While I personally did not have a problem with the message that the President delivered (yes, my kids watched it), I respect those who were concerned.  The President and his administration made matters worse by waiting until very late to release the transcript.  The talk of “lesson plans” added more fuel to the fire, making this smell more like indoctrination to these folks.

Let’s face it, presidents are indeed polarizing figures.  Couple that with stunts like this and you simply get more distrust:

Parents are the ULTIMATE decision makers regarding what their children get exposed to.  And their reasons (no matter how distasteful it may be to others) are are exactly that… THEIR REASONS!  Sure, parents can’t control everything, but that doesn’t precluded them from getting involved in those situation where they can.

I’m tired of hearing the question…. “how are children harmed by watching the president’s speech?”   Answer this: “how were children harmed by not watching it live?”  Again, it’s not YOUR BUSINESS to decide what’s best for someone else’s child.

In hindsight, the school administration would have been better served to simply say “we’re delaying the viewing to respect all parties involved,” and leave it at that.

Kudos to Novi Schools for respecting the rights of parents.

Also up for re-election is Jeff Neilson… but so far, he has not gone public with his plans.

** Newsflash ** Former school board trustee and former Village Oaks Principal Dave Brown has filed.

While I enjoy working the polls, it can be a bit awkward when the opposing candidate is standing right next to you.

Still, Karl worked the polls like a true politician. Every time I made a case for my candidates, there was Karl talking and shaking hands with the same folks. Certainly, it’s hard to compete with that.

Karl and I talked quite a bit during the evening, and we agreed that neither of us had a clue as to what the outcome might be. There’s never been a school board election held on the same night as a presidential election, especially one of this magnitude.

As it turned out, the night didn’t quite end up as Karl had hoped. Had he been been at every polling location simultaneously, things might have ended differently. Still, he proved to me that he truly cares about our schools and is one class guy.

So, here’s to you Karl!

John Tyler Principal To Discuss IB Withdrawal

I’m still not sold that this program is good for our district. Remember, we have one of the best AP programs around and IB will simply cannibalize it as has happened in many districts around the country. Contrary to beliefs of some, this program is not for everyone. It is rigorous and is generally only completed (and attended) by elite students.

Of the 95 diploma candidates Texas’ Tyler High School has had in 10 years, less than half (41) earned IB diplomas.

Lisa Harper, the IB coordinator at Tyler HS states: “If you’re not earning diplomas, what’s the point of the program?”

I’m still disappointed that we continue to pump dollars into this program especially without a vote from our elected school board. An $80k-$200k budget expenditure which also causes a change in curriculum certainly calls for one. I certainly don’t see that as micro-managing.

We have more important issues that need to be addresses at other schools within the district.

On another front, schools around the country are finally catching on to the shortcomings of Newsweek’s H.S. Rankings developed by their education columnist (and IB fanatic) Jay Matthews. The principle behind the rankings are so flawed, that High Schools around the country are begining to write Newsweek in order to boycott the list.

Please read the articles and essays at this website to get the real truth about why you do NOT want IB to take over your school, which is what would eventually be demanded.

Bow NH Fights IB

The premise is that an IB program would be good for Novi students ? and a ?product differentiator? in helping attract additional enrollment to Novi from other school districts. (It should be noted that this same premise was used when Novi Schools agreed to pay big dollars for additional full-day kindergarten classes. Yet, this ?product differentiator? has had no significant effect on Novi?s student enrollment).

Clearly, I support investigating the benefits of any new academic program that will benefit Novi students. Recall that we recently cut $3 million from the 07/08 fiscal budget. More cuts are expected in the upcoming school year. During these very tight economic times, we should consider the following:

1. If we add an academic program (IB or anything else), what program(s) needs to be cut to afford this additional expense? Do we eliminate more from special education support services? Cut literary specialists at the elementary level? Layoff more folks from custodial services? Do we finally look at eliminating Block Scheduling from the high school? Do we sell the unused Bosco property?
2. How much does the implementation of IB cost? Shouldn?t we, as taxpayers know how much this program costs before we start training personnel? Why is this issue being fast-tracked through our School Board with little debate? Why is only one trustee asking tough questions (and getting unclear answers)? There was more debate during three board meetings in late 2007 when the issue of webcasting board meetings for the community was discussed (a simple $700/year budget item).

And regarding IB in general, many questions need to be answered. For example:

1. Data indicates that IB programs around the country compete (and in some cases eliminate) Advanced Placement programs at the high school. Is that what Novi wants? I thought we had a premier AP program. Why hurt it?
2. Stand-alone Standard Level (SL) IB courses are not recognized by most universities for college credit. An IB certificate is no more than a participation trophy. You get one for simply taking the IB exam, whether you pass or fail. Is that what we want for our Novi students?
3. Currently, Novi Schools are using Title II-Federal Grant Funds (our tax dollars) to train teachers on the IB program. Is this a good use of our federal funds? Budget dollars are tight. School administrators constantly remind the public about the budget problem. So, could we use these grant funds for a different educational priority ? perhaps enhancing reading and writing programs at the elementary level?
4. The IB curriculum is directed by an arm of the United Nations. Is that what Novi wants? I thought Novi taxpayers pay high tax dollars because they want LOCAL CONTROL of their children?s curriculum? Do we need our curriculum approved by a group in Geneva, Switzerland and tests graded by folks in other countries?
5. Why does IB make it hard to obtain guides/syllabi for their courses by charging a fee, while AP course information can be downloaded for free?
6. IB personnel won?t disclose their financial records. Does Novi want to deal with an organization that is so secretive?

The IB curriculum continues to be a controversial topic around the country. I believe that our school board needs to ask tough questions before we proceed with any further funding. As with any major initiative, I expect that our board will indeed put this matter to a vote before moving forward.

From the “what in the world are they thinking” category comes Michigan House Bill 5758. This bill was introduced by Rep. LaMar Lemmons of Detroit. It would require state taxpayers to pay the cost of Detroit school elections.

Maybe he should ask the Detroit Water Department to help subsidize this instead.

You gotta love it!

In the meantime, I wanted to bring up the fact that many athletics teams over at the High School are having quite a bit of success of late.

First, the varsity football team has secured a spot in the playoffs by defeating South Lyon last week. This is Coach Tab Kellepourey’s 8th season and he’s led Novi to the playoffs 7 times. A win on Friday will give the Wildcats at least a share of the KVC Championship. Tom Markowski of the Detroit News recently did a nice piece about the coaching staff. You can read it here. You can read more about the team on the football website at http://www.novifootball.org.

The girls swim and dive team is currently undefeated in dual meets and ranked #6 in the state. They swim against South Lyon, (ranked #4) for he regular season KVC Championship Thursday night @ Novi.

The boys soccer team currently has an honorable mention ranking in the last coaches poll. They play #7 ranked South Lyon tonight @ South Lyon for the KVC Championship.

The boys cross country team is ranked #7 currently and recently finished 4th at the Oakland County Championships.

Girl’s Volleyball is currently ranked #10 in Class A, is 19-1 overall and 8-0 in the KVC. The Detroit News did a feature article on them today.

Boys tennis team recently won the KVC Championship – winning all 9 lights of competition at the league meet. They are currently ranked #7.

Finally, the girls varsity golf team recently finished 2nd in the KVC – their highest finish ever.

Congrats to all of our student athletes, their coaches and our Athletic Director, Curt Ellis.

Michigan Public Act 227 makes it easier for children of employees to attend schools in the district where their parents work. This act, which was passed in July, 2004, is not automatic. Each school district can decide independently whether or not to implement it.

Per Assistant Superintendent Bob Schram, 25 of the 28 school districts in Oakland County currently offer this to their employees. There is certainly one major benefit to Novi. It brings more kids to the district–thus more revenue–at a time when the budget is tight.

Unfortunately, there are concerns that have yet to be addressed during the two school board meetings where this issue has been discussed:

• We would now have students in the Novi Community School District who are not really part of our “community”.
• People who are not paying taxes in our district would get to benefit from the use of our facilities. The Novi school district only gets “operational” tax dollars from the state for these students, but they don’t get funding for facility use. Will these non-residents help pay off the 26.4 million dollar bond that Novi residents just passed? Of course not.
• Approving this benefit could potentially create a division in the community, as slots in those limited extracurricular activities could be taken by non-residents bumping out children of residents.
• If there are 3 openings at a particular school, and 4 students of district employees want to get in, who decides (and under what criteria) who is selected? Do teachers get preference over custodial staff? Does the union president’s child get preference over the elementary school secretary?
• Suppose you have 3 students and 2 slots at the High School. Do you take the football star and the Nation Honor Society member over others?

Board member Julie Abrams did ask about how some of these decisions would be made. Unfortunately, the administration never clearly answered the question, and Ms. Abrams did not press the issue.

There are many district employees who have moved into Novi because they wanted to educate their children in our school district. Normally, this is a costly decision. What do we tell them? Why don’t non-resident employees consider doing the same, helping out those current city residents who have had their houses on the market for an inordinate amount of time?

Mr. Schram stated that he spoke to 10 Oakland County schools offering this benefit and none reported any drawbacks. personally, I’d prefer to know why the remaining holdouts have resisted.

Superintendent Dion has promised to do a survey of employees to see how many plan to take advantage of this benefit. His report is due to the board at this Thursday’s meeting (7/12). I’m curious as to what relevance that will have on the matter.

Good or bad, it looks like the board is set to pass this eventual action item. Unfortunately, as is the a trend, it seems that they will leave it up to the administration to determine all of the rules.

Although I’m not overly passionate about this issue (unlike the “lack of community access”), it just does not smell right to me. It is certainly ironic that we’re looking to hand this gift out to a group whose local, state and national unions have historically been opposed to schools of choice for everyone but themselves.

First, the cost of the May 8th election for the Novi School District was $13,518.22. This is pretty much in-line with previous years. Where we saw the big spending was at the candidate level.

The figures break down as follows:

Dave Brown and Craig Parker spent under $1000 each, thus were not required to report. Both did, though, receive $375 from the Novi Education Association (teacher’s union), as did Jeff Nielson.