Northgate Community Has a Voice for Change
Welcome to the Northgate High School Blog. The sole purpose of this blog is to gather information from parents, students, teachers, staff and administrators who would like to share ideas about improving Northgate. The blog will also provide information about MDUSD's, and Northgate's, failure to provide a quality education for our students. If you believe everything is wonderful at Northgate feel free to write that in a post but please understand that this blog is about change. No form of name calling or intimidation will be tolerated, your post will be removed. This is a serious blog for serious people who want to make a difference. Members of the school board view this site, this link can easily be sent to the Superintendent, this is your opportunity to tell them what you think needs to change at Northgate.
More Ideas for Blog Topics
Please use this post to make blog topic recommendations. I will be adding new topics and polls on a regular basis.
9 comments:
This is a great idea for discussing change at NG. I think issues that need to be addressed include: attracting and retaining good teachers, VP accountability, respect, and "my grade book" use, to name just a few.
Just an FYI... most students (and some parents) at Northgate are somewhat surprised by it being referred to as "NGHS" as it should be referred to as "NHS" (Northgate is ONE word). Just a thought...
Regarding your poll on support of a Parcel Tax, I am not in favor of giving the MDUSD more money until such time they have proved they can be fiscally responsible.
Under different circumstances, I would favor a parcel tax, but not to be used as a mechanism for paying teacher salaries as proposed by the poll. While it sounds good to promote the tax for this purpose, parcel tax funds should be used to support infrastructure and special projects, not salaries. By definition, parcel taxes are effective for a specific time period and do not go on in perpitutity. What happens if voters fail to renew the parcel tax in the future? The district would no longer have funds to pay salaries and our teachers and communities would again face the same problems confronting them today.
While a parcel tax can (and probably should) be implemented, it is critical that it is proposed in a responsible, intelligent manner.
Thanks for listening.
Anon 4:14,
The teachers raised a similar "concern" as we were considering the parcel tax last year. The reality is that our contracts are not limited to the term of the parcel tax. Once the compensation was built into the salary or benefits schedule, the district would remain responsible for payment of the cost of the salary and benefits regardless of whether the parcel went away or not. As a result, the loss of the parcel tax would cause cuts in programs and other budget cuts, but not a reduction in the salary or benefits. This is exactly what would happen if we were to use the parcel tax for programs instead. The big difference is that we could afford a raise for employees without cutting programs now.
In addition, the fact of the matter is that it is far easier to extend a parcel tax than it is to obtain one in the first place, so once it was in place, it is unlikely that it would end.
Finally, the polling showed that compensating employees was highly supported by the public - higher than many other issues - so if we want to increase revenue, spending it on compensation may be the answer.
Good idea on your blog. But some of us live on the border and attend YVHS and would love to see us come together as a community to improve all high schools. I feel just as much a part of NG as I do of YV, I know many people at both schools. I don't want to see a seperation and love the idea of this blog.
Anon 4:53
We welcome your input, let's find a way to address these issues for everybody. Do you have thoughts on how you would like to see this accomplished?
Congratulations on your blog. I have added you on my site www.misterwriter.com along with a write-up
Andre Gensburger
There's a huge movement in Walnut Creek to amend the boundaries of the unwieldy MDUSD and join with the Acalanes Union High School District. There are stories in the paper about it nearly every day. This is an exciting topic.
As you may or may not know, educational achievement for similar schools has dropped precipitously in the past 10 years. Northgate is now below average. And the prospects with revolving teachers aren't positive.
We need this as a topic: Rearranging district boundaries to have the K-8 merge with the well run Walnut Creek School District and Northgate with the higher rated Acalanes Union School District. This move would help consolidate Walnut Creek schools with Walnut Creek! Go for it!
This blog should remain a site dedicated to sharing ideas about improving NHS as it stands within MDUSD. It should not be used as a forum to continue the failed efforts of NPFC. The time and energy put into those failed efforts should have been put to great use within the school as it is now. Shame on the parents who are more concerned about their property values than on what is currently going on in their children's lives. As a parent of a NHS senior I wish more parents were actively involved in their children's lives. Perhaps then we wouldn't see the blatant use of drugs and alcohol among students at the school. Come on parents, get a clue. There are so many more important issues going on. Pulling out of MDUSD is not going to change NHS. Use your time and energy to make positive changes at NHS NOW!
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