I open with a quote that really stood out to me when reading. It is nice and vague without context and is something that can be reflected on in many different situations. What does it mean to you?
“We obsess about more because we cannot envision or agree on better” – Sal Khan
When I first signed up to blog on this chapter I have to say I was excited about it. I know it seems weird, but School Finance was actually my favorite class during my graduate program in administration. I found it very interesting to learn and understand how school finance is done and what drives the decisions that as a teacher I, along with many, was guilty of complaining about. It goes without saying that this chapter did mention teacher salaries and I am happy to say the Khan falls on the side of teachers here. However, this is not what I believe the focus of this discussion is or should be about.
School finance goes way beyond just teacher salaries and in most cases a teacher’s salary makes up a small part of a classroom’s expenditure. Khan went as far as giving us the numbers on an average school district that spends around $10,000 per student or 250,000 for a class of 25. While reading this I immediately thought of our district and what our expense per student would be. With a little research on the district webpage I was able to find that District 109’s expense per student for the 2016-2017 school year is budgeted to be a bit over $15,000 per student or conservatively in a 20 student classroom $300,000. So, on Monday morning when you look at your group of students in class think about the fact that in your classroom alone our district will spend $300,000. Now think about an average teacher salary around $75,000 and I think it easily makes the case for why school finance goes way beyond just teacher salaries. Even if you look at a six figure salary for a teacher in the classroom you are looking at $200,000 dollars that go to maintenance, administrators, student programs, etc.
My questions then become:
- What would you do with that $200,000 dollars in your classroom?
- What would your priorities be for student learning spending? (Is it Technology?)
Khan believes that “money devoted to learning is money well spent” (Khan, 119), but what does that mean? We can all point to spending that was meant for student learning and did not work out. We have all lived through the changes in education and the money spent to implement them. So, the big question for us as educators is how do we know our money is being spent on actual learning as opposed to programs and technology that do not make a difference. There is a bold section in this chapter that discusses this theme, one that we have talked about often throughout technology discussions in Deerfield. Technology is becoming one of the largest expenditures for student learning as we move beyond boxed curriculum. Do we truly know it is making a difference in learning? As a teacher, I want to say yes, but I cannot point to any data that truly proves it is the technology making that difference as we have gone through many changes recently in Deerfield with student programming.
George Couros talked about innovation and technology integration at our in-service and got a standing ovation. Obviously, technology is something that we as a district believe is making a difference and we see it as a positive impact on students, but how do we make sure it is not, as Khan says, “just one more very expensive gimmick” (Khan, 122)? It is this question that again can help make sure the investments we make in technology are well spent. We as educators have a responsibility to make sure that we use the technology so that it improves student learning and never becomes a gimmick.
One last point; one that I felt like is most important and doesn’t really have to do with school finance. I was drawn to Khan’s thoughts about improving schools and what he believes is important and that is, “Improving the student/teacher time ratio” (Khan, 121). Khan says that this process does not have anything to do with money and/or school budgets. Changing the amount of time students spend directly interacting with the teacher is more about changing our classroom process and structure. This is something that I believe validates what we are doing at Kipling with guided math groups and less lecture type instruction. This brings me back to my quote from the beginning of the blog, with one added word, “We obsess about more [money] because we cannot envision or agree on better” (Khan, 120). Instead of looking for more, I think we have to continually look at where we spend and how we can do that better.
- Better instruction
- Better use of technology
- Better use of data
- Better use of per student spending
How do you make student learning BETTER?
Ben,
Very thoughtful post. l also love the example that Khan uses in the book about the cost per classroom. It is tempting and enticing to look at it that way and say what would we do with it or how would we realign our systems.
I think the technology is a good investment in education – after all a 150 dollar Chromebook only accounts for about 1% of that per pupil amount actually and if they last 2 or 3 years then it is a small investment. Although, there is a lot of behind the scenes cost as well in infrastructure, internet access, teacher devices, etc.
It is a good question you pose and I think my best attempt to answer it would be to say keep focusing on the individual student. What is better to that individual child. I think technology helps here.
Which bring me to another important point you made and the most important point in your post that I think is very powerful. That is the amount of time teachers spend directly engaged with students. Even when a whole class may be working on something it provides the teacher the opportunity to be one on one with a child. There is nothing in my mind – technology, curriculum, whatever- that will yield more and better results than that. Spend every minute of your classroom day engaged directly with your students in one way or another and it will maximize the learning more than anything else we could ever do in education.
Great post, Ben. (And title, lol).
I too was glad that Sal came down on the side of teacher salaries but that was not his most important point….the TIME. And I think here is where we can make technology work for us and improve things. Technology takes care of some of the little things to free up teachers so that we can CAN spend more quality time with kids in small groups etc. Technology keeps them engaged in important tasks (math work, writing/research) so that we have time to meet with other students as needed. This is an important use of technology.
How would I use that $200,000? Well, I’d make sure the technology was up to date and new and working and we had extra Chromebooks. I’d make sure we had licenses for the programs that TEACHERS feel are important. And, I’d invest in actual books (because we do still need them). Lastly, I would invest in staff. I would invest in more PE teachers so that our kids got PE every single day like I did as an elementary school child. This is an investment in physical health, very important. I would also make sure that each school had a full special services staff since children with special needs are in our schools all day for 5 days a week….not part time.
Oh, and maybe a xerox machine that never jammed (I could hope, right??)
Great post Ben!
I agree we should look for better! If I had an extra $200K I would fund a prototype classroom/organization model with teacher-admin design and training dollars as well as funds for design.
This book has caused a great deal of thinking and re-thinking and I’m thrilled to be part of your book study.
I suggest you review Education Reimagined at http://education-reimagined.org/ I really think these “guide points” will drive our transformation in years to come.
ML
Great post Ben!
Your last point that , “Improving the student/teacher time ratio” (Khan, 121), is one of the most important way to improve student learning, really resonated with me as well.
In our current school model, when a student qualifies for RTI services or for an IEP, one of the main methods to intensify the support and close the gap is for that child to work with a teacher in a small group or 1:1 environment. This year due to my caseload and the structure of the day, I am able to work with my student in very small groups and even one on one at times. I see this model working first hand with my students. Now I realize this is much more difficult in the classroom setting. I agree with Amy though, that technology really comes in handy to keep all students engaged and learning so that the teacher can work with small groups of students. I see this happening throughout Kipling on a daily basis.
Lastly, what would I do with $200,000? First, I would like to make sure that all the technologies that students have access to in the classroom were also available in the resource rooms. I would also focus on training our teacher assistants to better support students in the classrooms. Lastly, (and maybe selfishly) I would move the (very noisy) tech tower out of my small room, into a private room. And… now I know I’m being selfish… an overhaul of the plumbing in the building couldn’t hurt. Those of you who have visited our end of the building this week will know what I’m talking about. A girl can dream right:)
nice http://oneworldschoolhouse.edublogs.org/