[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 74 (Thursday, May 20, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1043-E1044]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                EDUCATION REFORM IN JULESBURG, COLORADO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB SCHAFFER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 20, 1999

  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the House of 
Representatives about the education reforms implemented by the 
Julesburg School District in Julesburg, Colorado. The district's common 
sense reforms emphasize personal initiative, accountability, high 
standards and responsiveness. I offer a recent letter for the Record, 
submitted to me by Mr. Rod Blunck, Superintendent of Schools.
  Julesburg's no-nonsense, no-excuses approach to raising test scores 
has several steps. First, the salary schedule is based entirely on 
professional development. This incentive for personal initiative and 
improvement has a direct bearing on classroom quality. In the near 
future, the system will be enhanced to include extra compensation 
opportunities based on student achievement.
  Secondly, the responsibility for student achievement is carried out 
by everyone in the organization, not just the teachers. Their goal, as 
a staff, is to become a results-oriented organization in which everyone 
has responsibility for the outcome.
  Thirdly, the District is strengthening its accountability to the 
community by developing school report cards and community 
presentations.
  I would like to summarize with a quote taken from Superintendent 
Blunck's letter. The letter quotes author Robert Greenleaf, ``Great 
ideas, it has been said, come into the world as gently as doves. 
Perhaps then, if we listen attentively, we shall hear, amid the uproar 
of empires and nations, a faint flutter of wings, the gentle stirring 
of life and hope.''
  Accountability is a popular by-word today, yet few are willing to put 
this concept to the test. In Northeast Colorado, far from Denver, far 
from the noisy rancor of Washington, far from the proposals and 
speeches, there are people who are making a difference with quiet 
confidence.

                               Julesburg School District Re-1,

                                    Julesburg, Co, April 18, 1999.
     Hon. Bob Schaffer,
     Cannon House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Schaffer: I recently had the pleasure of 
     hearing you speak to a group of people in Julesburg during 
     your recess. I was a member of the audience that day and I 
     wanted to take a minute to tell you that I look forward to 
     your leadership in the educational arena and I anticipate 
     great possibilities for education under your administration. 
     As I listened to you that day it is my understanding that you 
     are the type of leader and congressman who would appreciate 
     what I am about to share with you.
       I would like to bring it to your attention that a number of 
     the reforms that you spoke of on that day are already being 
     implemented in the Julesburg School District.
       First of all, we do not have the traditional vertical/
     horizontal salary schedule that is used by most districts in 
     the State. Our schedule is entirely based upon professional 
     development. Within the past year, we have implemented the 
     Julesburg Professional Development Academy where teachers can 
     take professional growth classes that in turn have a direct 
     effect upon their salary and that are specifically directed 
     at increased student achievement. This allows us, as a 
     district, to tailor the classes that teachers take to insure 
     that the requested courses correlate with our District goals 
     of improved student achievement. Some of the courses that 
     have been and will be offered through this program are:
       Teaching reading and Writing in the content area
       Using the computer to enhance instruction
       The Colorado Writing Project
       Working with Special Needs students in the regular 
     classroom
       Standards and Assessments--How do they affect the classroom 
     teacher
       As a result of these courses we have seen veteran teachers 
     begin to write rubrics for their students in areas such as 
     science, industrial arts and other curricular areas. With 
     this type of staff development teachers have a direct 
     responsibility for their salary increases and we as a 
     district are able to determine what classes and professional 
     growth opportunities align with our District goals.
       I also wanted to let you know that I have had initial 
     discussion with our teacher representatives about extra 
     compensation opportunities based on student achievement 
     scores. We have already determined that we will be a data-
     driven, result-oriented organization that is willing to 
     compensate teaching staff for increased student achievement. 
     I anticipate that this program will be fully funded and 
     implemented for the 00-01 school year.
       As an example, of our goal of being a result oriented 
     organization I would like to take a minute to share with you 
     an incident that happened after we received the results of 
     the CSAP testing. After receiving the results we noticed that 
     we had declined 25% in reading and 33% in writing from the 
     previous year. Given these known facts we wrote a remediation 
     plan to help us improve our scores. Our remediation included 
     two clauses that I would like to bring to your attention. The 
     first being that, ``we would offer no excuses.'' We would not 
     discuss the test, its norming samples nor the socio-economic 
     status of our children taking the test. In essence we 
     accepted full responsibility for our results. The second 
     caveat that I would like for you to know is that the 
     remediation plan included the Superintendent of Schools and 
     the Board of Education. Thus, to reiterate your point in your 
     speech, in the Julesburg School District Re-1 accountability 
     for student achievement is placed upon the entire 
     organization not just the classroom teacher. In fact, our 
     remediation plan is a public document that is open for our 
     constituents to view. In Julesburg, Colorado, student 
     achievement is the very crux of our accountability and our 
     decision-making processes. We will not just collect data; our 
     future will be driven by it.
       Our next step of this accountability process is the 
     development of a local report card. In addition to printing 
     and publishing our local report card we are going to hold a 
     public local ``shareholders'' meeting. At this meeting we 
     will furnish to our community a ``state of the school'' 
     presentation. This presentation will include fiscal 
     information as well as student achievement information. It is 
     our intention that this ``shareholder'' meeting will become a 
     tradition in the Julesburg community.
       Congressman Schaffer, I share this information with you 
     because people with shared goals should communicate to 
     maximize the positive effect for our students. As I close, I 
     would like to share a quote with you. Robert Greenleaf, in 
     his book Servant Leadership cites the following passage, 
     ``Great ideas, it has been said, come into the world as 
     gently as doves. Perhaps then, if we listen attentively, we 
     shall hear, amid the uproar of empires and nations, a faint 
     flutter of wings, the gentle stirring of life and hope.'' 
     Congressman, you and I both know that the future of education 
     is very bright in Colorado.
       If I can be of any assistance to you in our shared purpose 
     please feel free to call on me.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Rod L. Blunck,
                                        Superintendent of Schools.


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