FiscalShare

Parental Involvement: Cause or Correlation?

I was in a meeting about student success. We had broken into groups, and the question of parental involvement came up. “Were your parents involved in your school?” I half-whispered to a fellow director, born and raised in Hong Kong. “Not at all” she said. “Not mine either” said I (born and raised in another

March 3, 2014 Short URLachievement, achievement gap, best practice, California, California school districts, education, parental involvement, parental participation, public education, Public Policy, school, school district, school districts, school meeting, student engagement, student success, successPublic Schools, Uncategorized

Where Things Come from and Where They Go to

How much do we really think? Here’s an example. Toilets are a vital component of world health, yet we rarely give them a second thought. For us, they are just there when we need them. Just like almost everything else in our secure western world. The truth is that complex interconnected systems deliver food, energy, clothing, consumer

March 1, 2014 Short URLchildren, contect, critical thinking, critical thinking skills, education, education reform, einstein, job, leftie, nut job, politics, poverty, radical, reform, republican platform, subversive, system, systems thinking, teacher, Texas, thinking, training, workflowUncategorized

Annotated Timeline for School Funding (California)

When I first started out in California school business, I was a bit confused by the state’s revenue certifications and re-certifications. I wished I had an overview of the entire process. So – here’s one I put together: Annotated Principal Apportionment Timeline This does not contain enough detail to be used instead of your complete annual calendar,

February 8, 2014 Short URLaccounting, California, California school districts, Education Code, principal apportionment, public education, public school finance, school financeAccounting, Finance, Laws and Regulations, Local Control Funding Formula, Procedures and Practices

An Interview Question on a Mission

If you are going for a leadership role in the Business Services section of a school district, you are probably going to be asked something like the following in an interview. If we hire you into this role, how will you advance the mission of the school district? Not Recommended: You created this position so I don’t have to tell

February 7, 2014 Short URLcareer development, communication, education, employment, hiring, interview, interview question, job, job interview, mission, question, school finance, strategic plan, strategy, workCareer Development, Finance, Government, Human Resources, Management, Public Schools, School District Jobs, Working Together

The Handshake of Death

A handshake should be neither limp nor bone-crushing. This is common knowledge. But how should you handle a death-grip handshake that is clearly designed to intimidate? I inadvertently stumbled across the answer when meeting with a customer who had used our bus services and was now not paying the bill. The transportation manager had arranged the meeting. I

February 4, 2014 Short URLauthority, business, death grip, handshake, Management, meetingCareer Development, Management, Uncategorized, Working Together

How Can I Talk to You About School Spending?

There are always a few diehard policy wonks and spending watchdogs at school board meetings. District staff know their names. We greet them with a polite nod and sometimes stop for a brief chat. In a larger district you’ll see the occasional print reporter recording and taking notes. Every now and then a television crew will show up to get

January 30, 2014 Short URLbest practice, communication, government spending, lcff, local control funding formula, politics, public education, public participation, public school finance, public schools, school board, school board meetings, school district, school district business, voters, voting, watchdogsFinance, Laws and Regulations, Local Control Funding Formula, Public Schools

Reasons and Excuses, Bali Edition

My grandfather used to say “reasons are not excuses,” meaning that just because you have a reason, don’t expect that to function as an excuse to relieve you of the consequences of your actions. I used to plan our family vacations down to the gnat’s eyelash. For each trip I would make a binder that functioned as a

January 28, 2014 Short URLbusiness, excuses, passport, planning, problem solving, rationalizations. travel, reasonsManagement, Productivity, Uncategorized

Reasons, Excuses, Rationalizations

My mother recently had a fence replaced. The “Fence Guy” was a self-employed franchisee for a national chain. When he did not show up on the appointed day my mother left three unreturned messages before complaining to the franchisor. Fence Guy eventually called back and said he was behind and he would be there in three weeks.

January 26, 2014 Short URLappropriate work behavior, behavior, best practice, business, choice, choices, communication, deadlines, dependability, excuse, explanation, Management, missing deadlines, problem solving, rationalization, reason, reasonable person defense, reliability, schedule, workManagement, Productivity

Peeking Behind the Curtain

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Most of us have seen the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” The mighty Oz is a fearful sight until Toto pulls back the curtain to reveal an ordinary man pulling levers and talking into a microphone. The lesson is that sometimes the awesome and magical turn out to be an

January 24, 2014 Short URLapplications, curriculum, data, data science, ethics, platforms, software, student learning, Wizard of OzAccounting, Data, Technology

Fave Five

A message presented with humor and imagination is the common theme in these wonderful blogs. A brand new blog that immediately drew my attention is Movie Hugs Will Kill You. Tim’s charming and engaging wry humor is launched at those things in everyday life made worse by unrealistic expectations. The Idiot Economist explains economics to the rest of us.

January 23, 2014 Short URLblogging, business, economics, expectations, funny, humor, MBA, systems, unrealistic expectations, wry humorUncategorized