Teacher "professional development" at the expense of student hours? Your profession is to teach! Find time for development after your core responsibilities are take care of like the rest of the working world. For teachers June, July, and Aug come to mind.

Geez wish i had it as good as them, if i wanted "professional development" at my job, I have to do it on my own time. I assume this late start will be in addition to the "development days" where school is already closed? Another dumb decision but our awesome leaders.

Best paid part time job in America - only in Portsmouth, it's the best paid part time job with additional time off.

Get over yourselves. These teachers work their butts off to teach these kids. They spend time outside of school and in the summer to better themselves and help the kids. You think they like professional development...no but it is a requirement.

Ya these people really have some nerve. They spend their time in and out of the classroom teaching our children, often times raising them, being their role-models, encouraging them to become their best self, giving them a platform to succeed, and now they have a little bit more once in awhile to hone their profession for the benefit of our children? Who do they think they are.

Didn't schools used to have study halls? If anything, you should all be grateful because now you have even less responsibility to make sure your kids get their homework done or study. Lucky for you, your kid may succeed in life because they have someone looking over their shoulder making sure they are learning - their teacher.

I am really ashamed at the state of the world. Support our teachers, help our kids, what else can we possibly do? Why would we want to do anything else?

Are u kidding me what about asking the parent if this will work for them I know I cannot be late to work once a month I would lose my job. Who's brilliant idea was this? This inconviences everyone but the teachers

What about the poor kindergarteners who are only there for a ridiculously short 3 hours already? Are the morning K classes going to lose the time, or will they split it?

Total nonsense! Having first hand experience working in a school its all smoke an mirrors folks. Corporate America logic does not apply here. In the real working world, your boss sends you to a seminar / conference across town or across the country, you dont complain you go and stay employed. You don't complain that you can't go without being paid. You go because its part of your job. This doesnt apply in education.
In education children are used as pawns to manipulate positions and the flow of money to one area or another. See here....I can't teach Johnny because he comes from a broken home, doesnt eat breakfast, lives in the wrong part of town, has ADHD, etc etc. Your right, we are going to send you to professional devleopment so you can learn how to deal with this and become a better teacher. But of course I can't go to this without being paid. Right, we will pay you and give you a raise. Next year Suzie can't learn because she lives with her grandmother, can't afford lunch, has a medical issue, etc etc. Your right, so we are going to send you to professional development to learn how to deal with this. But I can't go to this unpaid. Right, we will pay you and give you a raise. Next year Jimmy..... You can see the madness!

The reality is as long as Jimmy Suzie and Johnny show up to school, everyone gets paid as funding is based mainly on student attendance. Schools are not funded based on performance, which is why education in America is what it is.

i do think teachers should have development time and it appears they have addressed the needs of the parents who have to bring the kids in at regular time they have set up a study hall and i think it is at no additional charge my only issue with this is the large expensive for the change in bus schedule i don't understand why there should be any additional charge to bring the kids in late one day a month I'm curious what this means for the morning k kids

Sam Elliott - just a quick observation but doesn't the finance guy look like Sam Elliott. Loved that guy in Road House.

East Side, I support the professional development, but do it on your own time. If we do the math here, seems like ever teacher just got a pay raise. They now are required to work less hours for the same pay.
Lets boil this down to an hourly wage as that is the easiest for everyone to understand. A standard 40 hr work week for a standard 9 - 5 job is approx 2088 hrs depending on holidays. If I make 40,000 per year divided by 2088 hrs that comes out to 19.16 per hr.

Teachers make how much and work how many hours? It's eye opening when you do the math.

First thing professional development is required it doesn't matter if the teachers does it while school is going on or if the students come in late. If the students come in late it saves the town from having to pay a substitute teacher and isn't that what everyone is so worried about. I know its a huge inconvenience to working parents but its all about saving money. And last where would any of you be with out teachers so don't be bitter that you didn't choose that profession.

East Side and the rest of the gang, you write a lot about wanting a part time job like a teacher, but you sure do spend a considerable amount of your working day commenting on this site. If I was your employer, I'd fire you. He/she/they don't pay you to troll the web; you're paid to work.

Katie, your right. I'm bitter I didnt choose a profession where after 3 years your "untouchable" and can't be fired unless you do something foolish. Whether or not you actually teach and connect with the kids doesnt matter as there is always the excuse Johnny can't learn because he comes from a single parent family, english is his second language, wasn't born in this country, etc etc.

Rhody, your right if I was at work it would not be wise to be commenting. But see I'm not at work as I had to quit my job back in August as kindergarten is half day in Portsmouth! I had no other option other than re arrange my life, job, family affairs all so that my child could get on the bus at 8:25 AM and off the bus at 11:35 AM.

Most teachers don't end their day when your children go home. They do not get all of June, July, and August off. They do not get unlimited funds and supplies for their classrooms to do all they are required to do. They spend a lot of their own money and give a lot of their own time. We entrust our children to them all day every day. They deserve better than disrespecting comments. They do so much more than we know.

Thank you Michelle I couldn't agree more

Aquidneckisland, I think YOUR teacher needed professional development so you would know when to use YOUR, or YOU'RE.
East side, did you say you wished you had picked the teaching profession and then said you are a retired teacher? Which is it?
And BTW, neither of you have any idea how hard good teachers work!

Most of the comments here are crazy! People are complaining about teachers as though they had any control of the issue. The whole idea was proposed by Superintendent Krizic on the argument that somehow it would save money, and the PCC/Republican school committee voted to approve it. How are the teachers to "blame" in any of that?

No one is commenting on the real news here that we're losing the school finance director and assistant principal Goss at the high school.

We've lost principals across the district, we lost the curriculum director, we lost the finance director, we lost a fire chief..... it goes on and on. Town employees are bailing out all over the place. Does anyone think Krizic can run a 30+ million dollar department without a finance director? What's going on!

Todays headline news "Chicago pushes longer school days as key to achievement: 'We had to do something'" maybe that's why our new superintendent left Chicago. She wants us to have shorter days ! Here's the link for this quite interesting.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/14/12190032-chicago-pushes-longer-school-days-as-key-to-achievement-we-had-to-do-something?lite

Day in and day out teachers work with the students of this town to pave the way towards a brighter future for not only our town and state, but our nation and global society. However, every time I scroll through the comments that follow any article that has the word “teacher” in it, it feels as though out town has become an angry mob – their pitchforks and torches pointed at teachers. We live in a society today that people believe that teachers stroll into work around 8 and leave with the kids on the last bell, and of course who can forget the weeks of vacations and the entire summer off. This is the furthest from the truth, teachers, I know from experience, are more than willing to come in as early as possible and stay as late as possible if it benefits one of their students. Teachers do not solely work the seven hour work day that is commonly thought. Think about it, teachers have to plan all of their lessons, ensure that they are keeping in constant contact with parents, that they are staying up-to-date with constant standard changes, they have to make sure that all IEPS and 504s are being completed, they have to take the lesson they had just planned and think of multiple ways to implement so they can reach every learner in their classroom, and of course make sure that all assignments are handed in and corrected (ex) 5 page term papers are due -5 pages * 25 students *4 classes = 500 pages of correcting in a night or weekend).

I believe it is time for our town, and our nation, to stop the continuous ridicule of the teaching profession. I encourage all who believe teaching is the “easiest part time job in America” to read “Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers” by Dave Eggers and/or view the documentary “The American Teacher” (it is on Netflix). If our town does not begin to treat teachers fairly, new young passionate teachers with new strategies and ideas will not want to come to Portsmouth when it is time to fill the shoes of our amazing teachers we have in Portsmouth. Trust me, as a future educator who had always dreamed of coming back home to Portsmouth to teacher, the desire has lessened after reading all the hate.

East Side, I don't know where you are getting your facts. Teachers did not propose this and as a matter of fact they are not fans of this. Teaching and learning happen best when students are freshly awake in the morning. So again...I don't know where you are getting your facts. If anyone is to blame it's YOUR school committee you voted for. Parents need to get to the voting booth and vote these clowns out.

East side, Yes I complain about the 30:1 ratio AND I defend good teachers! They didn't pick increased class size! The town council wont fund the schools!
Joshua Miranda, whoevervyounare, thank you for being the clear, articulate, voice of reason.

Portsmouth - count yourself fortunate to have a good school system and low cost per pupil ratio, one of the better in the state. It (along with being "on the island") helps to keep your real estate values high and tax rates relatively low.

Finances aside and just like busines, there are going to be great teachers, good teachers and not so good teachers (GE model A, B & C's). Figure out how to reward the A's (hold onto them, the are gold), work with the B's (develop them to be A's, or at least strong B's) and eliminate the C's (if they can't raise themselves to B's). Find an objective way to evaluate.

Both the administration and union should be held accountable to ensure your children are getting the best education possible. I'm not a teacher, I don't live in Portsmouth, though I do know a handful of Portsmouth teachers. I like them all and cannot be the judge of their abilities.

What I do know is that some are dedicated to their students, and work well beyond their required hours. I manage a team of 12 and work in a team of 50, my preference is to work with the individuals that are committed to more than their paycheck.

Cherish your gold standard educators; in time your children will thank you.

J Lane, the 15:1 ratio in the fancy report is cow dung! It is calculated by dividing the student population the total number of teachers, including teachers who are part time or work with kids separately (such as speech therapists, etc.) so it's not accurate. Anyway, if you have kids in the schools you KNOW it's not true! I was told personally by someone who works at one of the schools that the allowed class size is going up to 30 Both of my kids have had most classes in PHS with upwards of 25 in a class.
The research on this is clear, class size makes a huge difference.

Just want to say one thing to all of the folks who contribuite in these discussions. We are so lucky to have this medium to openly discuss local matters that most of the rest of the world would not even think of doing. Years ago the common citizen did not have this resource so when the King was out prancing around without any cloths on there was no way for him to get a dissenting view so he could see that he was fooled by the taylor. I like the phrase from a local teacher, "don't take it personnally", which I think keeps the discussions lively.

With an unfortunate amount of understanding at what I do, I will attempt to temper this discussion. Josh, first, thank you for trying, but this forum is normally reserved to an angry set of pot-stirrers that have an agenda and an axe to grind. Teachers are the position of the day to take the public flogging. In a town where the schools absorb the lion's share of the of the town budget (as it has to be, Portsmouth provides little else and certainly nothing close to the size of the school staff), when people look to criticize taxation and look for excess, the buck stops here. That being said, there are some things that can be cleared up . . . sort of. I will not defend teachers' expenditure of time, for those that are convinced we do nothing and are paid too much for it, I won't change your minds here and I will shake my head in dismay at what that means you think of me and who I am. But, when it comes to professional development, this plan is an attempt to deal with a trend that has limited the school departments ability to manuever. It is true that we used to have professional development beyond the school day, but as funding has become less and less over the years, there has been a need to become more creative. Insert your criticism of our contract and how it requires that the town pay us for professional development here. That is what it is, anyone who has had a job should have a contract, if you don't--work on that. Anyway, this plan seems to be an alternative . . .

to a tough situation. How can we get our entire staff together for the least impact? It also seems to be considerate of a demand put forward by our powerful anti-taxation group in the town "don't make us pay for the schools--we are done with education." (That is an editorial, not an actual quote, sorry, weak moment) In fact, this puts the burden of being put-out squarely on the parents and removes any financial liability for the town. I am not saying this with any ill-intent. It just is as it is. The goal has been for many years to reduce costs and now we complain about the efforts to do that. Well, we are consistant, anyway. Also, the class sizes in Portsmouth are capped in the mid-twenties and are at that level or close to it across the district, and with staff reductions of late, getting closer to those numbers all the time. I agree most sincerely with whoever brought up the bigger issue and that is this district has lost nearly all of it senior leadership in the past year. As we watch two more leave, we instead choose to complain about teachers and, again, miss the forest for the trees. I am a teacher in a great school system and I am officially voicing my concern. The under-funding is taking its toll. I'm sorry we can't hide it anymore by minimizing public impact.

J Lane, I didn't say WHEN the cap was going up.
Generally speaking, I continue to fail to understand why teachers are bashed and why so few people understand the importance of funding a quality public school system which yes, means paying, training, and providing benefits for good, dedicated teachers. Even if you have no children in the school system it is the most valuable asset any city or town can have at every level! Public education is one of the most brilliant concepts humankind has crafted. It benefits EVERYONE, not just the students, teachers, and families directly involved. Believing it doesn't is like believing the earth is flat.

How about some fun with math?

Lets say a school teacher works 40 hours/week...for 38 weeks per year (half of june off, plus july and august, and 3 weeks during the school year).

and lets say they make $40,000. that comes out to approximately $26.30/hour.

if another person worked 40 hours/week, 49 weeks per year (allowing for 3 weeks of vacation time typical in private business world), and made $40,000/yr...that would be an hourly wage of $20.40.

That's equal to a 23% raise for the teacher since they don't have to put in those additional hours.

It you worked at that $26.30 for 49 weeks, like a typical employee, you would make $51,548. Not too shabby!! There aren't too many other jobs available for people with undergrad liberal arts degrees that pay that well.

I used to have to park in the high school parking lot quite often when school let out. At the bell the first people out the door were about 75% of the teachers,not the students. How many of them could have been helping students who were having problems with their subjects? Oh and day after day it was the same teachers that beat the students to their cars. I will not say this happened in all the schools in town but it sure happens at the high school. I would have thought that getting your degrees would have helped more to do with development then having to have a shorter day once a month for development. There are some teachers that are dedicated to teaching and will go the extra mile to help someone and I have met some real good ones, no great ones but sadly they are few and far between. So all teachers, before you go flying out the door maybe should stop and ask yourselves, Is there someone who I could be helping right now and I bet the answer is yes.

First, our average class size is 23/24 students. The contractual size is 25 (lower in beginning grades); and, I believe the administration would favor many high school classes going to 30. I oppose that and I know NEA Portsmouth opposes that. I strongly believe select math and science courses should be in the low twenties.

Second, if you believe a teacher can show up for work at 7:15 ready for class in 15 minutes you are misguided. If you believe it doesn't take approximately 1/2 of their teaching time preparing for the days lesson you are misinformed. If you believe the teacher does not have the responsibility to adapt their curriculum to constantly changing standards you are wrong. If you believe their isn't substantial off-hour work you are not thinking. The last person in the school at the end of the day is the teacher - that same teacher who has asked for nothing to help your child, grandchild, or neighbor understand their math after school has ended. The one thing Portsmouth has left is its GREAT teachers - lets not drive them out as well. PORTSMOUTH TEACHERS I PRAISE YOU AND HONOR YOU - BE PROUD AND STRONG!

Third, the early starts I opposed one year ago when Dr. Lusi, my good friend, proposed it, are necessary to get sufficient and quality team building for our teachers. We are rolling our new math and science curriculum, we are aligning our standards to the national Common Core Standards, we are linking cross-discipline activities to better engage the learner - this simply can't be done without quality group time. In that we can not afford to pay for it - this is the proper course. We join communities like Barrington who have been doing it for years. To help parents, schools are open at their normal start time, but without busing. I oppose, however, that the early starts will impact morning kindergarten student disproportionately. I pledge to address this. There will be a review in January and I personally would like to hear of any problem so I can help families find solutions.

Lastly, we have said good-bye to an incredible group of educators this year. That should be the discussion. Portsmouth's value is in its schools. As I have said time and time again, no matter your connection to the schools, the value of your home is tied to the demand for your home. Without great schools who will buy your three bedroom home or four bedroom colonial? We loose our schools, we will loose the biggest economic driver for Portsmouth. PEOPLE REALLY NEED TO CHANGE THE CONVERSATION! Don't belittle those who are truly making a difference (teachers, police, fire, DPW); we all need to work together to rebuild value in our community. There are managers and then there are leaders - we need more of the later.

Dave,
I think it’s understood that the teachers need this time. I think it’s just the timing of it…that is time of the day. It seems like the impact will have a ripple effect. Families fining childcare during that time. Maybe for siblings too. Parents taking personal time for work. Bus drivers/monitors reporting late for their full-time jobs. Workmates at the full-time jobs covering for the parents, etc.

Well said TAMORI. My kids are unfortunately not old enough or responsible enough to get outside and get themselves and wait for the bus. Also I am constantly reminding them don't forget your lunch, homework, sneakers and band instruments. I'm sure on one Wednesday a month I will have a call asking me to go home and get them what they forgot.. As for morning childcare is this held at the school? Are they going to sit in a gym or library for 75 minutes? I am very greatful for the teachers my children have had in the past I just don't understand why they couldn't add this at the end of a day when we already have our scheduled daycare/sitters. Oh no wait that would make too much sense! Was this even addressed, if so I would like to hear the reason why this wasn't the choice did they just not feel like staying after? It's not as if we are asking them to come in on a day off.

@J. Lane McMahon

This is cut and paste from an old article on this site. Follow this example: suppose there's 100 students.

You hire 4 teachers, so you have four classes of 25 kids each.

You also hire a gym teacher who takes one classroom at a time through the day. That brings you up to 5 teachers.

Suppose two more teachers are required by law, special ed teachers, because there are eight kids in the school (2 in each class) who have some learning disabilities and require one-on-one work for a period a day. Now you're at 7 teachers.

If you divide your 100 students by 7 teachers you get a misleading student-teacher ratio of 14 students per teacher, yet there isn't a classroom in the school with less than 23 kids in it at any one time.

I hope that clears up for you why a raw division student-teacher ratio number can be different, and much smaller, than the actual average class size. They are different things. Apples and oranges. The s-t ratio doesn't mean much, but the average class size is a reflection of what the environment is like in the schools.

I hope that helps.

Thank you Portsmouth Citizen and David Croston. I was beginning to feel as though I was lost in the Twilight Zone of ignorance.
The busses will be bringing the kids to school at the regular time where they will be supervised in study halls. Didn't anyone read this?

And J Lane, "let's be honest" Why has enrollment dropped? Excellent schools attract families, increase enrollment, sell houses and increase property values! Unfortunately, schools that are struggling to be what they once were lose enrollment.

And it's true that not ALL teachers are fabulous...neither are all doctors, all mechanics or all insurance salesmen! But good school systems attract the best!

The truth is less education for the benefit of teacher benefits. However, the reverse should take place as there are many opportunities in the teachers schedule to participate in extra learning opportunities. This is supported by a teachers union that is like a rock and the public that are sheepish. The community needs to call this out and stop it because where does it end and at what cost?

There is no doubt the majority of Portsmouth teachers are dedicated to both their school and our community. I am also aware that Professonal development is required of them. In most contracts it specifies how many professional development days must be offered by the District itself.

That being said, this is a ridulous solution for our schools and most importantly our students. I will put aside my personal feelings about the lack of structure these late start days will cause for students, especially those with IEP's. I will also put aside my personal feelings about the reduction in class time for the children in Kindergarten (which is too little already). Instead I will speak to the financial impact this plan puts on the towns budget. Instead of closing the schools for 2 days (I am rounding up the 11.25 hrs of class time reduced by late starts) to allow the required PD we will now have a late start. As kids will need to attend those days we will now be saddled with transportation and support staff costs. If the schools were closed for 2 days of PD we would have no buses running, no lunch to be served, no support staff to serve that lunch or answer the phones. This is a poor plan supplied by our District leaders and it should be reviewed again before being put into place.

I am a strong believer of living within our means and am saddened to see our town leaders try to sell this idea as one of fiscal responsibility. Let's continue to work smarter in solving these issues but we have to remember to look big picture as well. I'd suggest the powers that be sharpen their pencils and return to the drawing board.

To all of you who are bashing our teachers, I have always been told it is better to remain silent and have people think you iare gnorant than open your mouth and releave all doubt. I am not a fan of loosing 11.25 hours from my son's school year, but the it is better than having his highly qualified teacher out of the buildingmultiple times for an entire day while at training. The comments about our teachers having the best part time jobs by East Side and others isn't even worth addressing since none of you have enough confidence to use your real names.

Also, before you blame the teachers, ask a teacher what they think of this idea. They will let you know that they never knew about it and most of them heard about it the same way you did.

For those of you who are ready to check my placement of "are" after the "i" in ignorant, it was done on purpose to mock all of you who hide behind your fake names and have no command of the written word. I figured those people would need this explained to them.

If you think teachers are overpaid, I will not change your mind, but just think about how much it will cost our community every time a student drops out of school and begin to receive taxpayer support to survive.

We go to St. Phils. Our son's teacher was there EVERY day this year to greet our son, was never late obviously and it is a blue ribbon school testing higher than the local public schools. Public schools are controlled by the teacher's unions who give 80%of their dues to democrats then later "bargain" with them for benefits after the elections.

@Bill--Don't start comparing private vs public because it is apples to oranges. You are going down a slippery slope which will put kids in the middle when you start comparing test scores. For example, it would be more relevant if you took the top 10% from the schools and compared them instead of the entire school. We have a great public school system (for the current moment) in Portsmouth and we are also blessed to have high quality private schools also. I am a supporter of parent choice, not private vs public. It is great to have options, but don't compare schools that work under different circumstances.

Yes Bill don't compare private vs public becase it makes the public schools look bad and they can not come up with a valid argument of why highly paid teachers with better benifits don't perform better then the dedicated teachers in private schools. Every time contract talks come around the NEA tells us higher pay attracts better teachers but when you look at private schools you see that is not true. What they are saying is give us more money and we will do a better job I say do a better job and we will give you more money. I am not anti teacher per say but in their little glass house they are out of touch with what the rest of us are going through. I just lost my job of 32 years due to outsourcing and have moved to a new company in the same feild for half the pay. In most professions that require professional development not only do the employees have to do it on their own time they also have to pay for the classes. As for the supplies that teachers have to buy for their classes ask a mechanic how much he has to pay for his tools each year to keep his job. you have a good secure job that pays well and can't be outsourced so quit your whining about how tough you have it.

Teachers at private schools are not required to have the same level of education , certification and training as teachers at public schools. Private schools can pick and choose who they admit and therefore have less special needs students. Private schools are not mandated by law to use particular curriculums or standardized tests.rivate schools can control variables such as class size by raising tuition if they want to hire more teachers.
You just can't make a comparison here.

How much cash do the unions slip their puppet Croston. Our teachers are hardworking people, the unions they belong to are the problem and elected stooges like Croston continue to try to take money from you and stuff it in the union bank. Keep your eyes on this stooge he's out to fleece your pocket and ruin your town. Don't believe a word he says.

Now that is inappropriate! I have flagged it as so!

I still haven't seen an answer to my question. Why is the 75 minutes of career development not being held after school? The teachers would be done by 4:30. That is still earlier than most of us working folks get out of work.
I'm curious what the kids are going to do at school for the 75 minutes besides sit and stare at the wall !

My son always needs extra time for homework and reading, especially in the school environment where there is a teacher. Good catch up time for him.

No one has answered as to why the sick days at Portsmouth private schools are about 12.5% of those in the public schools. Oh well that is apples and oranges I guess!

Michelle Apperson, a teacher at the Sutterville Elementary School in Sacramento who was named “teacher of the year” by the school district, was fired because she was outranked in seniority.

I think too many of these posts have strayed from the actual issue. I would much rather hear from those that want to propose a solution versus insulting others.

@ a Resident with a watchful wallett---This is exactly why I try to stay away from posting items because people like you always take jabs at individuals like Mr. Croston. If you have ever attended a school committee meeting, you would have realized that Mr. Croston is committed to our students first and supports our dedicated teachers second. Schools are about kids and kids only. We build schools and spend the money on them because the kids are our future. Take pride in our town and our kids. I don't want to get into a battle of words because it is obvious that those of you who post under fake names buy your ink by the gallon. My practice has always been to disregard any letters or notes from anonymous sources. I value free speech and every can have their opinions. I just don't respect people who throw ignorant comments around and don't have the courage to sign their name.

You are all wrong. First, schools are about the NEA electing officials and donating heavily to democrats' re-elections, planned parenthood and GLBT. The elected officials then "negotiate" with the NEA for retirements, sick leave and time off in the summer. Second: Most "educators" leave at age fifty with $60,000 a year for life, full medical and then go on to work in the real world and create a second retirement. Why does a person who works 154 days a year need 45 sick days? Do these educators ever have "elective" surgery during the summer? Why do private school staffs have almost no sick days or days out. Then there are "personal" days -- so why do our teachers average ten to thirty days out a year? Why did local schools run out of paper recently in the month of April? Why do the unions fight volunteers in Portsmouth when they set out to maintain the schools and save money? Lastly: Education is a money grab. Home schooled children outperform public school children on a consistent basis and it costs nothing to educate them. Little Compton is smart, they simply pay Portsmouth per pupil as retirements and benefits belong to Portsmouth taxpayers. Taxes there are about a third of Portsmouth The budget meetings in Little Compton are lively. Tax payers force spenders to reign it in and tow the mark. Home schools and Catholic schools out perform the public schools academically and charter schools have waiting lists and lotteries. What does that say?

Sorry to see Mr. Goss go... fabulous for PHS students and parents a like! Best of luck in your new role!!

d

Too many negative posts against teachers here. I fear this thread and a few posters will be shut down.

OMG: My post actually "Took". I was MODERATED last week for: ...I Have NO Clew WHY.............??

Okey Dokey: McGee will surely shut me down NOW for sure.

The amount of ignorance on this page is scary. First off, the teachers didn't make the decision for the late start. The administration did and asked for parent input. Those of you complaining as usual, probably hid behind your computer screens as usual and didn't actually give input. It is just like people who don't vote. If you don't have a voice, don't complain. Second, get your facts straight. The retirement age for a majority of teachers (unless you are the few lucky ones to be grandfathered in) is 65. Have fun with that by the way. You all complain that teachers get this and that, so good luck to your children with their 65 year old teachers that really should retire, but can't now due to state mandates. Now, all of you who think teaching is so easy, why not go into the profession?! If you love it so much, go for it! I guess it is kind of like some of our school committee members who complain, complain complain (with the exception of Mr. Croston who actually shows up to school events) yet have never stepped through the doors of the schools since they were elected. Portsmouth has some of the nicest kids and parents I have ever worked with.

It is sad that a few bad apples on here who don't even have kids in the system nor take the time to have respect for other human beings. I love my job, and it is fun for me, because I love working with kids. I love the moment when you have worked with a student all year who has struggled, and you are able to celebrate a victory when the student learns to grasp a previously challenging piece. But some of you don't get that, because you don't understand why people teach or have enough respect to know how much we value our job and our students. All you see is a paycheck, and the fact that we have summers off. I am a Christian, and with my religion I was taught to love my enemies and bless those who curse me. I also believe in Karma. So I say blessings to you al

all*

PS-Mr. Kelly, your facts are completely incorrect. Please, please please, educate yourself before posting again. The false propaganda you have spread on here would make Joseph Goebbels proud.