Kitsap Education

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Not surprisingly, the state’s community and technical colleges are experiencing record enrollments again this fall. If you can’t get a job, you might as well retrain, right?

According to the press release below, the colleges will ask the state for more money in the next legislative session, but that’s pretty unrealistic given the huge cuts expected because state revenues continue to fall.

Public education institutions have been cutting budgets since I started covering them (off and on) almost 10 years ago. And they were probably doing it before that. Will it ever end?

If you’re planning to attend the education financing forum with Rep. Christine Rolfes tonight in CK, a question about community and technical college funding might be appropriate.

Here’s the press release:

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) announced record fall enrollments at the state’s 34 community and technical colleges. Fall enrollments are estimated to reach 146,500 full-time equivalent students, an increase of nearly 9.5% over last fall’s record enrollment levels. For the year, enrollments are estimated at 162,000 FTES.

Last year, much of the growth was attributed to the troubled economy because, historically, college enrollments increase during economic downturns. That trend continues this academic year.

“We all hoped for a quicker economic recovery, but it’s clear now the effects of the recession are lingering,” said Charlie Earl, SBCTC executive director. “Student demand for college programs just continues to grow as more people recognize their aspirations depend on higher levels of education.”

(more…)

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Rep. Christine Rolfes (23rd District) will be visiting Central Kitsap School District tonight discuss education-related issues with members of the public.
The forum will be held at the district offices, 9210 Silverdale Way, beginning at 7 p.m.
Rolfes will give an update on education funding on the state level. CKSD leaders will also give a local budget update. A question and answer session will follow.

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Three members of the Central Kitsap School Board will be sworn in tonight. Bruce Richards, Eric Greene return to the board, representing District 1 and District 5, respectively. Mark Gaines will be the board’s newest member, taking over Carl Johnson’s spot representing District 2. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the district offices, 9210 Silverdale Way.

We’re also awaiting certification of other elections today, including the race between Dave Boynton and Cynthia Galloway in the Bremerton School District. Galloway has indicated she will make a statement after the race is certified today. Boynton and the board’s two other new members, Carolynn Perkins and Scott Rahm, will be sworn in on Dec. 10.

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The Bremerton School Board has scheduled a special meeting on Monday beginning at 5:30 p.m. to discuss problems with the high school track.

The agenda sent to me Thursday indicates the board will meet in closed session with legal counsel to discuss potential litigation in regards to the resurfacing of the track. The track was resurfaced earlier this year, but the project has a lot of problems. Learn more from this story posted on Kitsapsun.com Thursday.

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Superintendent for Public Instruction Randy Dorn is proposing more changes in the math and science requirements for public school students. A two-tier system for proficiency seems to be an interesting proposal – it will definitely stir some discussions.

Read the proposal here.

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I’ve been looking into how local school districts are using money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Basically, ARRA has become a filler for state-level funding cuts. In Bremerton, for example, schools received $2.3 million in ARRA funding. And, you guessed it, cuts in education funding (called apportionment because it’s based on student head count) and I-728 money totaled $2.3 million.

Bremerton School Board member Louis Mitchell labeled the situation “a net wash.”

To learn more about how ARRA funding is being used in other states, check out this Education Week story.

I think it’s safe to say schools can expect more cuts in the spring. Sherry Appleton and Christine Rolfes, state representatives from the 23rd District, told community members at forum on Nov. 9 that more cuts are coming.

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Dave Boynton remains 100 votes ahead of Bremerton School Board member Cynthia Galloway in the race for position #4. The Kitsap County Auditor’s Office released yet another count of the ballots on Thursday.

Galloway indicated Thursday that she would make a statement on the election on Nov. 24, when the count is certified.

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The White House announced today that the competition for a portion of nearly $4 billion in its “Race to the Top” money is now underway. States will apply for the money. Those that are doing innovative things in education will be ranked higher than those who aren’t. The Obama administration wants to reward and feed programs and plans that will make a difference in public education.

Read more about Race to the Top in this very informative story from Education Week.

So is Washington a contender? By joining the group of states working on common core educational standards, we’ve added to our ranking. But we don’t have a law that allows charter schools. For that, we lose points. Also, I recently heard about (read? – I forget) about how the Gates Foundation has rewarded a whole big bunch of money to the state of Minnesota to help the state write and submit its Race to the Top application and plan. I did not hear a similar story about Washington.

I did find a memo on OSPI’s website laying some groundwork for Washington’s application. I have an email into OSPI asking for some more details. I’ll let you know when I hear back.

Update at 3 p.m.: Washington state’s Race to the Top application will be a legislative package originating from the governor’s office. The application will focus on how the state has addressed low-perfomring schools, teacher pay and evaluations and standards and assessments. Nathan Olson, of OSPI’s communications office, said that while Washington does not have charter schools, it does have innovative schools that work “outside the public school philosophy.” The Tacoma School for the Arts is a good example. “We think places like that will help us,” he said. The application is due Jan. 19, 2010. 

More later, I’m sure, on this …

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The Washington Supreme Court announced today that it had reversed a decision from a lower court finding the state was not properly funding education. The case was brought by the Federal Way School District, teacher, parents and students.

Read the decision here.

This is not to be confused with the NEWS education-funding lawsuit currently in the hands of a King County Superior Court judge. We’re still awaiting a decision in that case, which wrapped up in October. The Chimacum School District is a plaintiff in that case.

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The Bremerton School Board will host a reception on Thursday at 7 p.m. to say goodbye to outgoing school board member DeWayne Boyd. Boyd has served on the school board since 2001. He was previously the district’s superintendent for many years.

The reception will be held in the district’s board room, 134 Marion Ave.