Quality of education

Hooray! A first important step in reducing the student exodus from RSU 5 is admitting it exists! Throughout the withdrawal campaign, the pro-RSU contingent and administration both denied there was an exodus. Unfortunately, the numbers reported in last month’s “State of our Schools” report were inaccurate, but the reality is that about 1 out of 5 kids who reside in RSU 5 are choosing to go to school elsewhere. A large number of these are the highest academically achieving students. When those students leave, we also lose their parents as some of our most active volunteers and advocates for education.

The RSU’s three-point plan to stop this “brain drain” misses the point. All of the fancy, multi-million-dollar buildings in the world won’t keep students here if what is going on inside isn’t keeping them engaged.

Then there is the moratorium on superintendent’s agreements. Part two of the plan is to hold kids from middle- and lower-income families hostage so only wealthy families can afford to give their kids the kind of high-quality education they deserve. Rather than force kids to stay here, why not give them a good reason to stay?

The only thing that will keep students in our schools is improving the quality of education inside them. This means paying teachers salaries competitive with neighboring districts and treating all of our educators like they are most important part of our educational system – which they are. Since 2009, we’ve lost many of our best teachers, and while we’ve been lucky to have some great new hires, will they stay here if they can earn $10,000 a year more in a nearby town? We need to support our teachers and students with more support staff and less middle management.

How can we expect Durham and Pownal voters, who have rejected budgets with tiny increases, to support a 9 percent increase while paying for a huge school bond? We need to get our priorities straight and stop focusing on window dressing. Let’s get to work and fix the real problems.

Shari Broder

Freeport

Money not RSU’s problem

We are extremely concerned about the 9.15 percent budget increase for RSU 5. We are as supportive of education as anyone in the RSU 5 district. As a retired superintendent of Freeport and educator and a retired special ed teacher, school social worker and family therapist, we have a combined experience of over 84 years in educational settings. Having looked closely at the budget and knowing how school systems work, we don’t agree that RSU 5 can buy its way out of its problems.

Some citizens want to compare us to Yarmouth, Cape Elizabeth, and Falmouth. Yes, they do have excellent schools and yes, RSU 5 should also have excellent schools. What most people don’t understand is that the taxpayers in RSU 5 already spend more per student than the three towns mentioned previously. So money doesn’t seem to be RSU’s problem.

Here’s a looks at school budgets, enrollments, cost per student in 2014-15 and the proposed 2015-16 increase:

RSU 5: $27,365,247; 1,826 students; $14,986 cost per student; 9.15 percent increase proposed.

Yarmouth: $21169,185; 1,510 students; $14,019 cost per student ($967 less than RSU 5), 3.98 percent increase proposed.

Falmouth: $31,694,981; 2,136 students; $14,838 cost per student ($48 less than RSU 5); 4.69 increase proposed.

Cape Elizabeth: $23,240,174; 1,647 students; $14,110 cost per student ($876 less than RSU 5); 2.1 increase proposed.

In order to solve a problem, you first must identify it correctly. Freeport schools and RSU 5 have had two superintendents and two interims in 11 years, five special ed directors in five years and significant staff turnover. The problem seems to be lack of stability and leadership in the district.

We need people in leadership positions who are great at generating and launching game-changing ideas, have an innate ability to problem solve and most importantly, cultivate a culture of critical and creative thinking. They need to listen to what their educators and communities say and give the people in the system the opportunity of doing the kind of innovation necessary to create a great school system. It’s time to start dealing with the real problems.

Bob Lyman (former Freeport superintendent and former interim Cape Elizabeth

superintendent)

Caroline Thorne-Lyman (retired special education teacher and school social worker)

Freeport

Quality of education

Hooray! A first important step in reducing the student exodus from RSU 5 is admitting it exists! Throughout the withdrawal campaign, the pro-RSU contingent and administration both denied there was an exodus. Unfortunately, the numbers reported in last month’s “State of our Schools” report were inaccurate, but the reality is that about 1 out of 5 kids who reside in RSU 5 are choosing to go to school elsewhere. A large number of these are the highest academically achieving students. When those students leave, we also lose their parents as some of our most active volunteers and advocates for education.

The RSU’s three-point plan to stop this “brain drain” misses the point. All of the fancy, multi-million-dollar buildings in the world won’t keep students here if what is going on inside isn’t keeping them engaged.

Then there is the moratorium on superintendent’s agreements. Part two of the plan is to hold kids from middle- and lower-income families hostage so only wealthy families can afford to give their kids the kind of high-quality education they deserve. Rather than force kids to stay here, why not give them a good reason to stay?

The only thing that will keep students in our schools is improving the quality of education inside them. This means paying teachers salaries competitive with neighboring districts and treating all of our educators like they are most important part of our educational system – which they are. Since 2009, we’ve lost many of our best teachers, and while we’ve been lucky to have some great new hires, will they stay here if they can earn $10,000 a year more in a nearby town? We need to support our teachers and students with more support staff and less middle management.

How can we expect Durham and Pownal voters, who have rejected budgets with tiny increases, to support a 9 percent increase while paying for a huge school bond? We need to get our priorities straight and stop focusing on window dressing. Let’s get to work and fix the real problems.

Shari Broder

Freeport

Money not RSU’s problem

We are extremely concerned about the 9.15 percent budget increase for RSU 5. We are as supportive of education as anyone in the RSU 5 district. As a retired superintendent of Freeport and educator and a retired special ed teacher, school social worker and family therapist, we have a combined experience of over 84 years in educational settings. Having looked closely at the budget and knowing how school systems work, we don’t agree that RSU 5 can buy its way out of its problems.

Some citizens want to compare us to Yarmouth, Cape Elizabeth, and Falmouth. Yes, they do have excellent schools and yes, RSU 5 should also have excellent schools. What most people don’t understand is that the taxpayers in RSU 5 already spend more per student than the three towns mentioned previously. So money doesn’t seem to be RSU’s problem.

Here’s a looks at school budgets, enrollments, cost per student in 2014-15 and the proposed 2015-16 increase:

RSU 5: $27,365,247; 1,826 students; $14,986 cost per student; 9.15 percent increase proposed.

Yarmouth: $21169,185; 1,510 students; $14,019 cost per student ($967 less than RSU 5), 3.98 percent increase proposed.

Falmouth: $31,694,981; 2,136 students; $14,838 cost per student ($48 less than RSU 5); 4.69 increase proposed.

Cape Elizabeth: $23,240,174; 1,647 students; $14,110 cost per student ($876 less than RSU 5); 2.1 increase proposed.

In order to solve a problem, you first must identify it correctly. Freeport schools and RSU 5 have had two superintendents and two interims in 11 years, five special ed directors in five years and significant staff turnover. The problem seems to be lack of stability and leadership in the district.

We need people in leadership positions who are great at generating and launching game-changing ideas, have an innate ability to problem solve and most importantly, cultivate a culture of critical and creative thinking. They need to listen to what their educators and communities say and give the people in the system the opportunity of doing the kind of innovation necessary to create a great school system. It’s time to start dealing with the real problems.

Bob Lyman (former Freeport superintendent and former interim Cape Elizabeth

superintendent)

Caroline Thorne-Lyman (retired special education teacher and school social worker)

Freeport