Budgeting and Financial Statements

School-based budgeting "shifts decision-making responsibilities from the district office to the principals, teachers and community members." School-Based Budgeting ERIC Digest Number 131...sounds like a very logican solution after-all who would better know the community's priorities and challenges better than the community! After reading about School-Based Budgeting we looked at Performance-Driven Budgeting: The example of New York City's Schools. Eric Digest and read of a very successful pilot project that once completed was not continued. Why? How could it be that after positive pilot the government turns back to centralization? Why bother do the pilot in the first place? Isn't it time for the governments to stop "playing politics" on the backs of our students?!
A very interesting read "How to Find, Raise, and Attract Money in Hard Times" by R.D. Ramsey (2001). My retirement (earlier this year) has allowed me the opportunity to demonstrate my thankfulness by giving me time to work for worthy causes, to help others. I am now on the Board of Directors as well as the Fundraising Committee for the Alzheimer Groupe Inc. At our most recent committee meeting I took the liberty of sharing some ideas noted in this article. Most important for us was the notion of "getting noticed". We all know that publicity helps but we often get caught up with "doing" something, even something very worthy that should be noticed and are then "put-off" when we are not noticed or, even worse, are jealous when another worthy cause or program does get noticed. We don't often think that WE could be the one to change that, that WE are responsible for COMMUNICATING our successes---even to the media!
This has happened to me professionally---Dr. Ken, you will read more about this in one of my Professional Stories.

Funding Education in Quebec

Reading through the document entitled "Funding for Education in Quebec at the Preschool, Elementary and Secondary School Levels: 2005-2006 School Year" I was intrigued to find in section 2.2.3 Method of Allocating Capital Resources that this "basic alocation is mainly used to acquire furniture, equipment and tools (FET) for general education and vocational training, to improve and refurbish buildings (IRB) and to develop computer systems." Although, I am quite certain that this amount is not large enough it does imply to me that there is an anual budget line for technology...and yet, most schools that I've worked with rely on other sources of income to "improve and refurbish" their technology assets.
Budgeting, I believe is a necessary evil...something we must teach our students, our children to do regularly as habit, to review and revise as course of action.
On a personal note, I watch with awe the negotiating powers and fiscal responsibilities our sons (16 and 19 yrs old now) have developed over the past 5 years since we stopped dolling out a weekly pittance (usually called an allowance) and began to use online banking to deposit into their respective bank accounts a monthly amount to pay for: school lunches, transportation, entertainment, special purchases (anything Mom or Dad deem as unnecessary such as expensive name-brand t-shirts etc.), savings and charity. Each of our boys is responsible to create a spreadsheet detailing his monthly spending, identify where he was over or under, look for trends, look for ways to save and understand the true value of the dollar. As the boys grow they add their own earnings and other expenses. The older one now budgets for his University expenses which include his dorm, food, transportation home, telephone, internet connection and more. These skills are lifelong and necessary.
School administrators and even classroom teachers should all have a notion of how much they spend and where the money comes from. This should not be a hindrance but perhaps if teachers knew more about the costs of what they currently do they would not be so quick to say "my school can't afford _____" but "if we saved on _____ perhaps we could buy _______"!

Capacity Building

Capacity: How much can we hold? What is the capacity? Can we really increase the amount we can hold/the capacity? OR are we to re-phrase and say shift or change the content...when the glass is full must we spill out a bit to add something new or different? Click here for some interesting ideas on Capacity Building in Education.

Remembering Forward an intriguing notion (Carson, 1992) that implies that perhaps with practice we can accomplish more; that by imagining the end-product, what is to be accomplished we can create the road-map to successfully attain the goal(s). hhhhmmmm lots here to think about, essoteric and yet tangible, simple yet complex ...my mind is cycling dizzily and I must leave these thoughts for now, hopefully return later with more.

Learning Communities: funny how for most of my professional life I've tried to build professional learning communities where people (mostly teachers) would share, collaborate and learn together and yet finally as I read "How Are Professional Learning Communities Created? History Has a Few Messages", by Bruce Joyce (Sept. 2004, Phi Delta Kappan) EUREKA! It hit me... Who wants collaborative work? NOT teachers, "many people selelct teaching precisely because schools are workplaces of high isolation." WOW I've been trying to change people who don't want to change! This actually validates my constant frustration as I've often felt less of an educator and more of a sales and marketing person trying to sell my ideas. Not very encouraging however, knowing that the true challenge is not to educate others on HOW to create & nurture Learning Communities but to ENCOURAGE and MOTIVATE teachers to a shared belief that the creation Learning Communities will help them accomplish the universally shared goal of better student learning. hhhhmmm add to this the finding of Michael Huberman and Matthew Miles as cited by Bruce Joyce in "How Are Professional Learning Communities Created? History Has a Few Messages (Sept. 2004, Phi Delta Kappan) that "commitment follows competence" that "many teachers need to experience cooperative professional inquiry before they will commit to it." NOW, knowing that my challenge is to change someone's belief and culture AND that "selling" it to them will not work before they have the skills necessary to conduct themselves in the "new culture", how am I to accomplish my goals???

Decentralization and Centralization

School Based Management or School Based Decision Making is the inherent philosophy in all of the schools of the Association of Jewish Day Schools (in Montreal) as these schools are considered private schools. Each school has its own Board of Directors which oversee many committees that strive to implement change and growth through shared decision-making. Each school follows its own philosophy and implements academic activities it believes best benefit students.
Often parents participate in committees and even on the board. They work tirelessly to support the school administrators by conducting research (surveys, academic searches, looking for latest and best educational practices...), making suggestions and recommendations to better lead the school through the ever-changing times we live in. These suggestions and recommendations are then submitted to the administration who usually appreciate the work and yet too often, when these recommendations are to be moved to implementation they are stopped.

There seems a disconnect between what the admin said and what the teachers will do. But why? Why does this happen so often? Is this problem with administration? Does this mean that teachers are resistent to change? How does the Board and its sub-committees ensure their work is not for naught? How can one ensure that SBDM is followed by the school staff?

Leadership vs. Management

Managers
manages
models
sets standards
has foundation of knowledge in management or administration
controls

Leaders
leads
models
motivates
knows & understands education, guidance
creates links/connections
provides information, resources
creates trust
fosters experimentation/creativity ensures task completion
let's go


As I created this list I couldn't help but remember my job as manager of management training at a large company. The frustrations of that position, the difference between management and leading was and is clearly embedded in my mind. I struggled to EDUCATE, to TEACH, to LEAD the managers but the job required one to manage to train. I was frustrated and ultimately returned to the field of education where we work to lead, to facilitate learning.

My Common Place Book

The Common Place Book is what finally pushed me to create this blog. I've always had much to say and do with regard to education and learning and like the traditional teacher (I've claimed NOT to be!) I have never published my own reflections, feelings, dreams, dissapointments or challenges. I've written some but never on the world-forum. Here I am, participating in the second-to-last course I must take for a Certificate of Leaders (not even sure the title) that I began as part of a previous employment when the professor assigns the task of creating and maintaining a Common Place Book. As I begin to understand the concept, I realise with all my Educational Technology background that this is the PERFECT opportunity for me to begin blogging....here we go!

For this Common Place Book I will reflect upon the class readings and discussions as I make sense of them in my personal context--with my background, my life -- hhhhmmmm now isn't that what we educators call differentiation?