Wednesday, April 26, 2006

The Y-Dub Update

My school has been featured on a Chicago Public Radio series on education. The particular segment is ten minutes long and deals with private funding in public education in Chicago. You can hear it here; scroll down to the bottom of the April 25th show. In spite of all my complaints, I am proud of the school. The vast majority of students care, all the staff do, and, like our cheesy bulletin board says, "Something good is happening here," even if it's happening more noisily and more chaotically than I would like. The weather is slowly getting warmer, and I feel like I've made it past a wintertime slump. I'm beginning to genuinely look forward to returning to YWLCS next fall.

Chris BrownBlooper of the week: in a book report, one of the girls spelled Destiny (the name of an important character) as "Density." But everyone seems to comprehend the concept of surface area (for rectangular prisms, at least). Oh and you'll like this: one of my sneaky tricks to get students involved is to use their names in word problems (everyone does this these days), and to mix it up a little bit, I started using the names of their favorite rappers and singers. It's so brilliant that it's stupid!! All I have to do is put the name Chris Brown in my problem about selling hot dogs and corn dogs, and they're falling all over themselves to read it. On a page full of problems featuring Makita, Keyanna, and Alexa, everyone wanted to do the one with Bow Wow in it first. They were fighting about who was going to get to present it to the class (but then, they always fight over presentations. They love to give them, which is great; if only they were more competent at listening to other people's!)

In other news, I got a really sweet letter from one of my advisees, saying basically that she appreciates having me around, and I shouldn't let it get me down when nobody listens to me.

Only twenty-something days of instruction left!

Oops, I accidently pasted a link to the Department of the Treasury where my Chris Brown image was supposed to be. It's fixed now, but did you know, the national debt changes daily, and its current amount is easily accessed by the public? (Click on "current amount.") It's a pretty scary number.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Spending Per Pupil in California
State Expenditures per student 2004-2005 % change from 2004 State rank Average spent per pupil across United States
California $7,815 3.0 32 $8,618
Source: “Rankings and Estimates Report of School Statistics,” National Education Association, 2005

How does California compare with other states on spending per pupil?
• California spends $7,815 per student per year and ranks 32nd out of 50 states and the District of Columbia.
• California spends less than most states on each pupil in K-12 schools.
• In 2004-2005, the states that spent the most money per pupil were the District of Columbia ($15,073), New Jersey ($13,370) and New York ($12,879). The states that spent the least were Utah ($5,245), Arizona ($5,474) and Arkansas ($6,202).
• Spending per pupil includes such items as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, books and materials, and energy costs. It does not include spending on school facilities for such items as construction, repair and technology upgrades.
• The spending per pupil described here is an average across the state. Actual spending may vary considerably from one school district to another. Spending per pupil is just one factor among others to consider when assessing how your state and your school stack up.

rage Teacher Salaries in California
State Average salary per teacher State rank % change from 2004 Average teacher salary across the United States
California $57,876 3 2.5 $47,808
Source: “Rankings and Estimates Report of School Statistics,” National Education Association, 2005
.
How does California stack up against other states on spending for teacher salaries?
• California spends $57,876 on average per teacher and ranks third out of 50 states and the District of Columbia.
• California spends significantly more than most states on teacher salaries for K-12 schools.
• In 2004-2005, the states that had the highest average teacher salaries were Connecticut ($58,688), the District of Columbia ($58,456) and California ($57,876). The lowest average salaries were South Dakota ($34,040), North Dakota ($36,449) and Mississippi ($36,590).
• The figures given here are statewide averages. Individual teacher salaries typically vary according to the number of years a teacher has been teaching and advanced coursework the teacher has completed.
• Teacher salaries also vary from one school district to another as each school district negotiates the salary scale with its teachers' union. Most agreements with teachers' unions are built on a multi-year ladder based on years of service and advanced coursework. In a few places—such as Denver, Colorado—districts are experimenting with pay scales based on teacher evaluation and effectiveness.
• Spending on teacher salaries is just one factor among others to consider when assessing how your state and your school stack up.

so, california ranks number 3 in teachers paid, and 32 on spending per student.
you gotta like caulifawnia's priorities.
hop-on-pop