2 million better not come from athletics, On Tour, Senior Experience, business programs, technology or science. teachers need to contribute more to health care, concede raises as well as administration. Our athletics teams and competitions may be on rise but our graduation rate has dropped from 94 percent to 91 percent.

It is time to increase AP enrollment and passage rates, implement IB program and lessen teacher costs. Interestingly the average teacher in RVC make some of the lowest salaries in the county yet is the highest rated. Something should be said for you get what you pay for does not apply with teachers pay.

Seriously I did not realize the graduation rates had dropped that much. That's a huge concern that needs to be addressed immediately.

the complaint regarding honors classes. It is not a matter of choice to give honors and AP classes less students. Less students and parents push their students into this accelerated program. Maybe the district should encourage wider participation in such classes. The effect of tracking in education is subjective, but should be studied.

also why has state aid decreased by over 4 percent when we were promised each district for a 4 percent increase. This is unfair!

Merrick7 - agreed about the promise of school aid. However, your comment about performance pay, while it sounds good in theory, does not work in practice in education. A teacher's performance is extremely difficult to evaluate - in essence, they are charged with creating an environment for students to learn However, no teacher can force students to pay attention, to come to school, to study. A decrease in graduation rates is nothing more or less than a reflection on the parents (or perhaps an unfortunate personal or family situation) - just as an increase in graduation rates would be. Most students who do not graduate are not in school enough to pass.

"on the whole parents are deeply involved." Agreed, completely. "It should be a coordinated effort." Agreed, again. However, a small percentage of parents are not involved - at all. A tiny percentage of kids do not graduate. What can a teacher do with kids who are not there (either physically or mentally)? As for for voluntary home visits by teachers, are we now saying teachers don't deserve to have a life? I agree there is too much time off in the summer, but they put in ridiculous hours during the school year (and yes, I am counting the hours after school and on the weekends that I see my friends and family put in). "If the teachers are the ones who care . . " Of course teachers care. But is it the responsibility of teachers to do the job some parents won't? They have enough of a job being teachers and then parents to their own kids. I think what needs to be realized is that, in the end, the one person who is responsible for how a student performs is THE STUDENT him/herself. A good parent can raise and guide, a good teacher can teach and guide, but only if an individual is willing to be guided, to try and to study.

Merrick7, are you willing to pay more in taxes to ensure those kids are reached? There are many ways that districts are able to hide students who will not graduate. They can be placed in an outside places where they are taken off the school roles and when they do not graduate from the outside place, they are not counted officially for schools. This costs money to do. I disagree with the policy completely. I applaud your involvement in your children's schooling but if you look around at events, often it is the same parents. The most important factor in a child's educational life is their parents, not their teachers. Family expectations are what drive children. Teacher can assist, but if a teacher reaches out and receives no support from those parents, what do you suggest that they do besides use all the available resources that are at their disposal? I also suggest that before we jump around crazy over one years statistics, is it possible that it was simply a difficult year of children. If there is a trend of declining graduation rates, then there is clearly a problem. As to cuts, be prepared for cuts to sports in regards to number of coaches (we already have one varsity basketball and baseball coach while most other districts have assistant coaches) and limitations on how many children can participate because of the cutting of coaches. As to AP classes, we have open enrollment. Many students drop after trying them because they are too difficult. Stay involved!

I mentioned the sports cuts as per one of your earlier comments that we should not be cutting sports and I wanted you to know that is going to be one place where significant cuts are going to happen. I believe that HS sports are essential to a positive HS experience and do not want to see a single cut there either. The graduation rates that I saw on a web page showed that Bellmore-Merrick was above the average rates for Nassau and Suffolk county. Can I ask for you to post a link to see where you are getting your information from? Im not questioning it, just want to be as informed as you are. I hate to tell you that as a teacher, and you can ask teacher that you know, more often than not teachers see parents that we do not need to see on parent-teacher conferences. It is the parents of the students with 90 averages or are already doing as well as they can. That is not exclusive, but its the parents that we do not need to see (because their children are finding success) who show up. Again, parent involvement is key. I believe that districts do speak to each other in an effort to find out programs that work. As to state aid, just wait for the new teacher evaluations that are going to kick in next year. They are going to cost taxpayers a huge sum of money because they are an unfunded mandate put on school districts by the state. That is a huge reason why places like Bellmore-Merrick, and other districts across the island are going to make serious cuts to programs.

From NYS Report Cards from 09-10 to 05-06
(most recent first)

Kennedy grad rate: 99, 97, 98, 98, 94
Calhoun grad rate: 95, 95, 92, 93, 96
Mepham: 96, 95, 96, 96, 90

Thats a lot of information there. So if the stats are correct that you posted, the kids who are attending are graduating? So it appears that some years are lower than others but overall the rates are mid to high 90's. That is a success in my book and I also think that it is indicative of the families of the community who have set high standards. I hate to see the after school programs cut as they impact the students the most. Middle school sports will be hit the most. As I understand it, field trips have also been slashed. The unfunded mandate set by the Cuomo so he can be president will be a disaster for taxpayers. All the parties involved know it. It will be too late for taxpayers unless they inform themselves and act soon.

Merrick7, my claims are not unsubstantiated or outlandish at all. I was not talking about the tax cap, which I do think will hurt, but that is a whole different topic. I was talking about the unfunded mandate that is now placed upon schools. Please let me explain. According to NYS, in order to evaluate teachers the kids are going to be tested. This will happen twice a year. These tests must be bought from NYS (but really it will be farmed out to a testing company). They are also graded by the same testing company. Then a formula will be used to evaluate a teacher. The tests cost anywhere from $10-$25 per student per class in their core subjects. That is $40-$100 per student for testing that the state is not paying for, twice a year. This is all in an effort to get Race to the Top money. I believe that Bellmore-Merrick received between $12,000-$15,000 to be broken up over a couple of years last year. If you think I am wrong, off, or uninformed I suggest you contact your local principal or superintendent and ask them about the new APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review). I would ask them how much it is going to cost and if they believe it would be effective. Teacher across the State know how badly this is going to hurt the children by over-testing and taking away valuable monies from after-school activities to pay for tests that have not been proven anywhere to be successful. Please make the call and ask about it. People need to know what is really going on.

Regarding this new evaluation system, it will end up damaging our country for a generation. Teaching will now be exclusively about the test - since a teacher's jobs will now depend on them. Regardless of the fact that it is completely demoralizing the teaching profession (not because teachers don't want to be evaluated but because they don't want to be evaluated unfairly), students will lose as well because there will be no point to do anything creative, stimulating or fun - it all comes down to test prep. Our society likes numbers, and even though good teaching cannot be quantified in numbers, that's what is easy to write down, compare and manipulate. As for why the system is unfair, I'll list some things in a student's life and/or day of the test that can cause scores on first test and second test to vary greatly - all completely out of the teacher's control:

illness
went out partying night before
family member in hospital
second test in a row and is upset about first
uncomfortable room temperature
guessed well on first test, but guessed poorly on second test
fight with girlfriend/boyfriend
distracted because sitting next to girl/boy he/she likes

These are only test-day variables. There are so many year-long variables as well. This is why the value-added model (VAM), which is going to be used in the evaluations, has been found to have a margin of error of over 50%, why the same teacher can be rated highly effective in one class and ineffective in another.

I guess we will have to disagree. To say that the system is undeniably broken, yet a 90+ passing rating is to me a stretch. The system has worked for decades. The new system will, in my opinion, put huge amount of stress on the students who I care about the most. Time will tell.

TKK, well said. We completely agree. I wonder what is the best way to get this information to the taxpayer so they know that their money is going to be spent less on education and more on state mandated tests without any state aid to pay for them. The amount of money spent in redoing the evaluations is not covered by the $24,000 that BMCHSD was given. Ironically, that alone has taken money from kids. Thanks for you reasoned argument!

I hope all the money comes from the sports Parents should pay for their children's sports not the town..when my daughter took ice skating or guitar I paid for those classes I did not go door to door looking for a donation. The school is there for academics. Not waste time on football or other sports that have no relevance.

Mary, those things your child did were not covered in school. There is no guitar instrument taught, to my knowledge anyway, nor is there an ice-skating team. While I completely agree that academics is first and the most important part of school, sports is also part of our modern school system. To change it would mean changing the entire school system completely. I just do not see that happening. I can say that many students play sports on outside club teams (soccer, hockey, basketball, swimming, baseball, lacrosse, wrestling) in addition to their school teams. For some students sports is an excellent motivator. For the school as a whole, sports teams represents the entire school in an outside environment and in competition. Sports are something that rallies the students behind each other and their friends. Not to mention, some students use athletics as a way of getting into a better college. I know of several that used sports to assist them in getting into Ivy League schools. I respectfully disagree with you that sports are irrelevant.

I believe that they have already started to cut from programs for next year by cutting teachers to part time. This results in decreased consistancy in programs and decreased enrollment. This will eventually result in the loss of programs that the children really love. These teachers will also be taking a 15000-20000 paycut resulting in less opportunities for them to spend more time working with students because they will have to take on second jobs to make up the money they are loosing. It all just puts such a negative feeling and morale throughout the schools and is sad for the kids......