Todd Gazda

Superintendent, Ludlow Public Schools

Stories by Todd Gazda

First lesson this school year must be civility

Education/ Opinion

First lesson this school year must be civility

As educators, we must teach respect for all

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THIS IS A busy time in public education as schools open their doors to once again be filled with energy and life after the annual summer hiatus. This is the time to leverage that energy while school staff are still fresh and invigorated. As a result, administrators are sometimes reluctant to address big, difficult or(...)

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Policy overload on fixing schools

Education/ Opinion

Policy overload on fixing schools

Education reform faces big disconnect between designers and doers

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When public policy goes one way and the premises of a culture go the other, you’ve got the formula for an unsustainable system of education. – Angus Campbell THERE IS CURRENTLY a disconnect between development and implementation of educational policy in the United States. When you speak with educators in the field it is evident(...)

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School funding fix needed

Education/ Opinion

School funding fix needed

State failing its constitutional obligation to public education

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PUBLIC SCHOOLS TODAY find themselves under a microscope and pulled by competing forces like never before. Education is a system in flux as it strives to institute necessary change in order to effectively meet the demands of today’s students and society. Change never comes without cost, be that time, money, resources, or personnel. These elements(...)

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Education must adapt to 21st century

Education/ Opinion/ teacher training

Education must adapt to 21st century

Teacher training and instruction need to change with times

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Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. – Malcolm X THE PAST 25 YEARS have seen dramatic changes in our culture and society. Twenty-five years ago the internet was in its infancy and we still considered our country invulnerable as the twin towers still stood  in(...)

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Time for school accountability reset

Education/ Opinion

Time for school accountability reset

With so much change in state tests, a fresh start is needed in 2017

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NOW THAT THE question of raising the charter school cap in Massachusetts has been resolved, at least for now, I am hopeful that we can begin to examine and discuss other necessary changes to our educational system here in the Commonwealth. I say this with a certain amount of trepidation, as it seems that every time those discussions arise the(...)

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Charter narrative gets story wrong

Education/ Opinion

Charter narrative gets story wrong

Inadequate resources the real problem at so-called "failing" district schools

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A narrative is like a room on whose walls a number of false doors have been painted; while within the narrative, we have many apparent choices of exit, but when the author leads us to one particular door, we know it is the right one because it opens. – John Updike AS THE CHARTER school(...)

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Time to put standardized tests to the test

Education/ Opinion

Time to put standardized tests to the test

True picture of school and district performance requires more than state assessments

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IT’S THAT TIME of year again. State standardized testing season is upon us. Across the Commonwealth students in grades 3 and up will have the opportunity to prove what they have learned over the course of this year through their performance on a standardized state assessment. At least, theoretically, that it is what these tests(...)

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Stop the attack on teachers and schools

Education/ Opinion

Stop the attack on teachers and schools

It's education "reform" policies, not educators, that are failing our children

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The beatings will continue until morale improves… -Unknown THESE ARE CHALLENGING times to be in education. Today, more than any other time in our history, education is in the national spotlight. Since the publication of a 1983 report by a commission established to examine public education in the United States entitled A Nation at Risk,(...)

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Educating the whole child

Education/ Opinion

Educating the whole child

Schools need the resources to tackle effects of poverty

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IT IS A brave new world for public education in this country as schools become a focal point for ideological battles where policymakers seek to shape the educational environment to one which standardizes the process for all students in an attempt to promote the concept of equity.  However, this system, fixated on standardized assessment and(...)

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Replacing No Child Left Behind an inadequate step in right direction

Education/ Opinion

Replacing No Child Left Behind an inadequate step in right direction

We have a long way to go to rid schools of the toxic testing culture

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                 It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge                  –Albert Einstein DURING MY PROFESSIONAL career in education, I spent a short time (a year and a half) as an elementary school principal,(...)

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