High School Musicals

I wasn't on the School Board when the "play policy" controversy erupted. I wish I had been. Since that time Loudoun's principals and drama directors have stayed far, far away from anything potentially controversial. It's all "Seussical," Rogers & Hammerstein and Shakespeare now (not that the latter two don't contain their share of sex, drugs and violence).

So I guess I'll have to settle for high school theater that actually speaks to the modern lives of our students in other communities:

Peter Atlas always thought Concord-Carlisle Regional High School was open to diversity, but when he put out his casting call for the musical “Falsettos’’ he had doubts about the turnout.

How many teenagers would audition for a show about two homosexual couples, a straight couple, and a 12-year-old boy?

Dozens, he learned. When it came time to cast the seven-member ensemble, Atlas had his pick from among around 50 candidates from across the student body.

[Boston Globe]
[The Stranger]

Volunteering in Wealthy Schools

A rare perspective from a woman from a community much like ours:

Chances are that some of the 25 percent of American children on food stamps are attending school in a neighboring district, where the vast majority of students come from disadvantaged backgrounds. But these kids might as well live in another country for all the attention the parent volunteers at most middle-class schools pay them. I’ve never received a note in my inbox requesting I read stories to boys and girls whose parents don’t speak English, or to raise funds for schools where more children receive federally subsidized lunches than not. The only time I hear about poor kids is when our school holds its annual coat and food drives.

Maybe we need to create sister-school designations in Loudoun to encourage parents to volunteer at schools with higher populations of economically disadvantaged students. This was exactly the plea made by Catoctin and Balls Bluff elementary schools in Leesburg this spring, and pledged by Tolbert & Frances Hazel Reid if I recall correctly. How is that working out?

[Why I'm Sick of Volunteering at My Kids' Wealthy School]

12/10 Update: A little birdie whispered in my ear that it's neither accurate nor polite to refer to schools as rich and poor, which I did in the original version of this post. The birdie is correct, I meant no offense by my shorthand reference and I have rephrased it.

Notes from Tonight's Meeting

• Lansdowne high school students currently attending Stone Bridge will be able to continue attending Stone Bridge. Starting with rising freshman, Lansdowne students will attend Tuscarora High School. Stone Bridge will continue to be very crowded and I hope that many current Lansdowne/Stone Bridge students will choose to move to Tuscarora.
• New elementary boundaries for Dulles South were adopted to set attendance zones for Buffalo Trail ES. The alternative plan proposed by Mr. DuPree and Mr. Reed passed.
• CFO Leigh Burden presented highlights of the FY2010 WABE report and the FY10 financial report.
• The Board discussed two proposed policies concerning energy efficiency and water conservation.
• The Board postponed consideration of the proposed CIP due to the weather as temperatures and rain fell outside.

We adjourned at 10:33pm.

Loudoun: Next to Last for Students

Last week I wrote to you that Loudoun County pays its teachers less than eight out of the nine regional public school districts. It isn't just teachers who are getting fewer resources in Loudoun than in neighboring jurisdictions. It is the entire district, it is the students and their education.

Loudoun County spends less money per student than eight out of the nine regional public school districts. Only Prince William County spends less.



I ask the same question that I did last week: Is this the extent to which Loudoun values public education? I don’t think it is. I think our budget has fallen out of step with our values as a community. Loudoun is a highly educated, high-achieving community with high expectations for its children’s future. We expect a lot from our school system. We expect the very best opportunities for our kids. Are we dedicating what is needed to give them those opportunities?

The Board of Supervisors sets the school system's overall budget each year. On Tuesday and Thursday, December 8th & 10th, the Board of Supervisors holds public input sessions on the budget, affording you the opportunity to speak directly to the Supervisors. Click here for details. In addition, there is a special email address that goes to all members of the Board of Supervisors and the School Board: loudounbudget@loudoun.gov.

There are many important services for the Supervisors to consider, not just education. Theirs is a difficult job with many voices calling for maximum funding and many voices calling for lower taxes. They must find a path somewhere in the middle, and along that path they will be asking themselves: Should Loudoun be next to last for education funding? They already know what I think. Let them hear the answer from you.

(Washington Area Boards of Education FY2010 Guide)

Looking back. Way back.

I bookmarked this story for a day like today, when I would need some inspiration and some perspective.

The story is a profile of a longtime Loudoun County teacher and the forty years in which she taught, from 1947-1986. Pieced together from small statements, it is still a stunning portrait of life not so long ago.

Segregation was not an issue in the 1940s and 1950s: It was a time-honored fact. "Except when you shopped at the stores, you didn't get in contact with the other race," Johnson said.

The old Douglass Elementary, still standing on Union Street, was built in 1884. It was the first school for African Americans in Loudoun with more than two rooms. In September 1947, when Johnson arrived, the two-story frame school had five rooms, two naked light bulbs in each room and one outdoor spigot. Steep wooden steps led to the entrance. Two outhouses stood at the building's rear, at the edge of the white people's Union Cemetery.

The contrast between the Loudoun Ms. Johnson describes and the one we have now is staggering. But there is a point of continuity that made me smile:

Johnson's legacy continues through her daughter Kaye Hale, a teacher and reading specialist in Loudoun public schools since 1979.

Leesburg Teacher's Career Spanned Two Eras

LCPS Employee Discounts

In the wake of yesterday's post about slipping LCPS teacher salaries, one neighbor asked me if local businesses could offer discounts to LCPS employees as a benefit that wouldn't cost the taxpayers anything.

As it turns out, many local businesses already do!

Current LCPS Employee Discounts

All you need is your employee badge to take advantage of these.

Hey, Chamber of Commerce (email link), how about encouraging more local businesses to join this list?

Buffalo Trail Boundary Work Session

I'm listening to last night's elementary boundary work session, which I could not attend (daughter's winter orchestra concert). The video is available online via the LCPS Webcast page. Board members have been inundated with emails for weeks. I should have posted a place for online discussion long ago.

I don't have any opinion to contribute yet because I'm waiting for the recommendations of the area's representatives, Mr. DuPree and Mr. Reed. It's their job to represent the area, they're the ones accountable to those voters. But please feel free to offer yours.

Loudoun: Next to Last for Teachers?

There’s a bit of back-and-forth happening on Monday’s blog post about budget priorities. It’s a typical debate about teacher/public employee salaries. That discussion is worth its own thread. There’s something important that the community should know: Loudoun County pays its teachers less than eight out of the nine regional public school districts.

I’ll show you what that looks like. The chart below shows the difference in starting teacher salaries between each jurisdiction and the Manassas school district, which has the lowest pay scale in the region. Red is for a bachelor’s degree and Green for a master’s degree.
(Click for a larger version)

Loudoun pays a new teacher with a BA $54 more per year than Manassas does. We pay a teacher with an MA $495 more than Manassas does. Nobody besides Manassas pays less than Loudoun. In Montgomery County a starting teacher with a BA earns $3,771 more than in Loudoun County in the first year.

Now the question I have for you is this: Is this the extent to which Loudoun values public education? I don’t think it is. I think our pay scale has fallen out of step with our values as a community. Loudoun is a highly educated, high-achieving community with high expectations for its children’s future. We’re not going to retain our best teachers or hire the best teachers with a pay scale like this. Without the best teachers, we can’t ensure our children’s best future.

Just 18 months ago, Loudoun was fourth on this list instead of eighth:

5/27/2008: Of the ten Washington metro jurisdictions, eight are raising teacher salaries this year. Two are not, and Loudoun is one of them. We are still behind the same three that we were behind last year: Fairfax, Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, but by a greater degree. (Teacher Raises Around the Region)

Previous to that I wrote about the nature of teacher salaries:

2/7/2008: Salaries of any job are part of the free market, and set based on what is required to recruit and retain the best employees. Every industry pays different amounts to different people based on the supply and demand of skills, and LCPS is subject to that same free market when it comes to teachers. Our teacher salaries are set based on that free market, not as a moral judgment of how much someone deserves to be paid. When I consider the challenge and importance of the work that teachers do and the impact it has on the future of our world, I think they should be paid much more (same for law enforcement, firefighters, military and other public safety personnel), but no society has ever though it could afford to pay public employees according to the importance and risk associated with their jobs. (Teacher Salaries, Concisely)

There is plenty of time to talk about the budget and the role salaries play. I just want to start with these two questions: Did you know that Loudoun is next to last for teachers? Is that where we want to be?

Video: Park View's Principal Dances with Joy

From the LCPS Website:

Park View High School is one of five high schools nationwide to be named a Breakthrough School by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Dr. Ginger Minshew, Park View's principal, found a unique way to announce the award to the staff and student body on Friday, November 20th.

On September 8th, the staff of The Oprah Show organized a 20,000-member flash mob in Chicago to celebrate the show's 24th season kickoff and as a surprise to the show's host, Oprah Winfrey. Not only did the crowd show up, they danced to a live performance of I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. Minshew had a tape of that performance shown on Park View's electronic white boards at the start of morning announcements and told the students to get out of their chairs and dance.
Knowing there would be some reluctance to joining the fun, Minshew replayed I Gotta Feeling with a tape of her dancing to the song.

Note to LCPS & LoCo Gov't readers: The video will not work from any LCPS computer because the network does not allow access to YouTube. Please come back when you're at home.