Since I'm not allowed to post on that site I still read it. Here's a letter to the editor from a parent. I've deleted her name, but feel free to check it out and comment. Down size her desk so she can fit additional seats in the classroom"??? How big is her desk?

Yes for Melrose

19 mins ·
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READ THIS: Some straight talk from MVMMS and MHS parent (XXXXXXXX XXXXXX).


To the editor:

" I’m curious to know if any of the vocal opponents of the Melrose Proposition 2 ½ override have been in Melrose High School lately. Because I have. My Freshman son’s Biology class has 30 students in it. The teacher is planning to downsize her desk so that she can fit additional seats in the classroom.

I am puzzled by the letters to the editor that imply that the mayor is simply interested in collecting buckets of money for some nefarious purpose. Once again, I ask: Have you been to the high school lately?

Melrose Public Schools are DEAD LAST in the Middlesex league for per-pupil spending and teacher salaries. We’re not second to last, we ARE last. So although we have an undefeated football team, our record for supporting our teachers and students is downright embarrassing.

Although I support the override for the impact it will have on our entire town, I am most interested in the immediate enhancement to the middle school and high school. This includes:

· SIX full time teachers in STEM, history, and art/music. The plan is to hire cross-trained teachers. For example, a teacher qualified to teach both physics and calculus will go a long way in helping in both subject areas.

· professional development. There are so many new and fabulous teaching methodologies happening right now. We need our teachers to know the latest and greatest, so that they can teach our kids at a leading-edge level.

· robust competency-based learning. To keep our video-game consuming kids engaged in learning, we need to get away from educators standing in front of a classroom lecturing to the masses. Instead, we need a structure that creates flexibility and allows students to progress as they demonstrate mastery. Gone are the days of everyone learning at the same pace. We need to get on board.

As far as the cost of the override, please consider:

· We pay SIGNIFICANTLY lower taxes than any of our contemporary city/towns. We pay HALF the taxes of Winchester. HALF.

· To see exactly how much you will pay if the override passes, use the calculator on the CityOfMelrose.org website. Plug in your address to get the cost to you. The average per homeowner is $244.

If you are a parent: How much do you spend on your kids’ sports each year? Is it more than $244? None of my kids will play for the NFL, NHL, MLB, or NBA. Will yours? In contrast, each of our children has the potential to change the world. And our world needs some changing. Let’s support them academically as we support them athletically. Because we should."

Unbelievable. Almost word for word taken from the "interview" of the Mayor up on the city website. These people really do believe we're all stupid and will swallow any fantasy they put out there, and that's the basic flaw in their MO. People are getting sick of being thought of as too dumb to figure it out. Just take a look at the language in the piece. Cut and pasted from MEF propaganda perhaps?

"We pay SIGNIFICANTLY lower taxes than any of our contemporary city/towns. We pay HALF the taxes of Winchester. HALF." By what twisted thought process can someone seriously consider that Winchester and Melrose are "contemporary"?

These people will say or do anything to advance their agenda, regardless of the truth, and you can bet they will be out in full force on election day. It is incumbent on the rest of us to show up on election day also and not just assume someone else will do it. This override must not just be defeated. It must be crushed by an overwhelming margin.


Could you possibly post a link to that site you reference? I can't seem to find it.

Amazing, isn't it? In one breath they will freely state that "Melrose is not Winchester.", and in the very next breath they will attempt to compare Melrose to Winchester. The twisted and untruthful rhetoric has overtopped my waders.

I don't understand the Winchester reference AGAIN. Why is Melrose compared to Winchester at every turn? Winchester is #7 in the state based on per capita income. Melrose is 86! How could our taxes be in the same stratosphere? Give me a break. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Massachusetts_locations_by_per_capita_income

Also what in the world does money spent on children's sports have to do with the override? We should forget about health and exercise and teamwork so a teacher doesn't have to downsize her desk? What kind of argument is this?

"please consider:

· We pay SIGNIFICANTLY lower taxes than any of our contemporary city/towns. We pay HALF the taxes of Winchester. HALF."

Melrose homes are valued at half of those in Winchester. The homes in Winchester are worth more money so they are assessed at higher values and people pay more taxes because of the higher value. You cannot buy a house in Winchester, no home at all, for the price someone can buy in Melrose.

If a home is assessed for $350,000 and the tax rate is $11.38, the tax bill would be computed as follows:
$11.38 x ($350,000/1,000) = $3,990.00. Plug in the home value to get what you pay in property taxes.

Look at the tax rate. Is Winchester's tax rate twice that of Melrose? Melrose residential rates are a little more than Winchester's and the Melrose commercial rates are much higher.

http://www.winchester.us/141/Assessors-Department

(2015 Winchester Residential rate $12.14)(Commercial $11.40)

http://www.cityofmelrose.org/departments/assessors-office/

(2015 Melrose Residential $12.96)(Commercial $18.90)

Is the person writing the letter deliberately trying to alter facts or does this person truly not understand how property taxes function?


There is little in the proposed use of override monies that addresses the middle school and the high school. Nothing about increased teacher salaries anywhere in the school system.

There is a proposed override provision for instructional coaches to micromanage the current teachers. If the Melrose teachers are already unhappy due to a poor work environment, this will only makes matters worse.

I wonder what role the instructional coaches will have in the teacher reviews?

I wonder what the training is to be an instructional coach and what familiar names will I recognize?

Question - "Is the person writing the letter deliberately trying to alter facts?"

Answer - You can't alter facts, but you certainly can deliberately mis-state them. It's called lying.

You don't sound like you need much help in being informed. Don't neglect to go to the polls on November 3d.

It's not income, it's home value. Melrose homes are not at the same assessed value as Winchester homes. You can't find homes in Winchester for the same prices as Melrose. Winchester has many million dollar plus homes. Melrose does not.

Elevated home value only matters the day you are selling your home. Otherwise it's just paying a load of taxes.

The people who do pay all those taxes demand much in Winchester. Of the town. Of the schools. Doublespeak, fuzzy math and passing responsibly don't fly there as well as it does in Melrose. People there work to understand what is going on in town government and don't just take the official word for it. They do the math. They do the research.

Does the Melrose government want to come under the same spotlight? I didn't think so.

Thank you.
I am going to be at the polls early. [:)]

from a public blog
http://www.yesformelrose.com/lte-maribeth-darwin-2/

"I am puzzled by the letters to the editor that imply that the mayor is simply interested in collecting buckets of money for some nefarious purpose."


straight from the school district/city website's "rolling agenda" for School Committee meetings:

Rolling Agenda for Tuesday night, June 9, School Committee Meeting:

"Approv non-union raises 15 FF Vote to approve pot of money for Superintendent to give raises"

http://melrosecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1537


Sounds like political patronage and a contemptuous budget process (and maybe a belief in leprechauns) sure enough! "Nefarious" = if the shoe fits....

and maybe a belief in leprechauns

LOL [:))][:))]

I think you are correct. Magical thinking.

And patronage. Which isn't so funny.

"Pots of money" Is that a finance term?

You may have missed my point. I understand tax rate. However, if you are #7 in the state for income you can afford to live in giant houses and thus pay higher taxes. When your town is #86 for income your taxes should be lower, because that's what the majority of people living there either can afford to pay. Melrose and Winchester are apples and oranges. Other than our proximity to the city we are very different towns.

Agree, I should have acknowledged your point better because you are absolutely correct.