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As pressure mounts to move quickly in the superintendent search, it is imperative that folks stay involved. At its special meeting tonight, the school committee will make major decisions about the search process including the date and format of the finalist interviews, scheduling site visits, and establishing the timetable for voting on the next superintendent of Lowell Schools. The meeting will be held in the Mayor’s Reception Room at 7 p.m. It will NOT be broadcast, so folks are encouraged to attend to see firsthand what’s happening and to let their concerns be known. To speak at the meeting, register by calling or sending an email to June Cormier by 2 p.m. today at 978-937-9714 or jcormier@lowell.k12.ma.us.

Today, we happened upon an old issue of the Boston Globe dated exactly two years ago–March 9, 2006. In it, an article reported that oil prices at that time were $60.02 a barrel. According to Bloomberg News, March of this year saw a record high in the cost of oil at $106.54 a barrel. Bloomberg goes on to quote an analyst’s assessment: “At some point the fundamental news, either rising inventories or falling demand, will be so stark that prices will have to drop.” Maybe the prices will drop, maybe not. Regardless, something that absolutely must change is our reluctant attitude toward conservation and our limited commitment to renewable energy sources. Like you, I feel it at the pump and each month when I have to pay rising utility bills, but there is something we can do about it. Rather than simply complaining, be part of the solution by finding out about local recycling and conservation opportunities, pushing for more government leadership in these areas, and of course, voting for candidates who are committed to addressing environmental concerns.

There’s been a lot going on in the schools lately, with the superintendent search getting top billing; however, don’t forget that other groups with an interest in education continue to do their work out of the spotlight.  The Citywide Parent Council met on February 25 for a conversation about “What’s Happening in Our Schools.”  The first part of the meeting addressed what is working at the school level with some innovative efforts brought to the attention of the wider group. (The Butler School homework policy where students have to call parents if their homework isn’t done; welcoming and informative math nights at several schools.) There was a consensus that the Connect Ed system (where telephone calls on school events can be done by the district or individual schools) has proved a great source of communication.  Under “What Would You Like to Change,” the most important thing was improved parent/teacher conference scheduling.  One meeting a year is not enough and teachers are not available when parents can meet.  (One of the contenders for the superintendent job, who is now out of the running, had tackled this problem in her distrcit by getting her teachers to be available for parents whenever the parent could meet for one 30 minute conference a year.  She achieved nearly 100% participation by parents and this stipulation is now in the teacher contract.)

Under “What Can We Do,”  parent education (on issues) was a key point, as well as the need to be “proactive so we don’t have to be reactive.”  The CPC keeps reinventing itself to fulfill its mission of informing and empowering parents.  This untelevised, informal chat about what’s working and what could be changed is a great way to stay in touch with the schools. The next CPC meeting on April 7, will bring in other groups to look at the system as a whole.  When we find out the location, we’ll announce it.

Frustrated is an understatement regarding how I felt when I first learned in yesterday’s Sun that interviews with the superintendent finalists had been set for next week. As the school committee, we were due to decide this and other search issues at our March 19 meeting. Our bylaws do not allow some members (or one mayor) to make such a change—the rules require us to make decisions as a group in public meetings. So now there will be a special school committee meeting on Monday, March 10 at 7 pm in the Mayor’s Reception Room. The public is invited to attend and be heard on this issue.

Granted, the search committee named their finalists one week earlier than the timetable required, but to schedule interviews without the entire committee’s knowledge and approval (I wasn’t the only one in the dark) and without public discussion, is wrong. This is the school committee’s most important decision. The final vote will impact the quality of education our children receive for years—better to pick the right candidate and have citizens participate than rush the process.

So, here’s my wish list: All the interviews are held on one Saturday morning with ample public notice. Before that, the entire committee decides the date and format for the interviews, determines if there are other candidates to include, develops a process for on-site visits, and hears from the community. Now, I may not get all my wishes but I should get the opportunity to present them to my colleagues in an open forum, debate our differences, and vote; in which case, the majority will prevail. That, my friends, is how democracy is supposed to work.

While reading LiL’s post on the proposed power plant in Billerica, I couldn’t help wishing we could capture this passion regarding conservation. For instance, where is the outrage concerning the city’s appalling lack of residents who recycle? With that in mind, I want to remind folks that Tuesday, March 11 from 6 to 7 p.m at the Brewhouse (second floor, 201 Cabot Street), the group Green Drinks of Lowell will gather to share ideas and learn about environmental projects in the city, as well as coordinate efforts regarding different projects and groups already underway. Get involved in work to make Lowell a greener city, find out how you can help, and meet others who want to be part of the solution to make our local environment and quality of life better for all residents. For more information on the event or to host a table for your organization, contact Stephen Greene at greenesh@comcast.net.

Perhaps I am connected to my immigrant roots more than most Americans. As a girl, I remember listening to my mother’s stories about her early struggles in Boston schools because she didn’t speak English and how her family worked long hours under poor conditions to get ahead. (By the time my mother, who was born here, was in the third grade, she had changed her name from Giovanna to Jennie to be more American.) My mother-in-law was an immigrant. Her family came here eight decades ago from Northern Ireland to make a better life for themselves and their children. As for me, an English-speaking, college-educated, home-owning American who lives in Lowell—a gateway city in a state with a declining population except for immigrants—the rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric seems both economically and socially short sighted. So, I was thrilled to read Jeff Jacoby’s editorial in yesterday’s Boston Globe where he cites statistics from the Public Policy Institute of California study regarding the impact of immigration on crime in that state. Jacoby writes: “Within the age group most often involved in crime (ages 18 to 40), US natives—astonishingly—are 10 times more likely to be in prison or jail than immigrants…Even when the focus is narrowed to inmates who were born in Mexico and are not citizens—the demographic group most likely to include illegal immigrants—the rate of incarceration is only one-eighth that of men born in the United States.” These numbers support what I have always believed about the vast majority of immigrants whether documented or not: Most immigrants, like my family, are here to work hard, get their children educated, and try to grab a piece of the American dream for themselves and their loved ones. 

Since one of the six semi-finalist candidates for the Lowell superintendent position, Dr. Katherine Darlington, has decided to take a job as superintendent of the Burlington Schools, to withdraw her name for personal reasons (this update just received from central office), there is only one remaining interview for the Lowell Superintendent Search Committee to conduct. That is at 5:30 tonight with Dr. Portia Bonner.  The interview is open to the public and will be held at the Little Theatre at Lowell High School. For a broadcast schedule of all the semi-finalist interviews conducted by the search committee, check here.

No matter what happens with Hillary’s campaign, as far as I’m concerned, this is the year of the woman, and yesterday’s annual Women’s Day Breakfast in Lowell brought that message home. I’ve attended this annual breakfast for years, and it’s always a good time—yesterday felt different though. There was a palpable sense of power from the hundreds of women gathered at the tables—women who make a difference every day in our communities—women who are changing our world.  It was nice to see Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, always a regular at the breakfasts, in her new role as the first female representative from the fifth district in decades. It was also an honor to hear First Lady Diane Patrick’s moving story about a “simple act of kindness” that changed lives. She ended by quoting from Maya Angelou’s poem:
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I rise. more »

Thank God for blogs. That’s what I thought after reading yesterday’s coverage of the recent flap regarding ONE Lowell and two members of the high school subcommittee. Once again, the Sun has not provided readers with an accurate or balanced report, which means those who rely solely on the local paper to get their facts were given an incomplete picture on an important issue. From the start, the article’s first sentence that the agency is “on the verge of being suspended from city schools” is wrong. It’s the agency’s work at the high school that is being questioned by the two school committee members who voted to suspend it from LHS at the televised subcommittee meeting of Feb. 27. (For my thoughts on that meeting, check here.)

Another problem with the article is its glaring lack of balanced coverage—the lead, headline, drop head, and pullout quote all support the accusatory side of the issue, creating a slanted, negative view of ONE Lowell, a well-respected nonprofit agency that works with immigrant families, without fairly presenting the counter argument. (Not what I learned in Journalism 101 about factual, objective reporting.) The article does provide some information that the group is doing important work to combat student truancy when it quotes middle-school principal Liam Skinner, but his favorable comments are buried half way into the article on its second page. Meanwhile, negative quotes from the maker of the motion to suspend the group are highlighted in bold, boxed type, so that a quick reader is left from start to finish with a mistaken notion that unfairly disparages the agency and its work in our schools.

Despite the Sun’s failure to present it well, there are two sides to this issue, and you will be learning more about it here. (As a blog writer, I’m not as concerned with balance as with the truth.) For a good look at what we stand to lose if ONE Lowell is pushed from our schools, see what high school folks had to say about the agency last year in this Boston Globe article from April 2007.