Red Bluff Daily News

August 14, 2010

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4A – Daily News – Saturday, August 14, 2010 Opinion On running new ideas up the flagpole … D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 One of the most exciting things about being a newspaper publisher or editor is the freedom to run something new up the proverbial flagpole to see if everyone salutes. A few months ago, considering that 2010 is the Daily News’ 125th birthday year, I had the idea that we might select a few dozen pages from old copies of the newspaper and re-print them as a special edi- tion. Many newspapers have pro- duced collections of pages from previous decades – pleasing read- ers and advertisers alike. People tend to hold on to such special edi- tions for years, as collectibles, and refer to the pages and their stories again and again. That’s called “shelf life,” a valuable commodity for a business that advertises in a publication that has it. To produce an extra project like this, fresh paid advertising or sponsorship is absolutely necessary. Like some of those other news- paper publishers, we planned to deliver copies free to home sub- scribers, as a special insert to the regular paper. We also planned to produce extras for insertion in copies of the newspaper that are used as teaching aids in local class- rooms. We decided to put a price on the front cover and give adver- tising sponsors in the edition a stack of copies to either sell or give as gifts. We planned to sell the rest over our front counter over the months to come. Given the high interest in history on the part of folks who live here, the idea seemed like a natural. The first step was to select 32 pages from the dusty old bound volumes of old editions. Second was to find a company with a big production camera or scanner that could reduce the pages to fit on today’s narrower newspaper pages. It turned out that our big sister paper in San Jose, the Mercury- News, still had the right equipment to do that work. Our ad reps took the project to their regular accounts, seeking sponsorships for 30 of the 32 pages. We ran ads in the paper about the project. But after 3 weeks, at deadline we only had 7.5 out of 30 available sponsor panels sold. To go ahead with the 32- page project with insufficient advertising support would put it seriously upside down. So, we had some decisions to make: We could scrap the project. No, readers were already asking about it and we’d made a commit- ment to senior school administra- tion. We could go with just an 8 page History Pages edition. It’s typical that page count for special editions is usually dependent on how much paid advertising that is committed by deadline. We didn’t like that idea either, because it seemed that a 125 year publishing histo- ry deserves more 8 pages. Should we just postpone the edition a week to give us more selling time, someone asked? More So, some hun- dreds of dollars later for their trou- ble, we had 32 reduced pages, ready to roll. time might help, but nobody saw us getting from 7.5 to 30 sponsor panels with a few more sales days. A review of responses received in the field during the sales window revealed that pricing was the major problem. A run at the math on costs showed that we would just edge over break-even if we had all 30 of the sponsorship blocks filled – at half the asking price. I asked the ad reps to go back to the clients who had said yes, and tell them we were going to give them a “twofer.” If they had obligated for a full sponsorship panel, they could have panels on two pages. If they had chosen half a sponsor panel, they could have a full panel. Our think- ing was to first say thanks to the folks who had said yes. That would commit 15 of the 30 avail- able sponsor panels. We’ll deliver the edition to read- ers a week later in August than we Greg Stevens Publisher’s Postscript had planned. 15 sponsorship pan- els left to fill by mid-week, now priced at less than $5 per column inch! True, we won’t pro- duce a hedge against making our revenue budget for the first quarter of our new fis- cal year – but that was always an ancillary potential benefit to this project. The main objective was and is to draw attention to the fact that Tehama County’s very own daily newspaper is now in its 125th year. While it’s fun and exciting to run some- thing new up that proverbial flagpole, one has to be ready to be nimble and quick if too few folks salute, right off the bat. Lack of saluting is not the fault of the crowd. Some- times, the only thing to do is pull the plug, or steam forward as orig- inally intended; “damn the torpe- does.” Other times, the opportuni- ty to change tack is right there, if you reconsider objectives and adjust some of the moving parts. When it is necessary to course- correct on the fly to bring a good idea to fruition, there’s somehow a deeper satisfaction one feels, when that project is done. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. Making a list and checking it twice Commentary I took some time today to look at the preliminary list of 1000 “bad” California schools published on July 9th by the California State Department of Education (CSDE) for the Cali- fornia State School Board. If you’ve read the news since the list was announced, you are aware that some strange things happened in putting together the list. Schools on this list are allegedly so bad that parents can opt to take their children to a “better school.” On first thought you would think that the list of 1000 schools would contain some pretty bad examples of public education, and it does. However the process of putting together the list prevents the public from getting a clear picture and casts aspersions on schools that are doing quite well. The list may be one of countless examples of unintended consequences, or it could have been designed to obfuscate something. There are 5,780 elementary schools in the state according to the report. From that total 687 elementary schools have made the list, including four of our own in Tehama County. The forty-six page CSDE report describes how the list of the “bottom 1000” schools (includ- ing middle and high schools) was compiled, and it details some of the rules that had to be followed in order to mislead One of the oddities is that six of the schools on the list exceed state Academic Performance Index (API) standards (a score of 800 or higher.) According to the report, a school with the low- est score in the state (360) did not make the list. As a result of the complexities of the process four schools from Tehama County appear on the prelimi- nary list. These schools, West Street in Corning, Gerber School, Jackson Heights in Red Bluff, and Reeds Creek, are now designated Open Enrollment schools, meaning that parents can remove their students and place them in a another school which has higher test scores. According to (CSDE) data the average API score for the 687 elementary schools on the “bottom 1000” list is 723; the scores for all four Tehama County schools on the list ranges from 729 at West Street School to 773 at Jackson Street. In other words, the four Tehama county schools are above the average of the other Open Enrollment schools listed. All four schools are at or above the median for the group as well, meaning they are doing as well as or better than the bottom fifty percent on the list. Scores for the bottom 687 schools ranged from 432 to 801. The rules required that no more than ten percent of schools in any one district could be placed on the list of the bottom 1,000. The elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District on the bottom 1,000 list scored in a range of 545 to 650; these scores are far below the averages for the bot- tom group; if the list had not been restricted to ten percent many more LA Unified schools would have been list- ed, most likely “bump- ing” other schools on the list. The average API for all of the Los Angeles Unified ele- mentary schools was 693 according to their website; this is quite a bit below the average for the “bottom 1,000.” I counted over 100 Los Angeles elemen- tary schools with an API less than the aver- age of the “bottom” list. Imagine that instead of only twelve elemen- tary school from Los Angeles Unified making the list, there could have been one hundred if the formula for calculating the bottom schools had not placed a limit per district. Similar things happened in some other large districts. According to data on the Tehama County Schools web- site, the statewide median (the half way point) API score for all elementary schools in 2009 was 790; West Street, Reeds Creek, Gerber, and Jackson Heights were below the median for all schools in the state. What can we learn from all these data? One can only imagine the dif- ficulties the LA Unified district would have if parents could pull their children from over 100 ele- mentary schools to attend Joe Harrop schools which scored better. The law actually did not produce a list of the “worst” schools; it simply produced a list. Like many educational measurements, the law was deceptive, but we all know that the influ- ence of the Los Ange- les Unified school dis- trict is such that, to the casual reader at least, that district was saved embarrassment. It is difficult to measure a school’s character with simple numbers; the API is one measure, but edu- cation is not only test- ing. I often thought that educators planted seeds both by their own example and by the content and delivery of the curriculum. I don’t get too excited about test scores, but I was excited about helping mold students’ futures. So, take a look at test scores, if you want; they are not unim- portant. Also look at the campus to see if it is clean; talk to the teachers to make sure you are on the same team; read the materi- als that are sent home; partici- pate in conferences, open hous- es, and school events. The coop- erative effort between communi- ties, families and schools will make a difference. Joe Harrop is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net.

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