To get the full effect of the PulseLine, listen to the calls at thewestfieldnews.com.
Once again the state has rated our Westfield school system in the bottom 20% of schools in the Commonwealth. As usual the teachers, teacher unions and the school committee members want to tell us it’s the test (no it isn’t, it’s the same test as the rest of the state), it’s the kids (no it isn’t, our children are no different than the children in other parts of the state), it’s the parents (no it isn’t, teachers actually have the children more waking hours each day than the parents do). here is the truth, it’s the teachers and school management that simply refuse to stand up and accept responsibility for their dismal performance. Fortunately this year we have a chance to make a difference. We desperately need an alternative, our children deserve a local city charter school. Vote yes on the charter school question next month and demand that your local city council member addresses this sorry situation. A school is assessed an overall score based on that school’s lowest performing subgroup. As such, a district is assessed a score based on the lowest performing school. For example, if one small subgroup of students at a particular school doesn’t score well then the whole school is given that score. Subgroups such as special education and English language learners (those who aren’t English fluent) are known to perform lower on standardized tests which result in lower scores creating a lower assessment value assigned to a school and subsequently the district.
