Left In Lowell

Is the School Committee at it Again?

21 Responses to “Is the School Committee at it Again?”

1. K-R-S Says:
   February 28th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

   One would think that rather than completely suspending programs at LHS because of perceived lack of regular reporting, request instead a monthly report with reporting parameters.
   What exactly is the back story on this? Whose agenda? And what are their alternatives, should this program go away altogether?

2. Paul@01852 Says:
   February 28th, 2008 at 4:00 pm

   …And I would like to know eactly who is on that subcommittee and how each voted. Its a long way to 2009 but I have a lo-o-o-o-n-n-g memory!!

3. K-R-S Says:
   February 28th, 2008 at 4:15 pm

   Paul, knowing you, you likely didn’t vote for the two that voted to suspend. Hopefully, cooler/more reasonable heads will prevail at the next SC mtg.

4. Mr. Lynne Says:
   February 28th, 2008 at 5:57 pm

   Gotta love Lowell. Were they not connected enough? Do they suppose to pick up the slack with taxpayer funded initiatives?

5. jdayne Says:
   February 28th, 2008 at 7:32 pm

   Here is the real problem in my opinion and in summary.

   You don’t gotta love Lowell–
   and as folks who might have moved here, might have relocated their business here, might invest here or who are here but just as easily can leave//earn/spend elsewhere become aware of how Lowell operates, well, those folks won’t come or will be outta here.

   I realize that this is not what Mr. Lynne was meaning by “you gotta love”, but I am using the comment to say what is beginning, truly, to concern me. Inept, insular, reactionary is not a draw. Empty lots, abandoned buildings, unemployed residents . . . and now a City Council that acts like it never knew capital planning and expenditures should be made BEFORE a boiler blows? but who seem to tear up and plead for instant action when it does? oh yes, but without ever ever ever raising taxes or controlling the nepotism in the budget.

   Two years to organize–register voters, explain issues (yes, Virginia, your real estate will be worth nothing if the City becomes an anti-destination for new money), print maps of where the voting location is. The actual, real down and dirty work Obama is accomplishing. How about all the progressives in Lowell turning thought and pontification into action with “yes we can” get out the 2009 vote!

6. kpem Says:
   February 28th, 2008 at 8:27 pm

   I am amazed that on One Lowell’s site it says that only about 50% of Latino and 50% of Cambodian students receive diplomas in Lowell. The info’s a little old but I am sure it is still relevant and those numbers are just horrifying. Shame on the school committee for hurting the students over a paper work shuffle.

7. kpem Says:
   February 28th, 2008 at 8:36 pm

   Correction- Only approximately 23% of Latinos graduate

8. K-R-S Says:
   February 28th, 2008 at 10:27 pm

   jdayne, there are lot of folks in Lowell, who are of the same mindset as you and myself. Unfortunately, and hate to admit it, “the clans” do make a differance when it comes to successful elections.
   And, $80,000 and a good campaign manager can get you far in this city, despite having a message or campaign platform that makes little sense.
   You are precisely correct when you assert that folks need to mobilize.
   This entails going out door to door, working for your candidate(s), very actively. Having walked a good portion of this City, in my first run, you realize very quickly, juts how BIG this City really is.
   My advice, start galvanizing now and run a slate of candidates. Work to finance them well.
   Now is the time, for relatively unknown “candidates” to get out there and be visible.
   At a minimum, the local morning radio reactionary team is off. On the other hand, they held some value in that folks had alot more local information (more gossipy in nature). And a year long advertisements for certain slates of candidates is no more, which is a very good thing.

   The beauty of the blogs, is that we are capable of having folks contribute the back stories, of which we heard some of on the “old” local radio. Other resources in the City have become “vanilla-ized”.

   However, with all that said, there will always be a “struggle” between opposing forces. Most of the struggle is steeped in ideology and loyalty, a small portion is just driven by poor behavior and blatant lack of insight and self interest (which quite honestly, makes for better gossip and firey discussion. ;0)

9. kpem Says:
   February 28th, 2008 at 11:10 pm

   KRS,
   Has there been any ban on the aweful slew of signs during campaigns all over the city that made the stores look like a trash dump (or Halloween). They were up everywhere and I called Rodney Elliot and said I support you and I am on a main road and you can put a huge banner up. I did not hear from him for a while and the city was covered in signs for months before someone called and said they would hang up a sign. I asked why so late and so small and he said that he was going to do things right. I hope all candidates in the future are as tasteful as Elliot.

10. K-R-S Says:
    February 28th, 2008 at 11:28 pm

    Kpem, there is in fact an ordinance and many of the candidates did not follow it. The CC elections came on the heels of the Spec. Congressional, which literally saw our City plastered in signs for a VERY long time. “Some” candidates did get their signs out VERY early to make the City look like some scary Halloween movie.
    Furthermore, there were many “scary” signs stuck in public walkways, areas, parks, etc.
    Unfortunately, those invasive, aggressive candidates give many a bad taste.
    I sure as Hell don’t pay taxes, so that I have to look at a pol. sign on a public sidewalk or in a public park. If I had ever seen any one of my signs inappropriately placed, they were removed as soon as notified. It’s not so bad to have ordinances to follow, it’s completely another, when candidates absolutely refuse and/or plead ignorance to ground rules, courtesy and/or lawful conduct.

11. Shawn Says:
    February 29th, 2008 at 7:19 am

    Kristin.. I agree that the blogs can help dig out more info.. but it still takes work.

    Has anyone actually called the Lowell ONE people to get more of the background and what they see the problem is?

12. K-R-S Says:
    February 29th, 2008 at 7:28 am

    Shawn, there are others that are closer to the issue. I do hope they weigh in.

13. Victoria Says:
    February 29th, 2008 at 8:00 am

    Unfortunately, I did not see the meeting and am unclear what happened. However,regarding communication, I have to say that we have excellent communication with all of the schools where we work, including the high school. My staff communicate, sometimes daily depending upon the student’s situation, with guidance counselors, parent liaisons, house masters, principals, assistant principals, etc. We call, we e-mail, and we go to many meetings at all of these schools. There is no time ever that the schools are unaware of what we are doing. There was a meeting at the high school, once, in the fall of 2006 when a suggestion was made to have us do written weekly reports. I explained that would be onerous to my staff and would cut down on the number of students that we could help. Those present decided that they preferred that we work with more students rather than push paper. In addition, such a report is passive. Lowell High has very stict rules regarding attendance and students often need a very quick, high intensity intervention in order for them to remain in school. That means that we need two way communication in order to solve the problem. We are actually on-call all the time and have helped the schools many times at a moment’s notice. As far as I am aware, we have always been deeply appreciated by those in the schools who care about students. I hope we can clear up this misunderstanding as quickly as possible. Victoria Fahlberg, Executive Director of ONE Lowell

14. Shawn Says:
    February 29th, 2008 at 10:28 am

    Thank you Victoria.. getting facts is much more valuable than just trying to guess what is happening out there.

    I do agree that some sort of reporting mechanism is needed, but probably not weekly.

    Your services are key to a lot of kids chances of success, I know that.

    I can also see where people want to be sure that their money is being spent responsibly. I’m sure, if you are funded by a grant, that you must be keeping records and metrics anyways to be accountable.

    Organizing this data for presentation weekly, I agree, would be daunting and take away from the main reason of your existence.. but I’m sure you could find a compromise on the reporting issue.

    I do hope things work out, and wish you were working with us in Dracut as well.

15. Victoria Says:
    February 29th, 2008 at 12:07 pm

    Thanks, Shawn. Yes, we do report to our funders - some monthly, some quarterly, some biannually. You can see a report I prepared for the school subcommittee if you go to jackiedoherty.org (she has a link to the report) I would be very happy to send these reports to the schools. Victoria

16. jdayne Says:
    February 29th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

    KRS, I agree that the clans make a difference. But something like 12% of registered voters turned out in the CC election! 12%!! If downtown’s Ward 2, alone, were activated by the diligent & ground level work you and I both understand and cite, I believe that the outcome would have been different. At least all the incumbents likely would have been re-seated.

    I believe that a first step is to make voting — not after-the-election carping — the positive, reinforced social norm. Making voting “cool” (as Obama is doing) takes each of us asking friends and neighbors if they are registered to vote and, if not, helping them with the process–having forms and knowing how to complete and submit it. If our friends are registered, ask if they voted in the last election. Fewer than 37% of registered voters in Lowell bothered to show up for the presidential primary–but that certainly trumps the local elections statistic. Ask what matters to our friends and neighbors. Everyone now says “the economy”, “taxes”, “real estate”. What a great hook for activating their local voting. Lowell has presented itself as a less expensive alternative to Somerville and Cambridge and the South End. Residents who moved in on that vision should be concerned that what Lowell easily may become without a much better, more able City Council is a depressed, second tier city.

    Lastly, laying the registering/talking/issue raising/community building now will allow good candidates to come forward and have a constituency. Last go round far, far too many candidates ran turning “new” voter/residents off because people thought it was too hard to sort out. Those of you who ran did God’s work, now the rest of us need to invest in the early ground work to give those who opt to run a better likelihood of success.

17. Mr. Lynne Says:
    February 29th, 2008 at 7:43 pm

    jdayne…

    The obstacle, as I see it, toward the creation of a groundswell of concerned voters that make it to the polls is the narrative. Imagine the difficulty in explaining the depth of issues that the clan system has created to a previously absent voter. This person, if they are likely to have access to the local political narrative at all, is likely to have such a narrative as created by the Sun and WCAP. If we assume that the issues we care about, others would too, it then behooves us to communicate the situation as we’ve seen it. The problem is the work involved in such a communication to the voter described above is an uphill battle that can’t be done with simple canvassing. How long would you have to spend at just one door to systematically explain the particulars of what they didn’t hear in the Sun and WCAP?

    Simply put, the amount of work involved in correcting the narrative is probably the biggest obstacle.

18. Jeff Says:
    February 29th, 2008 at 9:57 pm

    Okay. So the school committee is looking for a new superintendent, and meanwhile the school committee is fighting with each other over pure crap. CRAP!!! What’s wrong with a non-profit helping to get truant kids back in school? They don’t communicate well enough with the school? You mean they can’t send each other emails? They need to sit in the office and write paper forms?

    Please. Any smart person would avoid becoming superintendent in a system where the school committee fights over CRAP.

19. Jay Says:
    March 1st, 2008 at 11:02 am

    It should be obvious to anyone who read the report provided by ONE Lowell’s Executive Director, Victoria Fahlberg, that their program has been very successful in addressing the problem of truancy in the Lowell Public Schools. But, much less obvious to the average citizen, is the compassion and dedication of their case workers in helping not only the student, but the family as a whole. Clearly, the serious problem of truancy has numerous causes, and ONE Lowell works incredibly hard to assist these families at every level. I sincerely hope that the Lowell School Committee can work out a compromise here, or many of the city’s students, as well as their families, will be left without this organization’s much needed assistance.

20. jdayne Says:
    March 1st, 2008 at 6:05 pm

    Mr Lynne–I don’t view mobilizing voters as needing to include invocations of the past, but a discussion of the future–particularly for Ward 2 voters who moved to Lowell recently. High registration numbers/low voter turnout suggests a pool of people one could engage, if only on the very very selfish issue of “will my condo be worth anything”. Reactionary, protective City Councilors insure the answer to that question is “no”. And sure, the “clans” have an advantage. But look at Obama–it wasn’t the old pastor patronage system in SC that delivered, but the talk in the beauty salons. Just talk. Just making the idea of voting important because outcomes are important.

    I also believe that, with a 12% turnout, a few more votes and the incumbents, at a minimum, all could have kept their seats. Blogviating is great, but I would also hope and expect from an activist community to develop the capacity, willingness and skill to do the on the ground work. . . At least, I would hope so. I’m game for the ground work.

21. kpem Says:
    March 1st, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    Do the school commitee and city counselors in this town even know what happens in the public schools in this city? Most of them I know of either have no children, older children, or children at private schools. They are not a good representation of this city. That is just wrong.

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