jackiedoherty.org

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. 

Update:  Just learned the schedule for broadcasting the superintendent interviews on LET Channel 22.  The first two (Schlictman and Scott) will be shown on Saturday, March 15, 7-10 am and 7-10 pm, the second two (Ortega and Jack) on Sunday, March 16, 7-10 am and 7-10 pm, and the final two (Darlington and Bonner) on Monday, March 17, 7-10 am and 7-10 pm.  

The interviews for the supertintendent position start today, with two candidates being interviewed:  Paul Schlictman (4:30-5:45 pm) and Dr. Chris Augusta Scott (6:15-7:30 pm). There will be two interviews tomorrow (Dr. Janie Ortega, 4:00 pm and Dr. Wendy Jack, 5:30 pm) and the final two on Wednesday (Dr. Katherine Darlington, 5:30 pm and Dr. Portia Bonner, 7:15 pm).  The interviews will be held at the Little Theatre at Lowell High and are open to the public.  They will be taped and broadcast after all are completed.