As I posted LAST WEEK (and made "the best comments" list on Sunday!
VOTE YES ON QUESTION ONE!!
Then we ABOLISH the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.....and we let the PARENTS decide if the NA school system is meeting THEIR requirements. Work it between PARENTS and TEACHERS and school administrators. I think the only hope is to have the teachers and parents lead the efforts. They know best what the quality of the education is.
The further you get from the parent/teacher....the LESS QUALIFIED anyone is to comment on the education in NA.
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Look up the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.. website..www,neasc.org.....bunch of overpaid 'academics".....get rid of all of them and give their budget directly to local schools.
Cat Lady
· 1 year ago
The E-T has really missed the point of this story. The real issue is the fact that Marini failed to inform. The secretive nature makes citizens distrust the leadership.
Lars
· 1 year ago
Care to elaborate? I have seen or been to just about every school committee meeting in the last two years and he has been very straight forward.
MV
· 1 year ago
He purposely concealed the fact that NA High was on warning and when he got caught by the Tribune he finally released it FIVE MONTHS LATER! Yeah! Real Straight Forward!
Stan
· 1 year ago
Accreditation should be replaced with entrance exams. I've seen the "accreditation" threat used in NH as a way to extort more money from property tax payers.
Cat Lady
· 1 year ago
Lars, you must have missed the 8/19 SC mtg. NAHS rec'd the warning letter in late spring. Marini thought he could fix it so he didn't inform the SC. He announced it at the 8/19 mtg as a reporter had been tipped off and started to question him. If the reporter hadn't investigated would the public still be in the dark?
Lars
· 1 year ago
He did not "hide" the fact that he received the letter. It seems to me that he and the HS principal had made the necessary changes for the upcoming school year and expect to be removed from this list upon proof that the changes were made. They were not removed so he made it public. Was it right? Perhaps not, but it was not done maliciously or in a way to deceit the public as you insinuate in another post.
ibeme
· 1 year ago
Nice to see that you have NATA writing your editorials for you now.
Cat Lady is absolutely right. The editorials misses the point...again.
NCLB-NOT
· 1 year ago
No
YOU miss the point...NAH should NOT be on an sort of LIST....unless the parents can list some areas where they are not happy with the education their children are receiving.
Look at the MCAS scores for NAH.... English - 2007 CPI - 95.4 Math - 2007 CPI - 93.9
NAH should be commended for their scores....not WARNED.
In comparison... North Andover - 95.4 / 93.9 MA STATE AVE - 87.9 / 85.0 Methuen - 88.4 / 83.0 Haverhill - 85.8 / 8.7 Andover - 97.0 / 96.8 Lawrence - 61.9 / 52.0
BARKING UP WRONG TREE....
Welcome to North Andover
· 1 year ago
This belongs in the opinion section of the paper. Whoever assigned this to News obviously skipped Ethics of Journalism in college.
CatLady
· 1 year ago
NAHS should not be on warning, agreed but that does not excuse the Supt keeping the information secret. 2 wrongs don't make a right. Won't trust anyhting he says from now on til he airs the issue in public.
ibeme
· 1 year ago
NCLB-NOT, I don't even think you understand what the true issue is. If you'd spent any time at all paying attention to NA school committee meetings for the last three or four years, you'd understand that parents HAVE been complaining.
Primary concern: lack of electives. Which just so happens to be one major area that the NEASC pings. Can't offer electives unless there are teachers to teach them. Layoffs = not enough teachers.
So, add the Trib AND NCLB-NOT to the list of those that don't understand the problem.
NCLB-NOT
· 1 year ago
Don't care to understand...I don't live in NA.
Your 'issue' of electives....how many times have you brought this issue up to the School Committee? Get a large group of parents together and WORK WITH your ELECTED officials. Then you and the school committee work it with the Sup...
Checkout how ELT issue was worked in Methuen......
I'll just add this...what "electives" are you so concerne about? Looks like reading, writing and arithmetic are doing very well at your school.
Oh..and again....YOUR issue should be between YOU (and other parents) and YOUR school administration. Keep the NEASC idiots out of it.
CatLady
· 1 year ago
ibeme is correct that HS parents have been complaining about electives. NCLB NOT is pushing the question 1 issue. The Supt kept the NEASC info a secret because he did not want those HS parents coming back to (rightfully) stir the pot. My concern is that had he informed the SC, could monies have been shifted to the HS to increase electives? There is a potential financial detriment to the secrecy not to mention an ethical one.
NCLB-NOT
· 1 year ago
Hey.....Question 1 is the only way to fix this state government....and it will have ZERO effect on your NA high school. Unless you believe all the scare tactics the liberals will spew...
If you really have a problem with electives....then why don't you just work THAT issue? What difference does it make HOW the NEASC rates NAH on your issue of electives???? If you want more electives, get off this website....get some facts together...present your case to the school committee. If they don't see it your way, elect new SC members.
Lars
· 1 year ago
More electives have been added, did you not see the list in the paper last week? The HS principal herself gave a list of several new courses added for this upcoming school year.
CatLady
· 1 year ago
NCLB NOT. It would be so nice if parents could work with their elected school bd. However, the SC is not interested in what parents say, they follow blindly where the Supt leads them...and that is an issue that should be rectified at the next election.
NCLB-NOT
· 1 year ago
AMEN to that.....
get large groups of parents together....there's strength in numbers......
Then be prepared for a tough battle......
Stan
· 1 year ago
I'm glad to see people waking up to these organization such as the NEA. They are nothing more than unions and they look for ways to extort money from taxpayers. In my town, most of the property taxes goes to schools. The return on dollars is terrible. Test scores decline year in and year out. They lower the number of students per teacher and get no results. Unfortunately for the average taxpayer, there are many forces in place to make sure the problem is never solved. We have lost the government of the people, by the people and for the people to special interest. The time for a second revolution is approaching quickly!
Lars
· 1 year ago
The NEA is a teacher's association and is not related, in anyway, to the accreditation group.
marybeth11
· 1 year ago
Stan,back up one thing you said with actual facts please......
Cat Lady
· 1 year ago
I think everyone needs to do some research re:NEASC. They are an PRIVATE org that schools and colleges pay to come in and evaluate. They are consultants of a sort. Yes, they are retired educators but the point is, NAHS chose to apply for NEASC accred. then when MArini didn't like the NEASC decision, he hid it from the public. This deprived parents and students of the option to apply to private schools over the summer and may have impacted whether or not the SC could ahve made budget shifts to increase electives at NAHS. Parents, teachers, students and the principal have all publicly stated that more electives were needed. The NEASC report confirmed this. The only folks who don't seem to get this are the Supt and the NA Sch. comm.
my 2 cents
· 1 year ago
True or not true, NAHS is looked apon once again as one step up from Methuen and miles away from being mentioned in the same breath as Andover . North Andover continues to be a poor mans Andover both in education and property values.
ICBS
· 1 year ago
In my opinion, NEASC uses accreditation as blackmail over taxpayers. I'm curious how long it will be before the DPW, PD, FD etc come up w/ their own "accreditation" agency to lobby for more funding for their depts...
marybeth11
· 1 year ago
NEA and MTA are not associated with the NEASC.....the whole accreditation process is an incredible time consuming burden to teachers......
NCLB-NOT
· 1 year ago
AND AN INCREDIBLE WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY.
who do you think pays the NEASC?
WE DO.....
DHester
· 1 year ago
Not surprising, the taxpayers are getting so desentized to reality that they don't know what they really are voting for Everyone seems to blame the teachers union yet, who takes the administration to task? Incompetence in NA starts at the top. Just look at the past improprieties in the school system there. Stop making the taxpayer pay for the mistakes of the incompetent SC.
Concerned Citizen
· 1 year ago
I heard Andover is also on warning. Why no mention of that in the paper?
Chumly
· 1 year ago
HUSH YOU MOUTH!!! that would never happen in the people's republic.
Stan
· 1 year ago
marybeth11, the state of New Hampshire has the school district profiles on it's state website. The information listed includes test score and cost per student for the towns. My town spends over $13,500.00 per student and the test results are terrible. Especially when you consider the amount of money we're spending. Yet year in and year out, the teacher's union (NEA) manages to extort big raises from the taxpayer by duping the taxpayers with the old saying "it's for the children". It reminds me of those charities where only a few percent of the donations goes to the needy with the bulk being used by the management. If I returned results like that at my job, I'd be on the street quickly! It's nice to have organizations out there to cloak and shield one from poor performance. Unfortunately, the employer (taxpayer) gets no such protection on their job! When one organization uses another organization's approval as a lever to increase spending, don't tell me they're not related, I know better!
CDiBella
· 1 year ago
your state also rapes people that travel through it, and the state of mass. needs to do the same to help fund state activities. YES TO TOLLS ON 93!!!
All Comments
VOTE YES ON QUESTION ONE!!
Then we ABOLISH the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.....and we let the PARENTS decide if the NA school system is meeting THEIR requirements. Work it between PARENTS and TEACHERS and school administrators. I think the only hope is to have the teachers and parents lead the efforts. They know best what the quality of the education is.
The further you get from the parent/teacher....the LESS QUALIFIED anyone is to comment on the education in NA.
=============================
Look up the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.. website..www,neasc.org.....bunch of overpaid 'academics".....get rid of all of them and give their budget directly to local schools.
from property tax payers.
Cat Lady is absolutely right. The editorials misses the point...again.
YOU miss the point...NAH should NOT be on an sort of LIST....unless the parents can list some areas where they are not happy with the education their children are receiving.
Look at the MCAS scores for NAH....
English - 2007 CPI - 95.4
Math - 2007 CPI - 93.9
NAH should be commended for their scores....not WARNED.
In comparison...
North Andover - 95.4 / 93.9
MA STATE AVE - 87.9 / 85.0
Methuen - 88.4 / 83.0
Haverhill - 85.8 / 8.7
Andover - 97.0 / 96.8
Lawrence - 61.9 / 52.0
BARKING UP WRONG TREE....
Primary concern: lack of electives. Which just so happens to be one major area that the NEASC pings. Can't offer electives unless there are teachers to teach them. Layoffs = not enough teachers.
So, add the Trib AND NCLB-NOT to the list of those that don't understand the problem.
Your 'issue' of electives....how many times have you brought this issue up to the School Committee? Get a large group of parents together and WORK WITH your ELECTED officials. Then you and the school committee work it with the Sup...
Checkout how ELT issue was worked in Methuen......
I'll just add this...what "electives" are you so concerne about? Looks like reading, writing and arithmetic are doing very well at your school.
Oh..and again....YOUR issue should be between YOU (and other parents) and YOUR school administration. Keep the NEASC idiots out of it.
If you really have a problem with electives....then why don't you just work THAT issue? What difference does it make HOW the NEASC rates NAH on your issue of electives???? If you want more electives, get off this website....get some facts together...present your case to the school committee. If they don't see it your way, elect new SC members.
get large groups of parents together....there's strength in numbers......
Then be prepared for a tough battle......
Unfortunately for the average taxpayer, there are many forces in place to make sure the problem is never solved.
We have lost the government of the people, by the people and for the people to special interest.
The time for a second revolution is approaching quickly!
who do you think pays the NEASC?
WE DO.....
If I returned results like that at my job, I'd be on the street quickly!
It's nice to have organizations out there to cloak and shield one from poor performance. Unfortunately, the employer (taxpayer) gets no such protection on their job! When one organization uses another organization's approval as a lever to increase spending, don't tell me they're not related, I know better!