jackiedoherty.org

It’s funny, I’ve been thinking about the “Taxachusetts” label, especially after a reader used it in a comment (see “Stand gets a plug” below).  I heard that a lot as a kid, and when I was a teenager, my Libertarian parents left the state to escape taxes and liberal politics, relocating to Maine. In the Boston Globe on Friday, I read that for the second year in a row Massachusetts is ranked 28th in the nation in terms of local and state taxes as a percent of income. In New England, the tax burden is higher in every state except, predictably, New Hampshire. Ironically, Maine’s tax burden is among the highest in the nation, at 14%. Massachusetts, largely because of its flat income tax, comes in at 10.6%, but it will always be Taxachusetts to some.  It’s interesting how the label outlives the stereotype.

Yesterday’s Boston Globe featured articles regarding new security cameras on MBTA buses, promises from Governor Patrick for increased funding to combat youth violence, and a Supreme Judicial Court ruling that the identity of jurors be kept secret in gang-related murders. These changes are attempts to deal with the problems of gang violence. It’s no secret there have been several recent attacks that have been particularly disturbing and have brought the gang issue to the forefront again, but the truth is it’s been a problem for a long time and it isn’t going away anytime soon. The governor’s plan is to establish a statewide anticrime council and add $1 million for summer jobs grants. It’s not clear how much of this additional funding will make it to Lowell, but the city has made great use of the Shannon Grant, which is not in the governor’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year, but absolutely should be re-instated by the legislature. (Local reps are aware of the grant’s importance and seem committed to continued funding.) Worth more than $800,000 to Lowell for gang prevention programs, the grant was split between the police, the schools—who used it for truancy and family outreach—and youth providers such as UTEC, ONE Lowell, the Parks, and the Boys and Girls Club. 

Lowell’s Gang Prevention Task Force Advisory Board, which meets monthly, has developed its own set of actions—much of it the outcome of several Gang Prevention Summits over the last few years. On Monday, the board met for an update on City Manager Bernie Lynch’s plan to get more businesses to provide summer jobs for youth. Expanding job opportunities is one way to engage youngsters in positive activities, especially during the summer when there is often an increase in gang activity.  Using the Career Center to provide job training and other support to help teens become successful employees, the board’s goal is to get more businesses involved as partners in our community by providing them with tax and recognition incentives. Solving the gang issue requires strong collaboration—something Lowell is known for being able to do—and is the only way we will make headway with this complex issue.    

Governor Deval Patrick was in Lowell today to deliver the first $4 million in state funds for the new Nanotech Center at UML. As the photo to the left depicts, State Senator Steve Panagiatakos made welcoming remarks before Governor Patrick spoke. To Patrick’s left is Dana Mohler-Faria, his special advisor for education, and to his right is UML Interim Chancellor David MacKenzie. State Rep Kevin Murphy, chair of the Higher Education Committee, is shown in the far right photo.

 It was inspiring to hear the speeches about what a great opportunity the nanotechnology center will offer not only Lowell, UML, and the Merrimac Valley, but how it could very well be the catalyst of as Governor Patrick put it “one piece in an overall plan” to bring robust economic development to the state with far-reaching impact within the global marketplace. Why not have Massachusetts–specifically UMass Lowell–be the world center for nanotechnology research and product development? As inspiring as those words are for those of us who call this place home, I couldn’t help but think about our K-12 students and how we have had to downsize our science programs since 2003. We no longer have science teachers for our elementary students, who now receive science instruction from classroom teachers with little time to prepare experiments or do hands-on science work. At the middle school level, science has suffered time crunching to make way for more math and reading instruction. At the high school, a poorly equipped, limited number of science labs result in only a small percentage of students getting exposure to science experiments, and even for those students, it is in inadequate increments.

So, of course, when Governor Patrick asked if there were any questions from the audience, I wanted to ask. (I didn’t but I wish I had, and next time I will.) I should have asked because for me it was the elephant in the room that needed to be addressed: How will Lowell public school children have access to nanotechnology studies and the opportunities UML will offer if our science education is inadequate to prepare them to meet the challenges? What is the governor’s or the legislators’ plan to make sure our kids get the quality science preparation they deserve and that is required in the world we live in today? Just adding a science component to MCAS, which is all I’ve seen so far, won’t cut it.

I was thrilled to see Lowell mentioned in Sunday’s Boston Globe Magazine on March 25 as one of “The Hot Five” places for affordable real estate. However, a quick scan of the piece brought immediate disappointment when I realized the reporter, Kimberly Blanton, although complimentary about Lowell “becoming a cultural mecca” with a “beautiful old downtown area” also wrote: “Lowell’s school system is considered troubled by some, but its special education program excels, and St. Michael Parish School is a good private alternative. New parents might consider moving across the Merrimack River to Dracut for better schools and single-family homes under $300,000.”

Nothing against Dracut, but I can’t help wondering where Ms. Blanton got the information for her indictment against the Lowell Public Schools? Did she consider our high school graduation rate, which according to a recent state report, was about 10 percent higher than other urban school systems? Was she thinking of the fact, which was headlined in her own paper last fall, that Lowell was one of only three urban school districts that had 50% or more of its tenth graders score proficient or advanced on MCAS? Or could Ms. Blanton have been thinking about our Latin Lyceum Academy where our kids out perform most public high schools in the state? I know Ms. Blanton was not thinking of our athletics, band, and chess programs, just to name a few, where Lowell students have consistently achieved divisional, state, and even national recognition.

Ms. Blanton’s disregard for the many positive aspects of this district does a disservice to the people educating our youth and those whose children attend our schools. Facing the challenges any urban system must, Lowell schools are not perfect, but we make progress everyday in the quality of education our children receive. I, for one, am proud to have my children in the Lowell schools and to be part of an ongoing effort to be the best urban school system in the state.

 Imagine my delight as I prepare to launch my own site to discover two noteworthy mentions of other established blogs in the mainstream print media yesterday. The Boston Globe carried a story in its Sunday magazine about the blog Blue Mass Group, conducting an interview with founder David Kravitz that asked, among other things: “What are you getting that the mainstream media are missing? 

That seems to be the proverbial question as blog readership grows and more people, myself included, get on the blogging bandwagon. The opportunity to participate via the internet in multiple discussions and learn a variety of perspectives on current issues has huge implications on citizen awareness and activism. Although Kravitz took the humble road, saying he questions that his blog actually impacted votes in the recent governor’s race–even if it was showing close to 10,000 hits a day around election time—clearly blogs have become an important tool in the Information Age. By enabling average citizens access to a world of others’ opinions, as well as the ability to express their own opinions in a public format, there is a real shift in the power of the established mainstream media.

The Lowell Sun gave several inches of ink to Dick Howe’s blog in its Sunday Column, even going so far as to quote extensively from his comments regarding the 5^th Congressional District and implications of the early-out-of-the-gate campaign of candidate Niki Tsongas.  Excited as I am about this new tool for political discourse, which clearly adds pressure for established media to provide more balanced, accurate coverage (increased competition for one thing), I also can’t help wondering how will we find the time to read it all?