LET'S SEE WHAT MIRACLES ARE NNOUNCED TONIGHT!

I am going to the public hearing tonight  on the budget. I hope others join me. It is at 7 pm at  the Breed Middle School. Come early, maybe the6y'll have concessions.

TOMORROW ONLY COMES ONCE

To learn why we need community schools paste this link in your browser. We need action now, tomorrow only comes once.



,http://www.communityschools.org/assets/1/AssetManager/final_community%20agenda-10%206%2008.pdf

New Money, Not Old Cartoons

All of this new money that is supposed to be coming to the Lynn Public School system screams of the need for some sort of a committee to oversee the allocation of these resources. Everyone should agree that we need to maximize this "surprise".

Otherwise this "unexpected treasure" may be wasted on administrative whims and questionable expenditures. I am not questioning the integrity of any of the educational leadership, I just want to be sure we get the most we can for the buck.

I don't want Dr. Latham to have to play the role of Mighty Mouse, "Here I am to Save the Day!".

THIS IS HOLLOW GROUND!

My daughter went yesterday for orientation at Thurgood Marshall Middle School and found the library neglected even though there was a librarian. The problem is that not enough resources have been committed. Libraries should be sacred ground in any educational institution. Libraries are the foundation of not only education but more importantly learning!

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

Today's news about the state's gift of a million dollar a year grant when combined with yesterday's announcement of the federal :Race To The Top" money seems like the answer to Lynn's educational woes. I hope so but I am not so confident. SHOW ME THE MONEY!

How many new teachers are we going to get? How many teachers are going to be recalled from being layed off? WHAT ABOUT THE LIBRARIANS? What new educational program is going to be established? Just what specifically are we getting for with this money? Sorry but the newspaper reports were were more like a series of press releases. Enough with the smoke and mirrors already!  I hope everyone please join me at the public hearing at Breed School on August 31 at 7 pm.

On The Road Again!

Donna Coppola brought up an interesting if impractical question at last week's Finance Committee meeting. That was "Is there a procedure for us to reimburse parents so much a mile if they transport their own children?".

There were several snickers but actually a figure of $0.45 a mile was thought to be the going rate, Even if we could theoretically save some money, I don't think the amout of parental involvement could be reconciled with the actual commitment it would take. Not only that the traffic would be terrible.

One Man, One Vote

At first I thought my letter to my city councilman to ask for his support to restore Ford School as a polling place. I mistakenly thought it really didn't have anything to do with education.

As is often is the case, I was wrong. Back home in WV I learned about the importance of our collective social responsibility of being involved in our government on the simplest of levels by observing people cast their ballots every election. Every election took place at our schools.

There is no better place to learn what it means to be a citizen. So I am going to share my letter.

14 Rock Avenue Apt. #3


Lynn, MA 01902
August 23, 2010



Councilman Trahant

215 Verona Street,

Lynn MA 01904

Dear Councilman William R. Trahant, Jr.,



I am writing to you today to request that you bring before council the restoration of the Ford School as a polling place. I have been in touch with Secretary of State Galvin’s office in regards to the proper procedure to follow when making this request.



Being a disabled citizen, it is an undue burden for me to travel to my present polling place when Ford School would be readily accessible for not only me but many other citizens in this ward in similar circumstances.



I realize these are tough times for the city but I am not talking about an economic issue but one of civil rights. Voting occurred at the Ford School recently and was removed because of noncompliance to ADA regulations for accessibility, specifically a wheelchair ramp.



Work has been completed and that issue has long been resolved. I have been in touch with the Disability Law Center and I am exploring the possibility of imitating some sort of legal action to insure that mine and others constitutional rights are upheld.



Sincerely
Stanley H. Wotring, Jr

Separate But Equal

The line between church and state gets blurred when it comes to school transportation. Lynn Public Schools transports a number of private religions school kids to class. This has been an ecumenical burden to the school department because we transport Catholics and students to the North Shore Christian Academy

LSC member Donna Coppola asked school department attorney Mihos if the school department is mandated to provide transportation for these students. He promised to look into it. These are lean times but any savings by not providing transportation to these students would only be realized in the future.

LIKE MY DAD SAYS,"FIGURES LIE AND LIARS FIGURE"

Some good news for Lynn Schools came with the announcement of the president's "Race To The Top" grants. However closer examination raises more questions than answers.

Where is this money going to be spent? On the two failing schools or throughout the system, I wonder if this money was l ready budgeted with a hope and  prayer it would come through. I is hard to be sure of anything with the fog of numbers they throw at you,

If it is new money, then my understanding of the budgetary process would give Dr. Latham sole discretion about how it is spent. All the more reason to pack the public hearing for the budget on Aug. 31st on 7 pm at Breed School.

BRING BACK THE LIBRARIANS!

Can You See The EGG On My Face?

I fired my copy editor. How could he let me misspell Head of Transportation, Dave Hegan's name? Well he could do it because he is me and it wasn't even a typo. I just  screwed up. READ WHAT I MEAN, NOT WHAT I WRITE! Do I sound like a parent or what?

Are There New Auditions For "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas"?

LSC member Patricia Capano was scouring the transportation budget looking for ways to save money in the future. Her initial attention focused primarily on her perceive extravagances in the special education part of the costs. It was not just the substance but the tone of her rhetoric that I found insensitive and distasteful. That's just me and I don't proclaim to speak for anyone else.

She had the audacity to wonder if the teachers and special ed. administrators just toss out "free transportation" as an incentive to get parents to sign the IEP.  Did she forget who we are talking about? Clearly there are a few students who are unable to safely walk to school whether it be from physical or cognitive reasons. You would think that someone who has been an esteemed member of the LSC would be informed about the dangers involved with denying the most needy.

A phone call to Dave Egan over at transportation would have saved her this embarrassing public display. According to his testimony before the Finance Subcommittee, last year there were 2300 SPED students last year and only 754 of them get free transportation. I don't speak French but I would hardly call that carte blanche.

Modern Mercenaries Are Serving As Our Bus Drivers!

LSC member Vinnie Spirito asked a very good question of Dave Egan, head of the transportation department.  After it was brought up about the school system contracting out transportation to outside providers, Mr. Sprito wondered if it would be cheaper if Lynn provided its own buses,

Dave Egan assured him that it would not be cost prohibitive for us to provide our own buses. There is the maintenance costs, he payroll costs, etc. It seemed not remotely feasible.

Maybe all that is true, but I just wonder how many LSC members rent or own their own homes? These private companies are making a lot of money doing our work for us.

Do You Hear Me Now?

Excerpt from letter to Congressman John Tierney:

Congressman Tierney,




It was a pleasure for my children and me to meet you yesterday at he Neighbor To Neighbor Yard Sale in Lynn. It was very rewarding to them to be able to put a face on government.



Naturally I want you to continue to be a strong advocate for education. The area of Special Education is of a particularly personal interest to me. I am also interested in seeing all the librarians restored to the Lynn Public School System.
Any help you or your office could give on these matters will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Stanley H. Wotring, Jr.

Roll Call, Please!

With the school system in such financial peril,I wonder why then Mayor Kennedy couldn't find time to at least be present at the Finance Subcommittee meeting on August 19th? Education is vital to every citizen in the city. I am sure she must of had a good reason but the fact remains she wasn't there.

Along with the mayor LSC members Patricia Capano and Vinnie Spirito are not actually seated on the subcommittee but unlike the mayor they were there and contributed to the discussions. For better or worse, they were there. John Ford like the mayor must have had more pressing business. I mean really, who needs librarians anyway?

Not In My City!

In the city where anti-slavery leader Fredrick Douglass lived some of the most productive years of his life blows me away that such insensitivity for your fellow man and such blatant disregard for economic justice could exist in some of the leaders in our school system. I use the example of Mr. Douglass in various writings of mine but his prescience in the history of Lynn is such a powerful example of the fight against slavery whether it be from racial, physical, or in this case economic injustice.

I could not believe my ears listening to LSC member Patricia Capano blasting the economically less fortunate for burdening the Lynn School System. Expressing her frustration that 60 students a week are invading the Parent Information Center a week to sign up as new students for Lynn Public Schools.

First I have to question the validity of that number. I have no doubt there has been an uptake in new enrollment and maybe there was a week where here were 60 but to extrapolate that number over even the summer months would be around 220 new students starting in the fall. From the way she was ranting, I would assume that was apart from the normal exchange of kids entering kindergarten as seniors graduate.

These are undoubtedly tough economic times but to show such callous disregard for one's fellow human beings just sickens my soul. There was talk about the homeless and Ms. Capano claimed Lynn was being used as a "dumping ground" by agencies. he neglected to mention any specific agency, preferring to paint over all our problems with a broad brush.

Perhaps I need to brush up on my civics but I thought Ms. Capano was elected to service the educational needs of all the students of Lynn. In fact, I was witness to her stating that very fact at a debate at the Ford School just prior to her last election.

He Said What?

I met today with State Senator McGee today at the Neighbor to Neighbor Yard Sale held at Maria Carrasco's (LSC member) house. We discussed his past support of education issue and his promise to do so in the future. I look forward making sure that people can read about whether or not he keeps his word,

Numbers Aren't The Only Things Getting Crunched!

Let me say this right up front, "Math is not my strong point". That is probably why I am not an accountant or an engineer. Still you don't have to be a graduate of remedial math class to recognize the inconsistencies in the transportation budget.

LSC member Donna Coppola said that she arrived at a figure pretty similar to city councilman Paul Crowley putting the cost of SPED transportation at a whopping $30K per student. Dave Egan, who is in charge of transportation for our school system, had a much lower figure of around $4000 per year.

Mr. Egan seemed pretty confident in his calculations and his self assurance allowed for the LSC members to breath a collective  sigh of relief. Whether his math was right or not, everybody wanted to believe it,

My uneasiness with the numbers might come from my own deep seated fears with math or from an admission to me from an earlier unrelated personal meeting with Dr. Latham, who is an accomplished and distinguished mathematician, where she admitted to me in the prescience of my wife, Dr. Warry, and Thomas Iaribino, that numbers can be shaped any way you want. Immediately after making that admission she assured me that her numbers were honest and legitimate.

All We Need Is A Magic School Bus!

Last night's LSC Finance Subcommittee meeting was pretty much exclusively about the transportation portion of the school budget and it is a significant part of the overall budget so it warranted special scrutiny. The chairman of the committee is Donna Coppola and the other members are are Maria Carrasco and Rick Starrbard.Dave Egan, head of the transportation department, came in to be grilled.

For the most part it was a polite exchange and most of the answers provided to questions only led to more questions. Rick Starrbard started off by asking the question "Why the $600,000 increase in the transportation budget?" but he was satisfied by the documents Mr. Egan had recently given all the LSC members. It provided a more detailed list of expenditures than had previously provided.

It seems like the transportation costs were just all covered in a lump sum so nobody could be really sure where the money was being spent. It was felt you had to know where the money was being spent in order to know where to cut going forward. Mr. Egan has a difficult job tying to navigate not only the sometime pothole riddled streets of Lynn, arrange for transportation for students placed outside of Lynn, but also deal with griping concerned parents like me.

Hopefully in the future, we will be able to reign in costs so that our money can be spent on education not transportation.

Let Us Pause For A Word From Our Sponser - Me

Remember the part where I said I was just a concerned parent? That justifies the shameless plug I am about to give. Yesterday the Zero Robotics program at Ford School was in a competition with about 20 other schools and other programs across the state and came in fifth at MIT with a live hookup with NASA in the International Space Station.

My son was furious they did not make the finals but I tried to console by pointing out that most of the other teams weer made up of older kids and reminding him just how few kids made it this far.  Something must be going right at Ford. We should find out what it is, bottle it, and sprinkle it around Lynn Public School system. 

Okay the proud parent moment has passed (both my kids were in the robotics program). It is time to get back to business. Look for some interesting tidbits to be discussed about last night's Finance Sub-committee meeting of the LSC.

I Have Sinned Against The Typing Gods!

I have been spanked and rightly so. Guilty as charged for being to lax with my typing. It has been all typos, not any other mistakes. That's my story and I am sticking to it. I promise to use spell check more often and I promise to be more thorough.

Tonight was a Finance sub-committee meeting so I got lots of new juice and I will be serving it up before the big public hearing on next year's budget. It will be a wild ride until then.