Millbrae schools explore parcel tax for schools

Interesting article in today’s San Mateo Daily Journal.

I am continuing to hold behind-the-scenes meetings with local officials on a similar initiative for the San Mateo / Foster City elementary and middle school district to prevent loss of teachers and ensure that we can get the best new teachers for our kids.  One such meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, 11/16.

No one likes to pay higher taxes, though I note that statewide school initiatives fared well in the recent election.  I think people realize that the cost-of-living issue is reaching crisis levels here.

I believe that we need a comprehensive solution involving compromises by all parties: school districts, teacher unions, and the public.  We have been pursuing band-aids for too long.

Stay tuned and please support my efforts by signing up for email alerts from this blog using the form on the sidebar at right or scroll to the bottom in the mobile version of this site.  You will only be alerted to new articles on this blog, not bombarded every time someone posts a comment (unless you actively choose to receive emails on a particular article when posting a comment of your own).

Thanks again for reading and for your support!  If you believe in what I am trying to do, please pass this along to your friends and have them follow this blog too!

Sincerely,

David Kristofferson

 

 

Oklahoma voters may increase sales tax to give teachers a $5,000 raise.

From Education Week today:

“According to a new poll, Oklahoma voters, by a wide margin, support a measure that would use a 1 percent sales tax increase to give the state’s teachers $5,000 raises.

According to a March 2015 study by the National Education Association, the state ranked 48th in terms of teacher pay during the 2013-14 school year. Since then, lawmakers in the other states that have hovered near the bottom of that ranking—Mississippi, South Dakota, and Idaho —have all passed bills to increase educators’ salaries. Whether Oklahoma teachers see raises will depend on the results of the November 8 ballot initiative on whether to institute the penny tax. ”

 

Into the Shark Tank…

Dangerously wading into the teacher evaluation controversy.

Earlier today on Diane Ravitch’s blog, she posted an alert that the State of Utah was going to base teacher pay on teaching evaluations, and that this would be a terrible idea.

Diane Ravitch is nationally known; she was initially in the Bush Administration, but later turned against the No Child Left Behind Act and has written extensively on its problems.  She also opposes the expansion of charter schools because they drain money away from public schools often in an unaccountable, possibly corrupt, fashion.  I agree with some, but not all, of her positions.

I may get my head handed to me on silver platter, but I submitted the following comment to the post.  The comment was in the moderation queue for a while but went live around 3 PM PDT.

Continue reading “Into the Shark Tank…”

What’s Active?

Welcome to EduIssues.com, a site to discuss education issues facing the area around San Mateo, CA.  Please read the Welcome message for more details about this site.  All discussions are moderated as explained in the Welcome message.

I would appreciate your support by signing up for email alerts for new posts. This can be done in the right sidebar (or scroll to the bottom in the mobile version).  Alerts will only be sent when new articles appear, not for comments unless you also request the latter.  Your email address will not be released or used for any purpose other than sending you article alerts.

 

Most Important Articles for new Visitors to this Blog

  1. Raising our Children – American Society Reflects our Values and Choices
  2. SMUHSD Class Sign-up Time – Please Read This First!
  3. It’s AP ex(sc)am time again!
  4. Never Believe Educational Experts (or Me)!
  5. “Mutual Assured Destruction”
  6. Critical School Reopening Issues from the SMUHSD Board Meeting
  7. My SMUHSD Board Report on NGSS – A Lot of People of Good Will Trying to Deal with a Tough Problem
  8. Will “Online Learning” Work?
  9. Info from UC Berkeley confirms why students should not skip from Precalculus to Calculus BC
  10. Pros and Cons of the CPM Math Textbook Series
  11. Why Can’t We Teach Mathematics Properly?
  12. A Hole in the Aragon Math Curriculum
  13. How Students are “Accelerating” in Math at Aragon
  14. How to Interest Kids in Science, Engineering, and Math
  15. How to Get in to Harvard

 

Recent Topics

(Click on any topic title below for all articles in that category in reverse chronological order – only the most recent or important articles are listed below)

Education News

  1. Critical School Reopening Issues from the SMUHSD Board Meeting
  2. Comments Following the 6/25 SMUHSD Board Meeting
  3. The Best Way to Resolve the Health Controversy Around School Reopening
  4. The Mental Health Issues Involved with Distance Learning
  5. Board Agenda Posted and a Letter from San Mateo High School Teachers to Parents
  6. Reopening News from the SMUHSD Superintendent
  7. Start Normal? Take a Closer Look…
  8. The SMUHSD “Remote Learning” Problems of Spring 2020 are NOT Indicative of the Future
  9. A Way Out of the School Reopening Morass??
  10. SMUHSD Debating a Change to a Quarter System?
  11. UPDATE on AP Exam Uploading Issues
  12. AP Exam takers lost network connectivity in some cases !!!
  13. Will “Online Learning” Work?
  14. Parents Protest Against Credit/No Credit Grading in SMUHSD
  15. Nancy Bailey: There Can Be No “Science of Reading” When Libraries and Librarians Are Disappearing
  16. These are some of the Questions that I Want Answered about Coronavirus!

 

Issues in Teaching Mathematics     

  1. A Result to Inspire Women in Mathematics!
  2. Guest Article: Why I Oppose the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics
  3. Why a “Sage on the Stage” in a Classroom is not always a Bad Thing
  4. Senior Dilemma: What to Take – AP Statistics or Calculus BC?
  5. Aragon Accelerated Math Class Drop Rate Controversy Has Been Resolved
  6. Alarmingly High Drop Rate for Aragon’s Accelerated Math Classes??
  7. How Students are “Accelerating” in Math at Aragon
  8. STEM Class Issues from the 2017-2018 Aragon School Year: Part 2 – AP Statistics
  9. STEM Class Issues from the 2017-2018 Aragon School Year: Part 1 – Precalculus (with an aside on Multivariable Calculus)
  10. Pros and Cons of the CPM Math Textbook Series
  11. Why is 10^0 = 1 ???
  12. Why Can’t We Teach Mathematics Properly?

 

AP Class Crisis

  1. UPDATE on AP Exam Uploading Issues
  2. AP Exam takers lost network connectivity in some cases !!!
  3. SMUHSD Class Sign-up Time – Please Read This First!
  4. Prepared?
  5. Raising our Children – American Society Reflects our Values and Choices
  6. 2019-2020 High School Class Sign-up Time – Please Read This Article First!
  7. Senior Dilemma: What to Take – AP Statistics or Calculus BC?
  8. Aragon Accelerated Math Class Drop Rate Controversy Has Been Resolved
  9. Alarmingly High Drop Rate for Aragon’s Accelerated Math Classes??
  10. NGSS Impact on the 2018 SMUHSD AP Physics 1 Scores?
  11. How Students are “Accelerating” in Math at Aragon
  12. The Fine Art of Delay – An Open Letter to the SMUHSD Board
  13. STEM Class Issues from the 2017-2018 Aragon School Year: Part 3 – Physics
  14. “Mutual Assured Destruction”
  15. Attention SMUHSD Parents! State Mandated Testing Negatively Impacts Aragon’s Physics Program
  16. Taking the Fight to Harvard
  17. It’s AP ex(sc)am time again!
  18. A Hole in the Aragon Math Curriculum
  19. A very unfortunate local test practice that I think is hurting students.
  20. How to Interest Kids in Science, Engineering, and Math.
  21. Confirmation from UC Berkeley on problems with AP classes

 

Teacher Salaries

  1. Before You Vote on Upcoming School Ballot Measures, Please Read This!
  2. IMPORTANT – SMFCSD Seeks Community Input on School Finances
  3. “I’ve Ended Many School Days Crying in My Car”
  4. SMFCSD Settles Contract Dispute with Teachers, But What Comes Next???
  5. SM Daily Journal: Battle over teacher pay gets worse

 

College Admissions

  1. How to get in to Harvard
  2. How the College Admissions Scandal was Uncovered
  3. SAT Test Prep Recommendations

 

Top Ten Most Read Articles

  1. Pros and Cons of the CPM Math Textbook Series
  2. Senior Dilemma: What to Take – AP Statistics or Calculus BC?
  3. It’s AP ex(sc)am time again!
  4. SMUHSD Debating a Change to a Quarter System?
  5. Guest Article: Why I Oppose the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics
  6. The SMUHSD “Remote Learning” Problems of Spring 2020 are NOT Indicative of the Future
  7. Info from UC Berkeley confirms why students should not skip from Precalculus to Calculus BC
  8. A Way Out of the School Reopening Morass??
  9. Critical Warnings re AP Classes
  10. Hypothetical Link between some widely used Blood Pressure Medications and Increased Sensitivity to COVID-19 Infection.

 

Thank you for reading and participating on this site.  Together we can make a difference and improve education for our local students!

I also subscribe to and read a large number of publications about education and many other topics.  I use my Twitter feed to call attention to noteworthy items as well as new posts on this site.  If you are interested, please request to follow @kristutoring on Twitter.

Raising Local Teacher Salaries (part 2)

San Mateo / Foster City School District salaries have not been competitive with nearby districts for years. This discussion (part two) is an attempt to understand and address this issue. This part contains a response from SMFCSD Superintendent Rosas.

Continue reading “Raising Local Teacher Salaries (part 2)”

Raising Local Teacher Salaries (part 1)

San Mateo / Foster City School District salaries have not been competitive with nearby districts for years. This discussion (part one) is an attempt to understand and address this issue.

Continue reading “Raising Local Teacher Salaries (part 1)”

AP Exam Questions on Chapter Tests?!?

AP Exam questions should not be used on chapter tests early in the school year except possibly as extra credit. This practice of using “trick questions” too early damages students’ confidence when they are trying to master material for the first time.

Continue reading “AP Exam Questions on Chapter Tests?!?”