost?  My cynical side also has a question.  Will the schools allow the rigorous application of the scientific method to disabuse their students of anthropogenic climate change and other junk science?

Now, where does A - the arts - fit in?  The Board added this in consideration of the District's long standing reputation and commitment to the arts.  I can understand how they didn't want this eclipsed by a new "state of the art" (no pun intended) STEM program.  I am at a loss, however, to see any synergy whatsoever.  Indeed, isn't STEM targeting nerds like me who have no real artistic calling or ability?  If there is no synergy, then the resources, even the focus are diluted.  Indeed, not knowing much about STEM but knowing a lot about Art could result in a "steAm" program as a fellow pundit put it.

And if the "best" Arts program will only be at Olson (STEAM's home), what is left for the other schools, including those not able to enroll in STEAM for lack of a winning lottery number?  Should someone who would benefit from STEM per se be shut out to make room for someone who wants to work in clay?  That cynical little devil on my left shoulder reminds me that Executive Director of Education Services Lori Simon said that "We need to be sure the student body reflects the district’s overall enrollment.”  Adding the non-quantitive (as in harder to measure results) arts component clearly makes it easier to do that.

If we must do STEM, let's not dilute it.  Kick the A out of STEAM!

Getting STEAM Rolled

As others have already pointed out, there are two obvious concerns about the financial projections for the newly adopted STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) magnet program.  One is the assumption for a net increase of 94 K-5 Open Enrollment students.  Two is the long payback, in the red the first 10 years, partly to amortize over $2 million in facility (re-opening Olson elementary) costs.

In year 12, the district projects a positive cash flow of about $1.5 million, largely from that Open Enrollment increase, both residents who return and non-residents who sign up.  But there are problems with this analysis.  That new money obviously comes from neighboring districts, a zero sum game meaning for Minnesota in total, nothing has changed.  We will be spending just as much overall at the state level as before.  The additional expenses in running STEAM are real and local, however. 

We sometimes see this phenomenon in business where one department saves a dollar by in effect spending two dollars of another department's budget, sometimes all unknowing.  Chief FInancial Officers usually spot these loopholes and close them.  The District (and its Financial Advisory Commisssion) could and should similarly be more forthcoming from a taxpayer's overall point of view.

The other problem is that this STEAM model assumes that the other districts will not offer programs of their own, especially when they see that they are losing students to Robbinsdale.  Assuming STEAM proves as popular as hoped, what is to prevent, say, the Osseo Schools from doing the same, maybe better?  There are no secrets to this.  Indeed, the District plans on replicating at least portions of it for use at its other non-magnet schools later on.

Few businesses today will underwrite projects with over a 5 year payback, let alone 10.  Too many things can change.  It is quite possible that the Board, Superintendent and Cabinet will be all new faces ten years from now.  The economy?  Anybody's guess.

This is not to say that STEAM isn't still worth doing.  Just don't expect it to be profitable.

Coon Rapids Completed

If you check the right sidebar you'll see that I've knocked off city #19 in my quest to walk every street therein.  Next up is Roseville, including nearby Lauderdale and Falcon Heights.  By then spring might be here for me to begin my "tet offensive" into St. Paul.

I'll also have more daylight, with sunset already 5 minutes later than the minimum of December 10th.  The Earth is not perfectly spherical hence the daylight calculations do not exactly track the solar solstices.

Does Open Enrollment Work?

National School Choice Week runs the last week of January.  Normally I would save such a post for then but this topic is at the core of the STEAM program just adopted by the Robbinsdale Area Schools.  It is a magnet program, an internal choice that the Board feels will raise enrollment.  By making 281 "a district of choice" it should lose fewer students to private schools, charter schools, and other public schools via Open Enrollment.  STEAM's financial success in fact depends on gaining students via Open Enrollment.

Let me question the Open Enrollment concept more generally, however.  Consider the recent case of the Eden Prairie Schools, where the (former) Superintendent tried to patch over sagging test scores at one school by intra-district busing.  The parents and taxpayers made enough noise to change Superintendents but as many as 300 families simply used Open Enrollment to escape this foolishness. Just being near the border of a significantly better district spurs Open Enrollment, exhibit A being the Minneapolis Public Schools that loses hundreds of students to the first ring suburbs.

The districts and unions were opposed to Open Enrollment from the start, even though the cause célèbre of DFL governor Rudy Perpich.  Many (most?) districts and certainly the unions continue to oppose it as unfair and unneeded competition.  But state officials often take a bow when Minnesota is showcased as a leader in education policy.

Open enrollment was first passed 25 years ago as optional, made mandatory 5 years later.  We on the right tend to assume more choice in education is a priori a good thing.  I submit: maybe not.

For one thing, the relative movement is small, both in numbers and geographically.  The academic difference is hard to measure.  While there are winners and losers, statewide we all lose a little in extra paperwork, accounting, and transportation.  And if the parents are involved enough to make such a change (as we did), wouldn't the same commitment bear the same fruit or nearly as much?  Or more if by pressing, the entire district corrects whatever deficiency prompted the switch?

Take an extreme example, a family living in the Lowry Hill East neighborhood who opts for St. Louis Park for their 10th and 12th graders.  They can take the #17 Metro Transit bus, maybe having to leave ten minutes earlier.  They definitely will get more educational opportunity because the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) are the quite possibly the worst in the state, particular for minority cohorts.  Isn't Open Enrollment of value here, doing what Gov. Perpich intended?  Yes, short term, but long term maybe not.  It's like Canada's single payer health care system which depends on the United States as a safety valve to treat Canadians not approved or scheduled months out, possibly fatally so.  Open Enrollment takes some pressure off dysfunctional MPS administration and disinterested DFL legislators.

It would be most interesting to see how the DFL would react if the Republicans were to introduce a bill abolishing Open Enrollment in the name of saving money and improving accountability.  Call it a "neighborhood school" bill that also requires a school district not force busing like Eden Prairie might have done as an internal form of Open Enrollment.

Full Steam Ahead

At its December 5, 2011 meeting, the Robbinsdale School Board adopted a new magnet school program for District 281.  This is in addtion to the decades old Spanish Immersion ("RSI") magnet program, recently relocated to the re-purposed Sunny Hollow elementary school building.  It remains popular to the point of using a lottery to limit enrollment to match capacity.

Now, the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) magnet program will begin operation this coming fall in the Olson elementary school in Golden Valley.  This building was built in 1970 only to be closed in 1980 when the baby boom had played through, total district enrollment dropping by a third over those ten years. 

This is a significant move for the district, in both theory and practice.  It is a bit of a financial gamble as well.  If it proves successful, as in also requiring a lottery, what remains for those students who don't draw a lucky number, "left behind" in non-magnet programs?  This has been a nagging question even now, as only RSI and one other elementary school are meeting their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals.

I will have much more to say and post after Christmas.  Some early reaction is available at Give2Attain, Community Solutions, and of course, 281 Exposed.  For now, let me provide you with an unofficial transcript of Board Chair Barb Van Heel's remarks before making the motion to adopt the STEAM proposal, edited for clarity only.  It's a good summary of the Board's overall position.

First I wanted to remind people that we have spent many hours as a Board discussing this issue as well. I believe it has been on our work session agenda probably ever since May, almost every month. I know this has probably garnered the most interest and the most questions. We have really asked a lot of questions and gotten a lot of good answers. I want to congratulate the Committee for their work because I think they did outstanding work and spent a lot of time on it.

I’m going to support opening the STEAM school. I did talk about this a little bit in our work session in November and so I wanted to re-iterate those comments that I made.

First of all, I talked about how during every public meeting that I’ve been involved in, either as a Board member or before, there were always people in the audience who would get up and say, “Why aren’t you doing anything to stem declining enrollment? Why aren’t you doing anything to increase the enrollment in our district? What measures are you doing?” And so I was so excited when the Enrollment Enhancement Committee got started and started looking at ways that we can do this.

Additionally, when we hired our Superintendent we charged him with making our district a district of choice in the metro area. And I really applaud him for starting the Budget Committee and the starting the Enrollment Enhancement Committee. I believe that we now have a well-researched plan after months of detailed study to do just that.

I think the STEAM school is going to provide choices for our families that they want. It’s going to attract families that would have looked elsewhere for educational opportunities for their children. Yes, it does require a number a certain percentage of students to open enroll in our district in order to make the financial model work. Even though these families might open enroll initially, I would hope that they eventually might move into our community, into the many affordable homes that we seem to have available right now due to the foreclosures that we’ve been experiencing.

I think this school will be a win – win for our neighborhoods with the vacant homes, a win – win for our senior citizens who are trying to sell their homes in this economy, and a win – win for our cities, and a win – win for our taxpayers. And so I most definitely support this decision.

 

One Year Later

One year ago, Saturday, December 18 I was at North Memorial, being treated for a heart attack.  My doctor was as surprised as anyone.  But now I have a stent and I'm still ticking.  My follow ups have been great and nobody wants to see me until July.  Today I ordered more nitroglycerin, not because I ran out but because the vial I have carried with me since then has expired, unused.

And, I'm at least 15 pounds lighter than a year ago.  That seems to be my pace over the past several years, down about 75 pounds since 2006.  But I still need to do better like I was earlier this year.  I'll continue to chart at the right.  And I'll post on my walking exploits, currently finishing up Coon Rapids.  Perhaps my biggest challenge will be this spring, when I plan to take on St. Paul.

I fell into a blog hole about a month ago and honestly wondered if I should hang it up as so many others have done.  I was in a funk about how poorly the 2012 election is shaping up.  I was a bit busy this fall.  But I think The Late Debate was a factor, too.  I blog for recreation, cathartic release at times, but Jack and Ben put on a great show, during my prime blogging time.  I decided to continue, in fact to return to focusing on those areas I enjoy covering the most, like education and transit. 

Right after Christmas, that is.

The Real Amy K

I have a question, actually two.  Who worked harder for Minnesota this year, Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch or U.S. Senator from Minnesota Amy Klobuchar?  And who got paid more to do it?  Two questions, two different answers.  Obviously, Ms. Klobuchar got paid more.

Just as obviously, Amy Koch worked harder, much harder, for Minnesota.  Klobuchar has picked no battles, fought no fights, and couldn't even ask a serious question of Supreme Court appointee Elena Kagen.  She has made no hard choices, voting always to raise taxes and raise spending, irresponsibly so.  Since she makes no headlines, the press showers her with puff pieces instead.

Meanwhile, Amy Koch takes on an irascible, obstinate Governor.  She has to answer to his many friends in the media, some unable to even calculate simple percentages.  She was thought by many to be partly responsible for the shutdown even though the documents involved bore only the one signature needed or valid, that of Mark Dayton.  She even has some of us questioning her role and reasoning in taking Minnesota's state spending still higher, even if we likely did end up in about the same spot.  But raise taxes she did not.  And she clearly helped pass a number of needed reforms.  She got more done and took more heat in one year than Senator Klobuchar has in five.

While I still have doubts about Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Zellers, I thought we had a keeper in Amy Koch, a key player in the unfinished business of finally getting Minnesota's state spending under control.  Ironically, the same commitments to her private life that led to her decision to step down are part of what we like about her and her success in a difficult role.

She never forgets who she is working for.

REALITY CHECK: I know now how easy it is to be a liberal.  You hear what you want to hear, believe what you want to believe.  And even though I've seen such scenarios play out dozens of times in my many years, in both business and politics, I didn't wait for the other shoe to drop.  That she and the GOP again mishandled the publicity a bit is no excuse for my naïveté.

Still, I think Amy Koch deserves the credit above, public successes that I trust had nothing material to do with her private failings. 

Winter 2011/2012

I'm a little late with this but winter officially began December 8, 2011 on the Speed Gibson calendar, after 7 consecutive days below 40 degrees.  Fall 2011 was therefore 7 weeks and Spring 2012 is just 15-20 weeks away.

As Not Seen On TV

Last month it was Tom Brokaw.  This month (12/8), Chris Matthews appeared at Westminster Presbyterian Church's Town Hall Forum series.  He also was promoting his new book, "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero."  Unlike the pedantic Brokaw who really had nothing to say, I found Matthews quite entertaining, the experience actually educational.

For the Chris Matthews I saw bore little resemblence to the cartoon character he plays on his MSNBC "Hardball" show.  Sure, he said some dumb things, like that the Tea Party has no ears.  But he also made some good points, particularly on foreign policy.  I agree with him that we on the right often oversimplify.  Now if we could only get him to admit that his side is often naive.

Matthews characterized himself as, yes, left of center, but like on the 40 yard line or so.  I thought it was a laugh line but the heavily liberal audience (standing room only) quietly agreed.  And he certainly talked that way, especially when describing his hero JFK.  But is that the real Chris Matthews, or is it the Chris Matthews we see on "Hardball" saying we don't know if the Fort Hood shooting was religiously motivated?

If Matthews ever wants to raise his cable TV ratings off the basement floor, he might consider being more like the man I saw last week.  That man says a lot of stupid things but he also says some interesting things and can present some challenging ideas.  I can learn from that Chris Matthews, not the hard left hack he plays on TV.