Lori D'Amico I don't know if the Mayor will publicly release her figure tonight, but when she does, I am willing to bet it will be MILLIONS short of the $151 million needed to meet the FY16 requirement. I am sure the Mayor will go on yet again about the unfairness of the funding formula and what can and cannot be included toward NSS. She may even make reference again to districts like Wenham being the ones who are able to 100% meet NSS requirement because they do not have the same enrollment numbers or diversity of student population and needs. However, what I am sure she will fail to mention, is the fact that in FY14, five of the ten "Commissioner Districts" exceeded their NSS requirement (Springfield, Lawrence, Boston, Brocton, Holyoke) four met at least 97% (Lowell, Fall River, New Bedford, Worcester) and only ONE failed to meet 95%. Yup, you guessed it......LYNN! For FY15, once again, five out of the ten are expected to exceed the requirement (Springfield, Lawrence, Lowell, Boston, Holyoke), four are expected to meet at least 98% (Brocton, Fall River, New Bedford, Worcester) and only ONE is expected to fail to meet 95%. Yup, you guessed it again.....LYNN! 323 of 325 districts are reported on the June 2 compliance report. Of these, 93% exceeded their FY14 NSS requirement and 95% are expected to exceed their FY15 requirement. Only THREE failed to meet even 95% in FY14 and only THREE are expected to fail to meet 95% in FY15. Yup, you guessed it......LYNN is one of the three in both fiscal years.
Therefore, the funding formula may be unfair and the Mayor may not agree with it, but 300 other districts in the state don't have a problem abiding by the law and meeting or exceeding the NSS requirement, so why does Lynn?
A once veteran and wise educator once told me many years ago that we are the table with the bosses, remember one thing: "With us (teachers) they add, with them (or themselves) they multiply" I did not exactly know what he meant by this comment at the time, until I saw it firsthand at the bargaining table. I am not sure how to change that deep rooted culture however, I do know that we need educators and/or admins to offer direct services and instruction to our students, that needs to be embedded in our schools and not just an aberration or accident.
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