The Village Skeptic Blog
3 Reasons Why Everyone Should Care About Their School Board [Updated]
“Oh, I don’t have any kids in school.” By far, that’s the most common response I hear when I introduce myself to folks as a candidate for Board of School…
Union Leader Endorses Jon DiPietro for School Board
“If Manchester voters want anything to change in the city’s schools, they are going to have to make it happen at the ballot box.” “In Ward 6, Jon DiPietro would…
Manchester School District Survey Results
I July and August, I conducted a survey of Manchester residents, asking them about Manchester School District issues. This article presents the results of the 175 responses to that survey….
Why Comparing Manchester to Surrounding Towns Is Misleading
It’s a common criticism from many politicians and activists: Manchester spends less money per student than any other district in the state of New Hampshire except for one (159th out…
Students and Teachers Get Some Relief. Finally.
The full Board of School Committee met on Aug-14 and approved a recommendation to standardize the districts standardized testing. That’s not a misprint: For years, the Manchester School District’s formative assessments…
The Heartbreaking Cost of Over-assessing Our Kids
In 2014, a Manchester elementary school teacher was in so much anguish, she felt compelled to speak out. The source of her angst was the excessive amount of assessments teachers…
Regarding the State Board of Education’s Review of Common Core Standards
Today, I appeared before the State Board of Education in Concord to offer the following testimony during public comment: I took time away from my business this morning to drive…
Non-academic Surveys and the Myth of Anonymity
Many school districts are partnering with universities, think tanks, and non-profit organizations to administer non-academic behavioral surveys to students. These surveys ask very personal questions including but not limited to…
Twitter Bots and Opinion Manipulation
(Hour 1c) 
Rich spoke to Jon DiPietro of Liberty Digital Marketing for Web Savvy. Jon started by explaining about the brain chemistry, before talking about a new study