If you have a High School diploma and a training class you can be hired as a Teacher now in Oklahoma.

[rawhide]

I suppose that is why the state superintendent isn't keen on an audit of how the funds are being spent.

Not likely because one has nothing to do with the other.

And just so you know, every school in every district has multiple audits routinely. Both financial and accreditation.

And in the interest of ending this part of this thread I'll answer the question for you. By state law, administrative expense cannot exceed 5% of the district budget. Most are probably less than 2%.

 

[dennishoddy]

So, would an administrator of ANY agency or company "want" to be audited? I'm not defending anyone with that comment, but just pointing out that no one really likes that kind of "investigation."

When I was Treasurer of our local ATC racing club and track, I offered any member at any time to audit my books.
Any person that is a member of any organization of an entity that takes in public or private money put into their possession to be administered should have the right to review how those funds are spent.
When a new person that wanted to take over the entire club brought in enough votes to take it over for his personal interests, they did audit my books. It was correct to the penny. Every receipt and check intact.
The club folded after a couple of years under this guy with no accountability of how the remaining funds were spent or administered. I questioned it as a continuing member in a meeting but got no response with the last meeting adjourned.
Back pocket is my guess.

 

[Gunbuffer]

I'd like to see the strong positive correlation between teacher pay and student performance. I mean, after the 'big' raise they got a few years ago, we saw a commensurate bump in student scores, right?

A little bit yes, but Covid killed it and then some

 

[WoodsCraft]

A little bit yes, but Covid killed it and then some

Student education in the United States has been declining for decades on end , I think the "COVID did it " reason is a bit thin at this point. Education costs continue to go up and yet the quality of the education kids leave high school with is lower than ever.

If kids were leaving high school properly educated there wouldn't be remedial classes in college now. This tends to refute the idea kids are leaving school now more completely educated than their predecessors . I read recently Millennials and Zoomers have the highest literacy rates compared to previous generations meaning they can read (MAYBE) , but their comprehension and breadth of knowledge belies they've left high school with a true education.

When I went to school and yeah its been a minute ... We were taught American History, World History, Geography and Civics , Oklahoma History along with English and Literature , General Science , Biology , Chemistry , the Maths, Shop , Ag , Business , Typing , Music and etc...


I left school fairly educated and wasn't a great student / didn't devote myself to my studies . Attending college many years later it was observed by me they were exposing students to things I learned in HIGH SCHOOL and these kids were seeing the information for the very first time .

What makes this more interesting is my father was exposed to a far more rounded education than I was , when he went to high school they actually had opportunities to be exposed to flying lessons , my grandfather who left left school in 9th grade / never graduated because he had to help take care of the family actually was exposed to Latin and Greek in school . For what it was worth he was a very literate man who read everything he could get his hands on, and was quite good with math .


Speaking of Civics it's been in the news more a few times recently how Oklahoma lawmakers have identified we need Civics education in school, what the hell happened to it ? It was required when I was in 8th grade , it wasn't optional everyone had to take Civics and Geography in Jr High School .

 

[Okie4570]

Student education in the United States has been declining for decades on end , I think the "COVID did it " reason is a bit thin at this point. Education costs continue to go up and yet the quality of the education kids leave high school with is lower than ever.

If kids were leaving high school properly educated there wouldn't be remedial classes in college now. This tends to refute the idea kids are leaving school now more completely educated than their predecessors . I read recently Millennials and Zoomers have the highest literacy rates compared to previous generations meaning they can read (MAYBE) , but their comprehension and breadth of knowledge belies they've left high school with a true education.

When I went to school and yeah its been a minute ... We were taught American History, World History, Geography and Civics , Oklahoma History along with English and Literature , General Science , Biology , Chemistry , the Maths, Shop , Ag , Business , Typing , Music and etc...


I left school fairly educated and wasn't a great student / didn't devote myself to my studies . Attending college many years later it was observed by me they were exposing students to things I learned in HIGH SCHOOL and these kids were seeing the information for the very first time .

What makes this more interesting is my father was exposed to a far more rounded education than I was , when he went to high school they actually had opportunities to be exposed to flying lessons , my grandfather who left left school in 9th grade / never graduated because he had to help take care of the family actually was exposed to Latin and Greek in school . For what it was worth he was a very literate man who read everything he could get his hands on, and was quite good with math .


Speaking of Civics it's been in the news more a few times recently how Oklahoma lawmakers have identified we need Civics education in school, what the hell happened to it ? It was required when I was in 8th grade , it wasn't optional everyone had to take Civics and Geography in Jr High School .

Well most(except shop is rarely if ever found) if not all those classes are still offered, most required. Difference between when you and I took them is that we had to pass them with some proficiency.......now with the "no fail" and "no homework", etc policies, and now we're seeing the results out in the real world......we're quickly being surrounded by idiots. The majority of the time it's being "taught" to them, they just aren't learning it lol. I can't remember how many credits we were required to have, but it seems like 90% of my class of 400+ could have almost graduated after our junior year. I had calculus and an english class starting at 7:15am, went home for a while, then went to the vo tech for CAD and then back for football.

https://sde.ok.gov/achieving-classroom-excellence-resources

 

[wawazat]

IMHO, any administrator who's worth a damn should welcome an audit--and I'm saying that as someone who had to deal with audits every other year. I wasn't a huge fan of everything we had to do to get ready for them, and I wasn't particularly fond of the petty BS that usually ended up in their reports (though, as my old boss put it, if they're putting petty BS in the reports, that means you're doing everything important really well), but I always valued the job the auditors were doing for us.

This is one of my biggest points of pride. My group is held accountable by the EPA, BLM, State resource departments, upstream and downstream customers, and though this company is private my prior positions were subject to SOX audits on a routine basis as well. If I am doing my job, the team knows the processes and why we do things the way we do with the documentation that is required. Responding to an audit should be a minimal disruption on my part and I have been able to keep them that way. We even had a customer move in a team of their auditors to occupy 5 offices in our building for two months chasing ever number from the settlement statement back to the calibration certificates of our equipment calibrating the measurement equipment. That one was intense to say the least, but the outcome was a suggestion that we archive versions of our field schematics so it is easier to see the piping configuration for any given settlement month. Duly noted and has been a part of the process everywhere I have been since then.

 

[trekrok]

Well most(except shop is rarely if ever found) if not all those classes are still offered, most required. Difference between when you and I took them is that we had to pass them with some proficiency.......now with the "no fail" and "no homework", etc policies, and now we're seeing the results out in the real world......we're quickly being surrounded by idiots. The majority of the time it's being "taught" to them, they just aren't learning it lol. I can't remember how many credits we were required to have, but it seems like 90% of my class of 400+ could have almost graduated after our junior year. I had calculus and an english class starting at 7:15am, went home for a while, then went to the vo tech for CAD and then back for football.

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https://sde.ok.gov/achieving-classroom-excellence-resources

I think this is very true. A lot of the course names are the same as the 'old days', but the rigorousness is gone. Students with VERY few exceptions get re-dos on everything. Usually with no penalty. Late work? Usually fine, with no penalty. And the level of writing proficiency required on essays is a little scary.

 

[HillsideDesolate]

And the level of writing proficiency required on essays is a little scary.

Deadass FR FR no cap

 

[wawazat]

I think this is very true. A lot of the course names are the same as the 'old days', but the rigorousness is gone. Students with VERY few exceptions get re-dos on everything. Usually with no penalty. Late work? Usually fine, with no penalty. And the level of writing proficiency required on essays is a little scary.

My wife and I really hate the "no work too late" policy. The expectations this sets for our next generation of workforce scares the hell out of us.

 

[WoodsCraft]

My wife and I really hate the "no work too late" policy. The expectations this sets for our next generation of workforce scares the hell out of us.

We have this young man where I work (and there is some hesitation on my part in really applying the term man ) who broke down in tears very publicly when his manager counseled him on some areas which were lacking in his job performance . He clearly hadn't had to deal with being told his work was subpar or needed improvement , who is to blame entirely for such an episode probably has a multi faceted answer that started with everyone gets a trophy.

Parents obviously played a large hand as did his educators .