Dear MTUESD Community,
Good progress this week in speaking truth to power. I was very grateful that State Deputy Superintendent Mary Nicely came to visit with us at both Copperopolis and Mark Twain. She brought two of her staff members. Folks in tall glass towers don't know the reality of small rural school systems and part of our job as district leaders is to get them out here and show them the why. I also appreciated the opportunity to present an eye-opening demonstration to the Angels-Murphys Rotary Club about the iniquities of basic aid funding versus state back-filled revenue limit funding that leaves our kids behind. People just don't understand the advantages of having a strong tax base that turns properties over and over or hosts new development. I get asked all the time, “Why can't we turn it into a basic aid district?” The reason we can't turn into a basic aid is because we don't have the tax base or the development that makes the revenues greater than what the state backfill would be. The state tries to help out, but they don't give enough and when they do give it, the funding is restricted and only applicable to the wrong categories to extend achievement.
Information outreach on Measure A is going well. If you need me to speak to an organization or meeting, please do not hesitate to ask me. Ballots will start being mailed in early April and must be returned by May 6. It is important that everyone takes the time to vote. If you are not yet registered, please pick up a form in the school office. ALL VOTERS CAN VOTE ON THIS MEASURE NOT JUST PROPERTY OWNERS.
We sure had a lot of Leprechaun tricks and traps around on Friday. Students certainly enjoyed the festivities. You may also notice that we are doing some practice work related to state testing. The public face of our school district is test scores. Right or wrong, that's the way it is and we need to put a little more effort into looking good. Our kids are smart and we need to show the community that they are. Posting scores where only one in ten are proficient in math and only one in four are proficient in English Language Arts is not the real story of how hard our staff works and how smart your kids are. Testing is an important life skill. I don't want to hear that your kid has test anxiety. Everybody has anxiety. Our job as educators is to show kids that it's OK to make mistakes, it's OK to try your best, it's OK to learn and grow from an experience. I can't tell you the struggles I've had in my life and I'm better for it. We need everybody to participate and do their best. This is what we teach our kids. This is how they will be successful in life and “tackle the hard”.
Next year is shaping up. My job is to deal with the budget for today. You may hear that we have issued quite a few layoff notices and we are also reconfiguring class sizes to be much larger than I would like. That's the reality of today. If we have some additional income coming in, things can change, but right now we're planning for the worst and hoping for the best. My commitment to you is that we will do the very best for your kids.
A huge shout out to our peer tutoring program that was featured in a state-wide publication Edcal. This is cutting edge stuff. I'm proud to say that this district is no longer leading from behind. We are trailblazing ahead with trying to scrape up income to serve our kids. Anyway, anyhow, we're gonna get it done.
The Build a Bike program under the leadership of Greg Taylor of Rotary (Jana Taylor’s husband) has more than 50 students recommended for free NEW BIKES. We are super excited about this partnership with Rotary and We Deliver Wheels. Part of my job is to go out and explore and expand those partnerships and we are grateful. I was joyfully watching people's hair get painted green in the Rotary booth for the Interact Club at Irish Days and then marched with the Soroptimists in the parade. Partnership and community matter. If you want to be part of these organizations, come visit me.
I also want to thank Board President Christy Miro for her time on Tuesday as we traveled to Sacramento to lobby Assembly Member Flora. That state ELOP funding has got to get unwound so that we can take care of our kids today. I'm not asking for more money, I'm just asking to use it in the right ways for a rural school system with academic needs. You need to raise your voice AND GET HEARD:
EMAILS:
Governor Newsom: gov.ca.gov
Assembly Member Flora: https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD09&inframe=N
SEND THIS:
On behalf of Mark Twain Union Elementary School District, the ELOP funding needs to be UNRESTRICTED to allow for academic remediation within the school day not restricted to after-school funding. Rural districts have the challenge of long bus routes, lack of staffing, and need to be able to offer remediation within the school day for math and reading. Help us, help the kids! It is judicious AND imperative for RURAL EQUITY to allow local control of those funds for rural small districts.
I want to thank you again for your partnership. Be relentless, be bold, be expectant, and never forget that our kids deserve it.
Sincerely yours,
Louise Simson
Superintendent
650-996-3290