Expecting too much from the Sun
Okay, maybe my expectations from journalism class decades ago are too high for a local paper. You know, things like accuracy, balance, and objectivity—the stuff they teach aspiring journalists. But I get tired of the Sun’s same old song of negativity about the Lowell Public Schools. No matter what, they seem to find a way to knock the district. Case in point: Treading Water on Recruiting Teachers, an editorial in Tuesday’s paper, wails about the lack of innovative programs to recruit teachers amid a national shortage of educators: “It’s hard to believe that a school district like Lowell, with a $138 million budget, can’t find $200,000 to start a program that will entice new teachers to work here,” claims the unnamed writer. Morph back in time to March 16, 2005 when the same paper (same writer?) published: Another Entitlement, an editorial that slammed the schools for accepting a $1.5 million grant to launch a teacher academy and mentoring program designed (you guessed it) to attract and retain new teachers. What was the Sun’s problem with the grant? Accepting it meant the district committed to continue the program after the three-year grant money ended, and as the editorial stated, “In today’s tight budgetary times, the program is a luxury.” (Margaret, co-author of this blog, wrote a response to the 2005 editorial that was published a few days later; you can read it here.) In addition to slamming the district two years ago for developing a strategy (and grant funding) to attract the best teachers and then claiming this week that the district lacks innovation in this area, the paper completely ignores the mentoring program and its successes. A national model, Lowell’s teacher-mentoring program has proven effective by enabling the district to retain 87% of its first-year teachers and 95% of its second-year teachers. Equally important, it has helped the district make huge strides in its recruiting efforts. Last Monday when Lowell faculty returned to school, every classroom had a teacher except for one math position at an alternative school—representing 80 new hires for this school year alone. Compare that to 2001 when school started with a shortage of 50 classroom teachers and it’s clear Lowell’s mentoring program is making a difference. That seems worthy of at least a mention in the Sun, don’t you think? (More details on the mentoring program to come.)