DCS Board Members

This entry is a reflection about the Decorah Community School Board Members that spoke to our class on Monday evening.  I thought that Mona Nelson and David Ranum were both very informative about their experiences as school board members.   It was interesting to learn about the allocated funds and that most of the money is earmarked for specific items and is out of the control of the district.   Ranum commented that only about 10% of the funds were decided on by the board.   Nelson stated that Iowa allots a dollar amount per student so that tax dollars are spent fairly across the state.  She called it equitable education.   

As a parent and tax payer in the Decorah district I never knew that we used very little of the Federal grant money from the Free and Reduced Lunch Program.   

The positive attitudes about NCLB were refreshing.   Until a different or better national policy comes along for education in the U.S. we are legally responsible to follow the laws of NCLB. I also think U.S. citizens have to realize  that we that have taken on the responsibility of educating ALL children, not just the top selections of elite students like some other countries that our kids scores are being compared to.

We need to celebrate the whole child and develop strengths for our future generation.   As both Nelson and Ranum agreed, there is always more that can be done and improved on, but at what cost.   The question is will our society put more money into education.   A cultural shift is needed in order to change the traditional views of schooling.   Maybe some day Iowa will go to year round school or even change the time schedule to a 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. day.  (What do you think?   When could this actually happen?)