is there charter schools in medford? I dont know because I don't have any kids but if I did i would be advocating for charter schools in this community. Charter schools are an alternative to public schools for free unlike private schools. Teachers unions hate charter schools because you can actually fire a lousy teacher unlike public schools where they keep these lousy teachers and then they reach tenor and you can never get rid of them. If a child has an unqualified teacher for one year they basically lost a year of learning and are fundamentally behind other peers. Charter schools also prove that tax payers dont have to dish out tons of money to get good results. charter schools would also provide competition to the teachers unions forcing them to actually perform better in the long run. This is what parents should do this summer and that is call Medford city hall 781-396-5500 and press 6 this will get you to the mayors office once you get there listen for the option for the mayors secretary and inquire about charter schools and if this city doesn't have one parent should look into how to get charter schools here.

There aren't any charter schools in Medford, but Medford residents are eligible for Mystic Valley Regional Charter School. They may be eligible for charters in other nearby communities, too, but I'm not positive.

Mystic Valleys MCAS scores put Medford to shame but they only accept new students up to 5th grade. Mystic Valley uses direct instruction, core knowledge and saxon math. The high school was just ranked 5th best in MA. See the article over at Malden Patch.

Charter schools would only hurt Medford more. They take money from the public schools and would put Medford public in a worse situation! Charter schools also get to do what they want, create a curriculum they want, and lack necessary services for special education! Look into what the MTA says about them. If people want this they should go to a private school that they pay for, not resort to taking money from the public schools for charter schools!

The taxpayers should have a say where their tax dollars are spent educating their children. If the public schools can't do the job then the money should go with the child...anywhere. Competition is good.

Charter schools drain critical resources from the public schools, can't say I'm in favor of them. But I agree that we need to empower the public schools to get rid of underperforming teachers. It can be a tough determination, though -- is that older teacher not teaching well, or just too expensive, relatively speaking?

It's the older teacher's that are doing the best job. They know what works and how to teach. I'll take a seasoned teacher in a class of 30 kids over one of these newbies in a class of 10 any day.

The public schools are doing the best they can with budget cuts year after year. Both veteran and new teachers have something to bring to the table. There should be some sort of performance evaluations but those cannot rely on how the students in the classroom do on the mcas. Also to the person who was negatively speaking about maternity leaves, it's a law that women have to be provided this! Also did you know maternity leaves utilize the woman's sick time and when she runs out it is unpaid? Charter schools drain the little that is left in public school budgets. Yes they provide options but in my opinion that is what private schools are for. Charter schools take away options from public school children whose services can no longer be provided when the money for that service is paying for the charter school. Some districts provide public school option schools like Bostons bilingual schools or how Medford used to have the Hervey. Charter schools aren't the solution

Have you ever taken the mcas? It is a game. Some students excel while others suffer but it is not based on what they are taught rather their raw skills. What about students whose second language is English. This test was not set up for them. It is also being phased out. Yes some students who get advanced on both exams and are in the top 10% of their class are eligible for the John and Abigail Adams scholarship for free tution. Tution at a state school is roughy $1,000 dollars, it is the fees that are expensive. In all honesty we are over testing our students and those districts that "excel" teach solely to the test

Tuition at UMASS is around $5000 last I heard. That amount doesn’t include fees. $5000 can be a game changer for many children making the difference whether they attend college or not. MCAS is a necessity and is mandatory, and for those that don’t like it, they are the ones who shouldn’t be in MA public schools. You have other options. For the parents who want to escape the indoctrination wrongfully taking the place of academics, maybe legislation is necessary to allow these students to take their tax dollars with them to private/catholic schools?

http://www.umass.edu/ug_programguide/admissions/expenses.html
$1,000 dollars and it isn't garunteed if you do well roughly 50 kids in Medford will get it each year. MCAS is not a necessity, no one test can determine wether or not you should graduate. This is why the state is phasing MCAS out and will be replacing it with a national test that focuses more on core curriculum. I also feel Maine has a good idea, they require every student to take the sat's to graduate and the state pays for it. This keeps doors open to student whom may have never thought of college. At the end of the day Medford Public Schools are doing a great job at preparing our students for college and life!

http://www.umb.edu/bursar/tuition_and_fees/ $5703.50 for 2011/2012. Those fond of the indoctrination camps our schools have become all think our schools are doing a great job!

My child attends a Medford public school and it is excellent. The teachers are stars -- no under-performing in any way. Please stop blaming teacher and unions; you are being fed a bunch of Koch borthers' bull. Charter schools perform well on tests scores because they are a filtered system in two ways: 1) Only families who are involved and are advocating for their children bother applying for the lottery and 2) They can bounce students who don't meet their criteria: Charter schools are not mandated to teach ALL. They frame learning delays and disorders as obedience issues and then eject your child. Public schools must educate EVERYONE. Medford schools are underfunded because Medford has a ridiculously low tax rate and a vast majority of people in this town have a misguided belief (fostered by decades of confirmation bias) that to get a good education, you need to send your kid to parochial schools. They don't understand that THEY are the problem. If the public schools had more advocating families involved in them, the overall system would benefit. When you drain a system of funding and education-minded families, you are responsible for the undesired outcome.

There most certainly are star teachers in Medford. They're the one's who know how to work the lousy Medford curriculum. As for the unions, they're losing favor all over the country. Have you heard about Wisconsin?

The voters don’t agree with you Alicia. At least that’s what the majority of voters in the recent Wisconsin, San Diego and San Jose polls overwhelmingly stated quite clearly. Budget Question: Do the salaries for Medford’s ICLEI dept (aka Agenda 21) and ICLEI dues come from the taxpayers? ICLEI is a Non Governmental Organization (NGO). One would think that an NGO shouldn’t be funded by the taxpayers. Any insight? Maybe this money could be used for Minuteman Transportation. Our children deserve and are entiteld to this choice.

Guess again. Why not discuss the ICLEI budget here? Are you afraid of the public finding out about your green agenda and why our city is falling apart and why indoctrination is replacing academics in the schools? I'd just like to know how much these services you provide are costing us Alicia.

what is a ICLEI budget? Iv'e only been living here two years.

ICLEI is an international organization of local governments that have a commitment to sustainability. Medford was the first municipality in Massachusetts to join and they were very instrumental in Medford developing the first Climate Action Plan in MA, which Medford adopted in 2001.

From their website: http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=about
ICLEI provides technical consulting, training, and information services to build capacity, share knowledge, and support local government in the implementation of sustainable development at the local level. Our basic premise is that locally designed initiatives can provide an effective and cost-efficient way to achieve local, national, and global sustainability objectives.

I can't answer the question about an "ICELI budget" I've never heard that term before.

Comments in this thread have been deleted for being off-subject. Please keep the conversation related to the Medford School Department budget.

Mo I was born and raised in the peoples republic of Cambridge. money was never an issue for the city, unfortunately this is why i was priced out. I got use to living in Medford. it's very different than cambridge, there is a lot that I think should change to compete with the surrounding communities but I try and focus on the good things in the community as well; good working families; convenient location; reasonably priced market; plenty of free parking; good traffic flow; farmers market. most of the personal at city hall are knowledgeable at least for my needs (DPW gave me a hard time in the past).