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This got a little lost in the furor over the superintendent search, but Wednesday night was Kevin McHugh’s final meeting after 10 years on the commitee. LTC had put together a fine video of appreciation which was shown at the beginning of the meeting and which included kind words from his colleagues on the board, as well as top school department officials, including Dr. Baehr and Deputy Superintendents Jean Franco and Anne Murphy.  Kevin’s son sat next to him at the meeting, witnessing his father’s final votes, speeches and motions.  It was nice to see since obviously Kevin’s service on the committee must have had a huge impact on his family – all those Wednesday nights out, sub-committee meetings and events that elected officials must attend.  One can only say a heartfelt thank you to those who choose to serve the community in this manner, especially when their motives are simply to contribute their best efforts for the good of the school children and families of Lowell.

The city council chambers were pretty full for a snowy evening in December as concerned citizens attended the last school committee meeting of the year.  The issue that brought people out tonight was the stymied process for finding a new superintendent of schools.  Several Stand for Children members spoke first, all urging that the job opening be posted immediately so as to take advantage of the school vacation break in order to attract the most qualified pool of applicants.  They also requested that parents, business leaders, educators and other representatives of our diverse community be given a voice in the selection process. They were supported by Victoria Fahlberg, Executive Director of OneLowell, and Anita Downs, chair of the Citywide Parent Council.  Connie Martin stated that, by not immediately posting the job description, “we are handicapping the school committee, the district and our future.” As Kevin McHugh put it, this is just Step 1 of the process, it’s not step 3 or 4.  It was Mr. McHugh’s last meeting and he spoke strongly about his “disappointment with the political maneuvering” (see previous post) that had delayed the process.  After some discussion, the motion by Connie Martin to immediately post the position was passed with only Regina Faticanti voting against.  

A timetable for the selection process was also approved.  The timetable calls for the search to close by February 1, and a new superintendent to be selected by April, which reaffirms the majority position that time is of the essence.  In early January (possibly at the January 9 school committee meeting), the committee will ‘deterimine the composition and role of a Blue Ribbon/Advisory committee. This provision will allow community input as the candidates are interviewed.   Parents with whom I spoke after the meeting were concerned with how this committee will be set up and how diverse it will be; however, at least the first step, that of advertising the provision, will have been taken.   

I hope everyone is enjoying the snow today! It’s nice when these blizzards hit on a weekend; however, I guess whether it helps the Patriots or not remains to be seen.  In any case, out-going city councilor Joe Mendonca is on UML Sunrise (91.5 fm) tomorrow morning at 8:32 am.  I know Joe from the Citywide Parent Council and his work on the School Committee, and I supported his city council campaign in ‘05 and ‘07. I’m sorry he didn’t get re-elected, but I guess three months on the council didn’t give people a chance to appreciate his low-key, but thoughtful and effective style. But listen for yourself tomorrow morning and hear what Joe has to say about the incoming council, issues he would like to see addressed and his future plans.

Both Bill Martin and Karla Brooks Baehr took the high road on the radio (UML 91.5) this morning in response to pointed questions about Lowell politics.  Martin maintained that whatever motives, political and/or personal, caused the delay in the superintendent hiring process (achieved through what he called “an obscure parliamentary move”), he didn’t sense that there was an attempt to try “to rig the process” for an insider candidate.  He regrets the loss of two weeks at what could be a prime time for school leaders to contemplate a career move, reasoning that the holiday vacation period would be a logical time for qualified candidates to think over their options and take a look around at what’s available.  He also agreed that the district will have to “up the payscale” to attract the right person.  No surprises there! I have to admit I was never a big fan of Bill Martin’s until this last term where he has shown real integrity and vision in a position of leadership, both on the council and on the school committee. I’m sure these qualities were there all along, but maybe not as visible. He’s really come into his own and I’m going to miss having him as our mayor. 

Both Martin and Baehr pointed out the recent successes in the district around hiring practices, new teacher training and test scores, while noting the challenges of our school population, some of which bear repeating constantly to critics of the administration:  Forty percent of our children who take the MCAS in English are non-proficient in the language, 75% receive free or reduced-price lunches – an indicator of poverty. Martin said that one of the things that impressed him about Dr. Baehr from the beginning was that she really wanted to come to Lowell, she wanted the challenges of the urban school system.  For her part, Baehr was more than generous in her praise of Lowell as a terrific city, a place where so many people care so deeply about the education of the children in our schools.  This was in response to what advice she would give to her successor about Lowell. I was thinking she might say, “watch your back,” but Karla Baehr is always classy, always forward-looking. I’ve said all along that we were lucky to have her in Lowell, and I wish her the best of luck in her next endeavor (hopefully as our new Commissioner of Education).

Tune in tomorrow morning to 91.5 FM UML Sunrise for two important segments regarding the Lowell Schools.  First, at 7:05 a.m.,  Mayor Bill Martin will speak about “his stymied proposal to begin a search for a new superintendent.” Then, at 7:32 a.m., Superintendent Karla Brooks Baehr will be on the air for the regular “education update.”  I’m sure the focus tomorrow morning will be on her future plans and the future of the Lowell School system.  It should be an interesting morning.

Dick has an interesting post today, titled “An Appointed School Committee.” His title was meant to get our attention, which it does, but the focus of his post is more about Lowell’s appointed-mayor system of government and its impact on our schools rather than actually looking at not electing our school board. While reading it, I couldn’t help thinking about a letter Margaret had published in the Sun a few years ago that touches on the same issue. Even though some of the players have changed since then, the notion still surfaces in certain quarters and revisiting her thoughts on it is worth a read.

Governor Deval Patrick will hold a public meeting at the Stoklosa Middle School, 560 Broadway, at 6:30 tonight to discuss his vision for the future of our public schools. The governor will specifically address the goals of his Readiness Project with a focus on expanded time for teaching and learning. This is an opportunity to learn about the Governor’s education priorities, which will impact the district’s programs going forward. Tonight’s discussion on expanding the school day is especially timely here in Lowell because we currently have a state planning grant specifically on that issue. Please join us at tonight’s meeting as a show of support for how important good public schools are to the city, and as a way to learn firsthand the Governor’s vision for the future education of our children.  

I was once advised “never let yourself get too up or down in politics.”  Good advice, but hard to take.  For incumbents who lost a seat, for challengers who didn’t make it, even for myself (less votes than the last election), the day after can be tough. There is comfort, however, in knowing that you had the courage to run, the commitment to work hard to achieve your goal, and the willingness to be an active player in the most important part of our democratic process. Thanks to all the candidates who ran and congratulations to those who got elected. Novelist and poet Barbara Kingsolver puts it in perspective this way: “Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work that goes on, it adds up.”

And so, I am grateful to be re-elected to the Lowell School Committee to continue the daily work of improving our schools. Thank you to all those people who donated to my campaign, gave me lawn sign locations, held signs at the polls in the cold and rain, and encouraged me every day in so many ways. Most importantly, thanks to every citizen who braved the weather yesterday to vote for me. Thank you for the opportunity to serve our community in this way. I am as determined as ever to continue to be an outspoken advocate for our children and to build on the progress we’ve made toward excellent schools.

Please vote! The polls are open from 7:00 am – 8:00 pm; if you need to find out where to vote, see the map of polling locations on the city website.

The canvassing, mailing, advertising and strategizing are done.  The final task of campaigning remains, which is to stand out at different polling locations, holding-or more likely, leaning on a sign, greeting voters and trying to stay warm. Whether this type of poll visibility does any good or not is a matter of opinion. Before I got involved in politics, I did not enjoy having to walk a gauntlet of sign-holders, avoiding eye contact and feeling rather embarrassed for those people who felt compelled to force their opinions on the ordinary citizen who was just trying to vote in peace. Now, that I am a seasoned campaigner, I am one of those embarassing people and I know what it’s like to stand out there for 6 or 8 hours at a stretch.  I now appreciate the hard work, dedication and zeal of these folks.  These days when voting, I make a point to say an encouraging word as I pass by.  (Similarly, I always wave and beep my horn at sign-holders standing at busy intersections, whether I am for the candidate or not.) So, spare a nod and a smile for the cold and hungry campaign workers and candidates who hover near the polls and, if I may give a final plug for our favorite school committee candidate – I hope you’ll remember the hard work, dedication and zeal that Jackie has brought to her work on the committee day in and day out for the last four years (and in the 5 years previous as a parent volunteer). She’s Number 25 on the ballot–let’s continue the progress we’ve made and support excellent schools in Lowell!

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