Comments by jlundell

HMB High’s dropout rate soars under new reporting system

July 23, 2008
Steve Hyman: What would be interesting and would get to the root of the problem would be to interview students and teachers to find out why this is happening. Then we can find make adjustments and solve the problem. That, I think, is the real value of getting these numbers right. As long as they were being swept under the rug, there was little incentive to fix the problem. As the old B-school adage goes, you can't manage what you don't measure. I'm not too worried about focusing on the positive aspects;…

HMB High’s dropout rate soars under new reporting system

July 23, 2008
Again, Darin, that's the whole point: a change to the reporting method (presumably to a more accurate one) produced a big change in the reported data. And while the new method indeed represents "a different beast", our school district (and the rest of California's school districts) have been presenting the old numbers as the "dropout rate". I think it's safe to assume that we've had a substantially higher dropout rate than we've seen reported over the years. We can also agree that the rate is higher…

HMB High’s dropout rate soars under new reporting system

July 23, 2008
Well, Leonard, you needn't worry--saying that CUSD's dropout rate is as bad as California's or San Mateo's generally isn't saying anything particularly good about the district. Let me say a word about the "point" of the piece. The new dropout report method and the big jump in reported rates has been making a statewide splash. My intention was simply to look at the local specifics of the statewide story. If I were to editorialize, I guess I'd start with Kevin's observation, that the district has been…

HMB High’s dropout rate soars under new reporting system

July 22, 2008
Darin, That's why the chart is labeled *reported* dropout rate; see the first paragraph of the text, not to mention the rest of the article. I think it's fairly obvious that dropouts have been grossly underreported, and more so in this district than across the state. My understanding is that students who simply fail to graduate are not counted as dropouts. Perhaps Supt Gaskill can confirm. I'm sure there's variation from year to year, though overall Hispanic enrollment has steadily increased for…

Gay wedding business opens on the Coastside

July 22, 2008
Nero? Nero was a third-rate Christian basher, a piker compared to later *Christian* Christian bashers.

Gay wedding business opens on the Coastside

July 17, 2008
I'm with Mike. Coastside weddings are so, I don't know, Meg Ryan.

Opinion: “Major Restructuring” comes to Cunha Middle School

July 12, 2008
Barry writes, "It will be interesting to see who the faculty and parent reps will be," and indeed it will be. But isn't the choice of parent rep obvious? In view of the fact that improvement is needed most in the ELL and Hispanic subgroups, the district will surely choose a Hispanic parent for the AGB. How could they not?

Opinion: “Major Restructuring” comes to Cunha Middle School

July 09, 2008
Kevin, NCLB leaves the question of getting rid of school board members up to the voters. Of the two school board members whose seats are up for re-election this November, John Moseley voted to stay out of the AB1991 question, and Charlie Gardner dived in head first. The remaining three board members all voted to involve the school district in land-use politics, but are not up for re-election until 2010. Whether they intend to ask the voters to approve a parcel tax in November is an open question.

Letter: Fourth of July Spy

July 07, 2008
It was signed (mostly) on 'August 2.

Half Moon Bay negotiating its surrender in Sacramento

June 26, 2008
Remind me who recently wrote: I initially thought this bill was going to be easily defeated by the onslaught from all the environmental groups because they have historically been so creative/aggressive in pushing their agenda. But it was really a stroke of genius by the City to take the tact they did with HIGH priced lobbyists. Not only did they create a winning coalition but made sure everybody had to lay out their positions early so they couldn’t flip-flop later. This may set a new standard…

HMB’s AB1991 representative Lanny Davis joins Fox News

June 20, 2008
I see that the [status][1] of the upcoming 1991 committee meeting has changed from "postponed for a week" to "Hearing canceled at the request of author." Curious. [1]: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1951-2000/ab_1991_bill_20080618_status.html

HMB’s AB1991 representative Lanny Davis joins Fox News

June 19, 2008
Steve Hyman wrote, > Fox is by far the best and balanced > but I constantly flip between CNN, > MSNBC, PBS and local news for humor. > Limbaugh, Dobbs and O’Reily are very > informative than comes Hannity. > Savage, while entertaining, is over > the top and Oberman is a jealous sore > looser and is totally biased. (Just wanted to see that in print one more time; thanks, Steve, I owe you.)

Opinion: CUSD board loads, aims at foot, prepares to pull trigger

June 19, 2008
Thus Mr Farbstein: > If you’re an occasional Coastsider.com > visitor please realize these people’s > efforts help force CUSD to provide all > the recreational facilities for the > entire coast. They blame CUSD for > Coastside traffic problems and > virtually everything else. (That is, > whatever they’re not blaming CCWD > for.) And now they want to stifle > CUSD’s right to comment on something > that affects them? Ridiculous! Their > continued harping is detrimental to…

HMB High students win opportunities in science

June 16, 2008
Like Barry, I attended an NSF summer mathematics program, and it was a wonderful experience--most of all spending time in a classroom with a diverse group of motivated kids. Forty-odd years later I remember that summer vividly. Congratulations to the students involved, and kudos to the Lohmans and everyone else involved.

Pants on fire

June 14, 2008
Sylvan? Why all this promotion of a franchise tutoring outfit? Are you getting your 3%, or getting paid by the plug?

Pants on fire

June 14, 2008
Steve Hyman wrote, "Its getting so hard knowing who to believe these days. There’s the Truth Squad, liars of the Coastal Commission and our own home grown Chicken Little crowd." I don't have a difficult time reading that at all.

Pants on fire

June 13, 2008
"Didn’t she also vote, in 2000, AGAINST Beachwood?" I think she had her fingers crossed. Or at the very least mis-voted, in a not-forthright manner.

Another bill to exempt developer from the law submitted to Assembly

June 13, 2008
"How about the fact that the City and their team of high priced lawyers took the time to dissect the CCC statements and compare them to previous ones. Therefore the mis-statements." Come on, Steve, show a little personal initiative and name one specific "lie". (Yes, I acknowledge that you've said that "lie" was not "PC".) It's been three days now since you made the claim. Here's a hint: there's no shame in asking for help. Get a coach. You won't even have to admit it; just stand behind your claim.…

Another bill to exempt developer from the law submitted to Assembly

June 12, 2008
"And to answer your question about the mis-statements from the CCC, I am using info from our Mayor." Steve, you're the one who talked about the "liars of the Coastal Commission". Pointing fingers at Her Honor doesn't cut it. I see three possibilities, non of them particularly attractive. 1. You think that the CCC is lying, but you're not prepared to cite even one specific lie. 2. You don't think the CCC was lying. That would explain your inability to cite a specific lie. Calling that non-PC badly…

Another bill to exempt developer from the law submitted to Assembly

June 12, 2008
"Growth is good." Why? How, for example, has growth helped Half Moon Bay over the last, say, 50 years? Is Main Street healthier? Traffic better? Granted, we have more gas stations and fast food outlets, and more stoplights, but I don't think I'd count any of those as a plus. What are we shooting for? Pacifica? LA? And for the record, I wouldn't ever say that all real estate salesmen are greedy people salivating over Beachwood. But Steve, about the example of a lie? When you find the time, just one,…

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