Tis the season to get religion, maybe that's why Cathe decided to rob PETER to pay PAUL. With all of the holiday lights it's appropriate to talk about CIRCUIT BREAKERS. Well these CIRCUIT BREAKERS have nothing to do with electricity they will still put a charge in you and when you look at how they are trying to abuse LPS hopefully it will jolt the community enough to raise a firestorm.
See CIRCUIT BREAKERS in this definition are FUNDING RATIOS the state uses to reimburse school districts for their out of district placements when the district like ours can't satisfy the needs of the SPED student's IEP. Currently the STATE pays 40% of the cost for these students and LPS pays 60%. So that's what we have budgeted. That's how we started the year.
NOW COMES THE SURPRISE....
All of a sudden, the STATE is going to increase the CIRCUIT BREAKER to a 65% reimbursement level and rumors of it increasing even further to 72%. Long story short this year alone DR LATHAM is looking to put $800,000 in her CHRISTMAS STOCKING. Not being a greedy person, she decides to share the wealth and put on about ten new positions, most with a COMMERCIAL STREET address at salaries with six figures to the left of the decimal point. Math majors love them some BIG numbers.
WAIT A MINUTE, LET ME SEE IF I CAN GET THIS STRAIGHT....
The more kids we have out of district the BIGGER reimbursement check we get. Rather than trying to develop the programs we need to take care of our own, we can just send them off to some other school district and yeah sure even with this improved funding stream it is still expensive but if we try to do what we got to do to educate our own kids in house we don't get NO HELP from UNCLE DEVAL.
So the more kids we send out, the more we get back. SWEEEEET
Now DR. LATHAM feels that the new positions are fiscally sustainable long term because she has gotten assurances that these new reimbursement rates are going to remain high. I thought UNCLE DEVAL couldn't run for another term and how long does it take to go from kindergarten to twelfth grade. That means at best we are looking at a very short term solution to a long term problem.
Does anybody else think we should invest this WINDFALL more directly into things that will benefit our kids instead of causing more crowding COMMERCIAL STREET. I'll break this stuff down in further posts but for now I just want to get the conversation started. There has been too much whispering in back rooms.
Unbelievable. Maybe this is why LPS can't find the money to teach kids to read.
ReplyDeleteI am not in favor of random high level administrative hiring when school classes have 30 plus kids but if it is cheaper to send the SPED kids to other schools outside of Lynn and they get a better education that way, then I am all for it.
ReplyDeleteLPS doesn't change because no one (I mean in substantial numbers) is demanding that it do so. Where are the parents at school committee meetings asking questions about these issues and speaking up about the quality of their children's education? Are any of them writing to SC committee members or calling them (regularly) in order to push the issue? Whenever there's an article in the Item, there can be up to 100+ comments criticizing LPS mostly listed under pseudonyms yet none of these people who seem to have so much to say (some/most of it valid) will ever do it formally. The day that a noticeable number of parents, students, & community members start protesting, writing petitions (about ed, not snacks/holiday parties), and put real pressure on the SC/administration to make changes will be the day that something happens in this city.
ReplyDeleteUntil then, apathy on both sides is the name of the game.
Anon. 508 - Physician, heal thyself. What you say is true, but you too hide behind a mask of anonymity. You are dead on with what you say but then hide your face. We don't need substantial numbers, just a few more. Honestly, don't underestimate the power of one more. Just look at the impact this blog has had on LPS. All the administration swear they don't read it but they all do, I heard around Christmas time last year they were trying to get the school atorney to stop me. I was in danger of being fired as a volunteer. I arranged to get a meeting with Dr. Latham, Dr. Wary, the Acting Head of SPED, and a Team Chairperson on an hours notice after delivering a letter. The Mayor has to wait longer than that to get a call returned. No School Committee member could come close. I am nobody special but I am somebody - I put my name out there so people knowwho they agree or disagree with. This blog has cost me nothing and you are right people underestimate the power of the pen, their pen. To EVERYBODY I say we need just one more. Be that one.
ReplyDelete