vital for maintaining the town's educational standards..... Can someone tell this lady either we are broke and can't afford any extras or we aren't. You can't say one thing one place and then do an about face! Why do we need more administrators by making Math and ELA full time administrators to the tune of another 60k year?
No money for teachers to receive steps but always able to bring on new biddies (which is like putting out fire with kerosene ...those new hires are going to be expecting market basket contracts down the line)

Stop the insanity, Wedtford doesn't need an override forced through at the 12th hour, we need a recall of Town Admin run amok ! Lets start with the BOS and SC)

so let's keep on hiring more and more new staff positions in the schools year after year that w/out an override will just be fired in FY2015?
yea that makes sense.... and I suppose flushing teacher morale down the toilet helps maintain the town's educational standards too

In 2008, the administration eliminated reading specialist positions and installed new reading administrators. He said if this new program was more effective and efficient, he would go back to the old model. So, why are we seeing 3 Literacy Specialists in the budget without a corresponding offset of reducing administrators?

The position of "coordinator" of instructional technology -- is that a duplication of the existing town sys admin position? I thought there were a couple people on the SC who worked in iT. How did they ever let such a weak-worded job title get through? Assuming it is a sys admin job, it should be rejected. The IT infrastructure and management of it belongs with the town's IT department, and if any new hiring happens, that's where it should go.

$465K for 2 residential sped placements is well outside the average cost for such placements. See FY14 tuitions here: http://www.mass.gov/anf/docs/osd/pos/sped-prices14-instate.xls Questions the SC should have asked, but didn't: (1) Which school(s) were selected for the outplacement? (2) What other schools were considered? (3) How was it determined that this particular school be selected? (4) Have we made any other placements to this school? (5) What is the impact on future placement decisions in similar cases? (6) How much are we planning to offset first year costs with our circuit breaker fund? (7) What is our anticipated circuit breaker reimbursement for these placements, and when will we begin receiving it? (8) May I see a copy of the notes regarding this placement and similar placements from the last 3 years?

The state reimburses districts a significant portion of these SPED tuitions through what are called circuit breaker funds. That account should be monitored so that once the reimbursement kicks in, there is a reduction in the school budget. They might take care of this in year-end close outs, but if so, it's hidden. Transfers out of that account for anything otherbthan tuition should be explicitly voted on by the SC. They should be reviewing the annual audits of the school accounts. But none of this happens.

The elephant in the room is the teachers union. Teachers in the union claim they need the union to maintain wages and benefits. However, like in every other union shop, it leads to a monopoly of services that become too expensive to operate. The result are clever ways to get around the union such as part-time, adjuncts, specialists, and ultimately Charter Schools. Until we treat education like any other service industry, the costs will go up, the contracts will become more lean, and the kids will ultimately suffer.

Steven,
The WEA, the teachers union, is NOT the elephant in the room. The teachers contract as per MA Labor Law is collectively bargained through the local teachers union negotiation group. This contract includes page after page of language on what is required as per the job. Approximately 4/80 pages of the Westford Teacher contract is pay,
The Union is necessary to help ensure employer (Administration) complies with the collective bargaining language on a day to day basis. We have some building administrators and at times a superintendent who feel they can 'do whatever they want whenever they want' regardless of what's stated in the contract (keep in mind when employees are out of compliance the contract language is the first thing they cite) this goes outside the union as a bulldog creating a 'monopoly of services'.
If you doubt what I say as fact post a email address I can send you a private email giving numerous examples of such situations requiring the teachers union to play a role (and I DO NOT mean going to bat for lazy incompetent staff who are quickly shown the door here, I mean negotiated language ignored by Westford Administration)

Randy:
I do have children (2) and I am in education (math). I disagree that education cannot be run like a private business. In fact, when we first moved to Westford, we put our youngest in at Goddard--a private company. One of the best schools in the area is the Russian School for mathematics---a private company. I can give you case after case of charter and other private schools that far exceed their public peers. It is that way with all public sector areas whether it be Amtrak, the PO, the RMV, etc. whenever there is a monopoly the result is high cost,waste, inefficiency and lack of choice. Just look at the T! I encourage you to watch the John Stossel expose called, "Stupid in America." It's on my Steve sadowski for Selectman FB page, or you can just youtube it.
Dan: Your inside baseball explanation didn't answer my question, "what is 'fair' (yearly gross salary) for a job that takes summers and every vacation known to man off?"

Charter schools can choose who they accept and reject, the comparison is apples and oranges to public school where that is not te case and the school (teacher) is expected the meet very heterogeneous learning needs all at once.
The fact that you compare the two with no acknowledgement is an insult to public school teachers and illustrates you lack of full understanding, a sensationalistic Stosselmpiece is your go to evidence? Get real! At the very least read some John Kozol and go from there.

Steve/ you say you are in Math education but doesn't sound like you have much first hand exposure to teaching children math in a public school. Where do you teach math
.

Educating kids is not like, and shouldn't be compared to business efficiency in an assembly line production scheme. The reality you see educating kids like Ford building Model Ts is too bad. Maybe when your kids attend public elementary school in town and you spend some time closer to public education your views will change.

There is a single special Ed student costing the district $450,000 next year alone (and I have no issue with current sped law protections) lets see what a charter school or private school does in the name of efficiency with these kids before you make claims about the teachers union as the elephant in the room. The elephant is a school committee who keeps hiring staff it can't afford to pay competitively.

K-12 Coordinator of Instructional Technology $83,875

Sooooo this was cut to save money 4 years ago and as we approach FY15, where town manager Ross says we will need an override or mass layoffs, Olsen and the School Committee see this as a fit time to bring it back?! Gotta be kidding me!!!!!

#voteofnoconfidence

All of this talk about choice is only proving my point, thank you! When I mention "choice" I not only mean one way in terms of parents choosing a school, but also in schools choosing their students, just like any business can choose who they wish to serve as so long as it does not violate civil liberties. I would like to see every service in town ala carte except for the police, but I realize my Libertarian platform runs anathema to outside the box thinking, creative solutions and fiscal restraint. If each child had the money for education tied to them in terms of either a property tax abatement, +/or state funding bundle (like they do in Europe), parents could choose whatever school they wish including parents with special needs. There are several cropping up all over the country: http://specialeducationalliancenj.org/ As for all of the strawman arguments being floated about (too bad they still don't teach classical rhetoric in school!) I do have 2 kids in Westford schools and I do tutor math where I see the results of public math education first hand because I'm the one that has to fix their inept math skills and I see the parents frustrations why their kid can't factor a polynomial....in their SENIOR year!

"...my Libertarian platform runs anathema to outside the box thinking, creative solutions and fiscal restraint." That was sarcasm. Sorry it doesn't translate written down.

We are fine. We asked for strong schools, and our teachers delivered. I tried to compare student/teacher ratios and average salaries with other strong districts around us, and our ratio could be lower, and average salaries could be higher. But I also do agree that average teacher’s salaries (overall in MA) look impressive (I am not saying “unreasonable” yet) – but it’s a general trend and fighting it in my town will drive our teachers away. Also, if majority of them have advanced degrees and experience, it might be the right price after all.

TK:
From what I've read, privatization actually helps teacher's salaries and reduces class size. You would think teachers would be all over privatization, but they are wrapped up in the antiquated unionized-statist paradigm. Furthermore, and I realize you are not arguing this with me, but it sets up a bitter confrontation with the parents of the very children you are teaching. The citizen's yell, "Hey, stop taking my money!" and the teachers yell back, "Hey stop taking my salary!" and you have this nasty exchange because the money used to pay for the schools comes from the taxpayer. It's an outmoded source of exchange. If this crony relationship could be broken up into a "pay-as-you-go" model---like everything else in the private sector--you will still have arguments over price but the solution would be to shop somewhere else instead of this scarring battle that includes coercion, strike threats, protests, name calling, and deep animosity. As you can see from the exchanges here, this is a volatile issue based upon years of frustration and anger over past battles between the taxpayer and the union. It doesn't have to be this way. If my rate to tutor is too high, parents never yell at me, they just shop somewhere else. I in turn aren't bitter if they went somewhere else because I'm booked. The free market is vastly superior to public sector. Why our most precious commodities are turned into pawns baffles me.

Free Market already at work, example: last year a dozen teachers in exit interviews made is crystal clear after the contract negotiations they were leaving because they secured better paying jobs teaching elsewhere, I have reason to believe the number will be double that this year. If you think I'm making it up please shoot Bill Olsen an email bolsen@westfordk12.us And ask him yourself.

Free market at work ? Yes. Good for educational system in Westford? No

Are you making the leap that Westford cannot fill these positions with equally qualified or better employees?

TK:
With all due respect, that's like saying," if you don't like it then leave." Part of living in a community is trying to solve whatever issues that may arise and putting forth solutions to be voted upon. So I'm putting forth my privatization concept to be considered. I have to at least try. If the town doesn't like it, then fine. i won't go all,"Bob Jefferies" on people and ram my ideology through.
Private schools don't have to be better to be considered as an option, they just can't be worse and all the studies I've read bear that out: that private and public schools when you factor for income levels are about the same in performance. The difference, which what I'm trying to underscore, is that whenever you have a needed service to a town being paid for by the town, inevitably a showdown occurs between the taxpayers and the unionized workers. These disputes get nasty and the results create a divide. I don't like crony capitalism, it ruins true capitalism, and I don't like essential services being paid for by the town with the exception of police (and only them because their services cross-pollinate with the judicial branch). It's time to break the link between the taxpayer and the teacher's unions.

Soon computers will replace teachers anyway let's save the song and dance and just buy our schools iPads now

Yes,
There is always a learning curve in bringing in new staff even if they have experience somewhere else they need to learn how things are done HERE, high turnover much for this reason is cause for concern even if big picture some of the replacements are superrior

I think a curriculum, if created properly can be better than an obtuse teacher with a Phd. Some of the best classes I've taken were given by former tutors that were adjuncts teaching night courses. They had to be responsive to their class because they wanted to be hired next semester, since they were former tutors they knew how to break down the subject matter succinctly, and they taught the inconvenient courses that the tenured professors didn't want to fit into their M-F 11:00a.m. - 2:00 p.m. schedule. What kept it all together was a codified and coordinated program that was well thought-out and one that made sense both for the institution and the student. Now if you have a poor coordinator...well then...

Comments have been deleted for violations of the terms of use.

Override talk, behind closed doors, is fermenting for next year. Because we can all agree the 'Sadowski Voucher Model' isnt going to be implemented in the next 12-24 months; we are at a crossroads.

Where do we go from here?

Please think about this question THIS YEAR at ATM when you vote to approve a $49 Million School budget that includes hundreds of thousands $$$ in new positions that the walls just close in that much more for next year. If you vote YES now be prepared to vote the same YES in next year's Prop 2.5 override to sustain the freight train!

Last year ALL our unions were forced to sacrifice and 'take one for the team' please dont slap them in the face by taking the 'savings' and spending it on new positions that we honestly cant afford moving forward in the next several years. Its as irresponsible as Uncle Bob Jeff's ban the guns trample the constitution plan. ENOUGH!

Patrick,
And yet the SC continues to look to bring on more staff to the bloat.,,

The teachers who left for money did so over the summer according to Olsen , there was an article here on the Patch maybe late August that had some info (maybe not the exact number) P Henry.

Skip the coordinators, please.

We expect our teachers to be educated, maintain professional status, get Master's degrees, but then some suit coordinator hands them a curriculum toolbox with a hammer in it, ignores the fact that the classroom has screws and other fasteners besides nails, and says, "I know you have a degree but this is what you'll teach and how you'll teach it, whether it is working for your students or not".

May as well swap 'em all out for $15/hour paraprofessionals, tell them what to do and how to do it, and call it a day. It'd save us a mint.

Oh, and Harkness ought to be chastised publicly for throwing the SPED kids under the bus this time. The argument is sad, tired, and invalid. Give it a rest already.

I almost forgot - are the SC members FINALLY paying some attention to financials they vote on at their meetings, or will they just keep "trusting" administrators to do the job for them?

Will the district be offsetting their budget requests with the anticipated payback from MSEC? Shouldn't they be demanding ALL of the overpayments made to MEC be returned?

"Westford, with an 8.84 percent tuition total, will receive $88,374"

http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_22686510/special-ed-group-returning-1m-members

Prediction: If new positions are added again, reinforcing the teacher belief that money can always be 'found' even in a broke town, WPS Teachers are going to insist on full steps and COLA in the contract negotiated next year or go WORK TO RULE before the snow flies. My understanding is that the court lawsuit which was pulled back by teachers can, and would be, filed again against the town on the Unfair labor practice charge.

Even if you arent sympathetic to the teachers wanting to be paid on par with others, I would think you would agree with them over the hypocritical nature of year after year adding more new positions? Both residents and teachers should do like Nancy Reagan told us and "JUST SAY NO"

Coordinators should be K-12 as the frameworks have all been redone in the past few years and there is minimal change needed. Mandarin is a luxury not a necessity. The IT coordinator should be shared with the Town, there is no need for two. Resource officer at the school maybe a good idea but there are still too many drugs/alcohol users at the high school and not sure of the specific plan to reduce the usage. Having a cop hangout at the High School without a specific plan is a waste. BTW, Chief, the kids all know when the dogs are coming.