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ICU812 
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 3205
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 30 2011,12:10 pm |
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Area schools struggle with test demands
QUOTE Heard from Quiram about changes to Funk’s employment contract for the year 2011-12. He said the cell phone stipend has changed to a technology stipend from $35 to $100 per month, a $3,000 bonus was eliminated and no severance package was included in the contract. It set Funk’s salary at $143,853 for the year 2011-12. The next discussion was for Funk’s contract in the future which set his salary at $149,607 for the year 2012-13, $155,591 for the year 2013-14, and $161,815 for the year 2014-15. Board chairman Bill Leland then thanked Funk for his service to the board and outlined a number of things he considers Funk’s successes including introducing new technology, working well with administrators and introducing district aims, among other things. Funk Salary
Like the late great Phil Hartman said "I'm not saying, I'm just saying"...
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| Post Number: 2
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albertlea033
Group: Members
Posts: 15
Joined: Jul. 2011
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Posted on: Oct. 01 2011,12:07 am |
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Seems like a lot of money for some pretty substandard results. Albert Lea is starting to develop a reputation statewide as a school that just can't stop screwing up.
The positive SPIN has already begun:
http://drfunknotes.blogspot.com/2011...ns.html
Really? A gain of 10 points out of 176 is now considered DRAMATIC? The only dramatic thing I see are Funk's salary increases.
But isn't it a good thing that we made all of these changes so the kids could have better pizza?
http://drfunknotes.blogspot.com/2011/09/first-week-update.html
What the Tribune didn't report in all of their stories about the first week of school at ALHS:
1) FOUR days before school started, the student AND TEACHER schedules still were not complete. Some teachers were assigned classes they had never taught before with only a couple of days to prepare.
2) When the schedules were finalized, there were 60+ kids assigned to study halls in rooms designed to hold 40 kids. Hopefully they have fixed this by now.
3) The first day of school 65 kids did not get to eat lunch because the district administration was not prepared for the number of kids in the cafeteria at once (they were warned about this very thing when the "realignment" talk started, had nearly a year to prepare for it, and still could not get it right).
4) The parking situation is a complete mess at the high school. It was working fine before, but they changed it and now it's a disaster.
5) I heard a rumor (unconfirmed) that 2 ALHS teachers have already quit over their frustration with the new 8-12 high school fiasco and the lack of building administration support. I wonder if this is true?
6) School Board minutes used to be available on the school website as part of the public record. Now, suddenly, you need a password to access this. What is the school board hiding?
I see that Dr. Funk's salary increases are set until 2014-15. God help us if he's allowed to stay that long.
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hairhertz
Group: Members
Posts: 3454
Joined: Dec. 2004
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Posted on: Oct. 01 2011,4:43 am |
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(albertlea033 @ Oct. 01 2011,12:07 am)
QUOTE Seems like a lot of money for some pretty substandard results. Albert Lea is starting to develop a reputation statewide as a school that just can't stop screwing up. The positive SPIN has already begun: http://drfunknotes.blogspot.com/2011...ns.htmlReally? A gain of 10 points out of 176 is now considered DRAMATIC? The only dramatic thing I see are Funk's salary increases. But isn't it a good thing that we made all of these changes so the kids could have better pizza? http://drfunknotes.blogspot.com/2011/09/first-week-update.htmlWhat the Tribune didn't report in all of their stories about the first week of school at ALHS: 1) FOUR days before school started, the student AND TEACHER schedules still were not complete. Some teachers were assigned classes they had never taught before with only a couple of days to prepare. 2) When the schedules were finalized, there were 60+ kids assigned to study halls in rooms designed to hold 40 kids. Hopefully they have fixed this by now. 3) The first day of school 65 kids did not get to eat lunch because the district administration was not prepared for the number of kids in the cafeteria at once (they were warned about this very thing when the "realignment" talk started, had nearly a year to prepare for it, and still could not get it right). 4) The parking situation is a complete mess at the high school. It was working fine before, but they changed it and now it's a disaster. 5) I heard a rumor (unconfirmed) that 2 ALHS teachers have already quit over their frustration with the new 8-12 high school fiasco and the lack of building administration support. I wonder if this is true? 6) School Board minutes used to be available on the school website as part of the public record. Now, suddenly, you need a password to access this. What is the school board hiding? I see that Dr. Funk's salary increases are set until 2014-15. God help us if he's allowed to stay that long.
Good observations, thanks for the post Where are the watchdogs? Where are the checks & balances?
The local media needs to actually report news not just print press releases taking them as gospel.
The citizenry needs to demand quality & accountability.
For the children? Nope, the super is there to make as much money and yield as much power as possible, imho. He needs to go. 
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metis movement
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| Post Number: 4
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hymiebravo
Group: Members
Posts: 4434
Joined: Jan. 2006
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Posted on: Oct. 01 2011,7:28 am |
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QUOTE But isn't it a good thing that we made all of these changes so the kids could have better pizza?
Perhaps so. Maybe that was the missing piece of the puzzle needed for academic improvement.
Do you have any, before and after pictures, plus stats, regarding this matter?
QUOTE 6) School Board minutes used to be available on the school website as part of the public record. Now, suddenly, you need a password to access this. What is the school board hiding?
That does seem unusual/odd/strange/peculiar. Maybe they want to spam people for profit. Bring in some extra dough to the coffers.
Do you have a link?
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Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble. PROVERBS 24:17
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| Post Number: 6
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albertlea033
Group: Members
Posts: 15
Joined: Jul. 2011
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Posted on: Oct. 01 2011,11:13 pm |
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I'm not sure what you are asking for, hymiebravo.
Before and after pictures of the pizza?
The stats are from Dr. Funk himself. The scores went from 166 to 176 of subgroups passing. Maybe that IS a dramatic increase, but I would not think that such a small percentage would be anything to call "dramatic."
I just found it interesting that after the fiasco of the first few days of school, that Dr. Funk, on his blog, would choose to focus on PIZZA, rather than on the real problems ISD241 faces.
Good teachers lost their jobs completely, or were shifted all over the district. Hundreds of students were shuffled to different buildings, etc. Maybe these things needed to happen, but Dr. Funk should be able to clearly articulate WHY those changes are going to make a positive difference (and given that he's supposed to be an intelligent person--after all he has a doctoral degree in EDUCATION--you would think he could articulate his point with correct spelling and grammar. But he can't). But instead of making the case for all of the great changed he made--he focuses on how much the middle school kids like the new pizza!
As far as the school board minutes, one used to be able to access these by going to:
http://es.albertlea.k12.mn.us/schoolboard/Default.aspx
Now, any attempt to go there is met with a dialog box that requires a username and password. I called three board members and left messages asking them to fix this. It still isn't fixed. They are too busy dealing with critically important things like getting more kids at athletic events to deal with the real problems of the school district:
http://www.albertleatribune.com/2011...d-staff
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| Post Number: 7
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hairhertz
Group: Members
Posts: 3454
Joined: Dec. 2004
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Posted on: Oct. 02 2011,12:55 am |
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You are not authorized to view this page.
Nice message for the public, Dr. 241 leader.  I just wanted to find out more about that amazing pizza being served.
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metis movement
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| Post Number: 8
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Stone-Magnon
Group: Members
Posts: 1540
Joined: Dec. 2010
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Posted on: Oct. 02 2011,3:13 am |
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Who do you know who makes a $10,000 raise every year?
And all from taxes no less. Disgusting is what it is.
Free Ipad 2's for all 2nd graders and $100 monthly free internet stipe-end for Funk ON TOP of his 150K. Ya...HE needs freebies...why should he have to be bothered with paying internet and phone bills? Why don't we give him a car and pay the gas too? How about free haircuts too? He NEEDS freebies to help him stretch his $150K.
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...everybody must get stoned
-Bob Dylan
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| Post Number: 9
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jrhanson_75
Group: Members
Posts: 26
Joined: Aug. 2010
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Posted on: Oct. 02 2011,9:37 pm |
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I sure wish more people cared about this! It really does make me sick to think that he gets paid as much as he does for what he does. I sure hope that we have someone new in his spot before long.
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| Post Number: 10
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albertlea033
Group: Members
Posts: 15
Joined: Jul. 2011
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Posted on: Oct. 06 2011,7:26 pm |
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I heard that today at ALHS during the homecoming dress up "dress like a villain day" hundreds of kids wore name tags that said "Mike Funk" on them. Seems like the man is pretty well hated at the high school here in town!
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