"nslator" you have it all wrong. I know the Holyoke parents personally. The fact they had a choice meant that they could stay in Holyoke and not be forced move to a better school district. They love Holyoke, but they would have moved if choice was not available. That is what many families who can afford it do . Is it really in the best interest of Holyoke to have families that are looking for viable school options move out or never move in to the city in the first place? There is a reason why housing prices are so low in Holyoke compared to Northampton. That is because people move to where schools are best. Choice helps ameliorate that problem. ...(full comment)

Sorry that you feel your old school is under attack, but glad you don't vote in Northampton, because this letter is packed with inaccuracies about our mayor and the challenges he faces. Our city is getting financially squeezed from all directions, and has been for over a decade, and he's rightly looking for every potential source of waste. Two superintendents, two business managers, two sets of busses---that's waste we can no longer afford. Everybody is going to have to be willing to give up some of the old ways for the good of today's kids. ...(full comment)

Just a thought, but what if the city has an ordinance that limits the amount of time an individual can occupy a bench, just like they make ordinances that limits the amount of time an individual can occupy a parking space. ...(full comment)

Parents need to do what is best for their own children. However, school choice is negative for children as a whole. Look at this example: activist parents of children Holyoke took their children out of Holyoke schools. Those educated, activist parents are no longer advocating for improvements in Holyoke and the children left behind in Holyoke are worse off for it. Public schools are best when they are local and when the local communities are invested in them. With school choice that doesn't happen anymore. ...(full comment)

Bridge rd is simply RT 9A (truck route) --- it might as well be labeled that because with the famous low bridge downtown , E/W moving trucks have to take it . This isnt going to change soon so you better get used to it-- or move. Funny how that stupid roundabout isnt even well designed for the 53 foot trailers that take it regularly--- as if the great Noho planners couldnt admit the reality of the commercial traffic that has to use it , and just pretend it was to make things easier for cars going to Look Park. ...(full comment)

Amherst Regional High School is now 14-5 (not 13-7), with one game to be made up against Longmeadow. Asher Young has allowed 1 earned run in his last 29 innings pitched (against Agawam, Minnechaug, East Long Meadow, and Cathedral). For the record. ...(full comment)

The $1.2 million should be returned to the Hatfield taxpayers who built the schools and pay Robert's and others salaries. Instead we get a significant tax hike! Thank you Selectmen and Finance Committee! ...(full comment)

Put the benches back and the non-panhandlers should take them over. Sit down next to the bums and ask them to move their debris. The benches are for people, not shopping bags and cardboard signs. Also, perhaps they are already installed, but could the police and Mayor install security cameras? They work elsewhere and case law shows they are legal. Let's make the police's job easier and the public safer. ...(full comment)

Sorry, the reimbursement plan you quote is only in theory, not in fact: good intentions and regulations aside, DESE estimates that it would require $103 million to fully fund the state’s obligation to reimburse cities and towns for a portion of the Chapter 70 aid lost to charter schools, as required in the 2010 education reform statute. H. 1 included an appropriation of $80.3 million, but the Senate budget would fund the account at only $76.4 million. The Senate rejected an amendment to fully fund the state’s share next year at $103 million. ...(full comment)

Uninformed? Actually, the Northampton schools are not ever getting every last penny: DESE estimates that it would require $103 million to fully fund the state’s obligation to reimburse cities and towns for a portion of the Chapter 70 aid lost to charter schools, as required in the 2010 education reform statute. H. 1 included an appropriation of $80.3 million, but the Senate budget would fund the account at only $76.4 million. The Senate rejected an amendment to fully fund the state’s share next year at $103 million. ...(full comment)