All public schools deserve support

When I was in 8th grade, in another state, I was not given a full day off to tour our local terchnical high school. There was too much to study to allow a full day away from the classroom. We all knew about the technical high school and could choose to go there if we so desired, we didn't need a full day away from our own classrooms to make that choice. Dr. Yeoman is right about this issue, and I thank him for looking out for the best interests of our students, even in the face of these unjustified & distorted attacks.

"We're swimming in debt, they're swimming in their new pool," O'Neill said in March.

Stop overspending.

Please read before posting, it is NOT a full day away from the classroom. It is a half day field trip and if you don't want your child to go don't sign the permission slip!

Half day, full day. Doesn't matter. It's time out of the classroom.

Our students need to be in the classroom learning, not listening to the sales pitch from the area technical school.

After all, the more time out of the classroom at an infomercial, the tougher it will be for our public school students to succeed.

And you know what that means. When our public school students do not succeed, they "underperform" on standardized tests.

And when they underperform on standardized tests, the Lowell Sun slams away at the public schools and blames it on the unionized teachers.

How can the Lowell Sun ENDORSE students being taken out of the classroom, away from time on learning, to attend Nashoba Tech's infomerical, at the same time they also slam away about "underperforming" public schools, and try to convince people that a longer school year or school day is necessary?

The answer, obviously, would be, "C'mon, we're talking about a half-day to explore the option of going to the technical school."

Well, when it's a half-day out of the classroom for this school assembly, a half-day out of the classroom for that school assembly, it piles up to be significant time out of the classroom.

So, cheers to Chelmsford's Dr. Yeoman and Tewksbury's Mr. O'Neill for taking a stand and believing that the students need to actually be IN THE CLASSROOM, rather than watching the technical school's infomerical.

If Nashoba Tech or Shawsheen Valley Tech want to give their sales pitch to 8th-graders in their respective towns, hold their infomericals at night and take out some ads in the local papers to drum up interest.

Shame on the Lowell Sun for slamming two fine local superintendents for actually wanting their students ti remain in the classroom.

If half days should be done away with because of school assemblies then maybe half days for "teacher development" should end as well. I mean kids should be in the classroom, not sitting on their butts at home while the teachers "develop". Also, drama and chorus classes should end. It's a complete waste of time, kids should be leaning math or language arts, not how to act or sing.

Very well said "Schools Fan"...

"cheers to Chelmsford's Dr. Yeoman and Tewksbury's Mr. O'Neill for taking a stand and believing that the students need to actually be IN THE CLASSROOM, rather than watching the technical school's infomerical."

I just looked up some enrollment numbers for charter schools and sending districts. It seems some of the largest growth in charter school enrollment is from...drum roll please...Tewskbury and Chelmsford. I know that Nashoba is drawing more and more students from Chelmsford but I do not find the Tewksbury numbers at Shawsheen but I suspect the same is true.
But rather than look inward to determine why these districts (Tewks and Chelms) are appealing to fewer and fewer students or simply accept that fact, these school committees try to cut of the competition, either through these types of childish games or by cutting funding through there union-sponsored governor.
"Together we can...destroy school choice."

Sorry Lowell Sun, I disagree. If other public schools want to increase their enrollment, publicize at night or on the weekends. Dr.Yeoman is doing the right thing. It is not the resposibility of the Chelmsford Public Schools to promote other public schools.

Wondering wrote:

"We're swimming in debt, they're swimming in their new pool," O'Neill said in March.
Stop overspending.

The public schools are not overspending. They are not getting enough money to spend! The vocational schools are getting twice as much $$ per student as the public schools. So when they take kids out of school to give them the sales pitch, they tell the kids "Hey, we have no bus fees, athletic fees, sports fees. And we have a free late bus and free this and free that." Well of course it's free! And it's unfair to the kids in the town schools.

So you are saying that when Chelmsford Public Schools had no bus fees and late buses it was because they had too much money? Thanks for confirming that.

Bravo!!
Thank you Lowell Sun. This has nothing to do with students and missed time from the classroom.
It's all about the Benjimens $$$
As the Sun points out
"Students and parents have a right to know what their options are "
"All students deserve to attend the public school that best suits their needs and educational desires."

It is the responsiblity of Superintendent's and Local School Committee's to see students and parents receive just those options.
As "Townie" said in another post, "Do the right thing Dr. Yeoman" .

Rascal wrote:

So you are saying that when Chelmsford Public Schools had no bus fees and late buses it was because they had too much money? Thanks for confirming that.

I don't think having no bus fees and offering a late bus means you have too much money. I think public schools should offer this. I never said vocational schools have too much money. I said that town schools don't get enough per pupil so that what was once considered part of a public school education -- transportation and sports and clubs -- is now having to be "privatized" because there is not enough $$. Vocational schools get two times as much to spend per pupil so they have enough money to continue to provide a truly public school education.
Sorry that I did not prove your point. It's quite the opposite!!

How about going to tewksbury high's infomercial on the new high school meeting. OOPS I mean the meeting for parents of incoming students, It started with the we need a new school and ended with a the we need a new school speech. What a waste of time! Thank god my husband didn't go he would have been just as upset. Makes me think private schools are the way to go.
Our students have lots of field trips out of the classrooms they are called bomb scares.

Pleased wrote:

It is the responsiblity of Superintendent's and Local School Committee's to see students and parents receive just those options.
As "Townie" said in another post, "Do the right thing Dr. Yeoman" .

Where did you go to school? You don't put an apostrophe on a word to make it plural.

I personally do not begrudge the technical schools. Point of fact, they do a nice job of educating their students. The issue I take umbrage with, is who they are targeting at their open houses. Shawsheen Tech has changed its mission by selecting the academically adept students and abandoning the students the technical schools were intended to serve. Instead of helping those students that struggle academically, by providing them training for a trade in a hands on learning environment, they create a formula that prevents any student that has struggled academically from taking advantage of an alternative learning environment: further exasperating the student's situation by compelling them to attend four years at a traditional high school that lacks the shops and vocational opportunities due to budget constraints. This is not entirely the technical schools fault. When the MCAS mandated all students be held accountable to the same standard, the technical schools, recognizing that their students only spend half the time in the academic classroom setting, prepared to entice the more academically gifted students to attend their institutions, once again forcing students that would have gained a valuable trade to attend schools geared towards preparation for further education. I believe the amount of students pursuing four year college educations over the last five years coming from the technical schools will bear out my assertion.

Maybe its time the public high schools brought back their vocational programs to support those students that are being turned away from the technical schools and in turn keep their town's money in house to do so. In the end, each town has to best serve the needs of their students. If they feel the technical schools are no longer doing that, then they need to identify how to do it within their own budget and within their own buildings.

reasonable wrote:

When I was in 8th grade, in another state, I was not given a full day off to tour our local terchnical high school. There was too much to study to allow a full day away from the classroom. We all knew about the technical high school and could choose to go there if we so desired, we didn't need a full day away from our own classrooms to make that choice. Dr. Yeoman is right about this issue, and I thank him for looking out for the best interests of our students, even in the face of these unjustified & distorted attacks.

First of all Dr. Yeoman mistated information about the Nashoba Tech tour. This tour is from 9:00am to 11:30am. Nashoba transports the interested students to and from their schools, gives them lunch and the opportunity to see first hand what Nashoba has to offer. There is NO all day field trip, this is a 2.5 hour tour that is particpated by students with signed parental permission slips. This is not rocket science, it is an information session for the students of Chelmsford with their peers to view what Nashoba has to offer.

Wondering wrote:

"We're swimming in debt, they're swimming in their new pool," O'Neill said in March.
Stop overspending.

The problem is that the local public schools such as Tewksbury and Chelmsford have severely overspent every year, pushed for overrides because they refused to live within their budgets, so the justification is to punish the charter and techncial schools. Give me a break, grow up and face facts, you cannot handle the fact that the charter and technical schools have managed their budgets very well and they offer something you can't.

Schools Fan wrote:

Half day, full day. Doesn't matter. It's time out of the classroom.
Our students need to be in the classroom learning, not listening to the sales pitch from the area technical school.
After all, the more time out of the classroom at an infomercial, the tougher it will be for our public school students to succeed.
And you know what that means. When our public school students do not succeed, they "underperform" on standardized tests.
And when they underperform on standardized tests, the Lowell Sun slams away at the public schools and blames it on the unionized teachers.
How can the Lowell Sun ENDORSE students being taken out of the classroom, away from time on learning, to attend Nashoba Tech's infomerical, at the same time they also slam away about "underperforming" public schools, and try to convince people that a longer school year or school day is necessary?
The answer, obviously, would be, "C'mon, we're talking about a half-day to explore the option of going to the technical school."
Well, when it's a half-day out of the classroom for this school assembly, a half-day out of the classroom for that school assembly, it piles up to be significant time out of the classroom.
So, cheers to Chelmsford's Dr. Yeoman and Tewksbury's Mr. O'Neill for taking a stand and believing that the students need to actually be IN THE CLASSROOM, rather than watching the technical school's infomerical.
If Nashoba Tech or Shawsheen Valley Tech want to give their sales pitch to 8th-graders in their respective towns, hold their infomericals at night and take out some ads in the local papers to drum up interest.
Shame on the Lowell Sun for slamming two fine local superintendents for actually wanting their students ti remain in the classroom.

and yet again, another ill-informed person. Do you people actually review what you post before you hit the enter button. This is a 2.5 hour field trip sponsored by Nashoba Tech to the students of Chelmsford. They provide them with transportation, they give them lunch, they let them explore the school and send them back to school to finish their day. It is NOT a 1/2 day out of school, it is NOT a full day out of school. The students that go on the field trip do so with permission from their parent, this is not a mandatory field trip, it is voluntary. If you don't want to go, then don't. But don't stand here and slam the charter and technical schools for offering an alternative to your standard high school education. I applaud them for offering an alternative to our children, and I certainly do not give praise to any Superintendant that tries to undermine an offers from these schools to our children. You cannot stand there and deny a student the opportunity to tour any charter or technical public school, if you do then you are in the wrong job. Your job as a superintendant is to encourage the students in your district to explore all their options, not discourage them and take the opportunity away.

Jstme wrote:

<quoted text>
The public schools are not overspending. They are not getting enough money to spend! The vocational schools are getting twice as much $$ per student as the public schools. So when they take kids out of school to give them the sales pitch, they tell the kids "Hey, we have no bus fees, athletic fees, sports fees. And we have a free late bus and free this and free that." Well of course it's free! And it's unfair to the kids in the town schools.

How much does it cost to educate a high school student versus a technical student. The high school has classrooms, books, teachers and science labs. The technical schools have classrooms, books, teachers, science labs, automotive shops, carpentry shops, graphic design shops with the latest that technology has to offer, etc.... It costs more to educate a student in the technical schools because they offer more and they have the latest technology so when these kids graduate and actually go out into the working world and be a competitive, informed and knowledgable employee. The high school offers students a college prep education, as does the charter and technical schools, but not everyone is a potential college student. The techical schools give you the best of both worlds, they give you a college prep education if you want to go onto a higher education, and they also give you techical training in a field of your choice to become a self sustaining young adult.

He has to play better than last week, he's gotten better each week, so maybe this week, he'll start to get more in sync with the receivers.

I disagree with you "DANNO", I don't think he's just playing out the string.