Andrew, if YOU wrote this piece – I'm VERY disappointed with you!

'Spending per/pupil' is a meaningless measure of quality of education.

Some schools need to pay higher salaries – because they are in crime-ridden towns that people would rather avoid.

The REAL measure of a school is what the graduating students actually KNOW – and can APPLY in their lives.

Can they write a decent résumé, read an employment application and understand a job description. Can they create a web site? Can they spell?

Can they read a legal document, or a complicated law – and understand it?

Can they do their own taxes?

Do they understand the Constitution, - or have they been told that 'it's old and irrelevant – and that Obama makes the rules now'?

Do they understand the uniqueness of America, do they understand our History in depth, and understand that the decisions and choices of leaders every day have consequences?

Do they even know who their elected officials are, and what policies they espouse? OR, have they been taught that '...politics is dirty,...better leave it to the people in government'?

Have they been brainwashed into believing in 'Man-Made Global Warming' – or have they been taught that the science is far from exact, and that Michael Mann was exposed as a 20-year fraud and liar?

$/pupil mean NOTHING!! QUALITY will only come when outraged parents and taxpayers stand up to liberal school boards and the teacher unions – and DEMAND HONEST TEACHING!

Hi Mike, with rare exceptions, it's not appropriate for me to provide subjective information in my role here, especially in areas relating to town governance.

Most of the things you mentioned are very subjective, and you're welcome to follow up on your own with a local voices column and we might follow up asking people what they think of this or by looking at other objective metrics.

Good information , Andrew.
Your statistics provide the financial aspects of school district educations, and valuable monetary comparisons.
The academic statistics would also very meaningful- PSAT, SAT scores, MCAS scores, advanced placement courses offered, science laboratories, language labs,student/teacher ratios( that is basically why expensive private schools excel) size of school libraries, pre-school and after school programs, clubs, athletic offerings, music programs, summer school offerings, college entrance figures.
Especially academic rankings in the State and the country. All objective statistics , not tained by political propaganda , and as you mentioned , and not subjective ( quote meaningless) stuff.
I understand that Massachusetts ranks at least in the top ten states in the country , if not higher, and has one of the best secondary school education offerings in the country as well as # of students going on to college.
Our government and Governor Partick deserve great credit for making education a priority in this State and it has paid off.

Andrew ... back in 1974 thru 1980, I think the per-pupil figure was in the vicinity of $10,000. I am surprised to learn that we are not now spending much more. Can anyone explain this since the COL everywhere else has so increased ... would like to know.

Iron Mike, I wonder when the last time you visted a class room at CHS? I know you would be surprized by the quality of the course work, the caliber of the students, their respectull attitude and their overall achievements. Would you be surpized to know that Massachusettes ranks number 1 in the country for education, and that Chelmsford is a top district in Mass? I've read your incessent comments about students today, and how they cant read, write or make change; please dont compare the kids of Chelmsford to these exagerations. The constitution is taught as it was writen, Many CHS students compete annually in the We the People Program, where they research, write and face a pannel of experts to defend thier research. The high school offers advance classes in Math, Science, English, History. Our Science team competes against the best in the State and is successful. I think you would be surprized by the number of students who take calculus and advanced calculus at the high school. Our students also attend top Universities, and many get accepted at all the schools where they apply. We are exceptional in that we still have music and art, plus we have an exceptional athletic program. We are not a rich community, and we have financial challenges; our students have made sacrafices that others do not. Please take a moment to realize what our programs really are.

I would also add that the parents and citizens of Chelmsford should be very proud of our students. They have a fantastic reputation for being respectful; when they are representing Chelmsford they are dressed appropriately and conduct themselves well. This is from all levels - comments from musuem field trips to athletic events to accademic competitions. We are doing many things right in this town.

Mike: perhaps you could explain to us in dissertation format, with a source reference appendix, to support your work and conclusions ,using the scientific method (1) the concepts and utilization of heteroscadasticity, t-tests and auto-serial correlation in multiple regression and econometric modeling analysis, and (2) java coding techniques as applies to implementation dependencies in client server environments.

My final comment, Iron mike; why dont you take the Advance Placement Government test along side the CHS students,and see how your results compare to them, or the national results? Or perhaps you would like to take the SAT subject test in American History and see how you do compared to our students,and students accross the country. I'm glad you love history, and the constitution , but please dont believe that the students of today do not also love and respect our country and its' history.

Any chance we can see Mike's history test? I'd like to see how many I could answer.

VERY INTERESTING DISCUSSION. My three sons graduated from Chelmsford schools, are achieving significant success in their chosen careers. But this is just one family. Iron Mike and I may find ourselves agreeing on many things, but before you start throwing stones at the superb job being done in the Chelmsford schools, let's calibrate your current knowledge with our students by a common yardstick. Take the SATs and your desired science and language and history achievement tests. Then we will have an unbiased comparison of your wealth of knowledge with Chelmsford students. That seems fair, doesn't it.

All: hate to burst everyone's bubble, but an academic comparison of a sixteen year old HS student's knowledge and that of a 70 year old, who has had 5 decades to absorb a plethora of information and training is not a valid comparison.

Another observation: notice how some here attempt to side track us into tangential conversations not entirely having to do with the subject matter of the article and interject cheap political points that have no relevance, but promote a political agenda .
Vivian: take my test ; Mike won't.
Another observation: when the Russians, Chinese, and Indians ground swell us in the field of nanotechnology and other space and science endeavors because their governments sponsor, subsidize, fund and intervene in their education process we can all look back at Mike's trivia test

Mike, I'm am glad you love history and have lived through it. But the world of today is a very different place than the one you grew up in. Computers, medicine, communications, robotics, advanced materials, etc are all quite vital to the success of high school graduates. I'd posit quite more so than random historical trivia, at if you expect them to get and hold a job in the modern world.
Are you conversant with the differences between x86 vs ARM processor architectures and why you should use one vs the other? What are the merits of GSM vs CDMA vs LTE and why is the US about the only country with all 3? What does HTML stand for and why is it important? What is the current HTML standard? What are prions and how are they different than viruses? Why does this matter?
I could go on, but you get the point: one person's vital knowledge is very likely someone else's random trivia.

Hi Vivian:I'm curious about the last paragraph of your above reply. I know it's off subject. But whenever the "all things to all people" analogy is brought up, no one ever gets to the second level of thought and rests just on that generality. Let's go further.
Tell me specifically what you want cut to" lessen the burden" because the country has been grapling with that for quite some time. Much appreciated and look forward to your kind and gentle response. Thanks again.

All good comments above, but how did it all get so political? I thought this was a statistical comparison, that's all. However, I am enjoying reading your responses and tho I could never even begin to answer many of the ?'s posed, I do think history is very important for it gives us clues to our future. Albeit, we are often doomed to return to and make mistakes over again, but we cannot say that we are not at least forewarned if we have knowledge of what happened in the past. I also think history lessons in school should be as primary as math and science, especially our own American history. My understanding is that not much emphasis is placed now on social studies and I do think that's a sad shame since I think it contributes to a well rounded mind. Does anyone know if they even teach geography anymore? So, you see where I'm going ... all of you make good points but I do not discount Iron Mike's targeting history as I feel it is important in overall development of contributing adult minds, which I believe we all want. And, Vivian, I agree with much of what you have to say. Jack, you are so correct, "one person's vital knowledge is very likely someone else's trivia." Could not agree more and wish I'd said that!

Vuivian: noticed you did not address 2 of the 3 biggest budget busters- Social Security and Medicare, but dwelt on the one that effects the poorest in society. No mention of corporate welfare and corporate tax loopholes either. How about needless defense spending - that is the most bloated federal budget item, armaments the military does not even want. Universal background checks would go a long way in preventing criminals from even applying for guns . Most illegal guns are secured thru straw purchase sales and passed on in states where the regulations are loose. Insurance for companies is a private matter. Notice that my list is to the left and your list is to the right. Lesson, compromise is needed but the Republicans , have not been willing, they admit that , brag about it, and that is why they lost the last election .
Let's, though, get back to the education statistics.

Not sure where my points lean, but yours are very true, too.

P.S. Tyler .. you are correct .. "... academic comparison of a sixteen-year-old HS student's knowledge and that of a 70-year old ... is not a valid comparison ... " because, in my opinion, the information is fresh and recently obtained by the student if the student does indeed have the benefit of good and useful instruction. That is the question I raise and what I suspect I-Mike is addressing ... just how much is taught of history, government, etc., etc.? I think it's very important, as I've already stated and I hope that you see the value of it as well.

Iron Mike, do you want to see some of the great things going on in the Chelmsford Public Schools? http://vp.telvue.com/preview?id=T01497&video=143359

Iron Mike seems angry and bitter in tone and NOT at all RESPECTFUL of those with different views (political or otherwise)!

I hope the school kids in both Westford and Chelmsford are being taught that just because someone has very different views doesn't mean it's acceptable to belittle their views or intelligence and the President of the US deserves respect due to the office he holds (without standing with signs on street corners come election time spouting racist comments when folks engage you in conversation)

Mike,
Too bad you can't respect people who think different than you and resort to paranoid sounding rants 'treason' 'communist' (here is a trivia question for Mr History: what's the difference between Socialism and Communism according to Marx since you seem to use them interchangeably)

Your comments back in November near the green in Chelmsford were also laced with racism. You want to deny you resent a Black Liberal reelected United States President and your Commander in Cheif?

Also, its 2013. News flash its not the world you grew upon anymore. Gays are open and being married like men and women, a black man is us president, and schools now teach traditional 'parent topics' like respect and sexuality (hetero and homo)

Ghost,
The difference between socialism and communism in not a trivia question. I know we all make mistakes and typos in these on-line postings on occasion, I know I do, but, your posting is full of mistakes. Maybe the schools should be doing a better job of teaching writing and grammar and leave the teaching of respect and social agendas to parents. That may be why we are falling behind the rest of the world and employers are horrified by the quality of writing with some of the kids coming out of schools "these days"

Ah, Tyler, I'm sorry if you are offended, it was not my intention at all. Fact of the matter is that you and I differ and while you think I chastise you, I think I am making conversation. The first comment herein, by I- Mike, asked specific ?'s re: what is being taught in schools ... interpreting his comment as political is your choice. True, however, he did become cantankerous as he usually does, but we have all come to expect that of him, have we not? Not a thing wrong, as I see it, if someone chooses to express their opinions. That said, I still do not see how this whole post requires political views by anyone ... note, I have not expressed my own. My original ? was about how is it that the per pupil cost has not risen in Chelmsford given the rise in costs everywhere else, including some salaries. Not that it matters extraordinarily, it just tweaks my curious nature and I'd still like to have an answer but doubt it can be given here. Truth is, I happen to agree with you that Math and Science are the subjects that rule the world but that doesn't mean we should not concentrate on what makes this country what it is, how it became what it is and how it all works. I think it's terribly important and should not be set aside or replaced.
Tyler, in thinking I attack you, you in turn become nasty to me and it hinders intelligent/respectful conversation. I would really like to call a halt to this behavior ... truce?

To know more about what is taught,and the quality of the programs tune in:
A message from CHELMSFORD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Chelmsford Public Schools announced today an ambitious new winter lineup of educational cable shows that combine a look inside the school department on Inside CPS, along with new comers - Literacy with Linda and Matthew with Matthew, as well as long-time favorites - Spotlight on Fine Arts and the Lions Pride. Highlights of the new schedule include an expansion of all daily airtime educational programming on CTM. The educational channel (CTM ED) can be viewed on Comcast 22 and Verizon 36.

Literacy with Linda – Daily 8:00AM, 11:00AM, 2:00PM, and 5:00PM

Math with Matthew – Daily 8:30AM, 11:30AM, 2:30PM, and 5:30PM

Inside CPS – Daily 9:00AM, 12:00PM, 3:00PM, and 6:00PM

Spotlight on Fine Arts – Daily 9:30AM, 12:30PM, 3:30PM, and 6:30PM

Lions Pride – Daily 10:00AM, 1:00PM, and 4:00PM

The announcement was made by Frank Tiano, Superintendent of Schools.

"We've got a lineup of shows that will really get people to sit up and take notice,” said Tiano. “With all of the great work happening in our schools, we thank CTM for giving our shows the kind of airtime they deserve.”

The Lions Pride is sponsored by the Chelmsford Rotary. For more information on the Rotary, please visit their website at http://www.chelmsfordrotary.org/

For more information on CTM (Chelmsford Telemedia), please go to http://www.chelmsfordtv.org.