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Gregory sanders: Since I moved into the district in 1998, our tax millage rate has increased over 60 percent while the test scores have declined. He says enrollment within the district is has only increased by 57 students during the same time period. If elected, he says, the district should interact with the top 10 schools in the state when determining the direction and content of the curriculum.
Gregory sanders: Since I moved into the district in 1998, our tax millage rate has increased over 60 percent while the test scores have declined. He says enrollment within the district is has only increased by 57 students during the same time period. If elected, he says, the district should interact with the top 10 schools in the state when determining the direction and content of the curriculum.
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Gregory sanders: Since I moved into the district in 1998, our tax millage rate has increased over 60 percent while the test scores have declined. He says enrollment within the district is has only increased by 57 students during the same time period. If elected, he says, the district should interact with the top 10 schools in the state when determining the direction and content of the curriculum.
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Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Format Tersedia
Unduh sebagai PDF, TXT atau baca online dari Scribd
One of the reasons my family moved into this school district was because we considered it a destination district. In addition to the wholesome qualities that exist within the community, the school district was respected and considered to be an up and coming contender with Parkland. The decline of state test score results reflects an apparent problem. Since I moved into the district in 1998, our school tax millage rate has increased over 60 percent while the test scores have declined. Compounding those problems is the fact that enrollment within the district is has only increased by 57 students during the same time period. In other words, the district has spent millions of dollars in building expansion, increased payroll, employee benefits, for just 57 additional children and the PSSA test scores have dropped. The answer to your first question is a resounding YES. Sources http://northwesterncares.com/learn-more/budgets-finance/#tab2 http://www.nwlehighsd.org/files/1247694/enrollment%20report%20for%20board%20meeting%201011.pdf Question 2: STUDY CURRICULA OF STATE’S TOP 10 SCHOOLS – YES Yes the district should interact with the top 10 schools in the state when determining the direction and content of the curriculum. The district should use every resource available to guarantee the students meet the proficient levels that they are graded on. Furthermore, the district shouldn’t settle on reaching proficient levels, but should achieve advanced proficiency for all the students. Seeking input from the staff can also help improve the desired results. During a December school board meeting, revised mathematics schedule requirements were introduced to ensure continuity throughout grades 9 – 12. This one simple revision should help with retention of taught material. Question 3: MERIT PAY/MERIT RETENTION FOR TEACHERS – YES This particular question has been one that I’ve raised on numerous occasions. I know the district needs to attract excellent employees. The employees need to get paid comparable wages of the surrounding districts. I firmly believe that ALL employees should be reviewed and held responsible for their performance. I don’t think it is fair to give the same percentage increase to the grade A, grade B, grade C, grade D and failing employees. I’m not alone in my thinking. Ron Morrison (another candidate) asked a similar question during a school board meeting that referenced pending administration raises. Unfortunately, the question didn’t have any impact on the vote. Several board members voted to give administrators a 1 - 2 percent increase. The increases didn’t stop there. Retroactive increases were given out to some of the administrators for the prior fiscal year. Finally, some administrators received increases that ‘got them in line with county average’. To clarify my answer, yes salaries should be based on merit, performance, and should include everyone not just the teachers. Please reference: http://northwesterncares.com/school-board/voting-record/ to see how the existing board voted. Question 4: TRANSPARENCY – YES Absolutely, all documents should be posted prior to the board meetings, with the exception of legal and student privacy issues. ‘What are they trying to hide?’ was a comment that I recently heard from a community member. I wouldn’t want that perception if I was on the board. I’d be in favor of disclosing all relevant documents and would embrace community input. Furthermore I would seek recommendations from any community member that is an ‘expert in their field’. If just one community member makes a suggestion that will benefit the district, I’d consider that a win. On a positive note, the administration started to “live stream” the board meetings. I think it is important to get as much information out to the public as possible. Currently, I believe they have 2 meetings in their archives. www.northwesterncares.com has been videotaping the meetings since 9/8/10 and all the videos are accessible. It’s been very helpful to be able to watch an archived video to directly witness the events of the meeting. Quality information is priceless. Question 5: TRANSPARENCY – YES Yes. I refer back to my answer on question 4. Question 6: ACCOUNTABILITY – YES Yes. Some of the check registers are currently posted on the district’s web site. But, I would like to see all the registers become accessible to the public along with more detail in the “memo” area. Question 7: SCHOOL CHOICE – YES I can see how the answer to this question could go both ways. Influences would include student safety, extracurricular activities and quality of education. By offering students a choice, competition among the schools should increase. A benefit of this competition should be increased scholastic performance and commitment to a quality education. Another benefit may be specialized areas of education that may not be offered in a traditional public school. Add to this the probability that recruiting for sports programs may become a side effect. Conversely students may want to relocate out of an underperforming school district. I would rather see the underperforming district “fixed” instead of enabling poor performance and offering school choice. Until further arguments are made, my decision is yes with attention directed to the underperforming school districts. Question 8: USE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS BY LOBBYISTS – NO No. Tax dollars are better spent elsewhere. I’d like to believe that the Pennsylvania legislators are able to make the right decisions without the influence of the lobbyists. Question 9: REQUIRE VOTER APPROVAL TO RAISE LOCAL PROPERTY (SCHOOL) TAXES – YES Yes, as long as all the required information is made available so the public can make an informed decision.