VOTE TUESDAY APRIL 5. IF YOU DON'T PLEASE KEEP YOUR COMPLAINTS TO YOURSELF

• VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!!!!
  
  Oh, did I mention to VOTE on Tuesday? No matter what your politics, you have a civic responsibility to make your voice heard. Don't like the Supreme Court Justice who can't keep his misogynist views to himself? Get out there and vote for his opponent. Is experience more important to you? Let your voice be heard on Tuesday or you lose all credibility when making noise at a later date. One of the great strengths of our nation is the unalienable right AND responsibility of every citizen to vote. Exercise it. My rant is done.



• VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!!!!

Adequate Yearly Progress in Reading May Elude JC McKenna Disabled Students

• The Intangible Costs of Relentlessly Pursuing NCLB Achievement Goals

It's been an interesting few days since I woke to the Tuesday morning news of the Janesville Public School District trumpeting victory with their WKCE improvement data on page one of the Gazette. I quickly shot off emails to the principals in the district asking for Evansville data. I got one response that the data were "embargoed until April 7 or something like that." Okay...The skeptic/reporter /data hound in me went on high alert. On a whim, I looked for Evansville's 2010 WKCE data on the DPI website in their WINSS system. Eh voila, there they were. To be fair to my source, they expressed astonishment at the DPI asking that the data be embargoed yet publishing it on their website.

If you click on the post, you will be directed to the website where any achievement data you please can be accessed. Enter Evansville in the District and hit enter. The data can be viewed a number of ways. Please be aware that observation of the data, while informative, is not in itself sufficient to draw any conclusions regarding Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Every year, I forget the definition of AYP and have to review the method by which it is calculated. I forgot to do this last year and got into trouble. Like many government initiatives, it really is more complicated than it needs to be.

There are four components to achieving AYP. 1) Reading Achievement must meet annual yearly objective; 2) Math achievement must meet the annual yearly objective; 3) 95% or more students must participate in achievement testing. 4) Graduation rate and attendance rate of 85% or more or a 2% increase over the previous year. These criteria must be met not only on the district level and the school level, but also for any student subgroup for which there is a population of over 40 students (such as disabled or economically disadvantaged).

When we all read in the news about WKCE achievement as compared to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) targets, the data are usually presented as "the percent of students scoring proficient or advanced." That simple sum is not how the "proficiency index" is calculated. Districts receive results from WKCE in four categories: Minimum, Basic, Proficient and Advanced. At the beginning of this NCLB journey, the target values for Wisconsin Public School Districts to achieve in Reading and Math were established as "Annual Measurable Objectives (AMO) for proficiency index." This year those values are 80.5% for Reading and 68.5% for Math. To ascertain whether or not any district or school or subgroup has achieved AYP, the reader must determine the Proficiency Index (PI) by adding up the percentage of students scoring Proficient and the percentage of students scoring Advanced and adding to that half the percentage value of students scoring Basic on the WKCE. To illustrate, if a certain school had 20% Basic, 35% Proficient and 25% Advanced achievement on Math, the PI would be 35+25+0.5(20), or 70%. This calculation indicates that a school with these Math scores meets the minimum target value of 68.5%.

Since I began doing all of these calculations and trying to post this data, I have had technical difficulties. I will spare you the gory details and cut to the chase, to which I hear a collective sigh of relief. I really do love playing with this data, but conclude that it's pretty boring to a good chunk of the population. I am going to qualify my data with the remark that I may or may not completely understand the final step in designation of AYP status. Here's a summary of what I know:

• Calculate the Proficiency Index values for Math Achievement (MA) and Reading Achievement (RA) for each school and for each subgroup for which 40 or more students are present.


• Determine if the MA and RA values are at or above the AMOs or fall within statistically measured confidence intervals. If yes, AYP is achieved.


• If no, calculate a Safe Harbor calculation comparing Basic plus Minimum achievement for the present year with the immediately past year (SH1).


• If SH1 shows that Basic plus Minimum performance achievement is reduced by 10% or more, AYP has been achieved.


• If AYP is still elusive, recalculate the Safe Harbor designation by comparing the percentage of Basic plus Minimum achievement for the current year with an average of the Basic plus Minimum achievement for the two prior years (SH2). If SH2 shows a decrease of 10% or more in the Basic plus Minimum achievement categories, AYP has been achieved.


• If the proficiency index, SH1 and SH2 all fail to meet AYP, AYP is not met.

There are two parts I am unclear on. The first is the SH2 calculation because I only found it once in the literature and can't find it again. The second is what the statistical Confidence intervals are for our district. I will summarize the steps and the AYP status at each step for the district.

Due to statistical limitations, I only ran the data on a school wide basis for TRIS, JC McKenna and EHS. I was concerned with borderline achievement levels last year for the Disabled and Economically Disadvantaged students, so I focused on those areas. The target values this year are much higher than last and it was reasonable to check this data first.

When I calculated the proficiency index for these groups at each school, the achievement in reading and math for economically disadvantaged students all met AYP outright. The straight proficiency calculation using the reading and math achievement of the disabled population failed to meet the strict comparison for both subjects in all three schools for this group of students across the board in both subjects. The Math result at JC McKenna was very close, however, and will meet AYP with the Confidence Interval, I'm sure. Safe Harbor 1 calculations bring EHS into compliance and SH2 calculations bring TRIS into compliance. Even after SH2 calculations JC McKenna reading scores for disabled students fail to meet AYP.

What does this all mean in these trying times? The first observation to be made is that overcoming failure to meet AYP now becomes extremely challenging as each district faces a 6.5% increase in the Reading target and a 10.5% increase in the Math target annually until 2014, when POOF everyone will magically become proficient in Reading and Math. HAH! Borderline performance this year bodes ill for future success. Part of me screams that the NCLB Act is so mind numbingly insane while the scientific part of me acknowledges that data can be powerful. Then I get ticked off at the Wisconsin DPI for making it so damned easy to meet AYP early on and lulling districts into a false sense of security.

There are real issues with the integrity of the WKCE and its ability to measure anything resembling proficiency to begin with. I attended a seminar at the School Board Convention in 2008 at which one of the co-creators of the WKCE stated that the original test that was developed using teacher experts to designate what constitutes the knowledge level of each achievement category had to be scrapped because so few students could achieve proficient or advanced on the test. It is a watered down version of what students are really expected to learn at each grade level.

There are statistical challenges faced by smaller districts like Evansville. Each class runs 130-150 kids and fluctuations in standardized test results are much wider. Each class has its own character that can sometimes be inferred by test results. Comparing the data for this year's fourth grade class with last year's fourth grade class is meaningless in terms of helping teachers become more effective or enabling students to learn more. But that's exactly what the NCLB data crunching calls for. And yet, the fundamental question of, "are students progressing?" is not addressed. Like so many educational initiatives, this enormous program was thrown into action with no adequate baseline and a very nebulous goal: To make every kid in America proficient by 2014. In what, pray tell? Taking standardized tests? By whose definition of proficient? I'm sure my definition of proficient differs from yours, just like Florida's is different from Wisconsin's. Without adding resources for this, the latest in a long line of unfunded federal mandates, it is guaranteed to fail.

Aside from the obvious costs incurred by districts, states and feds to administer the test, evaluate results and implement changes to improve deficiencies, there are countless intangible consequences of the NCLB Act. Time wasted in class preparing for and then taking the tests takes away from valuable learning time. All to take an impotent test like the WKCE that all the players know is ineffective. Which they try to mitigate by administering a useful test like the MAP test, thereby tripling the work since the MAP is given twice a year. They get individual data and aggregate data from this, which shows progress within a group, not in comparison to another group. But it is not the "authorized testing method," so it can't be used instead of WKCE. There is a potential problem of teaching to the test instead of what they should know or are interested in. There isn't any time to explore a subject in more depth if the class wants because they must push on to the next topic. That is NOT education. It is rote memorization that doesn't teach anybody anything.

I noticed one of those hard to pin down consequences of NCLB last year as I reviewed WKCE data. I sensed a data trend that suggested gains in achievement for groups with borderline results were accompanied by losses in achievement in the general student population. To get a handle on how to measure this phenomena, I postulated that a simple sum of the percent proficient plus percent advanced achievement (%P+A) would be an easy way to start. Subtracting this value for 2009 from its counterpart for 2010 would measure the change in achievement level for each of the four student groups: Economically Disadvantaged, Not Economically Disadvantaged, Disabled, Not Disabled. A positive result wold indicate increased achievement and a negative result would indicate loss of achievement. This was done for each of the five academic categories tested (Reading, Math, Language, Science and Social Studies). I used the three subjects tested only at grades 4,8 and 10 as a sort of "canary in the coal mine." If trouble showed up there while trying to strong-arm the reading and math scores into submission, it could be a sign that my concerns are well founded.

EHS showed universal improvements for all students in all 20 measurements using the "Hammann Quick and Dirty Evaluation of Student Achievement Index (HQDESAI)." This is especially notable because the high school only tests one grade (10) and is not statistically in danger of losing AYP due to the low numbers of the at risk populations. Each and every one of the four groups stated above had gains; some of them were of impressive magnitude. Excellent work EHS! Kudos for the turn-around.

JC McKenna posted gains in 12/20 of these measures. Scrutiny of the areas of loss of achievement showed Not Economically Disadvantaged Students losing on 3/5 measures while Economically Disadvantaged gained across all five subjects. A similar story is seen between the Disabled and Not Disabled groups. The Not Disabled students had gains only in Reading proficiency with losses being posted in the four remaining subjects. Conversely, the Disabled student achievement showed sometimes impressive gains in exactly the subjects their Not Disabled counterparts lost ground on, while losing ground in Reading. It is a textbook case of what happens when resources are reassigned instead of added to solve a problem. All hell breaks loose where the vacuum is formed.

TRIS posted gains in 14/20 categories. Losses in proficiency at TRIS (using the HQDESAI) were more equally distributed amongst the Economic Subgroups. The Disabled Student achievement posted losses in science and social studies while the Not Disabled Student achievement showed gains in all five subjects. I don't know the details of this issue, but just on principle it concerns me because the district specifically added resources at TRIS in special education. The consistent issue at TRIS, however, is the across the board significant loss in Social Studies achievement. The district recently realigned its Social Studies curriculum to better meet state standards. Maybe it's growing pains, but I imagine this will be addressed at future teacher in-service days at TRIS. The other schools posted universally large gains in Social Studies achievement, so the realignment seems to be working at the other levels of instruction across the district.

How can we help all students achieve their best and how do we measure that achievement to guarantee that they are achieving? It is a conundrum. I know there is a big "differentiated instruction" bandwagon in the district right now. I don't think it's been effectively implemented across the district. Whatever they're doing at the High School seems to be effective, though. Maybe that model can be extended to the rest of the district to help our struggling schools regain and maintain AYP. Evansville has great teachers and outstanding students. I'm confident that these passionate educators will find a way to optimize the quality of education during these trying times.

A Little Help Here!

Does anybody know why the #%^&*( Html won't format my posts? I've been working for 2 straight days to generate a post on WKCE data and am stumped on why my Html formatting won't stay with my postings. This time I entered it all throught the blog site and still have suffered html losses. Surely there is an expert who could help me (in small words as I am not a computer savvy kinda person). Look for my post on Evansville WKCE results in the next day or so. I've been in Data Heaven the last few days and can tell you I am literally bleary eyed from staring at it. The thing about these projects I interject myself into is that I'll start looking at the data one way, then that will make me think of a better, more effective way of looking at the data. And then there are the federal regulations for calculating such things as Adequate Yearly Progress and other governmentese. And none of my brainstorms ever coincides with what educators want to communicate. But it's fun for me. No, Really! I'm serious. I like doing this stuff. Numbers speak to me. Data is my friend. So, look for a few hundred of my friends on this site in the next day or so...

The Technical Problems Kicked My Butt

For reasons only computer whizzes can fathom, the html was completely screwed up in the first half of my long posting, which I made by copying and pasting all five of my articles together. I fixed most of it and it reverted to the complete blobform it started out as, and I had to do it all over again. That's why my "Meet the Candidates" post was so late. Hope you enjoyed it. I started a rant and checked myself at the beginning of the post. I may return to it some day. Vote April 5. It will be my boring mantra until election day. I am pretty passionate about voting. Ever since my college boyfriend's brother-in-law lost an election by one vote in an election I forgot to vote in, I have prioritized voting whenever I can. It also became pretty important to me after I took a course in college on the history of women in America. Learning the history of women's sufferage makes me ashamed when I'm tempted to blow off voting for whatever selfish reason I have at the time. Finally, I remember my own motto: If you don't like how things are, don't just stand there and bitch. When you're done with all the complaining, DO something about it! Voting is one way to accomplish this task. According to current wisdom, voting in the upcoming election may be a way to fell a counterstrike at Scott Walker by voting out his judge buddy. I have more research to do on this issue, but it's entirely possible that that could happen. It would be a shame if a good judge lost his job because an idiot is governor. The ads have been hot and heavy, and I have to verify a few things, but if Prosser is culpable for one particularly egregious claim against him, I will also vote to boot his butt. Oh, and if any of you computer gurus out there can tell my why the html fails on stuff I copy and paste from Word, I'd be grateful for both the reason and a solution. I probably should have borrowed my daughter's scanner and scanned the $%&*()ing things in. Ah well, live and learn.

Candidate "Forum": Summary of Meet the Candidate Articles Originally Published in The Evansville Review

Here's the promised summary of all five parts of my "Meet the Candidates" series published from February to last week.

I won't endorse one newcomer candidate over the other. I leave that to readers to decide based on what they read here. But I do endorse re-election of the incumbents, Kathi Swanson and Dennis Hatfield. There were effective, passionate and dedicated board members when I served with them on the Board and have remained so in the year since I was booted. It is critical during this time of budgetary crisis to retain people who know what the heck they are doing. Ask anyone who has held public office and they will tell you (if they are honest) that they were clueless the first year as they struggled to get their bearings. The percentage of people who feel overwhelmed by the job of board member should be kept to a minimum during these trying times.

There are only 19 years of experience among the six members of the current board who either are running for re-election or whose seat is not up for reelection. Two have one year of experience, two have three, one has five and one has six. Yes, the member with the most experience on the school board only has six years of experience. Mr. Pierick, the other "old hand" with six years of experience, chose not to run again. There are school districts in the area with boards comprised of all members with 19 or more years of experience. The turnover on the Evansville School Board is a factor in challenges they routinely face. Continuity in philosophy and having to constantly bring new members up to speed on how finance works in schools and other critical board business hampers forward motion. The act of simply writing a blinking Vision Statement endured two years and two new board members before it could be brought home. This is not to say that the voters should tolerate doofuses on the school board. They should be informed about the issues faced by the district and vote for people based on the total package they bring to the job. People who elect somebody based on one plank in the platform are shortsided and have effectively contributed to the horrid state of affairs in our country now. So read this information and use it to inform your vote. Without further lecturing, (sorry about that, it's a pet peeve of mine) here it is:

Meet the Candidates for the Evansville Community School District Board of Education Spring Election Background Information: Part One of Five As originally published February 23 in the Evansville Review

This is the first of a five part series of articles designed to inform the voters of the Evansville Community School District about the four candidates running for three open positions on the School Board. The candidates, in alphabetical order, are Dave Ammerman, Dennis Hatfield (incumbent), John Rasmussen and Kathi Swanson (incumbent). The election will be held on Tuesday April 5, 2011. A different question will be featured each week to introduce you to the candidates and their stances regarding district concerns. Each candidate’s response is presented verbatim. Please stay tuned to this byline to learn more and inform your vote.

Kathi Swanson, Incumbent

Name: Kathi Swanson
Occupation: Professional Long-Arm Quilter Education: B.S. in Psychology, M.S. in Agency Counseling Age: 49
Family: I have a 9 year old son, Ethan.
Volunteer Service: I volunteer at TRIS weekly to read with the children and in the past have read with children at Levi Leonard Elementary. Previous Public School Affiliation: I worked for 15 years at Indiana State University in the School of Nursing recruiting, reviewing applications and High School transcripts for admission criteria, advising students on curriculum requirements and certifying students for graduation.
Previous Public Service or Elected Office: I am currently serving my 3rd year of my first term as a School Board Member.
Recreational Pursuits: I enjoy quilting, gardening and camping but more than anything, I enjoy spending time with my son doing what he enjoys doing.

John Rasmussen
My name is John Rasmussen, a 59-year-old life long resident of Evansville I retired from Evansville Water & Light in 2008 after 29 years. Before that I worked eight years at the Evansville Community School District. I graduated from The Wisconsin School of Electronics in 1971 as an Electronics Technician, followed by The Wisconsin Electric Lineman Apprenticeship Program as a Journeyman Lineman in 1985.

I have been married to Vicky (Vreeland) for 30 years and she works at IKI in Edgerton. I also have two sons, Jeremy and Chad, who are 4th generation graduates of Evansville High School.

My volunteer service consists of Blackhawk Technical Collage Electric Power Distribution Class Advisory Committee, The State of Wisconsin Electric Lineworker Apprenticeship Advisory Committee (co-chair from 2005-2008), Evansville Fire Dept. (1976-1988), I coached youth bowling for a number of years, and various committees for the United Church of Christ My Affiliations with the Evansville Community School District has consisted of Adopt a Classroom at the Middle School, The Building Leadership Team at the High School in the past. I was the Lighting Director for eight of the High School Musicals. I also have been on the Budget Committee at the High School and am currently on the District Budget Committee. I was a member of the Facilities and Vision Committee for the new High School. I am also involved in local athletics by running scoreboards and keeping scorebooks at both the Middle and High Schools, I am also an Assistant Varsity Baseball Coach. If elected this would be my first elected position.

For recreation I enjoy woodworking, garden and model railroading, baseball and reading.

Dave Ammerman
Occupation: Correctional Sergeant with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections for 23 years. I work at the Oregon Correctional Center in Oregon, WI. Education: Washington High School Class of 1974, Two Rivers, WI. University of Wisconsin-Platteville Class of 1978. BA in Criminal Justice. Age: 54 Born 8/1/56
Spouse: Beth Ammerman
Spouse's Occupation: Collections Specialist for Promega Corp. in Madison, WI.
Other family members: 1 son, Ryan Ammerman, EHS Class of 2008 and currently a Junior at University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. 1 daughter, Rachel Ammerman, EHS Class of 2010 and currently a Freshman at University of Wisconsin- Whitewater.
Volunteer Service: EHS Sports Boosters, Fundraising for EHS Poms, EHS Site Committee.
Previous Public School Affiliations: None
Previous Public Service or Elected Office/ Years Served: None Recreational Pursuits: Golf, member of the Evansville Golf Association. Bowling, 2 leagues at the Evansville Bowl. Member of the Evansville Health Club.
Anything else you wish to say: We have lived in Evansville since December 18, 1992. Beth and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this July.

Dennis Hatfield, Incumbent
Name: Dennis Hatfield
Occupation: Industrial EHS Manager
Education: BS Chemistry, MS Environmental Engineering, MBA Age: over 18
Spouse: Roseanne Hatfield
Spouse's Occupation: Mathematics Teacher
Family: 4 sons - Scott and Mark at UW Madison; Adam and Brian at Evansville High School
Volunteer services: Evansville Lions Club; Town of Union Smart Growth Committee; service with a variety of community and school organizations and events.
Previous Public Service or Elected Offices: Evansville Community School District Board of Education

Meet the Candidates for the Evansville Community School District Board of Education Spring Election Part Two of Five As Originally Published March 2 in the Evansville Review

This week the candidates will share with us why they seek a seat on the ECSD board of education. The exact prompt follows.

You have each chosen to take on the difficult and rewarding task of running for a seat on the Evansville School Board. Please share with our readers the top two reasons you wish to serve.

John Rasmussen replied:
I decided to be a candidate for the school board because.1) I have been involved in school activities for many years and want to continue to be a part of providing a quality education to the students of the Evansville Community School District. 2) Being retired I feel I am able to devote the time needed to do a good job as a board member.

Dave Ammerman replied: The main reason is, I'm just trying to do my part as a citizen of Evansville. The school district was very good to our children and I'm just trying to step up and do my part. I have no personal agenda, it's all about the "kids" and the teachers and staff who guide them.

Dennis Hatfield (incumbent) replied: 1. Nothing is more important to the future of our children and our democracy than a world-class educational system. The Evansville Community School District has maintained that quality through the hard work and commitment of the families and other citizens of our community, and the unwavering dedication of the District teachers and staff. I want to help ensure that the quality is maintained even in the face of the current challenging economy and the current legislative climate. 2. From a purely pragmatic perspective, (even at the risk of sounding trite), I want to help prepare our children to successfully compete in the world economic and political arena; to succeed in higher education and in the workplace; to have the educational background to land good jobs or start new enterprises and so to be reasonably financially secure; to live happy and fulfilling lives; to realize the satisfaction that comes with contributing, in their turn, to their families, their educational system, their community, and their society. Schools are one of the primary foundations for all these things, and we let the schools decline at our (and our children's) great peril.

Kathi Swanson (incumbent) replied: When I first decided to run for the school board, it was because of my love for education and my desire to give back to my community. In examining why I chose to run again, I find that these fundamental reasons still hold true. Education has been a very important part of my life and I understand the significance of all children getting a quality education.The second reason that I chose to run for a second term is because I believe that I have some personal characteristics that are beneficial to this position. I am open-minded, willing to look at all sides of an issue, I am passionate about all children receiving the best education possible and I have the time to research issues and concerns.

Stay tuned next week when we will feature the candidates’ responses when asked to comment on how they would prioritize programs in the district that are being explored or those which have been considered for cuts during past budget crises.

Meet the Candidates for the Evansville Community School District Board of Education Spring Election Part Three of Five as originally published March 9 in the Evansville Review

This week the candidates were asked to comment on programs in the district that are being explored or those that have been considered for cuts during past budget crises. The specific prompt given the candidates follows: Please state your position on the following programs and the criteria that you would use to determine their priority amongst other programs given dwindling resources:

4K
Gifted and Talented Services
AP/Accelerated Programming
Extra/Co-curricular Programming
Minimum Class size/SAGE program

Dave Ammerman replied:
Extra/Co- Curricular programming is a must to keep the students active after the classes are finished. Without an outlet for students, they have just wasted the day. It is also a great leadership tool.
AP/ Accelerated programming is a must not only for college credits but also a stepping stone to getting ready for college. It's a big jump to the college level and the students need to be ready. Studies show if a student takes 2 AP courses they will do better in college.
Gifted and talented helps not only the top students it also makes the teachers do a better job of teaching by pushing them to new levels. Minimum class size will be tested with the new budget and cannot be answered at this time.
4k is a good program to help kids get ready for the future but right now there is no money to start. It can be an option in the future.

Dennis Hatfield (incumbent) replied:
4K: When the community considered 4K a few years ago, most citizens were not in favor. This year a sizable group of citizens has expressed a desire for a 4K program, and in response the Board approved a study committee to report later this year. The state budget situation will have a great impact on any decision, for two primary reasons. First, because of the way state support is calculated (on a 3-year rolling basis), starting a 4K program would require a large withdrawal from the District's fund balance (or cutting a commensurate amount from other programs) at a time when the fund balance is already encumbered and strained. Second, the state's proposed large cut in per-student funding, and severe limits on future revenue, would make an ongoing 4K program challenging. Until a final state budget is enacted we simply won't know whether adding a major new program like 4K is financially feasible, both initially and in the long term.
G&T Services: The District is committed to providing every student with an education that will allow that student to achieve his/her personal best, and so help that student become a successful and contributing citizen. G&T services are a key part of the spectrum of District educational services, and the District is ethically obligated to offer such services.
AP/Accelerated Programming: The rigor of the student's academic program, and especially the number and variety of AP/accelerated courses successfully completed, are among the top admissions criteria used by colleges and universities. Taking AP/accelerated courses also helps the student perform well on the ACT test, which is an another major admissions criterion. Evansville students who pursue higher education (trade school, 2 year, and 4 year) have said that experiencing AP/accelerated courses was a great help in college success, especially in the early post-high school years.
Extra/Co-curricular Programming: Co-curricular programs are an important part of the District's educational mission, and extra-curricular activities benefit students in many ways. Pending state funding decisions may have a substantial impact on the District offerings and the participation fees associated with each. We simply won't know until we have the final budget decisions. Minimum class size/SAGE Program: It's well established that moderate class sizes result in a better educational outcome. The District will strive to maintain reasonable class sizes in the face of the current budget situation. The SAGE program is a particular case, and continuation will be heavily influenced by state funding decisions. We will keep the program if we can, but this must be balanced with all the other worthy educational needs competing for the very limited funding likely to be available.

Kathi Swanson (incumbent) replied:
I believe that we all know that pre-school or 4 year old kindergarten benefits our young children. In our district, one of the first questions we have to answer is, "Can we afford it?" The school board in its February meeting, voted to delay a 4-year-old kindergarten study committee until we know our current budget, which I personally believe is a fiscally responsible response. The administration has outlined specific objectives for the study committee and I trust the pros and cons of this issue will be thoroughly investigated at that time. Regarding gifted and talented services, AP/accelerated programming and extra/co-curricular programming, I don't believe they can be looked at independent of each other or even separate from other programming. As a school board member, it is our responsibility to provide opportunities for all students and use services that reach them where they are at that particular point in time. I have realized that it is much more complicated than prioritizing one over the other.Our SAGE program is a program that I hope we can keep. I believe that smaller class sizes for our younger children benefit them. There are unique issues at those grade levels that I feel justify the smaller class size. Having said that, with our possible budget deficit, I don't believe there should be any sacred cows. The board will need to look at all programs and make some tough decisions based on research and facts.

John Rasmussen replied:
Gifted and Talented, AP or Accelerated Programming, and the Extra/Co-curricular Programs are all important programs to different groups of students and their needs. I would not put any one above the others.

I think the core class sizes should be kept as small as possible and the non-core class sizes be kept to manageable levels. I also think the SAGE program guidelines should be met to continue the SAGE program.

I think the 4K program is a good program and would like to see it started but at this point in time I do not think the Evansville Community School District could fund it. Hoping that sometime in the future it can be funded.

Stay tuned next week as we explore budget questions with the candidates.

Meet the Candidates for the Evansville Community School District Board of Education Spring Election Part Four of Five as originally published March 16 in the Evansville Review

This week the candidates faced a budget question. The prompt follows.

There is a projected $3,600,000,000 budget deficit for the 2011-2013 State Budget Biennium, which follows directly on the heels of an expected $137,000,000 budget deficit for Fiscal Year ending 2011. We read each week of the competing demands placed on the school district and upon the board. Please describe what you consider to be the top two issues facing the board after the election, define the criteria you used to select these issues and explain how you would balance them with the remaining challenges facing the Board. How do you foresee the changes proposed by Governor Walker in the Budget Reduction Bill impacting your role as a School Board Member?

Dennis Hatfield (incumbent) replied: No answer was received by press time.

Kathi Swanson (incumbent) replied: The budget projections look bleak, however we don't know how much, if any, monies will be distributed to school districts. The first priority for me is to complete our strategic plan (which is currently being researched). This process is so important in making the kinds of decisions that this question is addressing. It provides a systematic approach to decision making and prioritizing the needs of our district. There are so many exciting initiatives going on in our district such as differentiation and curriculum mapping. We need to continue to provide the resources that keep these initiatives intact because they impact every single child in our district. At the time that I am writing this response, Governor Walker's proposed Budget Repair Bill has not been passed. Due to this fact, I don't want to comment on the specifics of the bill. I do want to comment, however, on what I witnessed in our district during the first two weeks that the bill was proposed. Community people, parents, district staff, district administration and school board members all had personal opinions and speculations about the bill, but what I saw was that everyone had one common goal - the best interest of our children in this district. This common goal was demonstrated in a number of different ways, but the goal remained the same. I am confident that regardless of what this bill ends up to be, the Evansville Community and the Evansville Community School District will work together to solve issues and do what is best for our future leaders.

John Rasmussen replied: 1) I see the budget as the biggest concern to the district. 2) Maintaining programs that will meet the needs of the students in the changing times now and in the future. These two issues seem to be the most important ones for me at this time. The criteria I used to select these two issues are with the unknowns with the State budget and the economy means the budget has an affect on all aspects of the school district. If elected I will use my common sense and the experience I have gained over the years to work with my fellow board members and the school administration to come up with an affordable budget for the taxpayers that also maintains the programs needed to provide a quality education for the students.

I do not see Governor Walker’s Budget Reduction Bill having any affect on my role as a board member as the budget decisions will still have to be made.

Dave Ammerman replied: I think the top two issues facing the board are continuing to understand the impact of the Governor's budget on the district and the impact it may have on taxpayers. It is obvious that the Governor is attempting to balance the budget on the backs of local governments and school districts and everyone, not just teachers and students, share a responsibility to continue our quality educational system in Evansville. It may require an increase in taxpayer levy, either through referendum or determining if there are any other options in the governor's budget, but the entire community must share in this sacrifice.

Next week, we finish our "Meet the Candidate" series with an opportunity for the candidates to summarize their skills and experience and indicate why the voters should "hire" them for the Evansville School Board. Stay tuned!

Meet the Candidates for the Evansville Community School District Board of Education Spring Election Part Five of Five as originally published March 23 in the Evansville Review Why should we hire you?

The final installment of our series featuring the School Board Candidates gives each candidate an opportunity to make his or her case to be hired by the electorate. The question posed follows.

There are four candidates to fill three seats. Why should the voters of the district hire you? What skills and experiences will you bring to the board making you the best candidate for the position?

Kathi Swanson, incumbent,replied: Every member of the board and board candidate brings different perspectives and skills and represent different parts of our community. I have spent the last three years learning about the intricacies of the public school system and continue to learn about such important matters as the schools funding formula, tax levy credits, special education complexities, issues that are important to our community, just to name a few! All of the knowledge I have gained helps me make informed decisions. I also believe that I have the ability to look at issues from different angles, I like to get a lot of information and ask questions about issues before making a decision and my commitment to ensuring that every child gets a quality education keeps me involved in the schools and keeps me motivated to do what I can to improve our districts programs.

John Rasmussen replied: If elected to the school board of the (hired by the taxpayers of the) Evansville Community School District I will bring 1) My common sense, students first approach and 2) My experiences as a continuing education student in the school of life to the board. Also 1) I am a life long resident of Evansville and 3rd generation graduate of Evansville High School 2) I have been involved with the school system in many aspects over the years and 3) I know I can have a positive impact on the future of the school district and Evansville. I will work with my fellow board members and the school administration and staff to make the decisions that will be needed to be made to keep the high standards and affordable quality education programs the taxpayers of the Evansville Community School District have come to expect.

Dave Ammerman replied: You can look me in the eye and ask me anything. I will look you in the eye and try to give you an answer. Together we will try to figure things out. I'm just going to do the best I can with the common sense that God and my parents gave me. Vote on April 5th, it's up to you.

Dennis Hatfield, incumbent,replied: As the senior Board member, having served on the Board for the past 6 years, the last 4 as Vice-President, I bring unique Board- and District-specific knowledge and experience. I have served on the Finance Committee, and for the past 4 years I have been Chair of the Facilities and Transportation Committee. I have helped the District successfully work through many large and small financial, curriculum, personnel, policy, extra-curricular, and facility issues. I have worked for both private industry and the government, and was one of 3 principles of a successful consulting company. Serving on other community organizations; with degrees in science, engineering, and business; having lived in the north, south, and east, in major cities and in rural areas; and with extensive international experience, I feel that I can contribute valuable perspective and insight on the many challenging issues (some new, some similar to ones we've considered before) that the Board will face in the current financial and political climate. The bottom line is to contribute to the District's ongoing efforts to achieve and maintain educational excellence and so to best serve the students, the community, and the country.

This concludes the five part series introducing the four candidates vying for the three open school board positions this spring. Please vote on Tuesday April 5, 2011. Running for public office and effectively doing the work involved is a very challenging avocation that is made especially difficult during these troubled times. Each candidate is to be commended for pursuing this often thankless task. Show your support for the candidates of your choice on April 5th!

Stay tuned next week for the Complete Guide to School Board Candidates!

With my editor Kelly Gildner's blessing, I will (depending on my technical savvy) post an article next week that summarizes all five of my candidate interview articles for readers to re-read prior to the elections. In this way, if people missed an article, they will be able to see what the candidates had to say. If you just want to review everything at once, that will be available to you here starting Monday March 28. Most of all PLEASE VOTE APRIL 5!!! Use your rights as a citizen and make your voice heard.

March 14 Evansville School Board Meets at 6 p.m., among other things...

Click on the post to view the agenda for Monday's Board meeting. There will be no committee meetings of the whole this month due to spring break falling on the usual date of March 28th. There will be an open enrollment update and the board is set to approve any open enrollment changes at this time. I'm curious as to the discussion about the day at the capitol and the budget resolution they plan to discuss. If you go to the district website, you will also be able to view the packet of materials the board is given in preparation for the meeting. It usually has excellent information and I encourage all to look it over.

Today, Evansville made the Gazette front page twice! Once for our 25% increase in population since 2000 and once for Stoughton Trailers reopening the Evansville plant. This should mean good news for the city and the school district in terms of revenue increases. In the same time frame, the school district has seen an 18% increase in enrollment. That is the good news. The bad news is that this increase was fully realized in 2006 and has flattened at about 1800 since then, with only minor fluctuations up and down. The double whammy of no appreciable enrollment increase for five years and a back-loaded bond that was written with the expectation of steady enrollment increases (payments increase as time goes on instead of evenly distributed over time) will continue to bite the district in the ass until 2020 or enrollment increases substantially, whichever comes first. Maybe the 2010 census information predicts another bolus of new students into the district. While it will improve the funding outlook, unless they stack them vertically, it also augers that new buildings will be needed to house any substantial increase in enrollment.

What with our fine upstanding example of governorship, soon I expect us all to return to the feudal educational system in which only royalty can afford education and the rest of us scratch out a living by their largess. Butthead. When I think of all the times when I was on the board when we had to reschedule a meeting because of posting inaccuracies or, my favorite, when the venue was locked and we couldn't get to the room for which it was posted, it makes me want to vomit at the apparent consideration of those in power that they are above the open meeting laws and can do whatever they want because they are sick of being frustrated. For God's sake, I was on the school board for 3 years and never stopped being frustrated at the "rob Peter to pay Paul"decisions we constantly had to make. I have friends on the board who have done it twice that long. Being frustrated with budget inadequacies is the status quo for all school districts everywhere. Shifting from whence they get funding is not going to magically solve that problem. Scott Walker is a menace and his agenda of attracting national attention for a shot at the national stage was bought at the expense of wise governance for our state. This has been a bizarre chapter in Wisconsin history with a sad conclusion.