This is the beginning of my year long fact finding mission about the Clinton Middle School. My daughter will be entering 4th grade in Fall 2013 and I'm trying to find out as much as I can.
My goal is to keep her in Clinton Schools. I think it's important for her to go to school in the town where we live. In that respect, I want to make every effort to "choose Clinton schools".
My two biggest concerns are the budget cuts, and parents deciding to school choice to other schools. I understand that we all want what's best for our children, and the budget cuts don't help the school gain any confidence with the parents. That's part of the reason for choosing to leave Clinton. But I wonder if school choice makes it too easy for parents to not pay attention to what's going on with the schools. If we're not invested in the schools, why would we bother to vote for things like overrides, or speak up against the budget cuts at Town Meeting?
In otherwords, I wonder if the budget cuts would be as bad as they are if we didn't have the school choice option. Wouldn't we make it better for ourselves if it was our only option?
What do you think?
It's not for a lack of paying attention to what is going on with the school system. My oldest was in the Clinton school system from pre-K through grade 3. We left the system for a few different reasons. The first was that I found that the administration aren't considering bullying to be a big deal. The PBIS system is BS, if they honestly thought that not punishing bullies when stating that they have a zero tolerance policy is okay, then there is a serious issue.
ReplyDeleteSomething happened in that school regarding my child's ability to be open with the administration and coming home crying each and every day of the school year is intolerable. My child is MUCH happier now, being in a more caring environment.
Another reason for leaving, quite honestly was due to the fact that the education is sub-par. My child went into pre-k able to read chapter books and her spelling is better than most adults. There is only one teacher who truly nurtured her capabilities (Ms. Pellegrini), and I truly appreciate the ONE half-decent year we had in the system. When we transferred schools we learned that my child was behind in math by several months, due to Clinton's entire school system being so far behind. The other school has provided her with tutoring.
The administration in Clinton's school system have their heads buried in the sand as far as any attempt to determine what is wrong, and as far as this is concerned, nothing will EVER change about the school system. Mr. Gaw was quoted saying that they have the best school in the country. No, Mr. Gaw, you are very sorely mistaken. If the goal is not to nurture and educate children in a truly positive environment, and the system is being run by a bunch of townies, then nothing CAN change. What is TRULY needed isn't related to budget, it's related to the fact that we need people who aren't from Clinton running the schools, maybe just doing the same 'ole thing with the same people isn't cutting it for a lot of us anymore.
Thank you for your comment. This is exactly the kind of thing that I want to hear. I want people just like you to share your experiences (good and bad). Communication is important for this process.
ReplyDeleteMy children attend the charter school. Its because I was paying attention to what was going on in the schools. Also, I don't consider choosing the charter school as choicing out of Clinton. I consider it as taking the other option that is avaiable to Clinton students. We are one of the charter towns.
ReplyDeleteFrom a resource standpoint, Charter school enrollment has the most profound impact upon the school district and the students who remanin in district. Not only does it diminish the peer cohort within the district and remove you, the parent, as a potential advocate for constructive change, it costs the district more than $10,000 per student per year for each charter school student. Think about that. If your child is in the class of 2017, the largest charter school class to-date, the cost of educating only those dozen or so kids is equal to the cost of both an accelerated math and ELA teacher that could have been hired to educate every student in the grade. The benefit of this resource diversion accrues to your children only, and, if it is not remedied by the Commonwealth or the Town Meeting, can only come at the expense of the children who remain in district.
DeleteLets face it, being #271 out of 353 is NOT a good thing. And what I find amazing is that no one in the administration seems to have any type of plan to fix anything.
ReplyDeleteWe need CHANGE! we need LEADERSHIP! we need some people with big "you know whats" to stand up to the people who say "its always been done this way". Because let's face it, we are in trouble.
I agree. We need change and people to stand up and say we want it done a new way. Let's be those people who stand up and say I demand change. Let's make it better. A group is more powerful than an individual. Let's start at Town Meeting on June 4th.
DeleteThe Town meeting is too late- Plus, not enough people ever go to the meeting to make it worthwhile. I hate to say that (Because I go every year) but the majority of voters in Clinton stay home and watch it on TV, or don't show up at all.
ReplyDeleteWe need to vote in OTHERS (yes, even those not born and bred here)and NOT let the school committee "appointment" be an extension of the PA ( not that I don't like the PTA, but really??)
We need a Superintendent who is nice but firm, that has some BALLS and can stand up to the CTA and the others who regularly boss him around.
We need BETTER Selectmen and women who have BUDGET and MANAGEMENT experience.
And lastly, we NEED A BUSINESS MANAGER.
Until the townspeople become less complacent, we will continue to spiral downward.
Don't get me wrong- I am NOT saying that the people in town don't care- They do, they care a lot. We just don't seem to have the talent in town its going to take to make the hard choices and get us out of this mess.
You won't get blood out of a stone. There is no more money for the schools. Face it. Target the administrators and teachers--reduce their pay. Enlarge the classes--I attended schools in Clinton years ago with 40 students in every single grade, elementary and high school. Start disciplining the troublemakers. A nun with a thick wooden ruler might be a good start.
ReplyDelete