Michael McKee’s Blog

I hand delivered a letter to the presidents of each of the seven bargaining units on December 10, 2008, asking each unit to freeze its 2009-2010 salary levels at the 2008-09 levels.  I informed each president that I would be talking with the Board of Education about the request that night at the board meeting.  After having spent many hours in the preparation of the 2009-2010  budget proposal, I decided that the economic climate could not support the level of increases in the Board’s contractual obligations.  The letter globally explained the issue which the school system faces.

At the Board of Education meeting I explained that in my 12 previous years as superintendent in Stonington, town leaders had always pronounced each year as a disastrous budget season and asked for a zero percent increase in the school budget, when in fact the national, regional and local economies were stable and good.  There is a difference in people’s ability to pay taxes for the town services they expect and their desire to do so.  This year no one needs to cry wolf about the ability of people to pay as there is a real and deep recession with people losing jobs, houses, and financial security.  Unlike the municipal side of local government which has most of its budget requests in projects, the schools are mostly about salaries and benefits.  The schools have 5 times the number of employees as the municipal government employees.  When teachers are cut from schools, classes get larger and some programs are lost all together.  When other employees are cut from schools, services to children, cleanliness, maintenance, and transportation suffer. Since 78% of the school’s budget is spent on salaries and benefits, it is that portion of the budget that must be tapped to defray increases. 

I announced at the Board of Education meeting that I would forego a salary increase for the 2009-2010 school year. While my salary is higher than any other employee in the school district, I would never request that anyone give up an increase in salary without doing the same myself.

The text of the letter follows:

Dear :

Given the national financial crises, housing difficulties with increased foreclosures, and the year old recession, the White House, Governor Rell, and local municipal authorities are projecting huge shortfalls in federal, state, and local revenues. Since more people are out of work than in decades, the ability to generate revenue through increased taxes during the annual budget process appears weak.

Last budget year the school system requested an increase in its operations budget of 4.5%. After five referenda and a reduction of $720,000 the schools began the current school year with only a 2.1 % increase. By remaining focused on its philosophy and goals and by reallocating many resources in the previous budget, the Board of Education avoided employee layoffs.

The Board of Education is currently in the process of developing its 2009-2010 school budget proposal. The Board is faced with the salary account mainly controlled by salary bargaining agreements, increasing nearly one million dollars. If health benefits increase no more than 9% they did last year, the Board will be faced with another $300,000 expense.

Currently staffing needs appear static. Enrollment projections show a loss of two teacher positions, but they are of-set by three teachers who will retire. It also looks as if 1.4 FTE teachers will need to be added at the high school.

The school system has already locked in fuel and electricity costs for next year, which generated a savings to the system of $130,000.

During the 2008-2009 budget year, a reduction list was developed with over a million dollars of possible reductions. After the Board completed its reductions in July 2008, there were still $270,000 worth of possible reductions left on the list.

Written here is a summary of the above information.

Increased Costs (2009-2010) Anticipated Savings (20090-2010)

Salaries: $1,000,000 Salary Account: $150,000
Health Benefits: 300,000 (Retirements/new hires)
Energy 130,000
Rest of Reductions from 270,000
_________ July 2008 list _________

TOTAL: $1,300,00 $550,000

It is therefore obvious that even by including the programmatic and staffing reductions that were avoided last July, the school system cannot come close to generating enough savings to counterbalance salary and health benefit increases, nor realize the publicized low budget percentage increase expected by state and local officials without drastically affecting more programs and staffing.

With these facts in mind I request that the _______________________ freeze salaries for 2009-2010 at the 2008-2009 school year levels. Your written response will be appreciated by January 15, 2009.

Sincerely,

Michael McKee

As the national and even global economy crashes around us, I often find myself thinking about leadership and the woeful lack thereof.  Much of my learning in the past decade through the Harvard connection, the National Superintendent’s Roundtable connection, and my work with the CT Center for School Change has been about leadership. Recently I was asked what quote would I like to share about leadership.  The one I chose comes by way of the international systems consultant and former colleague of Nobel economist Russell Ackoff at the Wharton School at the Un. of PA.  Jamshid Gharagidaghi said in his book, Systems Thinking, that leadership is the ability to influence, not to have all the answers.

That is actually a freeing concept for someone who is in a leadership position.  To Influence seems a possibility; to have all the answers seems beyond comprehension.  Traditionally, however, leadership has been viewed by many as the leader being omnipotent, or at least acting that way with eveyone else in the organization playing along.

Not too long ago I heard former Senator Gary Hart speak about leadership at a meeting in Groton. His message was intriguing, and as I listened I realized that I agreed with him wholeheartedly. Much of what I am going to write was expressed by Senator Hart at that meeting.

He said that leadership was composed of three parts.  They are as follows:

• The person must be forward thinking and have the ability to anticipate the future.  A true leader is not just concerned about today and the short-term but scans the horizon for trends that are developing so that the future can be visualized.  One doesn’t need an eight ball to anticipate the future, but one does need to pay attention to the trends.
• A real leader, once the future is forecast, will ask the question about what must be done to formulate policies for the circumstances that will arise once that future is realized.  It’s not enough just to predict what will happen–or interpret the trends.  It is essential that one figures out what must be done about it once the anticipated situation arrives.
• Then the leader must communicate and explain to all the constituencies what the anticipated future is as well as how we can prepare for it.  The constituencies must understand what is going to happen and why the preparation is necessary.  In other words, the communication is necessary for the constituencies to accept the change that must occur prior to the advent of the new reality. The transformational leader also plans for his/her exit.  The leader demonstrates a willingness to train the leaders of the organization who will follow, therefore preparing the organization for his/her departure. Training future leaders assures no break in the work or culture of the organization.

We are currently living in another revolutionary time.  Globalization, Information/technology, erosion of the nation/state bargain (citizens giving up independence for protection) as evidenced by the events of 9-11, and the new media have all contributed to these revolutionary times, as have the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, threat of pandemics, and global climate change.  None of these situations or events can be solved by a single nation, nor by war.

The highest level of leadership is transformational.  If a transformational president is elected next month, he will undoubtedly work to create a 21st Century economy rather than resurrect and repair a 20th Century one.  He will undoubtedly work to create a new internationalism rather than try to strengthen the unilateral hegemony currently in vogue.  A transformational leader might create an international environmental agency, an international atomic energy force, and an international health agency which would align foreign policy more with the wave of the future than the past.

As Senator Hart said, “The first step toward adapting is thinking differently.”

The ideas expressed above about leadership go far beyond international consultants and former senators.  They apply to municipal leaders and school superintendents as much as they apply to Wall Street tycoons and presidents. Transformational leadership looks beyond next year.  It predicts the needs of the future by reading the current trends and communicating the need to change existing policies and create new policies and practices to be prepared for what’s next. Short-term thinkers pander to those unwilling to participate in complex thinking. In so doing they short change all of us.

The town of Stonington is no island.  It is a small part of a much larger, ever-changing world.

Recognizing this, the Stonington Board of Education adopted budget goals emphasizing the need to prepare students for success in the 21st Century. One way it does this is making sure that courses and course content are relevant and not outdated.

At all of the Board of Education budget meetings parents requested the expansion of the world language program into lower grades and the addition of Mandarin as a language choice.  These citizens cited data about the emergence of Asian countries as economic powers that would have even greater global importance in the future.

Last November I participated in a program sponsored by the CT State Department of Education to visit China and establish a sister school.  Stonington was the 69th school district in the state to participate in this program.  I personally paid for all of my expenses incurred for that trip.  As I was sure much more could be accomplished if the partnership were extended to include economic development for our town and region, I approached both candidates for First Selectman and both pledged support for establishing a sister city in 2008. I established Chinese contacts to enable such a venture.

The October 2008 visit to China will accomplish three objectives.

1. Establish More Sister Schools with More Educators Included

Having at least one sister school for each level will encourage students of all ages to become intrinsically interested in learning about Eastern culture.  Since Americans know little of Eastern Asia, professional development for staff is essential to implement the Board goal to educate for the 21st Century.  Educators who have a first hand experience with Chinese culture, history, and education will be better prepared to provide a global perspective in their teaching.

Educators who told me about their interest in 21st Century learning, how education should change to meet global change, and comparisons between American and Chinese education were issued invitations to attend.  A middle and elementary principal will attend to create a strong bond with the Chinese principals. Substitutes for teachers attending professional development opportunities are regularly paid out of school budgets. The cost of eight substitutes for seven days was budgeted into the 2008-2009 professional development line item. Each participant has paid all of his/her own expenses.

2.    Include Students

Three students will participate in the trip.  Two students from SHS talented in writing and photo/videography will create a documentary of the establishment of the sister city and sister schools (with all their formality and ceremony) to be shown at town functions.  A third grader who took Mandarin at a DMS after-school program will also attend with her father. Therefore, people of our sister schools will meet not only Stonington teachers and principals but also students and parents.

3.    Create a Sister City and Include Business People in Visit

Last year I realized that Stonington could leverage the educational partnerships and create other cultural and economic possibilities.  Contacts made with Chinese officials and ranking educational leaders have resulted in Stonington business people being able to spend several days with their Chinese counterparts in two different cities. This opportunity to meet Chinese businessmen with similar companies was regarded by many as an out-of-the-box approach to town economic development as well as possible resources for themselves.

Establishing a visionary approach to local and regional economic development, a collective town partnership with a Chinese city of 7 million, personal relationships that could become conduits for cultural, business, and educational opportunities is a progressive step forward for Stonington.

Unfortunately for Stonington, budget referenda generally fail multiple times each year prior to citizens accepting a spending plan for the year. When this happens, many in town (some leaders included) think that the first items that will be cut from the education budget are items that were not in the previous budget. I wrote an Op Ed piece that was published in The Day, The Sun, and the Stonington Newsletter that explained how the Board of Education thinks when it has to finally make the reductions once the town budget is approved. To read this Op Ed, click LINK.

I am a member of the CT Superintendent’s Network. It is group of superintendents who meet monthly under the sponsorship of the CT Center of School Change and the guidance of the highly respected educational expert and Harvard professor Dr. Richard Elmore. The Superintendents’ Network exists to continually inform the participating superintendents’ practice of leading their districts further toward the increase of learning. Recently we met at Harvard for a two day conference. I was unable to attend one of the days–the day that I was to orient the superintendents about their scheduled visit to Deans Mill School in May. A video was shown at the conference of my introducing the district, the school, and the problem of practice I asked the Network members to observe when they visited DMS. During the last six years of my involvement in the Network, Mystic Middle and Stonington High School hosted the Network’s day-long visit. The Network visits schools every two months, not repeating a district until all districts have had a turn.

Contrary to popular belief, improving student learning is more than 5 times more likely to occur when students have strong teachers than when there is low class size (and low class size is usually defined as less than 15 students per teacher). The most comprehensive studies on class size (mainly Tennessee’s STAR Report) show that those who benefit the most from low pupil/teacher ratios are students in inner cities. Next, the studies show that first grade and kindergarten will benefit more from low p/t ratios than other grades. The long-term benefit of low class size has really never been proven. What is noteworthy is that studies show definitely that strong teachers make a difference. That is why the board decided to reduce the number of untrained paraprofessionals (few have an earned associates’ degree) working in the schools but rather use the resources to add certified teachers, mainly to the elementary grades. (It has been the philosophy of the board for some time to use the leverage of primary education to improve learning for all children in the system–also a research-based decision. Research shows that children who aren’t successful in school by 3rd grade–especially in literacy–will very likely never be successful.) The board has also placed resources and man-power in providing well-defined, district-goal oriented professional development for teachers to improve their instruction to improve learning. (The research and literature are replete with the importance of the need for school systems to continuously improve instruction so that students will increase learning.)

The question is not why the board won’t seem to listen to parents and some teachers and reinstate one-hour-a-day paraprofessionals or even add teachers to what many perceive as overloaded classrooms, the question is how can the board of education use its limited resources to provide staff and programming that scientific and social research define as that which will result in the most learning for students.

Two years ago, as the result of a $450,000 reallocation, the board added seven certified teachers to the school system. Six were added at the elementary level and one was added to the middle schools. The idea was to adhere to research that qualified personnel should be the ones working with those in the most need, not those with the least amount (or no) teacher training. Specifically the additional certified teachers were as follows:

• 1 kindergarten teacher at DMS
• 1 teacher split between kindergarten and special education at WVS
• 1 reading support teacher for grades 2 through 4 students at DMS
• 1 reading support teacher for grades 2 through 4 students at WVS
• 1 transitional kindergarten/1st grade teacher at DMS
• 1 transitional kindergarten/1st grade teacher at WVS
• 1 student literacy support teacher split between the middle schools.

It is also important to note that two full-time paraprofessionals equal the cost of one beginning certified teacher.

The budget season for the Stonington School System begins around the end of October and ends when the town citizens approve the budget sometime during late spring to late summer. The Stonington Board of Education always begins its work with the budget by deciding annual budget goals. Goals are derived from studying the status of the previous budget, the board’s strategic plan for school improvement and success, and board goals from the previous year. The goals determine how the board structures its budget and what requests are made for funding. (The goals also guide the board should the board find it necessary to reduce the budget because of action by the Town board of finance or failed referenda.)

For many years the Stonington Board of Education has drafted policy and budgets that direct resources of the district toward kindergarten and early elementary education. The leverage of early childhood education was decided because of data that show children failing to succeed in literacy and numeracy by third grade will have great difficulty succeeding later. Another leverage has been increasing the ability of the system’s employees to provide instructional strategies that data (mainly through brain research) show increases learning (mainly through students being actively engaged in their own learning–rather than sitting passively listening to adults talk, as well as studying rigorous and relevant content). This year the board has added a new dimension. It is the goal that students will be taught so that they will have the knowledge and skills to be successful in the 21st Century.

Authors such as Daniel Pink and Thomas Friedman write about a different world that youngsters today will face as adults. It has been pointed out that the competitor of today’s graduate is not the graduate from the town next door, but rather international. It is a fact that China and India, both industrial and diplomatic players on the world stage, each has one billion more people than the United States, and that in ten years the one largest English speaking country in the world will be China. So, as technology improves exponentially and the world shrinks daily, the United States (and Stonington) cannot afford to be mired in curriculum and pedagogy from the past. The world has changed, and a successful school system must also change with it.

Therefore, the three budget goals for the 2008-2009 school year as adopted by the Stonington Board of Education, are as follows:

• To increase support strategies for students; thereby enabling all children to succeed in the 21st Century

• To begin redefining curricular content and course offerings to enable all children to succeed in the 21st Century

• To increase access and use of instructional technology to enable all children to succeed in the 21st Century

To access the presentation that was provided to the board of education and view the documentation of how the goals relate to past budgets, past goals, and the strategic plan, click BOE_Goals_0809(.pdf).

I decided that it will benefit the Stonington CT Public Schools for me to share my thoughts and decision making processes with the public. I hope that people who read my blog will respond and provide me with information that will increase my capacity to improve instruction and increase learning for all those within the Stonington Public Schools.