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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What is the 2.5¢ tax Duran is asking for?

APS is very well funded already. They just WASTE those funds on unnecessary programs and positions. Get rid of Syphax bloat. Cut Outdoor Lab. Cut the 80/20 immersion program back to 50/50 if it’s more expensive. Get rid of ALL the option schools if they’re more expensive to run than neighborhood schools. FFS, get rid of iPads in K-5, switch to io Chromebooks for 6-12.[/quote]

Agree and disagree.
Rid the bloat -  YES.

Cut relatively inexpensive programs that provide a unique and often lasting/life-changing learning experience like Outdoor Lab that are unique to APS? NO. (That goes for TJHSST, too)

80/20 immersion is only "more expensive" as they transition to the model and implement the new parts of the curriculum and provide teacher training. Once the model is established, it is no longer has the extra expense. And again, if this is an instructional model that has a notable positive impact on learning and achievement, especially for English learners and underprivileged students - and especially especially for underprivileged English learners - then NO.

Get rid of option schools that do not show a significant benefit for students v. a typical neighborhood school of similar demographics or less diverse? YES. 
Get rid of option programs that are not clearly distinctive from non-option programs and any specific characteristics of which could be incorporated into every school? YES. (looking at you, MPSA, ATS, and HB)

Get rid of iPads entirely? YES YES and YES
Replace iPads 6-8 with laptops/Macbooks?  YES. (But maybe not start 1:1 at all until 7th. 6th can continue with classroom sets)
Replace MacBooks with Chromebooks - POSSIBLY. I'd like to see the side-by-side comparisons in costs and security, maintenance, etc.

[/quote]

Sorry, but Outdoor Lab isn’t *LiFe ChAnGiNg* for anyone. (Well, other than the kid who was sexually assaulted recently… Yet another reason to shut it down.)

Keep TJ as an option, as sending kids there isn’t more expensive than keeping them at their home school. (And it actually IS a life-changing experience for those kids.)

And I love teachers, but if they want 12-month employee level salaries, let’s make them 12-month employees. So many kids need summer school at this point, and any excess staff could help solve the summer camp availability problem.[/quote]

Outdoor Lab has indeed had life-changing impacts on numerous kids. Many kids became interested in science/environmental science/teaching specifically because of their experience there. And that experience was very special for one of my kids because of the way the adults there treated him, out of the ordinary school setting and usual mundane activities.

Agree about the 12-month employment and compensation. I don't think the comparisons AEA and its main spokesperson always make about paid/unpaid days off is fair. You can't make a straight comparison between a yearly employee with a yearly salary and specific benefits to a contracted employee paid for "x" # of days' work. [/quote]

tell me why APS kids can't take a field trip to one of our many nature centers right here in the County and learn the same things? [/quote]

The curriculum is coordinated with APS.
Our nature centers don't afford a camping overnight experience.
Our nature centers aren't out farther away from all the city light which hides the stars.
Our nature centers don't have boating/canoeing opportunities.
Our nature centers just don't have the space to accommodate the various activities.[/quote]

None of this is more important than getting class sizes down. Let’s worry about getting kids to read and do basic math before worrying if they have a LiFe ChAnGiNg moment in a canoe.[/quote]
Cutting outdoor lab is not going to make enough of a dent to reduce class sizes[/quote]

Cutting Outdoor Lab, [/i][i] in addition to other unnecessary programs,[/i] will help.
[/quote]

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