LETTERS ABOUT THE PLAN TO DISMEMBER THE CENTRAL PPS TAG OFFICE

Whom to contact

Letter from Jeff Strange, Chair of the TAG Advisory Committee concerning the Dismembering of the PPS TAG Office

Dear Teri, 

Thank you for answering my questions regarding the planned reassignment of the district’s TAG personnel. I have since been contacted by concerned TAG parents and by Margaret DeLacy, who, as you know, is an OATAG board member and former TAG Advisory Council chair (then DTAC). Ms. DeLacy has copied me on an email she has sent to the Board of Education detailing her objections to dismantling the TAG Department. Her objections center on the merits of the planned reorganization, which, given her extensive expertise and historical perspective, should, I think, be given considerable weight in assessing the virtues and risks of such far-reaching changes.  

My own objections center on the process through which the decision was made to reassign the TAG TOSAs. In my view, this process is in conflict with two provisions of the Board-endorsed “Framework for meeting the needs of TAG Students.” The first relevant provision calls for “Maintaining centralized TAG staff for purpose of complying with the state mandate, e.g., identification, parent involvement, programs and services.” The second calls for “TAG parent representation on all regional and district committees involved in TAG planning.”  

The Framework was drafted by a board-appointed committee of teachers, parents, administrators and board members along with TAG Department personnel, and was formally endorsed by the board in 1996. It was developed in response to persistent deficiencies in the district’s services for advanced learners. These provisions aim to protect the integrity of TAG services and to ensure that TAG policies and practices are responsive to student needs. The process through which proposals to dismantle the TAG department are considered should be consistent with this Framework. 

Without sufficient briefing on the specifics of this reorganization – many of which appear not to have been determined -- it is not possible to render a considered judgment on its potential long-term merits. However, the district holds a weak record in meeting the needs of rapid learners and in complying with TAG-related laws and administrative rules. Given this history, and the provisions of the Framework, it is my judgment that TAG parents should be involved in considering proposals that weaken the TAG Department, and that such changes should come only when the Board is convinced that dismantling the Department holds significant advantages in meeting the needs of advanced learners.  

The proposed changes have not been included in the district’s TAG Strategic Plan, disclosed in meetings of the TAG Advisory Council, or, to my knowledge, included in briefings to the Board of Education. These are significant changes in the provision of TAG services that will not be readily undone. I request that they be put on hold until they can be fully considered by the Board and the TAG Advisory Committee. 

Given what I understand to be the imminent implementation of these changes, I will forward this request to the PPS Administration and the Board, as well as to fellow Council members for their further consideration and input.

 Thank you for your consideration of this request.

 Sincerely, 

Jeff 

Jeffrey J. Strange, Ph.D.

jstrange@publicinsight.com

 

 

My Letter to the Portland School Board concerning the Dismembering of the PPS TAG Office

 

Dear School Board members

I have been approached by PPS TAG parents concerned that the Portland TAG office is being dismembered.

They were told that the TAG Specialist's job will be eliminated and a half-time administrator (Pat Thompson) will be appointed to a half-time position for state compliance only (that is, no one to assist parents).

As far as I am aware, Ms. Thompson has no specific TAG training or experience.

In addition, they were told that the Teachers on Special Assignment currently working at the central TAG office will be reassigned to the area directors.

Board members may feel this is a personnel matter and so is not board policy. This is incorrect.

In 1996 and again in 1998, after a very extensive public and administrative process, the Board adopted a TAG policy. Attached to that policy, and still in effect, is the Framework for Meeting the Needs of TAG Students. The district has provided this Framework to the State of Oregon Department of Education as evidence of its "Written plan for programs and services" that is required by the Oregon TAG mandate.

That Framework includes the following

"TAG BUDGET

GOAL Using TAG funds to achieve appropriate identification and rate and level instruction for all TAG children

(1) Maintain a centralized TAG staff for the purpose of complying with the State mandate (e.g. identification, parent involvement, programs and services)

(2) Distribute TAG budget to the schools with accountability for the appropriateness of expenditures to the district."

Under Superintendent Ben Canada, there was a similar proposal to distribute the TAG TOSAs to the Area offices. The TAG advisory committee and TAG parents protested this move very vigorously. Members of the School Board at that time determined that this written policy was sufficient to override the proposal.

TAG parents at the time protested because the district tried to do this before and it was a complete disaster. In fact, Amy Welch was originally appointed to her job as High School TAG administrator because the High Schools found administering the Advanced Placement program so burdensome they asked the District if they could pool their funding and hire someone to do it centrally.

The Oregon Department of Education has found the PPS TAG program to be out of compliance with state law. One of the problems raised by the compliance investigation was the inconsistency of programs across the district. As a result, the Department's Compliance Order to the District included a requirement that the District "Institute a monitoring process to make TAG program policy implementation consistent across the entire district." A second Order required the District to "Provide access for all TAG students to accelerated programs including programs that may not be available at the student's own school." Although we recognize that the appointment of a half-time compliance officer is an attempt to respond to this Order, further dispersing the TAG staff and having them report to to the Area Directors instead of the TAG administrator is likely to increase, not reduce, the variability in services across the District as different Directors interpret their responsibilities in different ways.

The Oregon Association for Talented and Gifted (OATAG) has just spent six years lobbying at the state level for a full-time TAG specialist as its highest priority. She was appointed this fall and I would be astonished if anyone could find a single person in the state who does not think that TAG is better off with a full-time central administrator.

The TAG staff spend some of their time coordinating out-of-district programs such as Advanced Placement, the Johns Hopkins Talent Search and the Challenge/Link programs with our schools. When the central staff is dispersed, such programs have to coordinate with every High School or all the district schools instead of with one office. Many of these programs will find this so burdensome that they will simply cease offering the programs, thus losing many high-quality options that are available to PPS students. Even if these programs continue, it takes ten times as long for ten High School TOSAs to coordinate them separately as it does for one office to do so centrally.

Parents who are calling the district with TAG related questions will tie up a lot of district staff time playing phone tag trying to locate the proper person to answer their question. In addition, even when they find the correct TOSA, that person will most likely be less well-informed.

PPS simply cannot afford to hire enough TAG TOSAs to handle a dispersed program effectively. We have nearly 5,000 TAG students and 5 TAG TOSAs. There is no way that each TOSA can provide "response to intervention" services for 1,000 students in grades 1-12. If the District insists on following a Special Education model for services, we will advocate for budgeting at a Special Education level.

I know of no other district in the state that is responding to budget cuts by making its staff LESS efficient and effective for the same FTE costs.

Sincerely yours,

Margaret DeLacy

April 17, 2009

 

Whom to contact:

Carole Smith superintendent@pps.k12.or.us

TAG department director, Teri Geist tgeist@pps.k12.or.us

School Board

Ruth Adkins (Zone 1) 503-351-9278, radkins@pps.k12.or.us

David Wynde (Zone 2) (Board co-chair) 503-916-6153, david.wynde@pps.k12.or.us

Bobbie Regan (Zone 3) (Board co-chair) 503-292-0659, bobbie.regan@pps.k12.or.us

Martin Gonzalez (Zone 3), mgonzalez@pps.k12.or.us

Sonja Henning (Zone 5) 503-916-6654, shenning@pps.k12.or.us

Trudy Sargent (Zone 6) 503-916-6655, tsargent@pps.k12.or.us

Dilafruz Williams (Zone 7) 503-775-2158, dilafruz.williams@pps.k12.or.us

Olin Stickler, Student Representative ostickle@pps.k12.or.us

The assistant to Evelyn Brzeziski, interim head of the Office of Teaching and Learing):

lmoore@pps.k12.or.us

 

The Oregonian

Letters@news.oregonian.com