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From Guilford County Schools:

"In recognition and affirmation of efforts to improve energy efficiency in school facilities, Guilford County Schools (GCS) will participate in a meeting with North Carolina's Governor Mike Easley.

"The meeting takes place today at 1 p.m. and will be held at the Governor's Office in the Governor's conference room. During the meeting, individuals will discuss increasing energy efficiency in public schools. Representatives from the State Energy Office, the North Carolina, Department of Public Instruction, local universities and other school districts will join GCS staff for the meeting....

"GCS is the first school district in the state to develop its own set of detailed green design specifications, known as the G3-Guilford Green Guide. Northern Middle, which opened in January of 2007, features comprehensive and well-integrated green design, including a daylighting system, an underfloor air distribution system and solar heating. Additionally, a holistic water cycle approach catches rainwater for toilet flushing and takes it to a living machine, through underground irrigation and to an aquifer."

I try not to make predictions to my editors about election results because I'm not that good at it. The at-large race somewhat threw me for a loop. I figured Michael McKinney would move on to November, but was surprised that Erik Huey did not crack the top three because of his long and strong online campaign. I didn't count on David Crawford getting as many votes as he did.

However, after polling voters on Tuesday I realized there is not necessarily any rhyme or reason to the numbers. Many voters go on name recognition, regardless of the candidates stance on the issues. Some of the people I talked to said they could not even remember what at-large candidate they selected. And this was five minutes walking out the door.

One gentleman I interviewed said he picked Sandra Alexander because a campaign volunteer handed him a card with her name on it on his way into Eastern Middle School. Another woman said she voted for David Crawford because her husband told her to (she couldn't remember why her husband was a supporter).

I talked to Michael McKinney last night and he said a woman voted for him because his name sounded right. Huh?

Clearly, there is no direct correlation between number of votes and support of the candidates' positions on educational issues.

There may, however, be a more direct correlation when it comes to funds spent. Both Sandra Alexander and McKinney spent more than $2,000 on their campaigns, according to the Guilford County Board of Elections. Alan Hawkes spent $456. No reports were filed by David Crawford and Erik Huey.

I am reporting on the school board's 2008-09 budget line item review, which has been going on since 7:30 a.m. The board is on page 12 of 31 so this could be going on for a while longer.

A couple notable points that I am following up on today:
* Wanda Frazier, the district's risk manager, is reviewing two bids for new property insurance coverage. The financial services department has increased its budget for 2008-09 by 30 percent to about $798,000, and has increased the values of its facilities by 37 percent. The department took a deeper look at its property insurance coverage after Eastern Guilford High was destroyed by fire in November 2006. Frazier hopes to have a recommendation to the board within two weeks.

* The board is considering the budget impact of adopting a "living wage" of $12.40 an hour for its classified employees (estimated to cost about $5 million). The salary increases would benefit employees such as bus drivers, teaching assistants and cafeteria workers, some who are making about $10 an hour.

The board will discuss the budget more at its regular meeting on Thursday. Stay tuned for details from today's review.

What will voters remember most when they go to the polls on Tuesday: Former Gov. Jim Hunt vocalizing his support for the $457 million school bond package last week or a Monday press conference where black school board members essentially told Guilford County Schools show us the results before we show you the money.

Deena Hayes, Amos Quick and Walter Childs, as well as concerned citizens, are frustrated at the ongoing achievement gaps between black and white students as well as the low percentage of black contractor participation in school construction (however, Quick has said previously he was more concerned about the costs of the bond and the lack of work being proposed in urban areas). Find details of the rationale listed here. None of this is news as you can hear the board members complain about this frequently at board meetings.

As a matter of fact, the board is expecting a report soon from Gongshu Zhang, chief accountability officer, on the performance of minority students.

To the district's credit, it has tried to address the concerns stated above. Find here a presentation of what Guilford County Schools is doing to work with the minority contractors community. If you run a query at the Department of Public Instruction's Web site, you can see that the performance of black students on state exams has gone up some, but there is still clearly an achievement gap.

Kris Cooke, a school board member who supports the bonds, had a lot to say about the issue.

"I think they know that we're trying to address (the concerns)," Cooke said. "The minority contractors for sure aren't going to have any business if we don't have any construction going on."

Cooke said that frustrated board members and citizens should target the inadequate county, state and federal funds the district receives, not construction dollars, which don't cover curriculum and instruction.

"The gap was made over a long period of time and it's going to take time to close it," Cooke said.

What do you think? Are the aforementioned concerns reason enough to oppose the bonds?

Just got word by way of the Bonds for Schools Committee that former Gov. Jim Hunt will try to rally support for both school bonds at on Wednesday at Allen Middle School. Government officials and the media have been invited.

Actually, there is a bit more. I tried to in today's story explain the reasons voters have for supporting or opposing the $457 million school bond package. But I was sick this week and had to quickly prioritize story details. What I couldn't fit in the story: Answers to various questions from Joe Hill, facilities consultant; estimates of operating costs for the bond projects (not including personnel); and answers to busing questions from transportation Director Jeff Harris.

Thanks to Jeff Mills and Jennifer Fernandez for graciously filling in on those board meetings. Wish I could say I missed covering them. ;-)

I rarely have time to flip through the educational publications that pile up on my desk, but an article in the current The School Administrator caught my eye. The article, "It's the system (not the staff) that needs a tuneup" by Lee Jenkins, states the case that school systems must deal with the underlying systematic flaws that hold back student progress, rather than loading up on program after program.

Current system flaws, according to Jenkins, include:
* Teachers spend more time than they should reviewing material from the previous academic year;
* Schools hold students accountable for their short-term memory, but schools are held accountable for students' long-term memory;
* Schools use ranking, the bell curve and other statistical tools suitable for competive sports, but unacceptable for nonathletic endeavors;
* Schools rarely collect baseline data prior to a change, so opinions abound but facts are minimal.

Reading this article got me thinking about Guilford County Schools and the complaints I often get from teachers and students that the district tries program after program to improve student achievement and behavior and other areas. Without systems thinking, administrators (whether they be inside a school system or other government entity) work in silos and make changes without realizing their impacts on other seemingly non-related areas.

In what areas do you think GCS is doing well when it comes to thinking systematically and in what areas does the district need transformation?

Teachers at Guilford County Schools have until Monday to complete the state working conditions survey.

A couple incentives: All schools with 100 percent participation are eligible for a weekly drawing of a $1,000 grant to improve teaching conditions. Educators also are eligible for a weekly cash prize of $1,000 and a $2,500 plasma television grand prize from AT&T.

Survey results will be released on June 1.

Perhaps these reports have been around forever, but it seems to be popular these days to count up the economic costs of students not earning a high school diploma as a way to support a smorgasbord of educational initiatives. I just got an e-mail from the Alliance for Excellent Education this week with the headline "Nation's dropout rate decreases tax revenue," which somewhat states the obvious.

Continue reading "Counting the costs of dropouts: A new trend?" »

Read the summary and full report of the brief below:

GREENSBORO --- An analysis released Friday by the Center for Business and Economic Research at UNCG found that Guilford County Schools had a local economic impact of $1.32 billion and supported 15,777 jobs during the 2006-07 school year.

That impact is close to the economic and jobs impacts of Moses Cone Health System, the High Point Furniture Market and UNCG, according to the center's Director Andrew Brod, who did the study at the request of the district. The analysis includes the total impact of the district's operations, and indirect savings stemming from a lowered drop-out rate, increased scholarships and Advanced Placement collge credit.

"This gives you a feel for what kind of footprint Guilford County Schools has in our local economy," Brod told elected officials gathered at a breakfast in Greensboro on Friday.

The study also included a separate total of the amount of direct and spillover dollars spent in Guilford County as a result of the 2000 and 2003 school bonds.

Brod calculated that the previous $500 million worth of bonds contributed $787.1 million to the local economy. He estimated the 2008 school bonds, totaling $457.3 million, would contribute $656.8 million.

Brod will present the report again to the public at 4:30 p.m. on Monday at Andrews High School and at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Smith High School.