LIVE BLOG: QEC, day 2
9:10am-10am
Professional Educator Standards Board Update – Jennifer Wallace
PowerPoint is here.
>>Sen. Eric Oemig asked a rhetorical question about National Board certification being the equivalent of the proposed master level certification, implying the proposed master certification is unnecessary.
>>Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe raised concerns over the cut scores for the WEST-B (assessment for entrance into teacher education program) and the impact on teacher diversity.
>>Mary Jean Ryan asked who evaluates the pre-service assessment. Jennifer Wallace answered trained educators will evaluate the assessments.
>>Dr. Bette Hyde asked if districts would be able to ask for assessment scores from candidates. Ms. Wallace was unsure if scores would be used to inform district hiring decisions.
>>Sen. McAuliffe asked if this assessment would assist with certification reciprocity. Ms. Wallace said yes, these states would have reciprocity.
>>Ms. Ryan asked if teachers would use WASL scores as evidence of student work on the ProTeach portfolio. Ms. Wallace said that may be one piece of data teachers could use, but student evidence is meant to be from the classroom.
>>Sen. Oemig asked if the ProCert portfolio is meant to filter out “gross incompetence” and/or drive professional development. Ms. Wallace said both, although she didn’t like the term. The idea is that ProCert is awarded to teachers who have demonstrated a certain level of teaching mastery, and if candidates cannot pass the ProTeach portfolio then they should transition out of the profession.
>>Ms. Ryan asked if tenure is tied to certification. Ms. Wallace said tenure is a contract issue and not tied to certification.
>>Sen. King asked if ProCert has a expiration date. Ms. Wallace said ProCert is good for five years, and then needs to be renewed, which teachers can do through clock hours. The PESB needs to figure out what to do for renewal under the new system going forward (once the ProTeach portfolio is in place).
>> Dr. Hyde asked about giving clock hours for completing the ProTeach portfolio. Ms. Wallace said that is an option, but they would prefer teachers earn a pay bump for earning ProCert, but it’s not cheap. They calculated that a $1,500 pay bump for ProCert would cost the state $18 million.
>>Rep. Pat Sullivan mentioned that in ESHB 2261 the compensation work group starting in 2011 will look at the disconnect between certification and compensation. Ms. Ryan said they should be thinking about this now. Ms. Wallace agrees.
>>Rep. Sullivan said this was a big issue during the Basic Education Finance Task Force, and former Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson was a big advocate for at least awarding teachers a one-time payout for completing ProCert, because of the cost to complete. Sen. McAuliffe said there is more an incentive to pursue National Board certification because of the ongoing pay bump.
>>Rep. Marcie Maxwell asked if the e-cert system is part of the early data work. Ms. Wallace was uncertain if e-cert was going to be online early on, and thought the CEDARS system was more of a priority.
>>Rep. Sullivan asked if the PESB is going to make a budget request for a ProCer pay bump. Ms. Wallace said they are having conversations with different bodies, but don’t plan on making a specific budget request.
>>Dr. Jane Gutting asked if the PESB has looked at the e-cert systems used by ESDs. Ms. Wallace said the e-cert office in OSPI may have.<<
10am-10:50am
Pupil Transportation Implementation Plan: OSPI Update – Allan Jones and Mike Kenney
Proposal is here. PowerPoint is here.
>>Sen. McAuliffe asked if they are looking at different start times for elementary and secondary, to increase efficiency. Mike Kenney said that will be part of their recommendation to districts, that they look at bell times and the like, but much of that depends on the geographic size of the district.
>>Sen. Oemig asked if every district provides transportation to students. Allan Jones said all districts do, either through their own system, or through contracting with a neighboring district. Mr. Jones added that school boards have the authority to decide if student transportation is necessary. Mr. Kenney said transportation is a part of basic education, and transportation cannot be a barrier to a student’s education. Sen. Oemig was concerned about districts being penalized (in funding) for making their transportation systems more efficient. Dr. Hyde asked if walking programs could be better used to combat child obesity and save transportation funds.
>>Sen. Joseph Zarelli said this may not be the final answer yet, and it may make more sense to allocate transportation on a FTE basis. We need to move to a system that encourages “out of the box” thinking on getting students to school.
>>Rep. Bruce Dammeier asked if they have a cost estimate for the new model using the road mile instead of the aerial mile. Mr. Jones said they didn’t have a concrete cost estimate. Rep. Dammeier asked if the state could save money by purchasing one routing program and give access to all districts, rather than purchase 295 copies. Mr. Jones said they plan to do that for small districts.
>>Sen. McAuliffe asked if there were incentives in the plan to get students out of cars and into school buses. Mr. Kenney said adequate funding will help. Mr. Jones said they didn’t want to get into the high school students in cars issue.
>>Dr. Gutting asked about state statistics on student injury and deaths due to transportation. Mr. Jones said the state has data on incidents related to school buses, but not to private transportation.
>>Stephen Rushing said incentives for more efficient transportation systems would be better, and systems should include funding for safe walking routes (supervisors, etc). Mr. Rushing also pointed out that high school students’ days start the earliest, but that doesn’t work best for teenagers’ biological clocks. But athletics and other activities conflict with that, so some rules may need to change.
>>Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn asked how long the study has been going on (answer: 5 years) and if the entire transportation community has been involved (answer: yes) and districts will be held harmless (answer: yes). Superintendent Dorn mentioned that most districts are cutting back on transportation system (eliminating stops, etc.). Then Superintendent Dorn asked how much is needed from the Legislature. Mr. Jones said they need $670,000 for development of the technology infrastructure. Dr. Hyde wondered if any federal funds could be used to fund the IT part of this.<<
11:05am-11:50am
Race to the Top Updates – Superintendent Randy Dorn and Mary Jean Ryan
-Began with reading a letter from the governor to the superintendent. In it, Gov. Gregoire said the plan is to submit a Race to the Top application in the first round, and if unsuccessful submit a second application in round two.
-Other states are changing laws in attempts to make themselves more competitive (Rhode Island, California, Colorado).
-SBE will be proposing language to the Legislature improving the SBE’s ability to work with low-performing schools.
>>Sen. Zarelli asked if Washington has to do all of the corrective actions under NCLB, or if we can pick and choose. He would prefer that we use outside teams to assess what is happening in struggling schools where everything has the potential to be on the chopping block. Ms. Ryan said that is part of the SBE proposed accountability plan.
>>Rep. Sullivan expressed concern over the state taking over struggling schools; the state knows what it needs to do, we just need to commit resources. Sen. McAuliffe asked what metrics would be used to determine which schools are “struggling.” Ms. Ryan said they are still working on that, and the SBE is trying to meld the proposed state system with the federal system.
>>Dr. Gutting asked about the steps of “academic watch” in the SBE plan. Ms. Ryan said the SBE would rather work with school boards, and does not want to take over schools.
>>Sen. McAuliffe wondered if voluntary focused assistance is successful (for OSPI’s program, yes), and if the state was providing enough funding (no).
>>Rep. Dammeier is excited about the SBE’s accountability work and think it gets to the heart of ESHB 2261.<<
11:50am-12:40pm
Public Comment
Jim Kainber, Stand for Children – hearing positive feedback from legislators re: education; encourage QEC to adopt a prototype model, will help direct work for Funding Formula Technical Working Group; induction piece is important in phase-in, easy early investment to make in teacher quality
Rick Allen, United Way of Pierce County – stressing importance of early learning
>>Sen. Zarelli made a statement that educating parents may be a better investment. Mr. Allen said he didn’t disagree, and envisioned an early learning system that included various providers, parents and state agencies to meet community needs.
Joel Ryan, Washington Head Start/ECEAP – would like early learning to be part of basic education; believe in universal preschool starting with at-risk children; Head Start and ECEAP focus on children and parents
>>Sen. McAuliffe made the comment that the ideal early learning system would serve children from birth to 5-year-olds.
Heidi Bennett, Seattle PTA parent – encourages QEC to adopt Superintendent Dorn’s proposed prototype model; increasing instructional hours is a priority; advocating for gifted/talented programs
Allen Jones, Tumwater School District – concerns over proposed funding for high-poverty schools, 50 percent poverty threshold creates unintended incentive, extended school day/year does not include transportation which is a big barrier for students, formulas show no connection to student achievement; proposing allocations be block grants based on student demographics, with successful districts receiving more flexibility and the struggling districts held to higher accountability; need to provide additional funding for struggling schools through the accountability system
Lucinda Young, WEA – clarified licensure, it is a document allowing an educator or administrator to apply for a job; concerns over ProTeach portfolio, calling it “high stakes:” prefer National Board certification; need to expand and fund teacher induction and mentoring program; hope any Race to the Top funds will enhance efforts already underway in Washington; state takeover and turnaround of schools has not been found to be effective
>>Sen. Oemig asked about the WEA’s position on certification renewal. Ms. Young said the renewal process has to be worth educators’ time and not be “arbitrary or capricious;” would like rigorous evaluation of the ProTeach portfolio.
Kim Howard, Washington State PTA – parents are tracking the work of the QEC; appreciate Superintendent Dorn’s proposed prototype; use findings from Washington Learns and the Basic Education Finance Task Force; sense of urgency for reform
1:30pm-1:35pm
Public Comment, continued
Doug Nelson, Public School Employees – supports Superintendent Dorn’s proposed prototype model; need training and professional development for classified employees; child nutrition should be addressed somewhere
1:35pm-2:45pm
Review of QEC Responsibilities – Jennifer Priddy
-Recommend a schedule for a phased-in implementation plan (section 114)
-Set the beginning and end values of the prototype model
-Funding Formula Technical Working Group to recommend to QEC an implementation plan; and focus on the technical issues around implementing a new funding model, not make policy decisions
>>Mr. Rushing asked if there is a list of questions from the FFTWG to the QEC. Ms. Priddy said the FFTWG needs to know the end point for 2018 in order to recommend a phase-in plan. Amy Skei from OFM said the FFTWG needs to know what class sizes to work with.
>>Rep. Skip Priest said the FFTWG got started late, and wondered what needs to be done to support them get work done at a faster pace. Ms. Skei said some of the FFTWG work depends on policy direction from the QEC.
>>Rep. Sullivan is also concerned about the late start of the FFTWG and QEC. During the Basic Education Finance Task Force there was concern that stakeholders were not given enough time to comment on proposals. And since not everyone on the QEC was on the BEFTF, it is too soon to adopt prototype values.
>>Rep. Dammeier asked if the QEC should adopt the prototype values before receiving information from the Achievement Gap Accountability and Oversight Committee, on implementing CORE 24, and other items.
>>Sen. McAuliffe asked if staff could set benchmark deadlines for all of the responsibilities of the QEC. Ms. Priddy said the law calls for several products, and those products are related. Staff has been trying to sequence things to match the timelines in the bill.
>>Sen. Oemig said he interpreted the bill to direct the QEC to recommend formulae and a prototype model without values, and program goals for 2018.
>>Rep. Maxwell said she believed there should be more of a partnership between the QEC and the FFTWG, and the FFTWG could benefit from the QEC at least forwarding them a framework.
>>Dr. Gutting said the sooner a prototype model with values can be pushed out to the public, the more feedback the QEC can receive. She felt there were more values in Superintendent Dorn’s proposal than the law calls for and asked those be separated out.
>>Ms. Ryan asked if the final values needed to be set in order to work on phasing in the new model. She also sees value in setting expectations for any 2018 values in the prototype. More debate needs to be done around instructional items, like smaller class sizes in high-poverty schools.
>>Sen. Curtis King agreed that they need to put current funding levels into the prototypical model, but aren’t ready to put in 2018 values.
>>Speaker Frank Chopp asked if Sen. McAuliffe was making a motion that a work plan be created. Sen. McAuliffe said she supposed she was, so she made a motion, seconded by Speaker Chopp. Superintendent Dorn said Cal Brodie from OSPI made a presentation on the timeline of work related to ESHB 2261. Sen. Oemig said he more interpreted Mr. Brodie’s presentation to be about deliverables of the bill, and would like to see a work plan for the deliverables of the QEC.
>>Rep. Sullivan said the QEC needs a work plan for now until January 1 – he sent out a memo with a proposed plan with Rep. Priest. The QEC also needs to recommend a prioritized phase-in plan as well, and they need the 2018 values to do that. He recommends they set the 2018 values and then ask for public comment on those values.
[Confusion over a supposed motion from Sen. McAuliffe, leading Superintendent Dorn to say he didn't want to be perceived as "dissing" Sen. McAuliffe by not addressing the motion.]
>>Rep. Dammeier supported having a work plan, and said they should meet more if that’s what is necessary to get the work done.
>>Rep. Priest said they need to remember that the crosswalk is important, putting current values into the new model. Districts need time to adapt to new reporting criteria. He asked if the QEC needed to set ending values for the work to keep moving forward. Ms. Priddy said current funding into the new model (the crosswalk) needs to be adopted by the Legislature in the 2010 session so the formula can be implemented beginning September 2011.
[Lots of confusion over what a crosswalk is, how complete the crosswalk is, and how non basic education funds fit in.]
>>Sen. McAuliffe asked is the crosswalk sets the baseline for the new model. Ms. Priddy said that was her understanding.
>>Sen. Oemig clarified that not all funds driven out through the prototype are basic education dollars, but they do need to be able to be driven out through the prototype (e.g. 728, K-4 enhancements). He agreed that the QEC needs to set the baseline, but they are also waiting for reports back from other groups.
>>Ms. Ryan proffered that the QEC needs to get updates sooner from all of its working groups. The QEC also needs to put forward revenue options for additions to the prototype. Dr. Gutting asked if that was a task for the Legislature, or the QEC. Ms. Ryan said the FFTWG is supposed to make recommendations, and it is implied to the QEC, depending on how one reads the bill.
>>Sen. McAuliffe said they also need to consider capacity of districts to implement any increases to the prototype. Rep. Sullivan said system capacity is a report due from OSPI to the QEC.
[Back to the motion that turned out to be a real motion...]
>>Sen. McAuliffe motioned that the QEC develop a work plan for now until January 1. Superintendent Dorn appointed Sen. McAuliffe, Rep. Dammeier, Sen. King and Rep. Sullivan to an ad hoc committee to create the work plan.
[Break!]
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3:05pm-3:50pm
Discussion, continued
Motion #1: Adoption of a work plan
The QEC shall adopt a work plan to address the work products and processes to be undertaken between October 1 and January 1, 2010. The work plan shall specifically provide for the public input on the Dorn-proposed and Basic Education Finance Task Force 2018 funding values. Further, the work plan shall identify when the QEC will adopt a crosswalk of the current Basic Education funding (28A.150.160), operating budget level funding into the new prototype funding structure.
>>Sen. McAuliffe said she would like meeting dates to be part of the work plan. Upcoming meeting dates are November 2nd and 3rd, and November 30th and December 1st. Dr. Gutting suggested any work groups submit reports a few days before the early November meeting so they don’t have to spend so much time hearing reports and can instead get straight to work. Sen. King said Nov. 3-Dec. 1 doesn’t work for him; Superintendent Dorn said he could send an alternate.
>>Ms. Ryan asked the work plan go beyond January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2011. Rep. Priest said they only have so much staff and can’t ask them to do much more than they are already doing. He agrees with Ms. Ryan but doesn’t want to ask staff to focus beyond 2010 right now.
Original motion passed
>>Mr. Rushing said he would like to hear from Council members on what numbers in Superintendent Dorn’s proposal Council members do or don’t like. Speaker Chopp said he would like to hear from stakeholders first before wading through all of the values.
>>Superintendent Dorn asked members to provide feedback for the FFTWG.
>>Ms. Ryan said she has questions about reducing class size down to 15 for all K-3 classrooms, instead of just in high-poverty schools. She would like input on whether poverty enhancements go to districts or schools.
>>Sen. King asked about the 10 LIDs recommendation, as he isn’t clear that more than one LID should be part of basic education.
>>Sen. Oemig asked about phasing in transportation, and would like local effort assistance to be part of the prototype, as well as 728 funds. He would like to see more of those pieces in the prototype, in addition to categorical programs.
>>Mr. Rushing shared that data collection takes a lot of staff resources and time. He echoed Ms. Ryan and asked about smaller class sizes in lower grades and if it should be uniform rather than targeted. He also wondered if social workers and counselors are interchangeable, or if they are separate job descriptions. Superintendent Dorn clarified the scope of work of counselors (students) and social workers (community, families). Mr. Rushing then asked if it made more sense to separate social workers and nurses into two staff categories.
>>Superintendent Dorn reiterated that the prototype is meant for allocation purposes only, so districts can staff as they see best meeting students’ needs. Speaker Chopp said the social worker-nurse question is exactly why he would like public comment.
>>Sen. McAuliffe asked if Superintendent Dorn’s proposed number of guidance counselors made sense, especially in larger high schools — do high schools of 1,800 really need 10.5 guidance counselors. Superintendent Dorn said the work load of counseling departments has grown drastically, and students could benefit from better access to counselors.
>>Rep. Sullivan said he would like the QEC to ask the Achievement Gap Committee specifically for feedback about how ELL programs should be funded.
>>Rep. Dammeier would like feedback from the FFTWG and others about levies, as well as feedback from stakeholders about early learning and where smart investments can be made.
>>Sen. King would like the QEC to have a discussion about how the state runs ELL programs, whether immersion is better, etc.<<
