A One on One Interview with Superintendent-Receiver Jeff Riley – PART 1

A One on One Interview with Superintendent-Receiver Jeff Riley – PART 1

  October, 2013 – Valley Patriot Publisher Tom Duggan sat down with Lawrence Superintendent/Receiver Jeff Riley of the Lawrence Public Schools for a one on one interview. Riley was appointed Receiver of the Lawrence Public Schools by the Massachusetts Department of Education after an 81 page report detailed the lack of leadership of the Lantigua […]

Riley Increases Central Office Salaries by More Than $6MIL, Spending in Failing School System Climbs to $160MIL Under State Receivership

Riley Increases Central Office Salaries by More Than $6MIL, Spending in Failing School System Climbs to $160MIL Under State Receivership

“The help we give to Lawrence will not be an infusion of capital it will be getting at some management changes.” Deval Patrick January, 2010 “My goal is to decentralize” Jeff Riley 2011   By: Tom Duggan – April 16, 2013 When State Receiver Jeff Riley took over the failing Lawrence Public Schools more than two years ago, he promised to decrease the […]

DOE: No Exit Plan in Lawrence

DOE: No Exit Plan in Lawrence

Massachusetts Officials Have No Plan to Fix Lawrence Schools and No Exit Plan or Timetable to Leave By: Tom Duggan – June, 2012 Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Mitch Chester stood on a stage at the South Lawrence East School last month flanked by Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua, City Councilor Dan Rivera, State Representative Paul Adams, Maura […]

Lawrence’s Public Schools Takeover Unconstitutional?

By: Peter Larocque – March, 2012 The way the Massachusetts Law that allowed Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester to Takeover Lawrence’s Public Schools is being implemented could be Unconstitutional! According to this law, the Commissioner shall appoint a Receiver to a School District that has been declared chronically underperforming by the State Board of Elementary and […]

It’s the Money, Stupid!

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 […]

Lantigua using School Employees for City Services

By: Tom Duggan – June, 2010 Lawrence School Committeeman Mark Gray says that Mayor Willie Latigua is violating state law by using Chapter 70 Education money (earmarked solely or school spending) to balance the city budget. “He is using the school’s Internet Technology department to do work on computers in city hall and in the […]

Laboy: Race Politics is Ruining Lawrence

Laboy: Race Politics is Ruining Lawrence

Tom Duggan (07/03/07) Lawrence Superintendent of Schools Wilfredo Laboy has been under fire by critics over the last month for his decision to house newly arrived immigrant students with lack of English proficiency in the “old” high school building on Haverhill Street once the new $110 million campus is officially opened. Teacher’s union president Frank McLaughlin […]