In response to a comment filed under the previous post about a way to relieve the tax burden was for the board to make sure all at our district were taxpayers in our district...
If the district knows about the students then the student's school is likely paying us to bring the student here.If the school is not aware of the outer residency issue then it is up to you to notify the school. I know of one parent who called the school a few years ago about a parent who lived in another town and brought their children to Plainview where the grandmother lived every morning so the bus could pick up the children. The parent who complained ,called the school and they looked into it and informed the parent of the children that they would owe the school $$$ for their children in our school. The result was that the children are now in their own school district. Community activism is not a spectator sport as many believe.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
and About those School Supplies...
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Taxes to Go UP Another 5%?":
The whole world is trying to "go green," worrying about emissions and using organic products, yet our school supply lists ensure that our community is doing our part to fill up landfills with lockerfuls of plastics that, if they even manage to survive the school year, get thrown away.
Educators believe that the more supplies you have, the better education you will get.
I had one binder when I went to middle school. It was denim and it only came in two sizes - small and large. The widths were predetermined and there weren't choices in 1/4 inch increments.
I never remember a teacher asking for anything specific in terms of inches for a binder except some didn't allow the small looseleaf. Mostly teachers didn't get involved beyond asking for something specific like a protractor or compass. Their focus was on teaching, not worrying about what paper we were using to write our notes on, what type of pen we used and I certainly was never asked to provide dozens of sharpened pencils as if I was expected to copy War and Peace straight through without the aid of a sharpener.
But back to that denim looseleaf. It had the multiplication table and useful formulas like converting feet to meters or inches to centimeters (which I never used) pre-printed on the inside back cover and a built-in clip on the inside front cover with killer grooves that really pinched your fingers if you got caught in it. Like everyone else I personalized the cover with hand drawn logos of rock bands, copied from popular albums and agonizing over details. Pink Floyd, KISS, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones tongue were all popular.
All my subjects were in this one looseleaf and as it got filled, I simply took the used pages out to make more room. We had textbooks that had our homework questions in them and we answered them on a sheet of paper in our looseleaf. We didn't get hundreds of pages of xeroxes to put holes in and manage.
I learned with these primitive supplies and methods. It seems like that by today's standards, providing only one source to keep school papers in is akin to child abuse.
Watching my child struggle to manage a file folder, agenda and various notebooks of different types and widths, I wonder how different his education would be if he didn't have to think about all the organization required by the learning and just focused on the learning.
Not only would it be cheaper (sorry Staples!) but I truly believe it would be better. Less is usually more.
The whole world is trying to "go green," worrying about emissions and using organic products, yet our school supply lists ensure that our community is doing our part to fill up landfills with lockerfuls of plastics that, if they even manage to survive the school year, get thrown away.
Educators believe that the more supplies you have, the better education you will get.
I had one binder when I went to middle school. It was denim and it only came in two sizes - small and large. The widths were predetermined and there weren't choices in 1/4 inch increments.
I never remember a teacher asking for anything specific in terms of inches for a binder except some didn't allow the small looseleaf. Mostly teachers didn't get involved beyond asking for something specific like a protractor or compass. Their focus was on teaching, not worrying about what paper we were using to write our notes on, what type of pen we used and I certainly was never asked to provide dozens of sharpened pencils as if I was expected to copy War and Peace straight through without the aid of a sharpener.
But back to that denim looseleaf. It had the multiplication table and useful formulas like converting feet to meters or inches to centimeters (which I never used) pre-printed on the inside back cover and a built-in clip on the inside front cover with killer grooves that really pinched your fingers if you got caught in it. Like everyone else I personalized the cover with hand drawn logos of rock bands, copied from popular albums and agonizing over details. Pink Floyd, KISS, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones tongue were all popular.
All my subjects were in this one looseleaf and as it got filled, I simply took the used pages out to make more room. We had textbooks that had our homework questions in them and we answered them on a sheet of paper in our looseleaf. We didn't get hundreds of pages of xeroxes to put holes in and manage.
I learned with these primitive supplies and methods. It seems like that by today's standards, providing only one source to keep school papers in is akin to child abuse.
Watching my child struggle to manage a file folder, agenda and various notebooks of different types and widths, I wonder how different his education would be if he didn't have to think about all the organization required by the learning and just focused on the learning.
Not only would it be cheaper (sorry Staples!) but I truly believe it would be better. Less is usually more.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Taxes to Go UP Another 5%?
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Tomorrow Nights Board Meeting Agenda- Wellness Pol...":
How about someone bring up the issue of the teachers contract that is in SECRET NEGOTIATIONS.
Is the board going to cave in again?
As reported in Newsday last week:
the state comptroller has lowered the estimated return on investment of the pensions which means that we the TAX PAYERS will be on the HOOK for an estimated EXTTRA 5% INCREASE IN PENSION OBLIGATIONS.This is not a rumor but more likely an under estimate of how much more that we will be paying. Resident should look at their current tax bill and add an extra 5% to it and that will be what you will be paying next year , if not more unless drastic cuts are made in our budget that should come from the cost of labor not on the backs of working class citizens like ourselves who work a lot longer hours (that is for those residents who are fortunate to still be employed). I would like to know when are we going to stand up as a community and say enough is enough.
How about someone bring up the issue of the teachers contract that is in SECRET NEGOTIATIONS.
Is the board going to cave in again?
As reported in Newsday last week:
the state comptroller has lowered the estimated return on investment of the pensions which means that we the TAX PAYERS will be on the HOOK for an estimated EXTTRA 5% INCREASE IN PENSION OBLIGATIONS.This is not a rumor but more likely an under estimate of how much more that we will be paying. Resident should look at their current tax bill and add an extra 5% to it and that will be what you will be paying next year , if not more unless drastic cuts are made in our budget that should come from the cost of labor not on the backs of working class citizens like ourselves who work a lot longer hours (that is for those residents who are fortunate to still be employed). I would like to know when are we going to stand up as a community and say enough is enough.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Tomorrow Nights Board Meeting Agenda- Wellness Policy.
http://www.pob.k12.ny.us/BOE/BOE%20Proposed%20Agenda/BOE_Agenda_Sept_13_2010.pdf
Approval of Wellness Policy at BOE meeting tomorrow night
Voice any of your concerns at the Board Meeting Monday night.
Approval of Wellness Policy at BOE meeting tomorrow night
Voice any of your concerns at the Board Meeting Monday night.
What Can I Do About Irresponsible Dog Owners?
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Don't Get Shut Out from the Forum on Bullying/ Sch...":
Can you start a new thread for this topic that is clearly very different from all others?
Since this blog is about all aspects of life in Plainview, I have a subject I'd like to throw out for anyone's advice. I really don't know what to do here.
I live on a corner property. There are many lovely and responsible dog owners who walk their dogs and ALWAYS clean up after them. Unfortunately, there are a few who don't. I don't know what these people are thinking, leaving their dogs' feces on other peoples' lawns and sidewalks.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do about this one? Also, am I the only person in Plainview to have this problem?
Can you start a new thread for this topic that is clearly very different from all others?
Since this blog is about all aspects of life in Plainview, I have a subject I'd like to throw out for anyone's advice. I really don't know what to do here.
I live on a corner property. There are many lovely and responsible dog owners who walk their dogs and ALWAYS clean up after them. Unfortunately, there are a few who don't. I don't know what these people are thinking, leaving their dogs' feces on other peoples' lawns and sidewalks.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do about this one? Also, am I the only person in Plainview to have this problem?
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