It Seems That CSCOPE is the Root of All Evil (Part 2 of 4)

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Note: CSCOPEis a vertically aligned scope and sequence used by hundreds of schooldistricts.
Today is Part 2 of our examinationof the arguments of the Anti-CSCOPE loonies.  To be clear, I would like to point out that I do not confusethe Loonies with reflective professionals who work with and around a useful butadmittedly imperfect curriculum tool, of which I count myself a member. But Idigress. On with the continuing dissection of the CSCOPE is Evil Manifesto.
Anti-CSCOPE Argument Number 4: CSCOPE was secretly created without permission from anylegislative or executive authority.
Response: First, CSCOPE was notcreated in secret.  It is theproduct of a curriculum support collaborative that began in the early 2000s.Early development and use was in East Texas and the Valley.  Then accountability sanctions began tobe enforced, which created an overriding and compelling need for improvedinstructional resources for teachers. TEA was not in a position to create or produce anything of quality dueto its budget and personnel being slashed to the bone (again, Bush andPerry).  As a result, the onlyentity with infrastructure and expertise was the ESC network.  With both direct and indirect proddingfrom Commissioners Neeley and Scott, their executive staff, the funding giants(Gates and Dell Foundations) and the legislature, the ESCs reluctantlymobilized.  So the creating of CSCOPEwas never a case of the ESCs overstepping their bounds and/or not askingpermission.  Instead CSCOPE is aprominent case of a government agency successfully fulfilling a directive andmeeting customer demand at the same time. 
Anti-CSCOPE Argument Number 5: CSCOPE charges for the use of its product and the fundsare passed onto a fiscal agent, known only as ESC 13. And the number 13 iscentral to voodoo, witchcraft and other forms of paganism.
Response: Yes, CSCOPE is aservice/product that districts purchase. Do I wish that this wasn’t the case?Yes, but there is nothing wrong and improper about this. It’s just the resultof willfully underfunding essential infrastructure (again, see Bush, Perry, theRight). Just as there are publicly owned toll roads (pay for use), contractedlaw enforcement support (pay for use) and city water and trash pick-up fees(pay for use), the districts that use CSCOPE pay for that right.  And yes, ESC 13 is the fiscal agent forCSCOPE. It is one of twenty Educational Service Centers in the state.  They are creatively named ESC 1, ESC 2,and so on.  ESC 13 serves as thefiscal agent for CSCOPE for two primary reasons. First, ESC 13 already had thenecessary staff on hand to manage and perpetuate a large project, for example,a statewide curriculum collaborative. Second, and most importantly, ESC 13 isbased in Austin.  So due to simplegeography, it was and is in the best position to quickly respond to the everychanging demands of TEA, the Legislature and the Governor.     
Anti-CSCOPE Argument Number 6: School districts have spent millions of dollars on CSCOPE.
Response: Yes, at an annual costof $7.00 per student, districts have paid millions for the development,delivery and evolution of CSCOPE. But just like when my wife and nieces buy shoes on sale, thisexpenditure actually represents a significant cost savings.  Understand that a responsible districtis going to spend money to provide a curriculum and resources to teachers. Atminimum, this requires four content specialists, a part-time supervisor and oneclerical person. The annual salary cost of this department will be at least$315,000.00. These people will work their tails off and deliver a substandardproduct.  Why? Because the scale ofthe work is too grand for such a small team.  But for that same $315,000.00 a district can purchase CSCOPEfor up to 45,000 students. So let’s do the math.  Take a mid-size district of 10,000 students. An annual perpupil cost of an ineffective curriculum department would start at $31.50 perstudent. If you want to hire enough staff to ensure decent quality and a usableproduct, just back up the money truck.
But with CSCOPE as a resource,now that small curriculum department can be eliminated (a horrible idea), orthat small curriculum staff can now work directly with teachers on improvingthe delivery of instruction (a great idea).  The bottom line is this, you can’t not spend money onschools (contrary to current political intent) but you can spend money in anefficient manner that is also beneficial to teachers and students. 
Tomorrow, we’ll addressarguments 7 thru 9.
Think. Work. Achieve.Your turn...

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