jackiedoherty.org

I was using an old website for Congresswoman Tsongas and couldn’t figure out why it didn’t seem up to date. Here’s the proper link
A friend forwarded to me Congresswoman Niki Tsongas’ email update, called “Congress in your In-box.” I learned what Niki had been up to lately, especially that she had been in Lowell visiting the schools with our new Super. She heard from teachers about the demands of No Child Left Behind and summarized her findings:

The law was also supposed to provided additional funding over subsequent years as standards and expectations increased; however, the federal government has not provided the resources that the law promised for the succeeding years. These funding increases called for under the Act were intended to keep in step with the increase in targets for student performance. As a result of the lack of funding, schools are often unable to meet student learning standards required by the law further compounding the problem it was intended to address.

In other news, Niki recognized the efforts of ONE Lowell to help decrease truancy among ethnically diverse high school and middle school students, achieving improvement in 76% of their cases so far this year. From Niki:

Earlier this week, I was pleased to announce that the Department of Health and Human Services had awarded a federal grant in the amount of $93,397 to ONE Lowell in support of their efforts.

It is great to hear that this organization is getting the funding and recognition that it deserves. This is truly how we stop leaving children behind, rather than through unrealistic, unfunded mandates.

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I’m one of the lucky ones. I’ve had health insurance my whole life and never really needed it—until now. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated being able to go for annual physicals and have my insurance cover the costs minus a co-pay. I also took advantage of preventative care that enabled regular doctor and dental visits for my children, and any labs or x-ray work required. But we were healthy, and the benefit simply offered peace of mind. This summer, however, all that changed. My child needed two tests, a PETscan and a CATscan, that without insurance would have cost us nearly $10,000, and that’s just the beginning.  When you’re facing a health concern, the last thing your family should have to worry about is the cost. Yet, it’s the first medical form you’re required to complete: Who is the party responsible for payment?!

Over the last few weeks, the Boston Globe has published several stories on how more Mass. residents have health insurance since the state made coverage mandatory. Based on a state report, an August 20 article noted that 439,000 of an estimated 600,000 uninsured residents are now enrolled in some plan—although federal payments of $11 billion over the next three years are vital for its continued success.  A later article claimed errors in coverage resulted in hundreds of patients losing insurance erroneously. And yesterday, the Globe reported on a national census regarding average health insurance coverage from 2005-2007. The federal report from the U.S. Census Bureau lists Texas as having the highest uninsured rate at 24.5%, and Massachusetts, at 8.3%, as one of the lowest. Can you imagine the horror of a loved one needing an expensive test, medication, or treatment and having to mortgage your home or go into deep financial debt to pay for it? For nearly one quarter of all Texans that could be their reality. For even one family to face a situation like that is unconscionable. From my new vantage point as someone currently embroiled in a high-stakes ride through our healthcare system, it’s become crystal clear that health insurance, like freedom of speech and public schools, should be an unalienable right.

Well, now you can find out. As the parent of a too-soon-to-be driver, I was thrilled to read in yesterday’s Boston Globe about a new program “Steer Straight” that provides parents with a way to monitor their teen drivers. Created by two moms, it is modeled after commercial-driver programs that use bumper stickers asking “How is my driving?” and a call-in number to report inappropriate commercial drivers. Since car accidents are the leading cause of death in young people, the notion of checking up on your teen’s driving habits with a similar program makes sense. The bumper stickers for Steer Straight read “How is my teen driving?” along with a phone number and vehicle-identification number a caller uses to report the driver. The call is taped, and the information relayed to the teen’s parents via a call-in center. The program, which costs $99 a year, provides parents with two bumper stickers and access to the call-in results. For inexperienced drivers, it’s an incentive to take care on the road, and for worried parents, some peace of mind. Months ago, I wrote a post about the crackdown on young drivers and specifically a friend’s teen who received harsh punishment for going eight miles over the speed limit on city streets (a 90-day license suspension, two classes, a $500 reinstatement fee, and other fines). The Steer Straight program, although not necessarily punitive (depending of course on the reaction of the parents), is a small price to pay for safer driving. Now wouldn’t it be great if we could get a break on the excessive under-25 insurance rates too?

In 2003 when I first ran for school committee, the local paper spent the previous year publishing quasi-news stories and editorials centered around two basic themes: the school committee is failing the community because of the teachers’ raises and we should change to an appointed board. Sound familiar? At that time, as an outspoken member of the Citywide Parent Council, I was confused by the vehemence against the board and disappointed by the lack of balanced reporting of the challenges facing our schools. I was also uncomfortable by the silence of the committee, and so began my own journey of letters to the editor, running for office, and eventually this blog. (As we have all seen, taking on an entity that buys ink by the barrel is not without consequences.)

Meanwhile, the drum roll for an appointed school committee continues: Fewer people are running, the leaders are not held accountable, people are not voting, voters are not paying attention etc. Aside from the fact that an appointed committee will not do one thing to improve these concerns—particularly voter apathy and sophistication, which is another reason why excellent schools are an absolute necessity—I cannot get beyond the simple question of who will do the appointing and how will it ensure accountability? Instead, I fear we will end up with an appointed board of connected politicos with agendas that will not be held up to public scrutiny.

There is an area, however, in which the paper and I agree: the lack of people running and voting is alarming. In a post last week, I mentioned how less people are running for school committee, which is true of most elected seats these days.  In www.richardhowe.com Marie wrote about this fall’s state elections, “Senators Panagiotakos and Tucker, Representatives Golden, Nangle, Garry, Miceli, Finegold and Tucker have no primary or Republican opposition.” (my bold) Yes, our democracy is in crisis, but appointed boards are not the answer. In the end, we get the government we deserve, and that means fighting to keep democracy alive rather than hastening its demise.

Thanks to Lynne’s help, we know have video capability!

That’s how many people had watched The Last Lecture by Professor Randy Pausch on YouTube as of last night when I saw it. I’m sure many people know about this already, since the original lecture was given last September, but if you haven’t seen it yet, you should. Pausch died on July 25th, but he left us much to ponder.

(I wish I could embed the video, but haven’t figured out the technology yet…)

Times were bad in the Merrimack Valley when we bought our house in Lowell in 1992. My husband got a job with Wang, and they declared bankruptcy the week we were to close on the house. We had money down and couldn’t back out of the deal. The housing market continued to slide after we bought, the house was uninsulated and cost a fortune to heat, downtown Lowell was rather grim and empty, we were insecure about the quality of the public schools, and so on. Well, in the last 16 years, we’ve seen housing values rise (and start to fall again), our son went through the Lowell school system and is now in college, Wang is gone but we’ve survived (despite a wild ride on the dot-com rollercoaster), and downtown Lowell has undergone a remarkable renaissance. One thing I remember about our early days in the house (besides sitting in patches of sunlight on the rug to stay warm in the winter) is the way people would come around on trash day, sifting through the recycling for returnables or scavenging through the trash for something of value. Gradually, as times improved through the nineties and beyond, that sort of activity diminished, but now I’ve noticed it again – lots of cars and vans circling the streets on Friday mornings, checking out the recycling bins and picking up the odd bit of furniture or scrap metal from the side of the road. While talking to a friend at a local financial institution, she remarked that for the first time in 15 years, they’ve had to hire a collections person to follow up on borrowers who have fallen behind on loan payments. Another troubling story showed up in the Globe Northwest Weekly section on Sunday: people who can no longer afford to care for their pets are dropping them off at the Lowell Humane Society. According to the animal care supervisor, Lisa Forbes, “there has been an influx of surrendered pets requiring medical attention.” (An anonymous donor has sponsored a matching gift program to help care for these animals). The foreclosure rates, the sliding stock market, the endless war, the rise in gas and food prices fill the headlines and the tangible effect of these forces can be seen all around us. These are sad signs of the times indeed.

Okay, I admit it, you have to be a little crazy to want this job, but you can make a real difference in our community and impact the education of 14,000 children—meaningful work, sometimes 3-4 nights a week, for a whopping $6,000 a year. The biggest risk? Repeated written floggings in the local newspaper. (Warning: articles, editorials, and columns can be vicious, but no physical harm results unless you count wrenching your shoulder while flinging the newspaper across the room.) The value of an elected school committee is that we are accountable to the public, and every two years, we must stand before our community and ask voters for their support. Has education improved under our leadership? Has the welfare of children been our primary focus? The problem is each term less people choose to run. One theory is that it’s scary and a lot of work to put your name on the ballot and run a good campaign, which is true (more on that in a later post). Another reason, of course, is the way certain media leaders will treat you. Depending on how malleable you are to their will, they may be fair for a minute if you stay in line and they don’t see an opportunity to improve circulation at your expense. But if you are a person who follows your own convictions, expect to get barrels of ink thrown your way with little regard for truth, logic, or fairness. I’m not talking about simply disagreeing with a position or a particular vote—that’s expected as a healthy component of a democratic society. I’m talking about relentless, repetitious negativity that borders on obsessive. Now some might argue, who in their right mind would submit themselves to that kind of abuse and why would they? Well, I’ll have to get back to you on that.

I’m honored to be an elected member of the Lowell School Committee and serve my community.  But that’s what it is: community service. My passion for excellent schools, my teaching experience, and my willingness to speak out and work hard to better educate our children are qualities that make me good at the job. I have no other agenda.  Come election time, voters will have the opportunity to demonstrate whether they believe my efforts have made a difference or not, and that’s fine with me.

Regarding the assistant superintendent vote that has caused me excessive, repetitive trashing from our local paper (more than a month of articles, editorials, and columns; four days this week alone), what is the motive behind all their ink?  The leadership at the paper will tell you they want excellent schools, but they do not want to pay for them, nor are they willing to acknowledge when the schools make progress.  Instead, they gleefully headline the challenges and social problems that impact the education of our children and claim it is all the schools’ fault, while bashing us for attempting to keep quality leadership as if it doesn’t matter. They will tell you they protect the taxpayers’ interests, but they do not provide objective, balanced, or even accurate reporting.  As Dick Howe writes here, they even continue to trash former Supt. Baehr because she wouldn’t kowtow to them.  (Count me in that category as I have been consistently ink whipped since being ungrateful for their endorsement last fall.) They have also been exceptionally critical of City Manager Lynch—expelling reams of paper about his contract extension and emphasizing negative stories but not once mentioning he hasn’t taken a raise or providing fair coverage of the many positive results of his leadership—all because of a personal friendship with his predecessor.  

Our media leadership has forgotten the ideals of the fourth estate, and this is a disservice to our community. Maybe they’re tempted to heighten conflict and sensationalize news to combat declining readership, but blatant abuse of the power of the press to punish some, protect others, and promote your own agenda is unethical and harmful. (Too bad they can’t be voted out.) Then again, if they had their way, we’d have an appointed school committee to increase accountability and voter interest. Right. Any guess who would want to do the appointing?

The Democratic Convention was held on June 7- a beautiful, hot Saturday. I spent the whole morning shivering in the air-conditioning, listening to speeches, waiting to vote and especially waiting to see Jackie graduate from the Emerge program. (Emerge is a program to educate, support and inspire Democratic women who want to run for elected office.) Jackie and her fellow-graduates, including one other from Lowell, were recognized for their seven months of workshops and seminars they attended and for successfully completing the Emerge curriculum which includes trainings in public speaking, fundraising, media skills and networking. From what I could tell, it was a rewarding experience for all involved. By this time, we were ready to get out into the sunshine, but were literally halted in our tracks by the final speaker, Van Jones. He is a man with a message and since I had been thinking about the connection between high school dropouts and our prison population, I was particularly interested in his call for a solution to social inequality as well as environmental destruction (reminds me of one of Karla Baehr’s “twofers”). He founded an organization, Green for All to “help build an inclusive, green economy.” His slogan is “green-collar jobs, not jails.” He has had some success in building support for his mission: in 1996, he co-founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights which promotes alternatives to violence and incarceration; in 2007, he worked with Democratic leaders to pass the Green Jobs Act of 2007, while at the local level, he helped the City of Oakland, California create a “Green Jobs Corp.” I’ll be waiting to hear and see more of this guy!