VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL MARCH, 2011 In the real world, ordinary citizens who bribe lawmakers for favors suffer serious consequences. Big fines and/or jail time are the rule. But this is not so with public employee unions. These groups donate thousands of dollars to the election campaigns of lawmakers, who in turn, favor them with […]
SCULLY RETURNS! By: Tom Duggan – February, 2011 When Lawrence School Superintendent Jim Scully was fired by the School Committee back in 1997, the injustices were numerous. He was accused of misspending public dollars by a School Committee that had approved every single expenditure they fired him for. The press, in particular Boston […]
Scully talks of his departure from Lawrence in 1998, the challenges Haverhill faces and the controversy on his salary By: Tom Duggan – February, 2011 Former Lawrence School superintendent Jim Scully has been hired as the new superintendent in Haverhill. Valley Patriot president Tom Duggan interviewed Scully on WHAV last week about his […]
January, 2011 Northern Essex Community College’s laboratory science associate degree, which prepares students for biotechnology jobs, has just received the highest endorsement from representatives from the biotechnology industry. The college’s program was one of eight community college programs to be endorsed by the Massachusetts Life Science Education Consortium (MLSEC) and one of four colleges […]
By: Peter Larocque -January, 2011 As we begin 2011, should we even dare ask this question? It would seem to me that before we place a list of complaints at the feet of our Public Schools we should at least let them know what our expectations are! It is totally unfair to our public […]
By: Austin Roy, Teen Columnist – December, 2010 Remember this Christmas; When you’re eating your dinners, smiling and laughing, remember that somewhere, in another house there’s an empty chair where a hero should be sitting. Those Heroes gave up their life so you can sit with your family. So light a candle for the Heroes that […]
By: Sandra Stotsky – November, 2010 SPECIAL TO THE VALLEY PATRIOT “Dr. Ormsby is taking the month off to assess the existential meaning of the election results. He will return in December.” A mesmerizing phrase regularly rolls off the tongues of education experts these days. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan used it in a […]
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX EXTRA By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – October, 2010 ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NY TIMES In my experience teaching college freshmen, my sense is that the average level of academic rigor in our public schools has fallen significantly over the past five decades. Even in wealthy communities, only a fraction of parents […]
Baker says if elected, Lantigua will not manage city finances Candidate for Governor Tells Tea Party Lantigua not Fit By: Tom Duggan – October, 2010 Earlier this year, Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua partitioned the state legislature to borrow $35Mil claiming there was a $24Mil. deficit in the city’s budget. Governor Deval Patrick wrote House Bill 4421 […]
SPECIAL TO THE VALLEY PATRIOT By: Sandra Stotsky – October, 2010 In November 2006, Governor Romney appointed me to the nine-member Massachusetts Board of Education. In January 2008, the Legislature passed Gov. Deval Patrick’s bill establishing a cabinet-level secretary of education position and expanding the board to eleven members. The bill specifically […]
By: Tom Duggan – September, 2010 State Representative Barry Finegold is a candidate for State Senate. Valley Patriot editor Tom Duggan interviewed him last month on the Paying Attention! Radio Program on WCAP in Lowell. Duggan asked Finegold about his vote in favor of a $35 million loan for Lawrence with no financial oversight. […]
Finegold Defends Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua By: Tom Duggan – August, 2010 State Representative Barry Finegold is a candidate for State Senate. Valley Patriot editor Tom Duggan interviewed him last month on the Paying Attention! Radio Program on WCAP in Lowell. Duggan asked Finegold about his vote in favor of a $35 million loan […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL AUGUST, 2010 Late last month Massachusetts education officials decided to discard the MCAS testing requirements and adopt a new federal program called the Common Core State Standards. In recent years, Massachusetts has ranked at the top or near the top compared to all other states when it comes to the education […]
Ye Gay Old Valley By: Dani Langevin, Lesbian Columnist – July, 2010 Last March, in Boulder, Colorado, two grade school girls were kicked out of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish because their parents are lesbians. The same thing happened in May at St. Paul Elementary School in Hingham, MA. This time it was an […]
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX By Dr. Charles Ormsby – June, 2010 There are no special workers’ rights. There are only human rights. Workers have them and so does everyone else. Seems simple, doesn’t it? Everyone has the same rights. Rights must be consistent. You can’t have a right that violates the rights of […]