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• Anonymous

  Nice to hear about this forum now that it’s all over.  How was the public informed of this meeting?  Probably the next report will be on the low turnout.

• Anonymous

  During the second part of the forum, Bowen took questions, comments and suggestions from attendees, including Bangor High School history department chairman Bill Ames.“I was really encouraged. I felt I was listened to,” said Ames, who made a point about some students needing five years to graduate instead of four and being no less educated. “I’ve been here 25 years and every other time people have come, they’ve come to tell us what they’re doing. This time I felt he listened.”
  If Bill Ames liked Mr Bowen then Mr Bowen must be on the right track because Mr Ames is one of the best teachers out there.

• Anonymous

  He needs to get rid of the current system of determining AYP (Average Yearly Progress).  The way Maine does it makes no sense.   We test 2 different groups of students with the SAT.  If the 2nd group doesn’t make gains, then, according to Maine, no progress was made.

  In order for real progress to be measured, don’t you have to test the same student, at least twice, and compare the last score to the first one?   That would show if a student or all students made real progress.

  As we all know, each group, or class of students is entirely different from all the others.  We are comparing apples against oranges.  That is like testing two of your children and the last one that takes the test determines if the first one actually learned anything.  DUH!

  The current way of determining progress is terribly flawed.

  He needs to fix that instead of a yada yada speech about accountability.  We should be holding his department accountable for creating such a “crappy” method of determining student gains.

• Anonymous

  I don’t think that it’s right to exclude northern maine during his “tour” .  The legislature doesn’t convene until January and he’s got a couple of days to spare in order to get up in the County and hear them as well.   I think he knows that he should be going up there,  I just don’t think that he wants to for one reason or another.   It’s not right.  It should be just as all the others have done;  one in Presque Isle,  one in Bangor, and one in Portland.  that’s fair.

  We live in a time where video conferences are common, he should show his presence in Presque Isle and video conference to his people in Augusta, not the other way around.

• Anonymous

  the days of a balanced education are over, and need to return… there used to be support not only at the schools, but at home which reinforced the ideals that were learned. Respect for educators and schools has been lost in some cases and I feel that a major reason for this is accountability on administrators to let the teachers who were trained and educated to do the job, do it themselves and keep tabs on the progress. Principals need to keep the school functioning and be a presence, also, discipline needs to be enforced and the younger ages need to learn that before they can learn everything they need to in order to move up in the world. I hope teachers are the ones making these decisions and not people who taught for a few years and started taking state jobs… 

• Anonymous

  At first, I’ve been saying that just about anything is better than Every Child Left Behind.  However, we’ll have to wait and see if Bowen’s plans will really work or if they’re just talk.  Interesting, no mention of Charter Schools.  There may be hope for his plans yet.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4UDTWMPKI35IE47KZU6WOMVFFY David

  Dr. Webb say charted schools game the system HMMMMM look at Bangors dropout rate adjust for teacher pay And number of disadvantage kids and it seems like she is mad because she cant  just kick out the kids that are disadvantaged charter schools game the system . You cant make 100% of the kids pass a test some learn slower than others .only way i see to get there 100% goal of kids passing to “GAME” the system ie. kick out the slow or poor kids .  

• Anonymous

  Wrong. If children are not let to pass through the system without passing then we are failing them. If it takes a child 9 years to get through 8th grade that is good as long as they have learned what is needed to enter HS.

• Anonymous

  “No child left a dime.”

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4UDTWMPKI35IE47KZU6WOMVFFY David

  Ok we disagree,  I am not well educated. I am not stupid . If you hold a kid back because his homework grade isn’t great but the kid gets passing grades on test. Chances are that kid will drop out . Bangor dose this . Not every kid grows up in an environment conducive to doing home work . But are smart an read do math maybe even score maybe even smarter that some to the Kids from middle class families that  that advocate for there kids maybe help them with homework. Not your saying about 9 yrs to get pass 8th grade i would agree 100% if it was a perfect world . Studies have shown that kids held back are much less likely get a diploma. Dr. Webb come from an elite back ground and she will never understand the plight of the disadvantaged she hasn’t walked a mile in there shoes. I am not educated . But I have seem things in Bangor Schools like 3rd grade science fair one little boy cried he had no project. The one with the best grade were ones the parents helped the most. The system totally destroys a childs self efficacy. kids made to fell stupid wont try as hard  . It seems to be geared more to the middle class up class kids.   

• Anonymous

  This law was a joke…designed only to give wealthy Americans a chance to get their kids into high priced private schools on the public’s dime by eventually failing all schools. That was bad enough…then that buffoon Baldacci and doofus Gendron gauged the state using the SAT, which even the College Board people said was a bad idea. 

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4UDTWMPKI35IE47KZU6WOMVFFY David

  Oh I was a slow learner the school even told my mother. Ha i graduated In the top ten of my senior class. I quit once but a teacher talked me into going back. I never did get a college degree . I passed my maine pro. lic. in My field even tho about 70% of people with a 2 yr degree fail on thier first try. Many Great teachers who really care about kids are not allowed to care to much “the unspoken rule”. 

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4UDTWMPKI35IE47KZU6WOMVFFY David

  ya what you said Half the kids will have an IQ above 100 have below . The slower kids will never get a 2400 sat score . Not every kid needs get a college education But today they all need a HS. diploma.  

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4UDTWMPKI35IE47KZU6WOMVFFY David

  I take it your not one of Bangors elite lol.  I bet like the Cosgroves hurd about it.

• Anonymous

  What good is a HS dipolma if you are classified as functionally illiterate? The problem begins in the very first years of a childs trip throught the school system. If you allow them to move ahead without a firm foundation in the basics, they are screwed for the rest of their school career.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4UDTWMPKI35IE47KZU6WOMVFFY David

  I would almost agree, I can tell you are not from my side of the tracks .Many smart kids drop out I was almost one of them . A slow kid from an elite family  Will pass it against the law to hold them back . A GED is not worth as much as a diploma even tho you need to pass a test to prove you learned. So A Learning disabled kid mabe 85 IQ will do better than a poor smart kid that drops out. Not a perfect word . Dr. Webb is from an elite class she could never understand. Bias in society against poor. That’s no excuse for a poor kid not trying. I rather see a kid reading at 6th grade level get a diploma graduate a Job . than drop out go on welfare or jail. Its all about making the elite more elite.