The Town of Hamburg has put out a new news letter every month and this month had a tax breakdown that I’m sure you would all be interested in. I am always dismayed at how 54% of the taxes we pay are to a school system that doesn’t rank in the top 25 in Erie County. We pay more per child than what the best private schools charge but we get far less for our money. Go figure!
You can get the news letter by signing up at http://www.townofhamburgny.com/town_newsletter.asp
Isn’t enough…. enough? Can’t they operate without charging us more for poor performance of our teachers?
I believe that until our public schools can match the performance of private schools then they should close down all extra curricular activities. We need a sporting department far less than we need our children to learn how to read and write. our kids should be able to do complex math and understand science and know our nations history. Football, hockey, soccer are taking up hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars for nothing more than school spirit. School spirit will never get you a job in the end.
Quit wasting our tax dollars and put the preference back on education and knock off the sports!
Comparing public schools to private schools is comparing apples to oranges. Anyone with any knowledge of education systems can tell you that. Parents who pay tuition for the children to go to school are statistically proven to be more involved in the education of their children than those who do not. This is not true in all cases, but on average it makes a major difference when comparing two schools. Orchard Park, Clarence, and Williamsville all score highly in the Business First annual school rankings as a district, but their high schools always fall behind private high schools such as St. Joes, Canisius, and Nardin.
To suggest that this is strictly the fault of the teachers is also an ignorant statement. Teachers in private schools are paid a fraction of what teachers in public schools are paid, so the best and the brightest are not signing on to teach at Nichols, Canisius, St, Joes, etc. Yet, the test scores coming out of those high schools are the best…..hmmmm…..wonder why? Better and more disciplined students who are a direct representation of their upbringing. Not to suggest that this is not happening at Frontier and Hamburg, but just not at the high percentage it is in a private school. I am a graduate of Frontier High School who excelled academically and went on to undergraduate and graduate degrees thanks to some of those same teachers who are educating students today at Frontier.
Finally, to suggest that the complete removal of extracurricular activities is a good idea undermines the entire idea of molding a well rounded student and young adult. Extracurricular activities, such as clubs and athletics, are activities that help keep young adults out of trouble and provide opportunities for future success. Many student athletes are able to attend colleges and universities that they would never be able to afford without the assistance of a scholarship earned through athletics or extracurricular activities. After-school clubs also teach students about interests that are normally not covered in everyday classes.
Sometimes your extreme views confound me, but I always find them entertaining.
Public education should be to educate those children to a level of academics that will get them into a decent college. Spending so much money on athletics is throwing away public dollars for an unnecessary emotional curriculum. The amount of children who ultimately make a living in the sporting industry does not support the necessity to spend these outrageous tax dollars on that field of education.
The School Board is supposed to be the public’s voice on public spending in the school system but far to often it has become a voice for unions and union contracts. Teachers Unions have ruined our public schools with contracts that make teachers believe they are entitled to benifits that most private school teachers don’t receive. It’s this very union teacher protection that prevents our young from excelling. In my experience most public school teachers are not willing to put in the extra hours unless they get the extra pay. Private school teachers don’t have that protection and their jobs are based on student performance instead.
That’s why students in private schools excel over those in public schools. It’s time to stop the tax dollar bleeding to public schools for poor performance. I expect my tax dollars to produce the same, well educated, kids as it would if I paid strictly to a private school. I would support vouchers to send our kids to private schools if they were available.
I also believe that only those people who have children in a school system should pay school taxes. It shouldn’t be the responsibility of those who have no kids in school to pay for those who do. I know that is impractical but considering that the school taxes are more than half the yearly taxes we pay, it makes sense to me. Don’t expect the public to pay for and raise your kids.
Not to put you down at all Ron, but after reading several of your comments it seems to me that you don’t have a conservative bone in your body. You obviously are a Democrat and a liberal. Not that their is anything wrong with your political philosophy but those political affiliations have morphed very close to pure communism. I have said it before and I’ll say it again. Our public schools have become communist organizations that take away any and all civil rights of students.
It’s time for that to stop and it’s time to educate our students on a conservative point of view that emphasizes good decisions, family values, government service and a very good working knowledge of how our government works from the bottom up. Instead we teach them about our government from the top down.
If you ask a senior who the President is he can tell you. Ask him what the duties of a party committee member is and they look at you with a blank, ignorant gaze. Party Committee Members are the lowest elected office in our country but our students know nothing about it. That’s because the liberal powers, that create the education curriculum in this state, maintain power by the ignorance of the public in political education. They would rather fill our kids minds with the thoughts of the most unobtainable political office ( the Presidency) instead of teaching them how to gain the easiest, most accessible.
It’s all about the dumbing down of America and that starts in the school systems!
First of all, do not pretend that from the three posts that I have ever written that you can explain my political affiliation or philosophy. I am a registered republican and far from a liberal democrat. I am also an intelligent person that relies on fact, as opposed to pure ideology. I speak with my head, not just my heart.
You do not have to explain to me how the NYS teacher’s union is holding public education hostage. Teacher/administrator salaries and benefits account for approximately 80% of the average school districts’ budget. This is outrageous and needs to be rectified if we are ever going to fix public education in New York State. The tenure system should also be radically altered so that teachers who are not meeting acceptable standards can finally be held accountable. I also agree that performance standards should be created and educators pay should be contingent on performance. I am a strong advocate in the voucher system so that parents who have children in poor perfoming schools can relocate their students to a school that will provide a more quality education. Does that sound like a liberal democrat to you Ford?? Now time for me to educate you some more on another subject that you have very little actual knowledge on.
It is a statistically proven fact that when private schools are forced to take students through a voucher type program, the overall standardized test score averages go down. Have the teachers changed? No. Another fact is that number of teachers removed from private schools for poor performance is statistically less than the number of teachers removed from public schools for poor performance, even though it is far more difficult to remove a teacher at a public school secondary to the tenure system. The reason for this is that private schools have a more difficult time hiring quality teachers, so they are forced to retain the ones they have, whethere strong or weak performers. Your opinion that private schools have better teachers than public schools and thus better performing students has been proven statistically false time and time again. The home life and the parental involvement has far more to do with high performance in private school than the teacher does.
As to the school board, I agree that they need to be better at protecting the taxpayer of a school district and make sure that money is being spent wisely. However, their are state mandates and contractual obligations that need to be taken into account. Public teacher contracts are an outrage and need to be addressed in the future, but current contracts need to be honored. Expenses for athletic programs and extracurricular activities are miniscule compared to other costs and are necessary to provide for a well rounded student. Athletes are required to maintain a certain standard of academic performance to compete athletically and these requirements are often the only thing making some of these students continue to try at academics. Statistical studies have shown that removal of athletic programs at suburban schools most often results in an overall decline in standardized test scores.
I will agree with you that public schools have a very liberal slant to them and those biases are being passed on to students. Having said that, most children develop their political beliefs and knowledge from their home life, as opposed to their schooling. It is a parents duty to know what their child is being taught in school and continue the education at home. Passing the blame strictly onto the school is irresponsible.
The dumbing down of America does not start in school, it starts at home. Getting parents to take responsibility for their children and not making it solely the responsibility of the school would be a good start.
I can debate you all day Ford, but dont dare paint me as a liberal when you have no knowledge your blog subject, let alone me.
I filed away the paper copy, definitely a good reference when it comes time to buy a new home. Someone please remind me what I’m getting for the extra $14/k of assessed value I pay to live in the village instead of the town!
How much do these new town newsletters cost to produce, print and mail?
There are 5 people on the town board. They all must have approved this new expense. Don’t pin it all on Walters. What about the other 4?