Say Anything Blog

The Fargo Forum today has an article about the North Dakota Policy Council’s “Sunshine on Schools” website, particularly focusing on the websites new feature which lists the compensation level for every single public school teacher and administrator in the state.

Of particular interest, though, is the rather bizarre criticism of the website from people quoted in the article:

Critics warn site users to be wary of the data.

“They’re not statisticians so some of their graphs are distorted,” Fargo Business Manager Dan Huffman said.

West Fargo Superintendent Dana Diesel Wallace said the site is helpful but some data is outdated.

“I think they’ve done a good job making the data accessible for a layperson to get to,” Diesel Wallace said. “But the challenge is always accuracy and timeliness.”

I have two reactions to this.

First, to respond to Mr. Huffman, it’s worth noting that there aren’t actually any statistics on the Sunshine on Schools website.  Just raw data including names of teachers and schools and then salary figures.  That’s it.  You don’t have to be a “statistician” to list raw data.

Second, to respond to the Superintendent from West Fargo, it’s worth noting that all of the information on the site came directly from the Department of Public Instruction and is the latest available from the department.  The figures go up through the 2006 - 2007 school year.  Apparently the DoI hasn’t had a chance to compile the data from the 2007 - 2008 school year yet, but I’m sure once the figures are available the North Dakota Policy Council will update its website.

As for inaccuracies, I’m sure the folks at NDPC would welcome any input from a school superintendent has to offer about any inaccuracies in the data.  And I’m also sure that such inaccuracies, once indicated, would be promptly corrected.

If this is the best the critics of Sunshine on Schools can do (outside of apparently trying to crash the website) it’s not much.  Which isn’t surprising.  What else could their argument be?  The public isn’t allowed to see what they’re paying teachers?

I don’t think that argument would get them far.