Lynn officials seek Brown’s aid over unaccompanied minors
MAYOR KENNEDY and the SUPERINTENDENT were whining about this problem LAST year. There were headlines in this same paper. Doomsday predictions were made, populations were targeted and SQUAT got done. Why did it take a year to see SEN. BROWN?
WAIT?
They didn't even see SEN. BROWN, they saw an office worker who's office isn't even in WASHINGTON. This is election time, a time for the poetry of promises.
BUT.....,
they didn't even get any, not really.
The idea that LYNN has a BIG target on it is RIDICULOUS. FIRST of all, this wealth of services we have available is an illusion. We have WAITING LISTS. I know, being poor I'm on a few.
SECOND, the services that are available are NOT exclusive to LYNN only. These are FEDERAL or STATE programs. Mostly other people are PAYING for them.
Do you think it's kind of funny, a coincidence if you like, that once a parent group was formed and became vocal, primarily Spanish speaking that we now have a problem with Spanish speaking kids?
Don't think I don't think there are problems I do but like I've said before" Complaining without doing something is just Bitching". We were a FAILING school system BEFORE a handful of GUATEMALANS crossed the border.
I have not done any research on the unaccompanied minors issue, but I do know that Lynn is one of the cities in this state designated for refugee resettlement. I have read that the unaccompanied minors are actually illegals and not refugees, but I do not know if this is true. In any case, I do not think the local cities and towns should have to bear the burden of using any of their already limited funds and resources toward helping and/or educating those coming here under a state or federal program. The state and/or federal government should be providing the local cities and towns with the funding and resources needed. With that said, there comes a point where a local city or town simply cannot accomodate the increased influx of immigrants. Lynn has reached that point!! We currently do not even have the physical space in our schools for the children who are legal Lynn residents,or better yet,legal US citizens, yet the state and/or federal government is continuing to send and expecting this city and our schools to take in more! Yes this is a major problem facing our city and schools and I am not sure there is anything we can do to solve it at the local level...this needs to be done at the state and/or federal level.
ReplyDeleteHard to see the actual problem for all the SMOKE AND MIRRORS. Our schools were failing before. State and Federal monies are already paying for the majority of education in LYNN. It is not only how much you have but also how you spend what you got.
DeleteAgreed 100% that how you spend the money you get is just as important as how much money you get. Unfortunately, we all know how LPS spends their money (and it usually isn't on the classrooms, schools and children) Of course our schools are not failing merely because of these unaccompanied minors. Our schools have been failing and continue to fail for numerous reasons, but I do believe the increase in the immigrant population in this city is a contributing factor.
DeleteLynn Woods is the bottom 20% of the state even though it's over 70% white and has a tiny limited English group. What's their excuse? The immigrant population may not even be as big of a contributing factor as you might think...
DeleteIt may not be a major factor, but it is still a factor. I know white kids are failing too...I've have been saying that all along. In my opinion, the public education all of the kids receive in this city and maybe even the state is extremely inadequate (although according to Romney, Massachusetts schools are the top in the nation)
DeleteThe sad thing is Romney is not lying about that - MA schools are at the top of nation in terms of rankings and the MCAS test has been comparable to the (very difficult) international exams.
DeleteCheck the dates. Mass was 3! in 2005. What about 2012?
DeleteIt has been stated that MA was 'AT the top' not 'THE top' of the nation.
DeleteIn 2010, this report states that if MA was treated as a country and compared with other nations, it would rank the best out of the US at number 17.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/12/your-child-left-behind/308310/#
In 2012, MA was number 1 per Education Week in K-12 achievement: http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2012/16src.h31.html
And number 2 overall: http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2012/16src.h31.html
On the NAEP (national assessment) in 2011, MA was #1 in 4th and 8th grade reading and 4th and 8th grade math:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/statecomparisons/withinyear.aspx?usrSelections=1%2cMAT%2c5%2c0%2cwithin%2c0%2c0
But these rankings are all relative; it just means out of the 50 states MA is at the top but doesn't mean it's necessarily a good thing. If there are 5 students, 2 with F grades, 2 with Ds and one with a C - the one with a C is the 'best' but received a pretty poor grade. The rankings can be pretty meaningless when you look at it that way...
What about the effect of the MOON'S gravitational pull? I mean look at what it does to our oceans.
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