Thursday, July 23, 2015

Questions to be Answered

From what I have read, there are still questions that have never been answered.

Where is the Dalio Foundation mid-year report that Ralph Valencizi wrote? Why will no one reveal it?

Where is the end of year investigation report on the reason why we lost the Dalio Foundation grant?

Where is the letter that Manny Rivera received from the SDE allowing him to use Title 1 funding for all children in the After the Bell program?

Why are these reports and letters kept  hidden from the taxpayers?

What is the deal with the SPED program promised, but no longer doable?

Where is the transparency?

Please feel free to add your questions.

21 comments:

  1. Because it will expose the man behind the curtain

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    1. Good one! You are very right. He answers REdApple questions, but not questions he can't answer. Nancy on Norwalk is turning out to be a REdApple only spot. Ask a question and get responses from all the REdApples. It's a shameless way to Influence people into believing that there is great improvement under the leadership of this chairperson. Meantime, most administrators have abandoned Norwalk, special education debt is rampant, technology is complained about by teachers everywhere, state and federal funds are being used illegally.....and the list goes on.

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  2. Nooo...according to mike, everything is fine and dandy....nothing to see here, move along

    We will never see the documents..kind of disappointed in NON, they are scraping and bowing to mike..they used to be top notch jounalists..now, they are beholden to mike...

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  3. The more I read the comments on NoN more I think that Lisa Thomson has been given confidential info that she shouldn't have. She seems to know a lot of behind the scene BOE info and personnel info.

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    1. I think so too. I wish we could prove it.

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  4. There are people who have been given confidential Information who should not have it. You are on the right track.

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  5. The article today on NON is about the new Red Apples group on FaceBook. The Red Apples named themselves "Norwalk Parents for Education" Same people, same agenda. This is a closed group, meaning they block those whom they don't want on there. Translation: New members must follow their beliefs. Isn't it interesting that NON published an article that supports them? Isn't it interesting that Norwalk Parents for Education are looking for votes to support their chosen candidates? What is happening in Norwalk? Are taxpayers really going to let a group of white women take over? Did you notice how happy they were in supporting the superintendent's recommendation to have the 99s (South Norwalk students) get first choice at Columbus? What does that say? Soon Columbus will be all minority students.

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    1. Isn't this ecactly what the new superintendent is known for??

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    2. Looks like Norwalk will have segregated schools.

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  6. Wake up. Norwalk has segregated schools now.

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  7. Perhaps we will call the new Columbus School the "projects" school. Those who attend will be the poorest of the poor. Parents from the wealthier neighborhoods will be happy. Seems to me that the "projects" school should have some extra benefits. I suggest 10 in a classroom with a full time behavioral specialist, a full time curriculum director and a full time reading specialist. School for these children should start at 4 years old, free of charge in order to build vocabulary skills. School would end at 6 PM, after dinner. Taxpayers will see taxes rise, but it will separate the students that need the most help into a school that can give them the most help. Is that fair, White Apples, I mean Red Apples?

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  8. What are you talking about? Adamowski spoke of giving South Norwalk families the 'choice' of entering the lottery for the three different magnet schools Silvermine, Jefferson, Columbus before being randomly assigned. Talk about desperate spin.

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  9. What are YOU talking about? Jefferson and Silvermine have no spaces. What is unfortunate is that we will have a ghetto situation.

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  10. There is a real attempt for desperate spin here. Every Norwalk family has had the choice of the lottery since its inception. However, Jefferson hasn't had a lottery for years and Silvermine's is limited.

    South Norwalk children getting the chance to go to a real magnet in their neighborhood, rather than spending 45 minutes each way on a bus, to a place their parents can't get to, or don't feel they belong, isn't such a bad thing.

    We already have schools with minority enrollment hovering around 85%, with others closer to 40%. That sounds segregate to me.

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  11. What should really happen in Norwalk is redistricting so that there is not such a vast difference in minority enrollment from one school to another. Giving the parents of district 99 the "choice" of attending Columbus after a few years will make it a neighborhood school again.

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  12. A neighborhood school for Columbus still means the poorest of the students will go there. Those minorities who can afford to live in Silvermine, Cranbury and Rowayton neighborhoods come from middle class families. Those families, the wealthier minorities, send children with better vocabularies, better skills, etc. to the schools. A neighborhood school will segregate those who need the most help in one school. The neighborhood school will not attract good teachers (1) because of its location and (2) because of the students with the largest learning gaps. It's a disaster right from the get go! Is this what parents want to do to the neediest students?

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  13. Adamowski said he'd give the district 99 parents the choice of entering Columbus not just entering the lottery. Everyone can enter the lottery and they do. Each "district" including 99 gets a certain amount of slots. Children from South Norwalk already have a better advantage of getting into Columbus because most are districted for other schools. Student A lives across the street from Columbus, Student B lives down the block, one's district school is Wolfpit, the other Cranbury. They both enter the lottery and are chosen. Add the acceptance of all district 99 children.... do the math 66 slots, 46 potential incoming kindergarteners minus siblings of existing students after no time at all equals what???

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  14. Poverty Disturbs Children's Brain Development and Academic Performance
    Delayed brain development predicts lower tests scores in low-income children

    By Diana Kwon | July 22, 2015 | Véalo en español
    It has long been known that low socioeconomic status is linked to poorer performance in school, and recent research has linked poverty to smaller brain surface area. The current study bridges these converging lines of evidence by revealing that up to 20 percent of the achievement gap between high- and low-income children may be explained by differences in brain development.(Scientific American)

    So the solution is to put them in one school? Everything is wrong with that, unless we give that school tons of extra funds to help these students.

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  15. Until we clean out the rest of the poison in the district, and move people out of positions that have either a political agenda or financial agenda nothing will change.
    when has there been transparency in the last 10 plus years? There has not been.
    The layers are so thick with a clear lack of focus and dishonesty.

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  16. Who is left to clean out? Looks to me like there is no one left. The only one to clear out now is the Board Chairman, because he does not create transparency when approached. Where is the mid year Dalio Foundation report? The end of year report on what went wrong? Where is Rivera's letter from the SDE regarding After the Bell? Mike Lyons, why don't we have this information from you? Or are you busy getting permission from the chief RedApple in order to produce documents?

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  17. From what I hear, Mike Lyons is busy supporting the union president and his $75,000 teachers who present parent workshops. He approved the cost in next year's budget. I wonder what he wants in return from the union president? Ummmmm......contract time?

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