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Friday, November 30, 2007
IE2’s ‘Radical’ Plan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dean Alford, chairman of the governor’s long-running task force on school finance — commonly referred to as IE2 — gave a luncheon speech to superintendents and school board members (at the conference I’m attending) about where his group is in developing a new funding model for Georgia’s public schools.
Alford started with a hilarious story about how he once got on the wrong airplane when he was running late to the airport. Instead of going to Montgomery, he ended up in Las Vegas. When he finally returned to Atlanta, he discovered the group he was supposed to be speaking to was simply told: “He’s gonna be late.”
“That’s a little bit where we are in our process,” he quipped. “I’m working real hard to keep us on the right plane and going in the right direction.”
Alford told me afterward he’s hoping to present Gov. Sonny Perdue with formal recommendations next month. Then, if the governor approves, leaders in the General Assembly would take up “multiple” bills during the legislative session, which begins in January, to make the necessary changes.
The basic idea, which Alford explained with the aid of numerous charts and diagrams, is to create a more flexible funding system that allows school administrators to spend money where they want — rather than where the state tells them — as long as they meet academic goals.
Alford admitted local officials sometimes are confused by all the new lingo — contract model, anyone? — that he throws around as he talks about the idea. But he thinks any confusion can be overcome.
“It’s so brand new. It’s so different. In some ways, it is very — what’s the word I’m looking for — radical,” he said. “When you’ve dealt for so long under a ‘compliance model,’ it’s difficult to think about how you would function under a ‘performance model.’
“That is a whole new world,” he added. “But I think we can get there.”
The ultimate question: In an election year, when lawmakers have increasingly competitive agendas, will the task force’s plan fly?
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Let’s Spell It Out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox introduced a new name for one of Georgia’s new high school math courses at an annual conference for superintendents and school board members this morning.
Instead of the generically named “Mathematics 1” — a freshman class combining the study of different math disciplines — Cox said the course title would be changed to “Math I: Algebra I, Geometry, Statistics.”
State Department of Education officials have been fending off criticism of the new Asian-style math courses, which will be taught for the first time next school year, for months.
To combat the perception that the new courses had been dumbed down, last month department administrators said they would be making the titles more descriptive.
No word yet on what the other high school math courses will be called.
UPDATE: Here’s the full list of re-named courses from the state Department of Education.
Mathematics I: Algebra/Geometry/Statistics; Mathematics II: Geometry/Algebra II/Statistics; Mathematics III: Advanced Algebra/Statistics; Mathematics IV: Pre-calculus-Trigonometry/Statistics
Accelerated Math I: Geometry/Algebra II/Statistics; Accelerated Math II: Advanced Algebra/Geometry/Statistics; Accelerated Mathematics III: Pre-calculus-Trigonometry/Statistics
