Jack be nimble, Jack be quick

School flexibility

“I felt stifled in the traditional public school system,” Tracy McDaniel, a national board member of the acclaimed KIPP program, writes. “Regulations prevented me from extending the school day, week and year, and, often, from hiring the most talented teachers.”[1] Reform, as Kansas envisions it, necessitates such flexibility.

3.1 The school determines the pay for all staff and the allocation of revenues into other resources. Schools will have significant flexibility in determining such allocation, however, all schools will be required to allocate a set portion of their funds
into a reserve.
3.2 The school will also determine if it would institute fees for sports, arts, and other programs.

Operations

3.3 Many schools will integrate complete prekindergarten to twelfth grade programs under the form of three partnered schools in proximity with one leader.
3.4 The principal will be responsible for determining the hours for the school and other functions of the school including remediation programs and activities.
3.5 Recruiting efforts will also be of the individual school’s discretion.

Policy

3.6 Schools will have significant flexibility in establishing policies independent of the district and other schools. A common factor would be admissions processes for schools that are oversubscribed. Such processes would likely include testing of ability, interviews, and compatibility of parent, student, and teacher philosophies. aws must be established prohibiting unnecessary filtering.
3.7 Secondary factors would include how intensively homework is assigned, as well as disciplinary procedures. Disciplinary procedures may take the form of traditional, referral based systems, or a system unique to the individual schools. Schools will also be able to determine standards for hiring teachers, consistent or higher than those determined by the government.

Define learning

3.8 Some schools, empowered with the proper technology and structure, will offer
students non-traditional opportunities to learn largely from home, returning to
a vastly smaller school building on a regular basis to take part in labs and
update new assignments. This may be one means to combat boredom and dropouts
with a more engaging learn-on-your-own-terms style.

As a September 2005 profile of Rapid City Academy of South Dakota in the Technological Horizons in Education Journal makes clear, “not all participants [in virtual high schools] fit the archetype of the typical high school-aged learner.” Many students who were already taking on full schedules enrolled to take on additional work. Indeed, one “non-traditional” student is returning after fifty-years to earn a high school diploma.[2] The advent of online summer school programs nationwide demonstrates the personal and institutional benefits of flexibility and efficiency; its scale, encompassing more than one-third of nationwide school districts that accept online courses demonstrates the program’s potential.[3],[i]

Additional expectations
In addition to national standards of competencies, several more requirements will be placed upon all or relevant schools to promote consistency and equality in aims.

3.9 One such measure will be the inclusion by all schools of a seminar period of
length determined by principal. In traditional schools, this may offer the
opportunity to pursue large-scale projects, seek remediation, and participate in
microcredit activities. In more freeform schools, a seminar period will ensure
that time is allotted to introduce topics to be assessed.

Training

3.10 Schools will also be responsible for training their group of teachers and procuring a steady stream of younger workers to fill in the ranks of retiring teachers.
3.11 Some systems may promote understudy periods and gradual increase of work. Others may promote teaming teachers by their varying abilities to create a successful diffusion of knowledge, experience, and matters of practicality.

“Through hard work, we are proving that demography is not destiny for
underserved students. … We are proving that when principals are given the
freedom to innovate and the necessary resources, we can meet the high
expectations set by NCLB.”

[1] Leaving No Child Behind. A symposium. Tracy McDaniel, et al. The Washington Post. 10 September 2007.
[2] Building A Virtual High School … Click by Click. Sue Podoll, Darcy Randle. Technological Horizons in Education Journal. September 2005.
[3] Summer School Goes Online. The Associated Press. Teacher Magazine. 23 July 2007.
[i] “According to the Illinois Online Network … the flexibility of asynchronous learning is one of the most frequently mentioned advantages of online learning. … Flexibility and convenience ranked as the most important advantages to online teaching; students also rated flexibility and convenience highly. Students in particular responded that they appreciated the freedom of choosing when to work on classes rather than having to work on them at a specific time. … Asynchronous discussions in an online course allowed the learner time to think and reflect on presented content material. Rather than trying to formulate an answer on the spot, the learner gives more consideration to the response, which seems to result in more engaged learning. … Student and instructor responses to the written questionnaires most frequently cited computer system requirements as a major disadvantage to online learning.” Limited access (affecting low-income students), computer failures, time management, and the lack of interaction were also discussed as disadvantages. Building A Virtual High School … Click By Click. Sue Podoll, Darcy Randle. Technological Horizons in Education Journal. September 2005.

Roles

The teacher

12.1 Following privatization, teachers are afforded more flexibility to pursue what and how they teach their classes, consistent with the policies of the schools that employ them.
12.2 Teachers will ultimately be held to a greater collective scrutiny – however by freeing schools to chose the philosophy that best suits their teachers and students should counteract any discomfort. School turnover will be a component of evaluating a school’s performance and tuition. Measurement will vary from class performance to a process of colleague review.
12.3 Teachers will exercise greater influence in the affairs of their schools in regards to developing and implementing policy and curriculum.

Pay and benefits

12.4 Pay will be measurably increased with a benchmark average of $50,000 per teacher.
12.5 Better teachers, as measured by common indicators and processes established at each school, will be paid more. As a result, an emphasis is placed on depth of knowledge and multiple certifications. Continual education is a significant priority. Schools may also offer additional bonuses at their discretion as long as they are approved by its governing board.
12.6 The market determines the value of fields of study. For example, the market will value new history teachers more when they are scarce; less so for science teachers in a glut. At the same time, poorer performing schools have the flexibility to increase their pay to attract qualified candidates. Consistent with market principles, such imbalances naturally self-correct.
12.7 Each state manages health and retirement benefits – a hybrid of mandatory school contributions and funds raised by the state. An additional a la carte system will compliment basic services, supported by fees from the schools, serving as another means of attracting talent. Individual schools, particularly those with large endowments, may deviate from this plan.
12.8 An impetus is placed on schools to offer incentives to teachers – including subsidized study, bonuses, et al. Schools that are effective at reducing redundant administrative burdens (i.e., implementing digital classrooms to automate grading individual papers) and replacing this time with producing engaging lesson will benefit.

Standards and certification

12.9 All professional teachers must secure a basic, national license. More rigorous licenses are available consistent with meeting necessary benchmarks and requirements. These licenses encompass both degree of advancement and specific subjects.
12.10 Certifications would be overseen by a board similar to style and composition to that of the national curriculum board.
12.11 Some states and schools may require that, in addition to the basic license, teachers achieve a certification in their desired subject(s). Teachers would be hired on the premise that they would achieve such a certification within a reasonable time limit.
12.12 All incoming teachers will be required to reach basic competency in a foreign language, with emphasis on less predominant languages to achieve their national license.
12.13 It is recommended that schools adopt a “career ladder” approach to qualification, experience, and development.

The student

12.14 Students will have the opportunity to enroll in schools with philosophies consistent with their learning styles and needs.
12.15 Students for whom English is a second language are afforded a three-year exemption from their scores’ calculation as part of a school’s performance in order to gain a satisfactory mastery of the language.

Less is more

12.16 Regular classroom reorganization and other initiatives will seek to place students in classes with peers of similar ability – allowing uninhibited growth.
12.17 An emphasis will be placed on aggressively promoting students with parental consent to provide an efficient and challenging career. To prevent the potential conflict of interest resulting from schools intentionally delaying students or denying promotions, the tuition formula would be designed to provide a check-and-balance against unjustified promotion (poorer test scores) and unnecessary detainment.

Special needs[1]

12.18 Students with special needs and disabilities are guaranteed a qualified school within the district or cooperative districts through the district’s school formats process. Individual schools with the capacity to support these individuals will receive a monetary benefit for absorbing them.
12.19 Parents of infants and toddlers with disabilities are entitled to exercise additional funds by attending early intervention and therapy at a qualified school with an emphasis on language development.
12.20 Schools that compete for special needs students must demonstrate excellent facilities and experienced personnel. Schools must provide a comprehensive special
needs curriculum that emphasizes vocabulary and language development and social
and behavioral skills.
12.21 Primary schools will be required to perform special-needs identification programs upon a student’s enrollment.

Thomas Hehir’s Begin Early, Begin Well, notes that “50 percent of students served by special
education are not identified until they are in school. … Typically these students do not get referred to special education until 3rd or 4th grade or even later. … These problems are more apt to increase if left unaddressed. The sooner we start with providing these children with positive behavioral interventions, the greater the likelihood we will be able to change these children’s behavior.”

12.22 Special needs students are guaranteed full access to a school’s advanced curriculum consistent with their demonstrated ability through eligibility to enroll in regular classroom reorganization and horizontal-block scheduling structures.
12.23 Implement strong financial incentives for schools that ensure that all students with disabilities complete high school.

Kansas concurs with William J. Bennett’s The Educated Child. Students with special needs “must be given access to the standard curriculum, helped to attain the academic standards of his school or state, and included in the life and activities of his school. … All this and more is possible …”[2]

The parent
12.24 Parents will be at liberty to choose the school they believe would be most effective for their child.

Information

12.25 Parents will have access to each school’s performance data and will have access to officials when considering enrollment and teachers at any time once enrolled. A report for a district’s schools will be issued annually. A national, online database will be compiled to assist in these efforts.

Enrollment

12.26 Parents may be solicited to enroll their children in schools outside of the district at the school’s discretion.
12.27 Parents will have the opportunity to alter their child’s school enrollment once per year. Such change without cause will be discouraged – schools can require a minimum of two years attendance, waved by a small fee.
12.28 Parents will have the opportunity to enroll in school waiting lists consistent with school policy and availability.

The district

12.29 While reduced from its overinflated role, the district will remain a significant component of a privatized school system. Its largest goals will be in coordinating schools within its district in sport and arts and holding schools under it to account. The district will also be responsible for realizing the requirements of progressive systems – such as building new schools.
12.30 The district will also oversee transportation services, paid for by individual schools.

The enforcer

12.31 The district will maintain a Focus group skilled in various departments that can assist schools that ask for it as well as assume control of schools that fail to meet national standards.

New schools

12.32 Following the standards of progressive systems, districts will be allocated funds and a timeframe for constructing the required new school.
12.33 During this time, the district will solicit bids from various organizations who would wish to oversee the new school. After narrowing the choices down to three, the options would be put to a vote by citizens of the district.
12.34 Construction for new schools will be heavily subsidized by the federal government; however, a small ongoing fee per student will be assessed, payable to the district, to finance future construction.

12.35 The district will be responsible for developing and issuing special grants as it sees fit.
12.36 The district will assist in developing each school’s curriculum with its Focus group of instructional facilitators and advisors.

[1] Begin Early, End Well. Thomas Hehir. The School Administrator. October 1999. http://tinyurl.com/2nvnda. Mr. Hehir recommends five strategies for disabled-education policy which serve as the groundwork for this segment.
[2] The Educated Child: A Parent’s Guide from Preschool through Eighth Grade. William J. Bennett, Chester E. Finn, Jr., John T. E. Cribb, Jr. The Free Press. 1992. Pp 467-468.