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News, schools, and views from a uniquely Lowell perspective

If I could change just one thing…

Last night, I was watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and his guest, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. Spellings, who is not particularly popular with the National School Board Association (she was nearly booed off the stage by members at their January meeting in Washington), wasn’t doing much to impress me last night either. Her remarks focused on denigrating the quality of all public schools in the United States; and yes, I admit, I wasn’t comfortable with the national statistics she was spewing—half of minority students are not graduating in four years. This statistic, alone, is horrific when you consider today most people need some college or post high-school training to make a livable wage. Of course, Spelling was full of praises for No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the federal brainchild of her boss, although she did admit it could do with some tweaking, especially around being “more precise about measurement” and “growth models.” But I was still sitting uneasy with the unhappy reality of those stats when Jon, ever the comedian, attempted to add levity by asking Madame Secretary what she would do if she were the Education God and could change one thing. I stopped breathing as she paused and considered the question. Like a nanosecond slide show, my mind went through a series of potential answers before settling on what I felt was the one best change to truly impact educating our youth, and then the U.S. Secretary of Education spoke: “low expectations,” she said, “especially for minority students.” That’s it? That’s what she’d change? If she thinks simply expecting more is going to close the achievement gap, she needs to return to Earth. (I’m not saying low expectations aren’t an issue—particularly in urban districts where children may be ill prepared to learn.) But how about changing the socio-economic conditions of our children so that every child has a home, adult guidance, food, and healthcare? What kind of impact would it have on a child’s ability to do well in school if her parents weren’t working two jobs and still struggling to pay the rent? At the risk of sounding disrespectful, I need to say: It’s poverty stupid. End poverty and you will see better results in student learning. Well, anyway, that’s what I would do—if I were the Education God and could change one thing. 

posted in Education | 1 Comment

Wonder how our reps feel

How do our state legislators feel about the city manager’s proposal to cut about 8 percent from the city’s $21 million contribution to its schools—an amount, by the way, that is $4.5 million less than the city contributed 15 years ago? Well take a look at this clip of Rep. Kevin Murphy that was taken April 25 when our legislators met with Lowell members of Stand for Children, a statewide children’s advocacy group. In the clip, Rep. Murphy is responding to a question regarding the Municipal Aid Package that would enable cities to raise revenue without burdening homeowners, but his answer resonates with today’s school budget crisis. As Murphy states, “The city of Lowell’s commitment to public education falls short of where it should be. I was finally saying to my colleagues…we ought to be telling the City Council that they should step up to the plate. We’ve done as much as we can.” The school budget before the council today includes the state’s contribution of $115 million (up $4.9 million from ‘06) and asks the city to contribute the same $21 million as last year. After utilities, special education, salary adjustments, and health insurance increases, the schools netted an additional $1.7 million from the increased state aid–a number coincidently close to the manager’s suggested cut of $1.6 million. I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to bet when Murphy said “stepping up to the plate” he didn’t mean subsidizing city finances on the backs of our children’s education by taking state funding earmarked for the schools and using it for the city’s coffers.

posted in Education, Local Politics, Money Matters | 0 Comments

Is education a priority or not?

I listened to City Manager Bernie Lynch on WUML this morning, talking about the budget. He and Bob Ellis seemed to dispute the way “one school committee member” (and we know who that is) is describing the city’s proposed 8% reduction in school funding.

It’s the same old story. The state gives Lowell a lot of money for education (more than 85% of the school budget is state-funded and in past years it has been closer to 90%) and it is difficult to just let that money go to the schools.  Instead of looking at the city’s year-over-year contribution, which will be 8% (7.6 to be precise) less under the Manager’s proposal, Bob and Bernie are saying that the school budget is increasing, so it’s okay to cut the city’s contribution. 

The state legislators worked hard to make education a priority in their budget and in light of those increases, the schools did not ask for an increase in the city’s 2006 contribution of $21 million. The proposed reduction of $1.6 million represents a 7.6% decrease in the city’s contribution. Other city departments are not being asked to take cuts of that magnitude.

It’s important to realize that the city has an obligation to pay its fair share toward education. We already get at least 85% of our funding from the state, but that should not be seen as permission to keep reducing local funding for our schools (see Jackie’s post below for a breakdown of the numbers, but the city is now paying about $5 million less toward the schools than it did in 1992).  Basically, what the Manager is doing is taking away from the amount that the State allocated for education in Lowell. As I said, the legislators made a statement with their budget, that education is a priority in Massachusetts; what Bernie Lynch is saying with his budget is that it is not a priority in Lowell.

posted in Education, Money Matters | 0 Comments

Democrat convention yields unexpected results

Not sure what I expected from the Democratic Convention at U Mass Amherst today, but voting on three major resolutions wasn’t it. It was only my second convention as a delegate and my first during a non-election year, so I hadn’t given much thought to what was going to happen exactly. (There were many other newcomers there from Lowell who first became delegates, like me, to support Deval Patrick’s grassroots campaign.) During today’s convention, the Massachusetts Democratic Party voted to send three resolutions to Congress. All three passed, but I personally would have liked more time to research the issues before voting on them. For instance, the first resolution addressed the housing debt crisis. It seemed to be calling for a reorganization of our banking system and a freeze on delinquent mortgage debt. I understand that predatory lenders have caused record numbers of people to lose their homes, but this resolution seems about punishing all lenders. I’m also concerned with accountability on both ends. (Would love to have our Registrar of Deeds, Richard Howe Jr., weigh in on this one–hint hint.) The second resolution was to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney for deceiving the American people and Congress about Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction and relationship with Al Qaeda, and also for openly threatening Iran without them posing a real threat to the U.S. The third resolution called for complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within three months. I’d love to see us out of Iraq, but I’m concerned about the tight timeframe because I think we have a responsibility to deal with the mess we helped create there. In addition to voting on the resolutions, I heard speeches from Martha Coakley, the state’s first female attorney general, who was surprisingly funny with quips such as more »

posted in Local Politics | 3 Comments

Educational Forum reconvenes – Monday night

Monday, May 21, 7 pm, at the Robinson School will be the follow-up to the Mary Bacigalupo Educational Forum, hosted by the Citywide Parent Council. All are welcome!

I’m listening to UML Sunrise (91.5 FM) as Attorney Michael Gallagher and local Democratic activist Marie Sweeney explain the legacy of Mary Bacigalupo, who was a mentor, communicator, coalition-maker, advocate for children and all around great citizen of Lowell. The Mary Bacigalupo Educational Forum was created as a way to honor Mary and to keep alive the cause about which she was most passionate:  the opportunity for a quality education for all children, regardless of race, background or income level.  more »

posted in Education | 0 Comments

“Nowhere left to cut”

First of all, I want to say how much I appreciate the City Manager’s timely and transparent budget; available here, and you don’t have to pay $25 to see it! When did we ever see a city budget posted on the internet and available before June? Not in recent memory!

That said, I’m concerned that the Manager wants to cut $1.6 million from the schools.  The above statement, that there is “nowhere left to cut” came from a Lowell elementary school principal who says that there is literally nothing inessential that can be cut from the budget, nothing that won’t have a direct effect on the quality of education received by Lowell students. The only thing left is staff and supplies – every school trimmed staff in a series of trade-offs necessary in last year’s budget process and the supply budget has been trimmed repeatedly since 2003. According to the principal I spoke with, the cost of paper has doubled since then, but the funds allocated for supplies has remained level. Now, principals will be sent back to their schools to make more trade-offs and more outright cuts. The city budget will require 11 layoffs of city employees; a cut to the schools of this magnitude will likely mean a loss of more than 20 teachers.

With these types of layoffs, I’m afraid we will see class sizes increasing again in Lowell, after a sustained effort on the part of the superintendent and school committee to reduce class size in grades K-8 and protect these smaller classes through several tough budget sessions.  Small class sizes are key to student success; this would be a step backward for Lowell schools and a disservice to students and families in the school system. The schools seem to be bearing a disproportionate amount of the burden of our budget problem – let’s go back to the drawing board and try to share the pain a little more equitably.

 

posted in Education, Money Matters | 0 Comments

More about GLHA and Walking Wednesdays

I’m glad the Lowell Sun gave a thumbs up to the Lincoln School staff, students and volunteers who turned out in great numbers last week for the first ‘Walking Wednesday.’  They correctly point out that poor nutrition and lack of exercise are having an impact on children’s health. I have lately been hearing a chilling prediction from health experts that there is now, for the first time in this country and this century, a greater chance that parents will begin outliving their children because of these unhealthy habits.  more »

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Manager proposes 8 percent cut to schools

The state increased school funding for next year, and now it seems everybody wants to get their hands on it—everybody, that is, except for the children. Tonight in his budget proposal, the city manager recommended a $1.6 million cut in the city’s contribution to its schools. The school department based its budget on the city maintaining its contribution from last year, which was $21 million and represented 16% of the total school budget (state funding was $111 million last year). If the council approves the manager’s suggestion, the city will be decreasing its contribution to the schools by 8 percent. Cuts of this magnitude will not be absorbed easily and will require layoffs as well as severely hindering the district’s progress to improve the quality of education for the 14,000 children attending our public schools. 

During his address to the council tonight, Manager Lynch made a point of stating that his proposed budget will only require a 2.5% increase in taxes, while over the last five years, the taxes have increased about 6% annually. According to Lynch, his budget will cost taxpayers about $60 per homeowner. In addition, he said his budget will result in only about 11 layoffs for the city as well as some re-organizational changes. But why such a deep cut to the city’s already small portion of aid to its schools? (I haven’t seen the budget yet—it will be on the city’s website in the morning—but I bet other departments will not be cut 8%.) Look at funding history: As mentioned, the proposed school budget is based on the city contributing the same amount as last year: $21 million. Contrast that to the city’s contribution to its schools in 1992: $25.5 million—nearly five million dollars more—15 years ago! In 2002 and 2003, the city made its lowest contribution to the schools in over a decade: $12.7 million each year; and the schools still have not recovered from those cuts. (The state covered 90% of the costs for educating our children during those two years.) It is true that the state increased our chapter 70 allocation for schools by $4.8 million, making this year’s state contribution about $115 million, but $3.2 million of those funds went directly to pay for fixed cost increases such as more »

posted in Education, Local Politics, Money Matters | 1 Comment

LHS Job Fair

Happening by the High School last week, I found the annual job fair in full swing. I was impressed by the wide range of opportunities available for students, from fast food restaurants to banks and credit unions. UPS was there, as was Lowell Memorial Auditorium and the Boys and Girls Club.  In addition, there were several hundred students circulating, talking to prospective employers and filling out job applications, this despite the fact that it was an absolutely beautiful spring day, as well as an early release day. So, the students who attended actually came back to school for the afternoon event. Good for them!

The job fair is sponsored by LHS and Middlesex Community College.

posted in Education | 0 Comments

Obstacles to walking

Back in the 1960s about 48% of students walked or rode bikes to school, now the number is closer to 15%. Why? Well, in Lowell we have school choice, so that within a zone there are probably a certain number of students who live too far from their chosen school to walk.  However, I drove my child back and forth to middle school and we live less than 2 miles away. I know many parents who do the same, many of whom live even closer to the school than I do. Lack of sidewalks and crossing guards, and sidewalks that are covered with snow and ice in the winter make walking a risky business for young children. Part of the thinking behind the Safe Routes to School initiative and the Lincoln School’s Walking Wednesday program is to highlight some of these obstacles. On Wednesday’s walk, we ran into a prime example of one of the difficulties that walkers face.

Van on sidewalk squeezes students:

posted in Healthy Living | 0 Comments

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