World's Best Schools: Finland

Over the past decade Finland has achieved an international reputation for educational excellence. Pasi Sahlberg is director of the Finnish Ministry of Education's Center for International Mobility and author of Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? , published this past November.  The following quote is from an article in the 12-29-11 Atlantic Monthly, What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success :  

"When President Kennedy was making his appeal for advancing American science and technology by putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's, many said it couldn't be done," Sahlberg said during his visit to New York. "But he had a dream. Just like Martin Luther King a few years later had a dream. Those dreams came true. Finland's dream was that we want to have a good public education for every child regardless of where they go to school or what kind of families they come from, and many even in Finland said it couldn't be done."

Clearly, many were wrong. It is possible to create equality. And perhaps even more important -- as a challenge to the American way of thinking about education reform -- Finland's experience shows that it is possible to achieve excellence by focusing not on competition, but on cooperation, and not on choice, but on equity.

The problem facing education in America isn't the ethnic diversity of the population but the economic inequality of society, and this is precisely the problem that Finnish education reform addressed. More equity at home might just be what America needs to be more competitive abroad."

"More equity at home might just be what America needs to be more competitive abroad."

Well said!

But here in Dallas, and apparently in many locations in the U.S., you will repeatedly hear statements dismissing Finland's experience that include: “These other countries educate just a few and we educate everyone. The sampling procedures are clearly wrong. They are totally homogeneous country. We are very diverse.”  If you have heard, or made, such statements you need to read the following article: Is the secret to Finnish schools Finns or is there something for America to learn?

Until the remnants of a "separate but equal" mindset disappear in the U.S., we will not be open to the lessons in equity from Finland.  Until the US embraces the potential power in unionization, as 95% of teachers in Finland are union members, we will not tap the power in a dedicated union of teachers actively focused every school day on student achievement. Until the US understands the damage from unnecessary transitions in our K-12 grade configurations, and the need for fewer and more seamless transitions, we will waste critical time, energy, and opportunities. 

Our children pay dearly every day for these failures in the U.S. educational system.  Our students will need to struggle more as adults to fit into an expanding international economy.  The US is no longer the best education system in the world.  Finland has shown it does not take more money and time invested in school to secure that first place.  They have shown the way through the efficiency found in equity for all.

Open Source Dropout Prevention

The time has come to update the http://www.studentmotivation.org/ web site and make it much more user friendly. Too much is on the School Archive Project web site, and blog, that is too hard to find. The goal will be to create a truly open source dropout prevention project.

The economic benefit for Texas to cut the dropout rate in half for one year only would be in the billions of dollars!  See http://www.all4ed.org/files/Texas_sebps.pdf .

Dallas City Council Redistricting, 5-9-11 Map Update

(The plan below was updated 5-13-11 and that plan is being submitted formally to the Commission. That final plan can be seen at http://dallasredistricting2011.blogspot.com/

The plan below is left here for anyone interested in the evolution of the final plan.)

==================================

In an effort to reunite Inwood Northwest Homeowners Association, modifications were made by moving the west end of the southern border to District 13 to Lovers Lane. That allowed Midway to become the western boundary to District 13, another step forward in straightening district boundaries. Click on the above map to see a much larger copy. The demographic statistics generated by the above map are copied below from the handout used at redistricting community meetings. Click on the graphic to see a larger copy.

The Dallas City Council Redistricting Map: 05/07/11 version

This 05-07-11 version of the Dallas City Council Redistricting map reflects the input of many dozens of people. At the same time, gerrymandering continues to be lessened. Here is the statistics page with an explanation for where the design process on this particular map stands. Public input is still needed and critical! Click on this image to make it larger:

Here is the map with the boundary lines shown that give the above statistics for each Dallas City Council District. Again, click on it for a larger copy.

Your questions and comments are welcome. This map must continue to be improved now that it appears to have met the population and ethnic distribution goals for each of the 14 Dallas City Council Districts. Balance will be the challenge as every change needs multiple more changes to achieve balance once again. Please let me know your concerns, especially if you see any errors.

Please also come to one or more of the Dallas City Council Redistricting Committees twice weekly meetings in various places in Dallas. You can find that schedule at http://www.dallascityhall.com/Redistricting/pdf/public_hearings.pdf . There are meetings every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 7 to 9 pm until May 24th. The public is strongly encouraged to attend.

I am in this process only as a private Dallas citizen and only represent myself in these postings. I've seen the damage of gerrymandering in Dallas for too many decades. It must be stopped! Only active citizens, angry enough to vote accordingly, can do that! While our children have been fighting and dying in foreign lands to protect peoples right to democracy, we are letting that same democratic process be damaged constantly right here in Texas. We owe a debt to our children to fix things here in Texas, especially for our children who have already died fighting for democracy elsewhere!

Bill Betzen, bbetzen@aol.com

Dallas City Council Redistricting Map Draft 05/03/11

(The plan below was updated 5-13-11 and that plan is being submitted formally to the Commission. That final plan can be seen at http://dallasredistricting2011.blogspot.com/

The plan below is left here for anyone interested in the evolution of the final plan.)

=================================

We now have a first draft with statistics that only indicate need for minimal corrections.  Here is the map. If you click on it a larger version will appear.  Then, if you click on that copy, icons will appear that will allow you to enlarge it much more:

This map shows the basic lines.  There will be minor changes made due to the input of the public and from the Redistricting Committee Meetings twice a week.  Please send your opinions to bbetzen@aol.com, or post them here, on this blog.  Here are statistics and comments that go with the above map:

Dallas City Council Redistricting Process Report

(The plan below was updated 5-13-11 and that plan is being submitted formally to the Commission. That final plan can be seen at http://dallasredistricting2011.blogspot.com/

The plan below is left here for anyone interested in the evolution of the final plan.)

=================================

The first Dallas City Council Redistricting Committee meeting with the public was 04/26/2011 and went well. About 12 speakers all said basically the same thing: Do Not split my community/do not gerrymander.

Today, after two hours on the Dallas City Council Redistricting Computers, the following initial and very crude map was made:

Please just click on this image to see a larger copy.  This is ONLY a draft and needs very much work.

Here is an example of the type of statistics that are produced, and change every time you move population from one district to another.

The above spreadsheet only has data for five of the districts which is a very crude estimate. This is the type data that changes by the minute as you work on your version of the Dallas City Council District maps changing district lines.  Go to City Hall and give it a try!  Help redesign Dallas to be an ever greater city!  See information on the process at http://dallascityhall.com/council_briefings/briefings0810/2011Redistricting_CouncilBriefingFinal_08042010.pdf
The last page at this link has the details on the computers in Dallas City Hall Room L1AN.  To schedule an appointment just call the Dallas Redistricting offices at 214-670-5417. The official Dallas City Hall Redistricting web site, complete with a multitude of maps, is at http://www.dallascityhall.com/Redistricting/maps.html

As Dallas City Council Redistricting process evolves we have a priceless lesson for our students in democracy.

These postings on Redistricting will now, 4-30-2011, be moved to a site dedicated to redistricting. The issues of expanding the high school graduation rate should not loose importance or be confused with redistricting. Go to  http://dallasredistricting2011.blogspot.com/ to see more postings on Redistricting for Dallas City Council.
===========================================
The History of Dallas continues to unfold and provides for our Dallas ISD students a priceless lesson in democracy. Like all cities, Dallas has a history of the unequal distribution of power with minorities and the poor being generally under-represented in positions of power. With the greater transparency being provided to processes such as redistricting, that lack of balance is slowly disappearing.  You must make your own judgements as to how far we have yet to go.  Here is a demographic spreadsheet on the current Dallas City Council makeup and how it corresponds to the demographic makeup of Dallas as reflected in the most recent census:

Here is a second spreadsheet only counting the Dallas City population for those age 18 and above.

If you see an error in either of these spreadsheets please do not hesitate to email bbetzen@aol.com.  Accuracy is critical. The data from which these spreadsheets are made is from http://www.dfwinfo.com/ris/census/2010/PL.asp?geo=city&area=19000 .

Unless there are errors in the above spreadsheets, the simple conclusion is that the past decades growth in our Hispanic residents in Dallas has led to a significant imbalance on the Dallas City Council makeup. While that imbalance must be corrected in the redistricting process, unnecessary gerrymandering for partisan purposes will only be counterproductive as has been documented at http://www.studentmotivation.org/GerrymanderedDallas/.  We must achive balance without risking the breaking up of our communities of interest.   See Texans for Redistricting Reform and this video on youtube produced by the Tea Party in support of A. J. Pate and his methods that minimize gerrymandering, voter confusion, and the resulting voter apathy, while also meeting the Voting Rights Act requirements at the same time.