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The article to the left appeared in the Random Harvest of Oct 2, 2002. The article was written by the Van Etten building principal Alice Truman. Comments to the left are from Rainer Langstedt

 

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The decline in the state mandated  4'th grade Math test was 14 points this year compared to last years results. The actual test results are available on the net. Click here to see them.
School law does indeed require that the superintendent presents a plan to the board. The superintendent has failed to do so.
The writer is complaining for the first time that test results are made public. It is true that the superintendent who sets the agenda for the board meetings, has avoided the issue of failed tests as if the subject  was toxic.
Second time that Mrs. Truman complains about test results being mentioned. Why is she against parents knowing how we are doing?
The results that Mrs. Truman is most responsible for are the tests fourth fourth grade. Since the state mandated tests were introduced in 1999 we have experienced the following  results which Mrs. Truman refers to as "remarkable" progress : The fourth grade math score has gone down from 658 to 651. Remarkable "progress" indeed.
There has been actual progress in the English scores. The scores have improved with 27 points. We started from such a low level that even with the improvement we are still below the state average for white students. (Our student base is 98.3% white)
Third complaint about people finding out what kind of job the school is doing. Why does Mrs. Truman want to hide that from the public?
The claim that the district would have cut expenditures with  $500,000 last year is  horse feathers. The spending went UP about $300,000.
Mr. Bailey has admitted that the 20% tax increase was a result of his mistakes.
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Mrs. Truman has not contributed a cent to local school taxes. I can assure her that the local taxpayers are able to decide these matters without out-of district help. If the taxpayers are presented with a wasteful budget, they might very well vote it down again. In the past we have had one principal for both Spencer and Van Etten, perhaps we could save some money by going back to that  system.
Fourth complaint about the people finding out about the test scores.They must be toxic  from the administation's point of view. Click here for the scores.
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