B'game Real Estate "Reemerges"

It is a bit tough to link to the article in today SF Examiner on B'game real estate emerging since the real estate section is hosted separately from the regular paper and pops up in a different application.  But you can start here and you might find it.  The Examiner writes:

Since the real estate world changed in late 2008, Burlingame's performance has been all over the place....Depending on the month--or perhaps the week--Burlingame's market is up, down, torrid or frozen.

And

From April to August, Burlingame settled into a pattern of $1.2 to $1.4 million average home values with sales figures of 18, 21, 17, 25, and 19. ....Whatever its fluctuations, in the big picture Burlingame's role remains the same.  It consistently ranks fourth, fifth or sixth (depending on how Menlo Park and Portola Valley did that month) among San Mateo County cities in average home price.

The piece then goes on to complement our schools at all three levels and quotes the "stratospheric" API scores.  Nice boost for our hometown.

Comments

[Lincoln mom]

I hope the people who voted against the recent BSD parcel tax read this and understand exactly how wrapped up their home values are in those schools. A dollar spent supporting those schools comes back to you many times over when you sell your house.

[Anne]

Lincoln Mom, you are absolutely correct!

[KRN]

The real estate argument is solid, but don't confuse high API scores with high quality education.

Burlingame starts with a stronger student population so we should be getting a better return on the dollar.

The K-5 systems is very solid. The 6-8....? One subgroup at BIS dropped 31 point this last year. That is a HUGE drop. Our students need a stronger advantage against, Crocker, Taylor, Borel (Pre-IB Program!) when it comes to high school prep.

[Lincoln mom]

I get a phone call a month from some family in the city looking to move to Burlingame for the schools. Again, it just astounds me that some Burlingame homeowners won't pony up relatively tiny donations to BCE and/or vote against the $150/year parcel tax.

KRN, as a K-5 mom, I'm interested in why you think the 6-8 situation is lacking. Isn't the same strong student population carrying on into BIS?

[KRN]

It isn't the population. The K-5 community has a strong trust in the system. The 6-8 years are the foundation for high school and beyond. They are also years where the gaps in student ability become more challenging. We cannot put all students into the same classroom and give them the same curriculum and expect them to be stimulated. The system will tell you that classroom instruction is differentiated for each student. It is not. Some students need more work. Others need more challenge. Different needs at a critical time.

The same population (Lincoln) does move on to middle school but they are merged with students from the other schools and given the same challenge.

Example. Lincoln has 60 current fifth grade students who have scored in the Advanced range of the CST in Math and Language Arts. Franklin has 85 current fifth grade students who have scored in the Advanced range of the CST in Math and Language Arts.

Is BIS going to offer all 145 students a seat in Pre= Algebra (6th grade Advanced Math)- No. There are only 60 seats. These are just the students from two feeder schools.

BIS offers NO advanced Language Arts to sixth grade students. These advanced students will not be properly stimulated unless they are given a curriculum at their level.

You may find school CST data at the following link.

http://star.cde.ca.gov/star2010/SearchPanel.asp

[alittlebird]

Take your concerns to the school board, KRN. You are right on the mark! Don't look only at the high achieving students and differentiated instruction; look at ALL the students. Are their needs being met? Something needs to change, and in a hurry. BIS continues to go down Alice's rabbit hole...............

[KRN]

Last year, BIS (finally!) offered Algebra to a select group of 7th grade students. Of the 26 students, 15 (58%) scored Advanced and 9 (35%) scored Proficient on the CST exams.

These students accomplished this goal WITHOUT having taken a pre-algebra course in 6th grade.

BIS has now implemented a pre-Algebra course for a limited number of sixth grade students. How many of the 145 qualified students mentioned above will get into Pre-Algebra?

The talent is there. BIS needs to increase the challenge (not the homework) in sixth grade to better engage students at their ability level.
7th and 8th grades have Advanced Language Arts courses. Students need strong vertical preparation.

Question: Why does the leadership keep stating that there is no difference between Advanced and Regular courses? If there is no difference, then how are the students being properly challenged?

[alittlebird]

And conversely, how are they meeting the needs of those average and below students, in there is "no difference between Advanced and Regular courses" when they are all grouped together?

[Lincoln mom]

Thanks for the primer on this KRN...ditto the request to take this straight to the school board. I'm officially scared of BIS.

[KRN]

The Board is well aware of the issues at BIS and what it needs to do to offer a more direct challenge for each level of student. Its the local leadership that isn't moving on the issue. Maybe they need a personal blast from the bullhorn they use on the kids at lunch each day. (Really...we allow our children to be driven around the play yard by a bullhorn?)

If parents keep saying "everything is fine at BIS," then there is no stimulus for change. Parents need to speak up. A strong API score does not mean quality education.

BIS is doing OK. Our students deserve better than OK.

[alittlebird]

KRN, if the board is aware of the issues with "local leadership" why aren't they doing something to change that? A bullhorn? Really?! Maybe the kids should grab that and use it to turn the tables!

[KRN]

Yes, a bullhorn. The current campus environment is one of control, not compassion and support. Many K-8 parents do not know the expectations of higher education and are therefore "satisfied" with less.

Aragon, Mills, and San Mateo High School have been offering a very successful course in AP Calculus BC (One step beyond AP Calc AB). The reason.. the other middle schools in the area have been offering advanced math for years. BHS can't offer AP Calc BC because the preparation for this course begins in middle school. BIS just adopted 8th grade geometry this year.

[alittlebird]

Even if parents aren't aware of the higher ed expectations, the school board should be well aware. If, as you say, KRN, the board is aware, why aren't any changes taking place? That just doesn't make good sense. There have been many changes in leadership over the past 10 years at BIS, so I wonder why nothing is happening now?

[holyroller]

Since everything in this conversation is about statitics, how do the ethnic backgrounds of the families have an impact on the results of this "casual study?"
How about single parents?
Reading between the lines of this post, all I see are people who are looking to drop a bomb on a teacher, or some struggling parents doorstep so "their child" will not be held back.
You people are horrible.
All high tides raise all boats.

[KRN]

HR

There is no one dropping a bomb on a teacher or punishing a parent.

If you were to read the API report you would find how one ethnic group suffered a significant loss in education this last year. WHY?

The following is from the PTA minutes...

The school is close to Program Improvement status since our socio-economic disadvantaged and Hispanic subpopulations of students are not making targets."

A review of school policy would also find that admission to the schools current advanced courses is selective and requires an application process and selection criteria that leaves many students left out of the advanced courses, even though they want to attend.

The Program Improvement and Advanced problems are at each end of the educational spectrum, but there are problems.

[alittlebird]

Wow Holyroller, if you actually read these posts you will see that we are talking about meeting the needs of ALL the students, not just those of a certain "ethnic background" as you are so quick to say. Without people looking out for the good of the students in our schools, we would be in a lot worse shape than we are. In my opinion, the school board really needs to take a closer look at BIS and make some determinations about what is going on, or not going on for that matter. A bullhorn?! I am blown away by that notion. And, Holyroller, you cannot refer to API scores and findings as a "casual study." It is waht makes our schools go around. Thankfully there are some of us out here who care about the kids who will be making up the next generation.

[KRN]

Why is the current leadership so focused on control? Under the new schedule, student class periods have been reduced to 45 minutes per class. That means after a 3 minute span to settle into class and a 3 minute span before class ends (as if middle school kids don't fidget) that leaves 39 minutes for instruction. To make matters worse, student now have only three (3) minutes of a passing period between classes. Students do not have enough time to go to their locker and/or the bathroom. Why is there such a need to control the students?

What makes things worse is that with only 39 minutes of instruction, teachers don't want students to leave to use the restroom. So...what is so important that student need fewer minutes of class and fewer minutes between classes? We still have enough time to dedicate 90 minutes per week to non-academic coursework.

In addition, the current leadership has also banned students from playing on the school courts and fields after school. It seems that they want students to first go home before they return to school to play. That makes senes. A student should hop on the bus, ride to lower Burlingame, get off the bus, enter their home, and return to BIS to play basketball. I think I'll just watch TV.

It is no wonder that our state has a problem with weight and health. Our local school does not want our students to play. Its time for a fix.

[JROC]

I had two kids go through BIS recently and I have only praise for hard working engaged teachers. Don't be afraid Lincoln Mom. BIS is not as bad as these posts would want you to believe.

[krn]

No one has complained about the teachers. The comments are about the level of engagement that is offered to students and the leadership of the school.

JROC, if you like what you received and it meets your standards for higher education, then you are a satisfied customer. There are others who know that a better product is available and should be on the market.

Some of us don't want to settle for "good enough."

[guest1]

what a backhand compliment.

[KRN]

Nothing in the statements above are fabricated. They are for your evaluation.

There are many hardworking parents and educators in Burlingame who contribute many hours and dollars to the local program.

As a result, no one wants to comment or criticize the program as it will be looked upon as a criticism of the people and their efforts. The result is that no one is willing speak out about what is really going on. We all just gush about how great things are and how lucky we are to not attend a school in another local district.

If Burlingame students could apply to college based upon the property value of their homes, they would all be successful. That is not the case. While strong API scores do support property values, they do not always reflect what is going on in the schools.

[holyroller]

Dear KRN,
Thank you for the very grounded and reality based response.
Depending on where you come from,"good enough" is a very good compliment.

[alittlebird]

Yes, nobody has said that the teachers are lacking or BAD or in some other way not doing their jobs. Quite the opposite, actually, for without some of the great teachers at BIS the place would really be far from "good enough."
Historically speaking, BIS was on a par with Crocker, but that is far from the case now. It is true that parents, for whatever reason, have become complacent or accepting or something, and are not vocal like in the days when my kids went through BIS. It is probably more important than ever that our schools provide quality education to our kids, and we simply are not doing that and that bullhorn thing has got to go. Again I ask, KRN, doesn't anybody go to the board with these concerns?

[krn]

There is a growing base of K-5 parents who are ready to go to the board. Here is the catch... the K-5 schools do such a good job at meeting the needs of the students, that parents EXPECT that things will be the same in 6-8. Once grade six begins, there is no time to make adjustments...you are stuck with what you get.

The board and school leadership KNOW that there is an academic gap in the students who enter BIS yet they continue to place them in the same classes. How can a student reading at the third grade level be equally stimulated as a student reading at the grade 12 level? It doesn't make sense. Guess who get bored. Why should a student waste an entire year of school because the school does not want to offer a more challenging course. How many students are reading above grade level?

Franklin has 83 students at Advanced
Lincoln has 61 students at Advanced
McKinley has 15 students at Advanced
Roosevelt has 15 students at Advanced
Washington has 23 students at Advanced

These are the facts that the leadership knows, yet they do nothing to challenge these students in sixth grade. These students will be asked to do exactly the same as all others.

No challenge = no growth.

[krn]

The scores posted above are for current fifth grade students. These are taken from their fourth grade CST Language Arts scores.

Do these kids really deserve just "good enough" for an academic challenge when an alternative is available at no cost?