Chuck Gregory: The death spiral of Springfield School funding

Comments delivered by a concerned citizen at the Union Street School board meeting Monday, January 7, 2018.

We have just had a "Stockholm Syndrome" experience:  The victims are delighted that they've had a reprieve from something worse.  But it only masks the underlying bad news:

1.  This is a death spiral: Taxpayer complain about higher taxes; the school board cuts staff and funding, lowering the educational ratings of the schools and the town's Grand List value, which forces the town to raise the tax rates; so the taxpayers complain about high taxes....
2. We are not going to break this cycle by continuing it.
1. Parents want to trust the teachers, but the parents most invested  in their children will swap information in hopes of placing their children with the best teachers.  If they can’t do that, they will, if they can, move out of town.  The Town Plan has a graph showing that.
2. Teachers want to educate each child but are forced to operate within a system that does not permit it.  The school board looks for more money, and the “system” says, “Well, we’ll give you more money if you do this.”  An example: in the last year there have been ten initiatives introduced.  We can appreciate that, but I asked teachers what input they had into adopting them.  The answer was, “None.”
3. The school board and administration mean well but are hobbled by the present system. Of the four school board members I asked to talk to, only one did— and the only thing she said was, “I can tell you why [this idea] won’t work.”  She couldn’t think outside the box.

1. We can only escape this by thinking outside the box.  Here’s how to start:
1. A good school system is a very valuable asset to its town.  At its height, Precision Valley provided 38% of the machine tools in America.  An Education Valley could provide training in world-class education systems to 38% of American educators.
2. If you think a tiny town can’t do this, just remember that the world-famous Mayo Clinic started with one doctor examining Civil War recruits at a tiny town in Minnesota.  If William Mayo can do that, we can do this.
3. Since the school board and administration are handcuffed, we have to help them get free.
2. Here is how we can start:
1. Answer for ourselves four questions (Supplied at Union Street's meeting).
2. Write up the plan.

5.  To participate, you can get engaged at “Springfield’s World Class School System” page on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/worldclassschoolsystemtem/?

We have just had a "Stockholm Syndrome" experience: The victims are delighted that they've had a reprieve from something worse. But it only masks the underlying bad news:

This is a death spiral: Taxpayer complain about higher taxes; the school board cuts staff and funding, lowering the educational ratings of the schools and the town's Grand List value, which forces the town to raise the tax rates; so the taxpayers complain about high taxes....

We are not going to break this cycle by continuing it. Parents want to trust the teachers, but the parents most invested in their children will swap information in hopes of placing their children with the best teachers. If they can’t do that, they will, if they can, move out of town. The Town Plan has a graph showing that. Teachers want to educate each child but are forced to operate within a system that does not permit it. The school board looks for more money, and the “system” says, “Well, we’ll give you more money if you do this.” An example: in the last year there have been ten initiatives introduced. We can appreciate that, but I asked teachers what input they had into adopting them. The answer was, “None.”

The school board and administration mean well but are hobbled by the present system. Of the four school board members I asked to talk to, only one did— and the only thing she said was, “I can tell you why [this idea] won’t work.” She couldn’t think outside the box.

We can only escape this by thinking outside the box. Here’s how to start: A good school system is a very valuable asset to its town. At its height, Precision Valley provided 38% of the machine tools in America. An Education Valley could provide training in world-class education systems to 38% of American educators.

If you think a tiny town can’t do this, just remember that the world-famous Mayo Clinic started with one doctor examining Civil War recruits at a tiny town in Minnesota. If William Mayo can do that, we can do this.

Since the school board and administration are handcuffed, we have to help them get free.

Here is how we can start: Answer for ourselves four questions (Supplied at Union Street's meeting). Write up the plan.

5. To participate, you can get engaged at “Springfield’s World Class School System” page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/springfieldworldclassschoolsystem/