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I admit, yesterday’s Column struck me—kind of like getting punched in the gut—as the bullies sank to a new level of gleeful meanness. From the moment I stepped into the political arena, I promised myself that fear would not stop me from doing what’s best for Lowell kids. Throughout my two terms on the committee, I have stayed true to that promise although it has gotten me several media beatings, and I knew it might cost votes someday—maybe even an election. My own children knew it too. From the beginning, it was important to me that they understand the positions I take are based on what I think is right and not what others want. If it costs me an election, that’s okay: I would be home more nights with them, comforted by the knowledge I did my best. Being a good school committee woman, like being a good parent, is not a popularity contest; often, both jobs require taking a stand that makes some folks unhappy. During this campaign, I chose to support the superintendent during her highly politicized attempt to move the high school forward—again, because of our progress under her leadership, her right to pick her team, and because it was the best thing for Lowell kids. Column writers attempt to frame me as a loser for this, and perhaps to them, I am (“…finishing fourth this year after topping the ticket in 2005. Oh my!”). For me, standing by my convictions to improve our schools is never a loss. As we go forward, I will continue to speak and vote my convictions as a member of the Lowell School Committee. And no matter what they write about me, that is a definite win.

It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, which doesn’t bode well for voter turnout, although  the weather was perfectly fine two years ago and the turnout remained stagnant at around 25%.  Thinking about voter turnout and why people vote or don’t vote compelled me to look at the data for the last few local elections compared to that of 2004. As you can see below, in the last two local elections (2003 and 2005), voter turnout has remained at around 26% in Lowell, with only about 12,000 of the registered voters in the city bothering to vote. While the number of registered voters has increased since 1999 and 2001, the percentage who vote has actually gone down, who knows why? The really interesting contrast is between the local elections and the presidential election of 2004.  Imagine if 30,000 people turned out to vote tomorrow! 

         Turnout        Registered       %

1999   14300        44431             32

2001    14708       45381             32

2003    12222       47048             26

2004     29148      48405             60

2005     12653      47484             27

Jackie and I took advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend to knock on some doors and distribute our campaign handout.  As always, this activity, though daunting at first, is the most energizing and rewarding part of campaigning.  Walking in neighborhoods, meeting people on their doorsteps or out in their yards doing fall clean-up, hearing compliments and complaints – is really what’s important in a campaign, and the benefit of running for election every two years is that Lowell politicians can’t get too out of touch with their constituents.  After nearly three hours of walking on Saturday, our feet hurt, we were chastised for interrupting the Notre Dame Football game and our own yard work was left untouched; however, we felt that we were doing what needed to be done – talking to voters about Jackie’s work on the Lowell School Committee and the progress being made by our schools.  It’s not easy to ring a stranger’s doorbell, but most people are friendly and receptive, and like a lot of difficult things, it feels good to have done it.

Working on our campaign handout, Jackie and I spent several hours at her kitchen counter this afternoon, trying to state succinctly (in ten words or less) the evidence that Lowell schools are making significant progress.  At one point, I was ready to give up; it was too much to try to state the action that the school district had undertaken as well as the result achieved all in one short sentence.  Well, Jackie is nothing if not persistent, so check out these stats:

•  MCAS scores improve an average of 10%—double that of the state
•  Grade 3-8 reading interventions move 44% out of at-risk category
•  Math focus leads to 14% more sixth-graders meeting state standards
•  Flexible grouping challenges middle-school students to excel in algebra
•  English language learners exceed state average on proficiency test
•  Timeline for identifying special needs children improves by 25%
•  Freshmen absenteeism drops by 18%; course passing rate up by 14%

Some people say that it doesn’t matter what you write on a political piece, that no one reads them anyway. I hope that isn’t true, but if you should happen to see our handout (with distinctive purple touches, of course), you’ll know what a lot of work went into it!