Stimulus Money: How to Be a Good Steward of These Dollars

One hundred billion dollars…that’s BILLION with a B! States and local school districts are being given this one-of-a-kind, one-time-only opportunity to make an unprecedented impact on what should be our nation’s most important resources; our children.
So, what are we going to do with all that money? Is it possible we can put aside our differences, politics and biases in order to meet Secretary Duncan’s mandate to dramatically improve public education…To spend this windfall in programs and activities that need not result in future recurring expenses? I believe it’s possible, but it will require public education to behave in a manner that is totally against its nature.
For example, it’s a fact that education is the “slowest to change” of all national institutions second only to the Church. It took us more than 50 years after the “bell” system was invented to signal the beginning and end of classes before schools made this a common practice…50 years!? And we expect public schools to be able to use one hundred billion dollars wisely…before September 2011!!! That’s a very tall order.
Effective professional development should be a significant part of this project. Making that happen isn’t so easy. Just so you know, many districts have fewer than two or three days a year in which to provide staff with training and learning support. Of those days, mandated training eats up most of it. There are some districts that the unions have negotiated to reduce the number of professional development days to practically zero and/or staff are only required to be at their buildings 15 minutes before classes begin and 15 – 30 minutes after. Try setting up a decent workshop or inservice in these time slots. In fact, try setting up meetings for staff and parent collaborations. This is a reflection of how staff members perceive the value of past inservice training.
The 40th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of American’s attitudes toward our skills indicates that, while school funding is the top priority and concern for the 6th year in a row, school discipline comes in second. When classroom teachers are polled, one of the most frequent topics they continue to request is classroom behavior management. Both in regular and special education, educators need to focus on evidence-based practices to decrease disruption and increase achievement. In other words, if they are spending much class time keeping kids from hurting each other, their ability to really teach so that every child learns is seriously impacted.
So those of you in your district that make the decisions about training, GET A CLUE. Good training is no more “set-and-get” than it is good teaching. Invest in experts that not only know their stuff, but know how to present to adults in such a way that ultimately a positive difference occurs for your kids.