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They probably won’t be featured on the front page of the Lowell Sun tomorrow like some teen stories we read about. But if you were driving downtown this morning, you must have noticed the hordes of young people painting benches, parking meters, and railings along the canal, as well as raking, mulching, and cleaning. More than 300 Lowell High ROTC students committed to give two days of work in the downtown area as part of the group’s goal to achieve 20,000 hours of community service this year. Undoubtedly they’ll make that goal even though it’s the most ambitious yet. (Last year, they completed 15,000 hours of service.) Then again, this group has a proven success record in so many areas.

The ROTC program at Lowell High, which currently involves about 400 kids and grows larger each year, has a number of other successes. The largest ROTC program in New England, it is also considered one of the best by people in the know. Last fall, I met Colonel Gary Chilicott, whose job is to inspect ROTC programs in the eastern United States and in Europe. The colonel could not say enough good things about the Lowell program and its students. He told me that Florida may have larger programs due primarily to bases located near its schools, but none he’s seen could match Lowell for student diversity and quality programming. I believe him. The statistics alone tell part of the story: 98% of Lowell’s ROTC students go to college; many of them earning scholarships to do so. But the real evidence of the leadership and quality of our ROTC program comes with seeing the students in action: dressed in crisp, blue uniforms with young faces showing discipline and focus–whether they are raising the flag, marching, or standing proud–these students and the retired Air Force officers who teach them are some of the brightest stars we have, giving us a reassuring glimmer of our community’s future that often doesn’t get the notice it deserves.

Businesses don’t locate here because of our climate or our housing–the National Low-Income Housing Coalition ranked Massachusetts the second least affordable state in 2004. Employers come to Massachusetts because of the knowledge and work ethic of our people; yet, training skilled workers has not kept pace with market demand. Currently, there is a disconnect between available jobs and the number of qualified applicants for those jobs. According to the Workforce Solutions Group, a coalition dedicated to improving workforce development, there are 149,400 unemployed workers and 89, 296 job vacancies in Massachusetts. Our labor pool, except for our immigrant population, has been shrinking. Because many of these workforce training programs impact our youth and continued state funding is seriously at risk, I found myself at the State House again for the second day in a row. (This time I made the train and got to see the senator.)

As a member of Lowell’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness Jobs & Education Subcommittee, I attended an hour-long meeting with D.J. Corcoran, chief of staff for Senator Panagiotakos, and Rob Dolan from his budget staff, along with more than ten others who work in diverse areas of Lowell, including city government, the homeless shelter, the career center, the International Institute, and Middlesex Community College. I attended to express my concerns regarding level funding for Adult Basic Education—especially in Lowell where we have the largest and best adult ed program in the state as well as a waiting list of students. I was also concerned about funding for the School-to-Career Connecting Activities program, where many of our at-risk teens receive job training while working on MCAS remediation and GED preparation. When you consider that 30% of homeless people are at-risk kids and that the cycle of poverty often leads teens to crime, gangs, and violence—the opportunity to turn their lives around has a huge ripple effect on all of us through our tax base, our prisons, and our community. You can build a million nanotechnology centers, but if we can’t fill those jobs with the population we have (our own young people and job seekers), how does that strengthen our community? Without a skilled workforce, you will not have economic recovery.  

Today was the annual “Day on the Hill” for active members of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) as hundreds of us descended on the State House to learn about statewide issues impacting our schools, meet with legislators, enjoy an incredible lunch with them prepared by culinary students from all over the state, and advocate for changes in education formulas and funding. A popular gathering (not only because of the food, although I heard the only other group that delivers a feast of this magnitude is the lobster industry), the annual event provides committee members with information on legislation and budgetary issues that directly impact our schools as well as the opportunity for face-to-face time with legislators. Now those who know me, know, I can be found lobbying at all times and locations, whether I run into my state senator at the local coffee shop or I see my rep while serving lunch at the Senior Center—I am going to be tempted to pitch them for something. (I can’t help it. It seems wasteful not to.) But it is different at the State House where the laws are made and the funding issues ultimately decided. There’s a formal sense of history and power there that adds weight to any discussion. That said, I didn’t get to speak to either of them today. (It was the kind of day that started with me missing the train, seeing a young dog hit on Route 93, and discovering I wasn’t registered for the conference–you get the idea.)

Anyway, all was not lost. I got a pretty good handle on some definite “asks” for when I see them again, and I will see them soon. Not all of the asks have to do with more funding. (Many do, of course, because the funding is inadequate, but not all.) For instance, one request is to allow membership on the Board of Education to include former superintendents, school committee members or public school teachers along with current members who include directors of charter schools and others connected with the charter school movement—we’re just looking for balance on this very powerful board. Another request that should save money and time is to eliminate the EQA, one of more than 14 accountability systems imposed on districts. (The Governor’s budget proposed eliminating it; the House budget cut its funding 15%.) In Lowell, the school department spends months preparing reports for this auditing agency that overall duplicates other accountability systems already in place. We are not against being held accountable, we are against wasting time and resources shuffling paper for unnecessary, redundant reports.