Counselors or Coaches - Vote Now
Charlie reported that Robert Boesche, CFO, wants budget ideas so let's give him some. My thought is inspired by the Kia car commercial with the gangsta hamsters (I cannot say why this commercial so entertains me but it does.) The tag line is:
You can go with this or you can get with that.
So in that vein, I thought we might put together a list (and feel free to do this at your elementary school). First up,
School Counselors or Academic Coaches?
This or That?
Which do you think make the most difference at your school? Which would you be willing to do without for a year or two or three? (And none of this, "I don't really know" stuff. You know your school; what do teachers or the principals talk about more?)
What else would make a good "this or that"?
Comments
I would rather have five extra teachers in a school, especially math and science teachers, and the smaller class sizes that would provide than have five people doing counseling or coaching.
Wouldn't everyone?
That’s a big wink in case you missed it.
Counselors at middle and high schools. Academic coaches at elementary schools.
Do the coaches work with kids or just teachers? What do they do exactly and why does the district want them? Can they work as math and reading/writing tutors? Because if that is so, our school can use a coach in that capacity. It would save our PTA a bundle.
I think our BLT uses the money for a counselor for some other position to cover PCP time. Our school is in a middle class to upper income neighborhood with low FRL (< 16%).
The school where we used to live (in the CD) definitely had many more problems and needed a FT counselor.
Seeking answers
Neither. They talk about neither at my school, at least to me.
Do academic coaches even come to my school? I don't know.
Just for claficiation, is the "math specialist" at my school, a teacher or a coach?
I've never heard anyone talk about the value of coaches, but since I've never heard anyone articulate the pro side, it makes me not entirely certain on the con.
Coaches seem like shadowy figures. They didn't have them when I was a kid or, I believe, in the many years my mom was a teacher. When and where did they come from?
I suspect they grew out of some 'reform' minded intiative to make people hew to some particular curriculum or teaching style, and now that that has had no impact, we are just stuck with them because no one remembers why we added them in the first place.
I'd love to see a history, or at least some information from a teacher with first hand experience. Everything I know about them is rumor.
In the absence of additional information, I'd have to say counselors, since I can at least imagine what value they provide.
But to be frank, while counselors sound like a great idea, I'd pick targeted academic support for struggling students in my elementary over a counselor in my school, or a PE, music or art teacher.
We didn't have of any of those things when I was a kid, and I got an acceptable education.
My top priority would be more instructional time, and free summer school for kids who are below grade level. As long as we're not offering that, I'd like all the extras to be taken out of my school to fund it.
(Sorry to anyone who might freak at the prospect of losing these "essentials")
jamie
Sure. But that doesn't just mean salaries; that means more classrooms, which most schools have not got, and the school assignment plan doesn't allow for any pockets of small class sizes, so it would have to be in all schools or not at all. Just look at the McGilvra situation.
Helen Schinske
Helen Schinske
On top of that, he ran a very good and pretty successful anti-bullying curriculum and worked with the kids with special needs—everything from ADHD to dyslexia and autism. And, he worked in tandem with the Family Support Worker to put on parent education nights, etc. A wonderful young man, he was loved by all kids at the school—especially when he came in costume to DJ the annual Halloween Party.
As long as public schools are expected to be social service providers as well as educators, counselors will be necessary.
SolvayGirl (Google is being fussy again)
A. Counselor
Q. Summer school VS. MAP
A. Summer school
Q. Direct, individual, intervention and support for struggling students VS New Ed Director for the SE
A. Individual intervention and support
Q. Extra teachers VS new web site
A. Extra teachers
Q. New science text books VS healthier school lunches
A. Healthier lunches
The coaches who train teachers? Those seem way less important than councelors.
Upfront, we are talking about the coaches who work with teachers only, not students.
An overwhelming need for counselors was expressed.
-SLP
Counselors.
Anyone who holds a valid teaching certificate should teach. Principals should teach at least one class per day in middle and high school. If we are keep ridding ourselves of teachers someone needs to do the job.
All this administrating is just an excuse for not teaching.
Counselors are essential, even in neighborhoods that don't have high FRL ratios. Counselors at elementary are proactive in teaching students how to resolve conflict and focus on learning, in addition to working with DSHS and behavior issues. It's a big and necessary job.
Their ounce of prevention is worth a pound of suspensions.
the academic "coaches" frequently operate operate under a constructivist edu-babble approach which works like this --
you're swamped, you're sinking ... and you get someone who paddles up & asks you to visualize a boat made out of ... bark? straws from starbucks? recycled wheat stalks?
how would you build it? did you do a pre-assessment of it? do you feel it will float ... have you read this 14 page article based upon 3 classroom observations of 49 kids, and clearly the research shows that ... you should reflect! ...and the someone paddles away!
'yippee!' thinks the swamped serf,' thanks for ... the ... 'help''.
IF the academic coaches were useful, there might be something to debate ... ?? On the other hand - why aren't we debating firing all the useless "researchers" at the U.W. to hire people who are useful - like counselors for little kids!
Dr. PowerPoint To DaMoon.
Thank you, Solvay Girl.
Counselors are critical in our SE elementary schools. Our counselor KNOWS the kids, really knows them, and interacts with them beautifully, and intervenes and teaches proper problem solving skills to kids when they are still in first grade. I do not want to think about what those kids would be like in 7th grade or 10th grade without the crucial intervention they are getting now.
Central funding has been cut for the .5 elementary counseling positions that were just added back to the Weighted Staffing Standard this past fall. Please speak up to save these services for our kids. Email the school board at schoolboard@seattleschools.org. If we don’t speak up now we may never get these crucial services back.
These services were cut last year (based on Don Kennedy's lies to the school board)and it was all the emails that got funds back in the schools to save 68% of these positions. Please bombard the board. You can make a difference.
notsoanonymous
I vote keep counselors and fund teachers for actual current enrollment.
Especially, as the "Sails Might be Trimmed" for portions of the Strategic Plan.
Why pay to enforce something that will no longer exist?
Skip running on the wheel ... gangsta hamsta ... run for real this summer.
However, the above is my lay person's opinion. I'm curious what the Principals are saying? Melissa, do you know?
A friend of Seattle
+1 more for Peon's list as well.
Good point. How much are instructional coaches costing the district vs. cost of counselors?
If counselor costs are only a fraction of instructional coach costs- shouldn't we retain counselors while eliminating a portion of instructional coaches?
How many of those instructional coaches are in the JSS without direct student support?
PAL
Social, emotional and behavorial issues occur across the spectrum of ALL socio-economic groups. Every school needs atleast a half time counselor.
Will some schools be getting counselors, while eliminating them from higher level schools?
Counselors.
It's not quite a perfect swap, but not every counselor in the district is going to be cut, either. And it's possible SPS spends more than $6.2M on coaches - some may be titled differently, making them difficult to locate in the FY11 line item budget. In late 2009, SPS (according to the CFOO and Exec Director of Finance) spent $10-11M on coaches. I haven't gone through the line item budget with a fine-tooth comb yet, so the $6+M is what I've turned up easily.
I would consider keeping the $1M of coaches who are assigned to schools (and answerable to the principal in the building), and by cutting the remainder, return any counselors who have been cut back to schools.
More staff in ICS buildings.
There are at least 11 SpEd consulting teachers, plus a couple of other varieties of consulting teachers. All are billed to teaching, and none actually, you know, teach.
I would dump what IDEA doesn't require and put more staff, whether teachers and/or IAs, in the classrooms and schools.
Direct support for struggling students. Alignment is expensive (although I will admit, it's not totally clear exactly how expensive). Despite the fanfare surrounding alignment efforts, they don't appear to have lifted student achievement - but those efforts have threatened some of the best programming in the district. SPS's alignment efforts have mostly edged to standardization, not alignment - I would dump it, and give struggling students active, direct support.
Alignment can be tabled without harming kids - if it hasn't really helped them to date, it's hard to argue that tabling it would harm them. But maybe someone else thinks that alignment has been marvelous. I like the idea of alignment, but I think SPS's implementation efforts have been lousy.
More investment in the IT infrastructure, or seismic retrofitting for safer buildings?
Seismic retrofitting for safer buildings. A slow IT network is an annoyance. Safe school buildings are more important.
Is it purely as simple as that? No. But it doesn't really sit right to watch a decent IT infrastructure get upgraded while the half billion dollar maintenance backlog - which includes seismic issues - continues to be neglected.
Less money chopped out of schools.
I will admit, I feel some guilt suggesting this one. Secretaries, office specialists and administrative assistants aren't in the ranks of overpaid, over-populated management running around downtown. However, they do add up to some $2.2M of Central Administration expense. I would expect that this could be halved, helping to prevent cuts to schools.
Counselors.
And like Greg, I'd mostly prefer more teachers in the classroom in general.
http://jackdean.posterous.com/must-see-chart-this-is-what-class-war-looks-l
You can go with this or you can get with that, government-style.
Did you see the CEO of GE trying to defend GE not paying one cent of taxes? Hilarious.
Actually its mainly the elementary counselors that have been cut plus some reductions at the middle school and I believe the high school level.
Last year when elementary counselors were cut from all the schools it was said to be a $2.6M budget item. Replacing cut counselors therefore would be more around this number $2.6M than $8.2M.
We can pay $2.6M now or pay much more later. Costs aside kids deserve a safety net. Counselors save lives, literally and figuratively.
elementary counselors v. map upgrades? counselors
elementary counselors v. map?
counselors
elementary counselors v. consultants?
counselors
elementary counselors v. $700.000 website downgrade?
elementary counselors
Next August the state will have new stronger anti-bullying laws. Just like the district to cut counselors at such a time.
Just like the district to end up paying millions after being sued for bullying problems rather than preventing them and getting so much more for the money. Could happen and it wouldn't surprise me.
oynonymous
You can't tell me elimination of .5counselor will be anything less than a disaster; even if it doesn't have a high FRL.
former teacher
We used to honor the needs of the majority and the common good. What has happened? Education and labor - why have we abandoned the badge of honor for these people.
And, with all the money that has gone into IT, TEACHERS ARE STILL DOING REPORT CARDS BY HAND. Can anyone explain that? At least at my school.
I'll stop. This is turning into a rant. First time on the blog. Guess I had a lot on my mind.
Number cruncher