Proverbs 11:14
Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
What does this mean?
counsel-H8458-תַּחְבֻּלָהtachbulâh, takh-boo-law'; or תַּחְבּוּלָה tachbûwlâh; from H2254 as denominative from H2256; (only in plural) properly, steerage (as a management of ropes), i.e. (figuratively) guidance or (by implication) a plan:—good advice, (wise) counsels.
Biblical Outline of Usage of H8458
direction, counsel, guidance, good advice, (wise) counsel
direction, guidance
counsel
good or wise counsel
of the wicked
We are not to indoctrinate anyone, we are to Teach Righteousness which is proper morals, values and ethics. We are to show unity for we are all One Race and that is Humanity Created under Abba Yah in His Image.
Back in 2016 or so I was in sociology class with Dr. Cunningham at East Central College in Union MO. I had given him the proposal for how we can change our education system, end racism and stereotyping while showing leadership skills as adults and children.
Here is what I proposed: A Case Study
First you need to understand how schools are funded.
How Are Schools Funded?
The federal government plays an important role in funding local schools, and without federal funding many schools would cease to exist. Tests such as the ACT and SAT don't affect federal funding, but annual achievement tests measuring student knowledge can alter the funds to which a school has access. This approach to education remains a hotly contested one.
School Funding
While schools don't have to administer annual achievement tests, they'll lose funding if they don't. Local school districts determine test content, but with the recent push toward meeting Common Core standards, states' tests are becoming more standardized. A school that consistently fails to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP; measures the amount of academic growth per school) standards may not be able to access some grants and other forms of funding. After five years of failure to meet AYP standards, a school can be closed altogether.
Adequate yearly progress (AYP) is the measure by which schools, districts, and states are held accountable for student performance under Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) , the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
MAAP is an acronym for Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP). This is a statewide test administered to students in Mississippi at various grade levels in different subjects. MAAP test is aimed at measuring the achievements of students in accordance to the laid down Mississippi College and Career Readiness Standards (MS CCRS).
Originally, Missouri MAP was designed to be a grade-span test: Grades 3, 7, and 11 in Communication Arts, Grades 4, 8, and 10 in Mathematics, Grades 3, 7, and 10 in Science.The 2014-2015 school year was another time of transition for the Missouri Assessment Program. Grade-Level assessments in English language arts and mathematics at grades 3-8 and science in grades 5 and 8 were administered fully online for the first time.
Funding for programs of school choice like the fine arts and sports is determined by state and local priorities.
"The problem with the important role athletics and fine arts have on the greater society is how they are funded in K-12 public education. Many times, the funding can be nonexistent and most of the time is not specifically earmarked for expenditures through state legislatures or local board policy. The funding directed at public schools is mostly for academics such as English, math, reading, science and social studies.
Athletics, and to some extent fine arts, are often viewed as extracurricular only. As such, some people feel like funding for those programs should be minimal, or that those programs should be self-funded through fundraising or grants. The funding of athletics and fine arts programs varies depending on state and local priorities across the country. The priority and importance placed on programs is dependent upon the individual communities, and in many instances, the past successes of those programs.
Funding comes down to the following types of school/district funds: student-raised activity funds, parent/booster organization funds and community grants provided at the local, state and national levels. Athletics and fine arts programs also require a community commitment for facilities. While the commitment may have happened 20, 30 or even 50 years ago, the community still made a commitment to pass a bond and provide financial assistance to construct facilities such as stadiums, auditoriums or other venues required for specialized programs. Once a community has made a commitment to specific programs, or perhaps both athletics and fine arts programs, it helps these programs to be viewed as having equal importance when it comes to competing for annual operational funds."
Does Lottery Money Go To The Schools? If Not then why does the Lottery Exist.
According to the New York State Lottery’s annual report, it took in 9.97 billion dollars in the last fiscal year, though the sale of lottery tickets and video lottery
But when you take away the amount shelled out for prizes (60% on ticket sales) and the cut to the lottery dealers, along with fees and operating expenses, it leaves about one third of the handle ($3.37 billion) for “aid to education”.
Moreover, NYS Assemblyman David DiPietro (R-147th District) claims the money is not always used for education expenses, at least not in the traditional sense.
“People think the money is going strictly for education, like for books, or schools, or to pay teacher salaries, but it’s not,” DiPietro told 2 On Your Side.
According to DiPietro, the money on occasion has been “pinched off” by the state, to pay for a variety of items, including attorney’s fees for construction projects and even to pave roads near schools.
What is a Blue Ribbon School?
“The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private K–12 schools that either excels academically in their state or show a significant increase in student achievement.” The award is open to all levels of schools, including elementary, middle, and high schools.
How do schools become National Blue Ribbon Schools?
Both public and non-public schools are eligible for nomination for the National Blue Ribbon Schools award. Public schools, including schools in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands are nominated by their Chief State School Officer (CSSO) and the following entities: the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). Non-public schools are nominated by the Council of American Private Education (CAPE). Once nominated, schools in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, BIE and DoDEA, are invited to apply. CAPE conducts its own identification and nomination process prior to submitting nominees to the Department.
The U.S. Department of Education determines the number of nominations per state. States and public entities, including DC, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, BIE, and DoDEA, are allocated a number of National Blue Ribbon School nominations based on total K-12 student enrollment and number of public schools. Allocations range from a minimum of 3 schools to a maximum of 35. CAPE may nominate up to 50 non-public schools.
118 blue ribbon public schools are location in Missouri.
Next, we are going to do a comparison of Student to Community Ratio.
This is going to look at the size of a school district verse a whole town.
Prime Example: Ritenour High School vs. The Population of Gerald MO.
Ritenour Senior High School serves 1,829 students in grades 9-12. Ritenour Senior High School placed in the bottom 50% of all schools in Missouri for overall test scores (math proficiency is bottom 50%, and reading proficiency is bottom 50%) for the 2018-19 school year.
With a 2020 population of 1,365 Gerald Missouri is the 311th largest city in Missouri
This means that Ritenour High School makes up the entire population of one town, thus if we are falling our students, it is like we are failing a whole town and we are!
Just think, if these schools are failing how many towns can we equate to the loss of education? When a population is indoctrinated rather than educated, we are failing.
Now is the time we must ask, how can we change the narrative for equality, and inclusion for all while teaching leadership skills, morals, values and ethics that will reduce-end the indoctrination and provide real education in our classrooms.
What is the Leader In Me Program?
Leader in Me is an evidence-based, comprehensive model that builds leadership and life skills in students, creates a high-trust school culture, and lays the foundation for sustained academic achievement. There are over 5,000 Leader in Me schools in all 50 states and in over 50 countries. Our mission is to unleash the greatness in students, educators, and school communities everywhere.
Next let's talk about the proposed program or case study if you will that will extend what the children are learning and how it can be applied in a way that will display leadership skills and help other schools in communities that need assistance.
How The Leader In Me School To School Initiative Works
The data I used when writing this proposal in which I sent to Dr. Cunningham a professor of sociology at East Central College in Union, MO was taken off of school's websites and the Department of Education for statistics. I will replicate this now as all my files have been taken away from me when I was professionally hacked.
First, we are going to look at two Missouri Schools and compare them. We will be looking at the ranking and quick stats from 2023.
New Haven is a city in Franklin County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,414 as of the 2020 census. Riverview Gardens population is 36,693 according to K-12 statistics.
Riverview Gardens has 13 schools compared to New Haven with just 3. I selected New Haven, because they use the Leader In Me program and that is where my daughters attended elementary school.
To make it worse, Riverview is a township in St. Louis. Riverview is a village in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,397 at the 2020 census. Therefore, it is safe to say that the entire town of Riverview is failing.
Now, there is a huge difference in testing scores, ranking, and funding between these two schools. Why is that? Again, it goes back to testing, graduation rates which equal funding. Rather than trying to close the gap on inequal education, the system like all our government ran programs are backwards.
The next question to ask is why is this important and why would say New Haven care about Riverview Gardens and their education?
Since people travel 60 miles plus to St. Louis for work from New Haven, Hermann, Washington and so on, these people are a part of the St. Louis community, and it should matter to them, and they need to become the change that we are all wanting in this world. So how do we implement change that we can see to prevent "whole towns" our students and future from lacking the proper education?
Let us look at the funding formula for Missouri Schools
MISSOURI EDUCATION FUNDING FORMULA AND INTERACTIVE MAPS
School Funding: General Overview
Public school districts and public charter schools are funded using a combination of local, state, and federal funding.
Generally, the responsibility to provide the bulk of school funding falls to the state and to local communities; federal funding across the United States makes up less than 10% of total school funding. The dollars contributed by the federal government are given through federal agencies such as the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the Department of Agriculture to fund their federal programs.
Local funding comes more directly from the surrounding community, and is a bulk sum given to the district that is taken mainly from property taxes.
The money available for state funding comes from general state revenues (income taxes, sales tax, etc.), gaming, lottery, and other miscellaneous taxes. The funds are distributed based on a funding formula which takes a few district factors into account. The formula is of particular interest because it aims to bring “equity and adequacy” into school funding by helping bridge the funding gap between districts with and without a lot of local funding.
This interactive map is sorted by expenditure amounts. The darker the color, the more money is being spent per pupil.
State Funding: The Formula
As a whole, it is a student based formula, meaning that schools are funded per student. A baseline cost of educating a student with no special needs or services is established, then multipliers are used to give districts more money to reflect the additional cost of educating certain categories of students. In Missouri these categories are students who receive Free or Reduced Lunch (FRL), Individualized Education Plans (IEP), or are categorized as English Language Proficient (ELP).
The formula itself is as follows:
Weighted Average Daily Attendance x State Adequacy Target x Dollar Value Modifier – Local Effort = State Support
Unlike local funding, state funding is difficult to understand because of all the variables taken into account. The baseline is called the State Adequacy Target (SAT) and the multipliers are applied to the Weighted Average Daily Attendance (WADA). Additional factors such as Dollar Value Modifier (DVM) and Local Effort are also taken into account to determine total state funding for a district.
According to this data Riverview Gardens should be getting more money, more benefits and more of an education than New Haven since the community is larger, more income comes through and so on. So then why are our children at Riverview Gardens failing?
Now, Let us talk about how we can change this for all our children regardless of where they go to school.
Since New Haven has The Leader In Me Program we will discuss these two schools becoming partners in education.
How Would The Leader In Me School To School Initiative Work?
First let us define what Initiative Means.
the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do:
If we do not take some type of action, our children will suffer, and that means the next generation will not have the education, the support and the environment in which to thrive and be successful.
The Concept of the program is like a Sister City or Big Brother Big Sister type foundation. So with that picture in mind let us now look at the proposal.
From Kindergarten we would watch one set of students in a classroom of children from New Haven interact with students from a kindergarten classroom in Riverview. (The children would be the control as we watch and repeat the process till 6th grade. The only thing changing is the teacher as teachers do not follow the student to each grade.)
What updates needed in the struggling school district classroom would be funded by the funds raised to begin this program (funding talked about later) since it seems that our tax dollars are not being utilized properly.
Teachers would come up with the same curriculum: for example:
Develop a curriculum based on what is working for the schools with higher test scores and retention rates.
Work together via Google Meet daily. This way children are making friends too and can see their Brothers and Sisters.
They can do science projects together as a unified classroom via Skype or Google Meets.
The classes would have field trips, both to city and country settings so they can learn from eachother
This would be funded by the program too, so that we can watch the development and interactions of students, teachers and parents.
This will help irradicate: Stereotyping, Racism and much more.
At the end of the school year, the classrooms of the other classes who are not participating would get a makeover and the supplies they need. This process would repeat until the students start switching classes...normally about 6th grade. This way the entire school would get a makeover and the equipment they need to succeed.
Teachers and students will do fund raising and bring awareness to the collaboration taking place. What works, what doesn't, feed-back from community and so on. This will help raise money for the struggling school, as well as promote unity. (also funded by program)
Funding
I had calculated at least $1 Million dollars a year to fund the program for 6 years. This would supply:
Travel expenses: field trips, teachers meeting up face to face to develop a curriculum.
Classroom expenses: equipment and other supplies needed through the year.
Provide the classrooms at the end of the year with everything they need to thrive for the following year.
Anything else that may come up
Payment to the person who is documenting the case study/program outcome and turn of events. ($15.00 and hour is what I calculated.)
If we can do it cheaper, then let's as long as it is not hindering our children more.
How do we obtain funding?
Well since Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis Cardinals Baseball, Boeing, Amazon, Build-A-Bear, Edward Jones and Hallmark are all large companies in St. Louis along with many more, we the people who work there, who uses their products and commute to the communities in which they are a part of and are failing, they should want to help for if we don't do something together to help our children, we won't have children in the future to help because society will have died out.