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Schoharie Tattler The Schoharie Tattler Is Fully Independent It Is Privately Owned and Is Not Affiliated With Schoharie Central |
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AREA BLOGS Rabble Rouser
This Day in History
This Day in History
provided by The Free Dictionary
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A Poorly Revised The School Board slashed its elementary program to sand less than 3/4 of one percent off the proposed budget. The new vote will be held Tuesday, June 17, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. If passed, the tax burden will increase 2.7 percent by the school's figures. Tax rate changes cannot be computed until later in the year and will vary from town to town. The board cut $65,853 by deciding not to replace an elementary teacher; $25,000 for new lockers, $22,500 for parking lot repairs and a $20,000 lunch fund subsidy. I do not agree with retrenching a teaching position. I want to see better personnel management, no staff or maintenance reduction, and fewer bricks. Turn out the lights in the parking lot. They're unnecessary. Put solar collectors on the roof ASAP — don’t pay an arm and a leg to an architect and a consultant and a lawyer and a bondsman to tell you it will work. Why wasn’t solar installed with the last bucket of money the state vote panderers threw at us? Here's the school propaganda piece. It doesn't say much. State Says SCS Met Standards; In that type of doublespeak that is typical of government, the state education department has highly praised 1,759 schools in 288 districts as “High Performing/Gap Closing” under the No Child Left Behind Act. Why is that doublespeak? Because all they did to be "high performing" was meet state standards. In the words of the state press release, "because they met all applicable State standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and math during the 2006-07 school year and also made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in ELA and math for two consecutive years." One might think that adequate progress and meeting standards rates a "C", but not at the New York State Education Department. They make it sound like an "A". Our elementary school was recognized as a "Rapidly Improving School" for improved annual progress for three years. The sad thing about all of this is that, unfortunately, our school deserves to be praised for meeting standards and making progress for several years. Just a year or two ago we were a school in need of improvement. Therefore, CONGRATULATIONS Brian Sherman, principals, and most of all, all the fine teachers. Now, can we please set a higher standard for ourselves than the state does? Here is where you can find the state announcement. http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/press-release/20080515/HighPerformingGapClosing.html SCS Debt Cost Up 10% in New Budget Contrary to what most school boards believe, and contrary to what the state pays for, it is not bricks and bond issues that improve the quality of education. Good teachers are what make good schools. The cost of the repaying the loans for the building projects is budgeted to increase more than 10 percent next year, thanks in part to all the new space we've added in the last few years. Time to Mothball 10% of SCS Building Space The energy crunch has just begun. Serious steps must be taken now to reduce Schoharie Central School's energy costs. The building debt cost is going up $167,049 next year, to $1.7 million. That's a BIG mortgage payment. We are stuck with the 10 percent increase for the unnecessary additional space, but we do not have to heat it. Let's mothball 10 percent of the space we heat. Seal the doors and windows and drain the pipes. Don't accept the easy excuse "we can't do it." Real leaders solve problems and make things happen. As the energy situation gets worse, the alternatives are going to be cut the educational program, hike the taxes or reduce energy use. |