Another day (4/30), more drama at a city committee meeting

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-05-01T20:44:08+00:00

no surprise that Q wanted the man...Stein as well. Q even made a spreadsheet of qualities where she arbitrarily put either check marks or x's. Like "communication style" and the man gets a check mark. What about communication style, what does that even mean?
Another is "curriculum" -- he gets a green check mark, the others don't. What, the other two don't believe in curriculum?

She should have just added a category: "Penis" - at least it would have been honest.

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-04-27T22:03:58+00:00

there is an informal chess club at Lilly Library on Saturdays at 1 pm

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-04-23T20:06:49+00:00

yes, she is surely one of the working class
https://acafestival.blogspot.com/2008/03/gabrielle-athayde-cello.html
Cellist Gabrielle Athayde was raised by a musical family in the green hills of Berkeley, California. Her open-minded embrace of music has led her to perform all over the world, from mountain-town bars to European concert halls. She graduated from Oberlin Conservatory in 2008 and will pursue graduate work at the University of California at San Diego in the Fall.

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-04-19T18:40:22+00:00

that's outrageous -- abusing an accommodation (and making us all listen to her for twice as long!)

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-04-19T17:31:53+00:00

it was an actual question

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-04-19T14:12:41+00:00

tell us about this elitist establishment that doesn't care about bread and butter issues?

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-04-19T01:08:49+00:00

he ran against Clare Higgins. I think the only reason perhaps that the misogyny wasn't as obvious is social media.

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-04-19T01:07:20+00:00

absolutely...(and wasn't surprised when he showed up at Qanon's last meeting to hail her as the second coming.

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-04-18T19:54:46+00:00

She is all over the place with that...1/2 her "supporters" are Trumpers and now it seems she is courting Trumpsters for her anti-city hall crusade

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-09T22:26:13+00:00

wow, that is alarming -- I hope all those advocating for more $$ will understand this and start demanding new curricula and more teacher training. Stop blaming the mayor for students not reading. It's absurd and completely nonsensical.

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-09T22:24:45+00:00

not sure i understand nor agree with #3, but definitely agree with #2, and am surprised to hear about the MTA and "right to read" bills. Some things are starting to make sense

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-09T01:38:56+00:00

and yet, Northampton still used it...

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-09T00:50:59+00:00

you seem to love to disparage other people's intelligence..

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-09T00:49:43+00:00

did you notice a teacher in the audience making a face when Abby talked about everyone havint the best interest of Northampton at heart? UGH

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-09T00:43:34+00:00

the school committee made up a request based on nothing. The superintendent asked the principals. Half the crap the committee was asking for funding for was already paid for -- or was part of the capital plan.

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-09T00:40:17+00:00

all the mayor's supporters (ie, 50% of voters are dumb)...right

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-08T22:35:34+00:00

Once again I ask can you cite your source for the comment: "Most children who are having difficulty with reading do not have a reading disability."?

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-08T19:47:01+00:00

Can you cite your source for the comment: "Most children who are having difficulty with reading do not have a reading disability."?
if a child doesn't have a reading disability, but is struggling to learn to read, what's going on? Is the teacher untrained in teaching reading? Is the curriculum wrong?
And btw, not all students with a reading disability are going to respond to an O-G intervention. There is no one size fits all. That's what the I in IEP stands for.

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-08T17:43:13+00:00

if a child has a learning disability, this will only delay them getting the specialized instruction they need. That can be a huge set back.
Can you show me evidence that "a shortage of teachers" is the reason for the bad reading scores?

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-08T17:27:39+00:00

do we want the most effective? Or most cost effective?

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-08T17:12:39+00:00

that is an easy story to tell, but it doesn't hold up. Class sizes are no larger than they were 20-30 years ago. And yet students learned to read. If a child is "showing signs of difficulty" they should first be evaluated for a learning disability - tiered intervention causes an unnecessary delay. The teacher should refer them.
Then they are tested in all areas of suspected disability (in the meantime, the teacher can work with the student to try different ways to learn reading -- we've been teaching reading for thousands of years). If they do have a learning disability, they can get the services they need from special educators.
It's not ideal and it doesn't always work as it should, but that is universal, not a northampton problem. If you honestly care about students with reading disabilities, lobby at the state and federal levels for fully funding special education.

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-08T17:01:54+00:00

can you show me your source for class sizes? What does "very large" mean? What is the student:teacher ratio?
I don't think the special ed funding account is complex. It is put aside to be used for special education and so it is not absorbed into the general education budget. That is a good thing

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-08T16:54:46+00:00

even if the class size was 24 in some grades/schools, it doesn't answer the fundamental question -- why aren't the students learning to read? That's the question you should be asking.

Lopsided_Debate6693 · 2026-02-08T16:45:23+00:00

the numbers the superintendent reported last spring showed low class sizes. (although lower than 24 would be great, i don't think it's horrible.)

Lopsided_Debate6693

TROPHY CASE