" Lets start with getting rid of that extra week off for Christmas...sometimes the answer is so obvious! "

" You know, too many parents don't want to be parents and deal with their own kids. Don't like the extra time off at Christmas? Run for School Board and change it. But don't blame poor educational standing on it. "

" I don’t really think the extra week for Christmas is the hinge pin for a lack of academic achievement, although that issue does not help either. The key is parental involvement. Has anyone read the book or seen the movie Eragon? That was written by a home schooled boy (15 years old, I think). He was not the beneficiary (or victim) of some elaborate school board scheme, just the product of a back to basics approach to education with a lot of parental support and encouragement. Mr. Hurtado commented that he has seen plans come and go during his career. I gather from this article that NVUSD must be consistent with the way it has done things since I was at Westwood Elementary in the early 1960s. Plans are half way implemented and doomed to failure, and the kids end up being the ones that pay the ultimate price of a messed up education. We are always told how first impressions are the most important, and this is true with education. If a child is dragged through some half hearted implementation of an educational program with concepts that really don’t work, that child will still carry much of that lesson throughout the rest of their life. I know because this was done to me and it took more than ten years to undo the damage. Perhaps Napa should take a look at what Roseville California is doing. Roseville has some of the best schools in the nation. "

" Let's start with booting the liberal management...we have tried liberal public schools since the 1960s, and they have been going downhill since! "

" When my boys were in school, NVUSD came up with the bright idea to get rid of phonics instruction. Their reading skills were drastically impaired. I railed against the "whole language" method until the teachers would run away from me when they saw me coming. The District finally re-instated phonics instruction, but not until an entire generation of students had been impacted. I can only imagine what hair brained schemes they are cooking up now... "

" The only way one could get rid of "liberal management" in our schools would be to let the uneducated run our education system. It's not a coincidence that a lot of people "in education" are liberal. An education will do that to people. "

" Take a look at the schools that were highly rated. In each case the parents are actively involved in the classroom and on campus. When parents are actively involved the kids think its important and perform. The discipline problems go away and academic achievement florishes. Since the 60's parental involved has decreased. No wonder the school suffers. "

" Try getting rid of the ridiculous NCLB waste of time. "