As a teacher in Salem for 9 years and a resident of Salem for 32, I strongly believe that we need more support behind our highly qualified teachers and to utilize the skills each individual teacher brings to the district rather than looking to outside organizations to close our achievement gaps.
C
charles
11 years ago
How can you cut sevices when the state is demanding more from all school systems????
B
Benjamin Turton
11 years ago
It's unfortunate that this is taking place in SPS. Although my son is not of age to be in school yet, seeing issues like this arise in the SPS System concern me for the future of the district, which we would love for our son to be a part of. If things like this do not get better, there will be more issues than angry parents on the hands of SPS.
Having also spent time at SHS doing a student teaching internship, I know that class size was already becoming an issue (this was 3 years ago). Cutting teachers and increasing class sizes is the 100% wrong approach to help the students in Salem get the education they need and deserve.
C
Catheryn Schoenfarber
11 years ago
Well spoken!
M
Marilyn A Khoury
11 years ago
I am sorry to see the direction to which are schools are going . The values and integrity that I held so dear during my long tenure as a teacher seems to be dissolving . What a tragedy !!
D
David Guarino
11 years ago
Thanks for doing this. Parent of Carlton 3rd grader. We can't roll back our progress
A
Anonymous
11 years ago
Our kids deserve much better than what is being offered right now. The last two years seems like the schools have gone backwards and not forwards. Stop the wasted testing and go back to letting the teachers teach.
M
Mary Ann Grassia
11 years ago
Salem needs to cut back on the numbers in upper administration and focus on hiring more teachers and teacher supports. Eliminate the expensive "outside experts" who do not know our children or our community and instead make better use of our talented staff. Allow our teachers to spend less time analyzing data and filling out endless forms and to spend more time preparing to teach.
C
Cecelia Amaro
11 years ago
salem schools are not the best Salem needs change
A
Anonymous
11 years ago
Please fund our schools!
A
Anonymous
11 years ago
It's sad to see that people in charge will look to get rid of other people instead of finding other ways to fix the problem at hand.
K
Karen Gahagan
11 years ago
Featured
I am not a parent but I am a concerned citizen. I see no longterm commitment or plan to dealing with our schools' turnaround. It appears to be reactive and a patchwork effort. I am evaluating how much longer I intend to remain a property owner in Salem and our school system is one of the key reasons I am making this evaluation.
R
Robin Newhall
11 years ago
Bravo parents. The only solution to the public school dilemma is parents speaking out and not taking any more!!! The bigger your group, the more powerful you stand!
A
alan lefleur
11 years ago
One of the reasons people chose a community to live is based on the quality of the school system. If we are not committed to supporting our school, then why would a family with school aged children move to this city? I would wholeheartedly support a tax override if it were to fully benefit the school system. There is always some level of inefficiency in any budget, the challenge is to properly identify and address such areas. sometimes the correct cuts are not always readily apparent at first glance, It is only after careful consideration that the best course of action presents itself.
L
Lisa Bisson
11 years ago
Save teachers.
E
Elizabeth Tangney
11 years ago
As a Bates parent and 10 + year resident of Salem, I am very concerned about the budget cuts. I am particularly concerned about the lack of discretion and independence given to each school to maximize their own budget and the impact of creating district wide decisions that, when applied, unfairly effect different schools. I don't necessarily agree with the Petition's proposal about delaying a salary increase as I do not have enough information to measure whether that is appropriate or not. I do feel that schools, parents and residents have not been given enough time to review, understand, digest, and advocate these cuts. Stronger schools = Stronger community
K
Katie Gonzalez
11 years ago
You are considering taking teachers away from schools that are under performing as it is and you wonder why test scores are low. You need to reconsider and possibly hire more teachers not less. Very disappointing!
S
Sarah Vozzo
11 years ago
The greatest asset of our community are our teachers. In school, the greatest positive impact on our students' learning and development are our teachers (ALL of them-including music, art, and gym). The loss of teachers will only have negative implications on our students. Keep the teachers. Lose ANET and the test prep programs draining money from our budget. Education is about developing well-rounded individuals, not multiple choice experts.
M
Matt amodeo
11 years ago
are schools are in bad shape already cutting teachers will only compound the problem. If you want to attract more families you need to fix the schools not reduce the staff.
As a teacher in Salem for 9 years and a resident of Salem for 32, I strongly believe that we need more support behind our highly qualified teachers and to utilize the skills each individual teacher brings to the district rather than looking to outside organizations to close our achievement gaps.
How can you cut sevices when the state is demanding more from all school systems????
It's unfortunate that this is taking place in SPS. Although my son is not of age to be in school yet, seeing issues like this arise in the SPS System concern me for the future of the district, which we would love for our son to be a part of. If things like this do not get better, there will be more issues than angry parents on the hands of SPS. Having also spent time at SHS doing a student teaching internship, I know that class size was already becoming an issue (this was 3 years ago). Cutting teachers and increasing class sizes is the 100% wrong approach to help the students in Salem get the education they need and deserve.
Well spoken!
I am sorry to see the direction to which are schools are going . The values and integrity that I held so dear during my long tenure as a teacher seems to be dissolving . What a tragedy !!
Thanks for doing this. Parent of Carlton 3rd grader. We can't roll back our progress
Our kids deserve much better than what is being offered right now. The last two years seems like the schools have gone backwards and not forwards. Stop the wasted testing and go back to letting the teachers teach.
Salem needs to cut back on the numbers in upper administration and focus on hiring more teachers and teacher supports. Eliminate the expensive "outside experts" who do not know our children or our community and instead make better use of our talented staff. Allow our teachers to spend less time analyzing data and filling out endless forms and to spend more time preparing to teach.
salem schools are not the best Salem needs change
Please fund our schools!
It's sad to see that people in charge will look to get rid of other people instead of finding other ways to fix the problem at hand.
I am not a parent but I am a concerned citizen. I see no longterm commitment or plan to dealing with our schools' turnaround. It appears to be reactive and a patchwork effort. I am evaluating how much longer I intend to remain a property owner in Salem and our school system is one of the key reasons I am making this evaluation.
Bravo parents. The only solution to the public school dilemma is parents speaking out and not taking any more!!! The bigger your group, the more powerful you stand!
One of the reasons people chose a community to live is based on the quality of the school system. If we are not committed to supporting our school, then why would a family with school aged children move to this city? I would wholeheartedly support a tax override if it were to fully benefit the school system. There is always some level of inefficiency in any budget, the challenge is to properly identify and address such areas. sometimes the correct cuts are not always readily apparent at first glance, It is only after careful consideration that the best course of action presents itself.
Save teachers.
As a Bates parent and 10 + year resident of Salem, I am very concerned about the budget cuts. I am particularly concerned about the lack of discretion and independence given to each school to maximize their own budget and the impact of creating district wide decisions that, when applied, unfairly effect different schools. I don't necessarily agree with the Petition's proposal about delaying a salary increase as I do not have enough information to measure whether that is appropriate or not. I do feel that schools, parents and residents have not been given enough time to review, understand, digest, and advocate these cuts. Stronger schools = Stronger community
You are considering taking teachers away from schools that are under performing as it is and you wonder why test scores are low. You need to reconsider and possibly hire more teachers not less. Very disappointing!
The greatest asset of our community are our teachers. In school, the greatest positive impact on our students' learning and development are our teachers (ALL of them-including music, art, and gym). The loss of teachers will only have negative implications on our students. Keep the teachers. Lose ANET and the test prep programs draining money from our budget. Education is about developing well-rounded individuals, not multiple choice experts.
are schools are in bad shape already cutting teachers will only compound the problem. If you want to attract more families you need to fix the schools not reduce the staff.
Salem needs more help for sure!