Finalists In the 1994-1995 Harry Singer Foundation Project

Alternatives: Proposals For Local Governments Struggling With Limited Resources

In the fall of 1994, the Harry Singer Foundation invited a limited number, of mostly small-town schools, to take part in a pilot program. Students were required to find ways to stretch the resources of local government and make services more responsive to the desires of citizens. The Foundation hopes to gradually add larger communities, and offer categories for innovative state and national projects.

Volunteers at the Foundation narrowed the entries to 22. They were then edited and sent to the National Center for Financial Education in San Francisco, California, where they were reduced to five. These five were then forwarded to a consultant and former-public official in Minnesota who has been in the forefront of the reinventing government movement; the innovative mayors of Indianapolis and Houston, 12 governors, two former-governors and two members of the United States Congress. Many had the help of staff, but all read the proposals and expressed an interest in what these young people had to say.

The final entries are reproduced on the following pages, just as they were seen by the reviewers at the National Center for Financial Education in San Francisco. Across from each paper we reveal the school and participants, information that was kept from judges.

This project was a logical extension of our continuing Responsibility and White Hat programs. Over the years, through student submissions and other sources, we have collected stories of good-things going on around the country, in both the public and private sectors. These inspirational examples have been accessible to anyone with a computer and a modem since the fall of 1993.

Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

Teacher
Galen Boehme

Students
Michael Konrade
Michael Bennett
Brandon Davidson
Melissa Kuhn
Matthew Swager
Davida Eubank
Angie Chamberlain
Aracely Lozano
Micha Habiger
Beth Schaller
Justin Huslig
Mitchell Brack
Bryan Bennett
Kellie Gartung
Ginny Paddock
Travis Wenstrom

ITV stands for interactive television, and several types exist. One type of ITV uses a satellite. This means that instruction from outside sources is beamed into classrooms from a satellite disk. Most simply put, ITV is a room with a television monitor so that students can view the teacher from another location and also a video camera so the teacher can see the students.

The senior class at Kinsley High School proposes the installation of ITV into the Kinsley school system as a way to expand the learning experience of future students. The class has reached this consensus by studying local taxing units as well as polling the public's attitude toward the spending of local tax dollars.

The Activity

Our class listened to presentations by our city manager, county clerk, county commissioner and mayor. From this panel discussion we learned how the government works, how local tax dollars are collected, and what groups and organizations receive local tax dollars. We took this information and developed a questionnaire to determine what organizations or public services the public feels is the most important and to determine what the community thinks is the best use of taxes.

We surveyed a total of 128 people, including 28 seniors, 27 juniors, 61 general public and 12 business personnel, who are well-known and highly thought of in our community. The results showed that the public considers education to be the most important service. They consider hospital and community health as the second highest service, and the library as a close third.

Armed with these poll results, we formed small groups, with each group choosing its favorite educational improvement. Within our groups we discussed the merits and demerits of the chosen option and presented our findings to the entire class. After each presentation, we reviewed the options, weighed the merits and voiced our concerns on each proposal. With all the ideas fresh in our minds, we ended the discussion with a vote to see which alternative we felt was most needed in our school system. After a close race between ITV and the library system, ITV won.

The Project

Lobbying in order to get ITV into the Kinsley school system.

Incentives and Disincentives

At Kinsley High School, the choice of classes is severely limited by the small number of teachers. Also, the teachers' educational experiences generally are limited to the classes which they currently teach. This means that if teachers wish to expand on the classes currently offered, they probably would not be qualified to do so. We believe ITV is the answer to an expansion of current class choices. This tool would provide an opportunity for students to be exposed to a greater variety of classes and more advanced levels of instruction. Advanced placement courses in basic areas, such as English, math, and science are currently nonexistent at Kinsley High School.

ITV could also benefit disabled students. ITV offers the interesting possibility of allowing blind students to not only hear conversation, but feel it, by using technology to convert audio words into a computer that then transfers that information into a Braille output machine. This machine would also allow deaf students to be involved in regular classroom activities.

We propose that other systems be networked with the school, such as the courts and hospital. ITV could be used as an educational tool in conjunction with present courses in government and human anatomy and physiology. Networking with the hospital could possibly benefit the high school by allowing it to offer classes from basic CPR to an advanced EMT class. The hospital could gain by having connections to larger hospitals. This may offer diagnoses of cases not otherwise able to be considered in our hospital.

ITV could help to ease the workload on teachers by allowing them to prepare for one or two class periods instead of teaching four or five different subjects throughout the day.

Another merit derived from the installation of ITV would be the money saved. The school district superintendent told us that once the one-time setup charge is out of the way and only the yearly maintenance remains, money can be saved by the district. The on-line charges for the year would be approximately $12,000 to $16,000 per year. Two teachers currently making around $55,000 per year, but eliminated due to ITV and replaced by two part-time (human) monitors together making around $12,000 per year, would save the district around $15,000 per year. After only six years the installation cost could be off set by the savings. After ten years, the district would save approximately $40,000 by using ITV.

ITV will widen everyone's circle of friends and make it possible to take a field trip without leaving the classroom.

The disincentives to this proposal include funding, networking and the loss of instructors.

ITV will cost $89,667 to install within the system. The school system's budget usually allows for the general upkeep of the district and only a few new items. This means that the money to start up ITV will probably be scarce. One solution is to ask the taxpayers for the money through a bond. This way, the district would not have to take money from the general budget, forcing cuts in other areas.

Networking (an interconnected group) would save money through cost sharing. Networking also makes teaching worthwhile for the instructors on the other end of ITV because they end up addressing a large number of students at many schools at the same time. Networked schools would have to coordinate their schedules since classes would be taught to all the schools on the network at the same time. Some critics of ITV believe students will fool around and not pay attention in class. Keep in mind that participating students could be viewed by students from a large number of networked schools. ITV classes would be just like regular classes except a student would be under a broader spotlight. The students would not act up because of the reputation they would make for themselves.

Another disincentive is the fact that a few teachers may lose their jobs. This would definitely be a source of tension. However, the school district could reduce the tension without offending anyone by cutting back staff through attrition i.e. when a teacher retires do not replace him/her. This would allow the district to avoid firing anyone. Nevertheless, reducing the number of teachers at Kinsley High School would be an obvious disadvantage. It would create unemployment, result in a less experienced teaching staff, and reduce control over student behavior.

ITV only requires a room monitor, not an actual teacher. So what happens when students need someone to help them and no one at the school site is familiar with the subject matter? Naturally, if the resident teacher does not have an adequate background, the student will not benefit as much from ITV. Besides most people agree that teachers should be able to help students after class hours.

A final obstacle: the facilities at Kinsley High School are inadequate for ITV. Monitors, on-line services, fiber optic cable and terminals and the actual courses will need to be produced which demands a prohibitive investmentÑunless shared.

Conclusion

As education moves into the future,Kinsley High School must adapt to meet the new demands of students while remaining cost effective. ITV, it seems, is an exemplary way to do so. We realize there are obstacles to overcome, but anything important is worth fighting for.                        Back