The Cause, The Cure, and The Obstacles to Recovery Part I By: Charles Ormsby – May, 2009 TANSTAAFL: “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!” – Anonymous When economic decisions are based on political considerations and not on rational economic calculations, wealth is squandered and the economic piper must be paid. It is […]
By: Tom Duggan, May, 2009 Lawrence School Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy granted an exclusive interview with The Valley Patriot where he discussed for the first time to anyone, the details of recent media scandals involving his office, teachers and principals under his command and the spate of bad publicity in the daily newspaper concerning the […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL February, 2009 In March and August of 2008, the City of Lawrence did not perform the states’ required monthly chlorite testing on the city’s drinking water. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection fined the city of Lawrence $5,750 for failing to do those mandated chlorite tests and has warned the city it will face […]
Fired Attorney’s Firm Member Made Millions on Taxpayers Valley Patriot Staff – November, 2008 Former Lawrence city hall worker Andrea Traficanti will be back in court next month seeking permanent and total disability benefits after filing a new claim with the Department of Industrial Accidents. Her claim now is that she is permanently and […]
Paying Attention! with Tom Duggan October, 2008 Last May the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) notified the North Andover Public Schools that their high school was being put on warning of losing its accreditation. But, it wasn’t until August 25th that North Andover Superintendent of Schools, Marini notified the public that the […]
By: Tom Duggan – May, 2008 July 29, 2008 — Following Police Chief John Romero’s issuing of the School Resource Officer (SRO) report detailing an increase in arrests in the District, Superintendent Wilfredo T. Laboy has issued a statement disputing the data in the report: The Lawrence Public Schools constantly monitors data pertaining to […]
PAYING ATTENTION! with Tom Duggan By: Tom Duggan – May, 2008 While the politicians and the American people debate about what to do with illegal immigrants and whether or not to give them a pathway to citizenship, nobody seems to be doing anything to help the people who followed the law, did the right […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL April, 2008 The Massachusetts state Board of Education is unhappy with the mean-spirited words being used to describe government schools that are not up to snuff. Those who are concerned with this less-than-ideal performance have used such adjectives as “failing” and “under-performing.” Schools with persisting imperfections are even bullied with terms like […]
By: Tom Duggan – April 2008 NORTH ANDOVER – Several North Andover Middle School students are being investigated by the North Andover police for personal profiles posted on the America On Line Internet service threatening to harm fellow students and naming at least one teacher and a classmate the student pledges to “kill.” These threats […]
By: State Senator Steve Panagiotakos – April, 2008 Chairman Senate Ways & Means Committee The following information is intended to address the issue of local mandates and explains how the state complies with the applicable laws. I would also like to explain how the state assists municipalities in the funding of certain education categories. […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE! By: Tom Duggan – January, 2008 The North Andover School Committee is suing their former acting Superintendent Richard Bergeron for illegally giving himself a $4,484.34 raise without school committee approval. A complaint filed in Lawrence District Court claims that Bergeron ordered a payroll clerk to put the additional money in […]
Asks Community to stand with our Veterans by Wilfredo Laboy, posted 1/10/08 During a period in which the City of Lawrence and the Lawrence Public Schools have made significant steps towards ongoing improvement, we are saddened and outraged by such morally and ethically unacceptable conduct by James Stokes. In November’s School Committee elections, […]
Sandy Gleed This Monday’s special town meeting demonstrated far more about the shortcomings of municipal government than it did about the average citizen’s desire to exert control over wireless communications. The wireless article sparked very legitimate concerns about: * our town’s failure to monitor current cell tower permits * our town’s […]
By: Ralph Wilbur – December, 2007 In the late 1960’s, North Andover was one of the first communities to wholeheartedly adopt the then current fad for “open classroom” teaching. A new high school was constructed without internal partitioning walls and the result was noise, constant distractions and educational bedlam. Generations of North Andover […]
Tom Duggan – December, 2007 Last month, my 7th grade daughter at the North Andover Middle School came home from school and said that she learned in her Spanish class how the leader of Venezuela (Hugo Chavez) was a “good guy” for giving cheap oil to poor people here in the US. She also said […]