Here are some thoughts on Hancock v Driscoll from another parent:
The Hancock-Driscoll decision is good for Lowell especially in light of the CPC's meeting this past Monday evening (4/26/04). The focus was English Language Learners in the regular classroom. Jean Franco, Deputy Superintendent of Student Services, gave a presentation on how a regular classroom teacher in Lowell is teaching to students who would previously be taught in bi-lingual classroom. Jean's presentation was extremely informative. She actually taught a lesson that would be given in any elementary classroom across the city. She chose a math lesson (which gave us a look at the new mth curriculum at the same time). She demonstrated how language is constantly and consistently taught in all subjects. When a lesson, in any subject is taught in this fashion, it reaches children at all levels regardless of proficiency or native langugae. The teacher groups students based on ability, teaming students together who are high-level language with students who may be better at math so they can work together, each helping the other. In an urban city such as Lowell, where 60% of it's students are from homes where English is the second language, teaching in this style is imperative.
Unfortunately, very few parents attended. This sends one of two messages; either there are no problems with the program which would be wonderful or parents just don't want to get involved. Quite frankly, I worry that it's the latter. In order to give Lowell's students the best possible education, parents need to get involved. It will take more than just a few parents to get the job done. The next few months are critical. The budget will be decided and even though the Hancock-Driscoll decision will help us, it won't take effect until next year at the earliest. We are in for another budget fight. If the School Committee has to cut the budget again, which is a distinct possibility, this time programs will be cut in addition to even more teachers. Please consider contacting the CPC to get involved

The blog is back. Sorry for the lengthy absence. The Hancock v Driscoll decision is a good reason to return to writing. Most who are interested in improving Lowell's schools were thrilled with the decision, which found that the state has failed to adequately fund public schools in urban areas. The reason the court is involved in this in the first place is that the Massachusetts Constitution guarantees each resident a free, public education. The recent court decision held that the state's funding was inadequate to meet this constitutional requirement. No one knows what will happen next. The legislature only concern seems to be where will the money come from. As practical a consideration as that is, it ignores the reality that urban school systems need a lot more money if they are to meet the steep requirements set by MCAS and No Child Left Behind. Perhaps the legislature should consider regionalizing school system - let urban kids go to school in suburbia and suburban kids come to school in the inner city. That wouldn't cost any more money and it would certainly equal the opportunities available to all the state's children.

A dozen or so police dogs from the area made an unannounced visit to Lowell High School yesterday to sniff out drugs. All lockers and backpacks were sniffed by the dogs and no drugs were found. It's too bad that this has to done in the first place, but that's the reality of life in America in 2004. Fortunately, no drugs were found.

Sorry for taking a few days off. The Lowell City Council last night agreed to raise $1 million plus to fund the repairs of the heating system at Lowell High School. This past winter, teachers and students sat shivering in their coats in more than a few classrooms because the undependable roof top heating units weren't functioning. Hopefully the replacement units will be installed, tested and operational by the return of the cold weather.

The Chicago public school system has been a national leader in the movement against "social promotions." The theory is that if a student is not performing at grade level, that student should not proceed to the next grade. Common sense would seem to suggest that and the Chicago approach has been widely copied, most recently in New York City. Well, a recently completed study in Chicago has found that "retaining" students in grades three through eight does them no good and actually harms their subsequent academic performance. A careful reading of the report's highlights is a bit disheartening. It doesn't say that pushing the kids through the system helps them; it just says holding them back doesn't help them at all. The study seems to suggest that if a child reaches third grade without having a grasp of the basics of math and reading, that child will not catch up without some intensive and expensive remedial measures, measures that no public schools seem able to afford. It's almost like the solution is to get rid of these kids as quickly as possible, because they're never going to get any better. That's truly pathetic.

Lt Governor Healey, Attorney General Reilly and Middlesex DA Martha Coakley visited Lowell High yesterday for a press conference to promote proposed legislation that would, among other things, require education officials to be informed whenever a student is arrested. This is a good thing. It's based on a practice Reilly started as Middlesex DA back in the 1990s after a Lowell teenager died in a gang-related murder. Weekly meetings gather police, prosecutors, probation officers, and school department officials to discuss arrests but also to identify potential problems and to develop strategies to diffuse such problems before they get out of hand. Coordination like this is crucial to improving academic performance. Most of the problems in schools are caused by factors outside of school. Other personnel, such as social workers, code inspectors, and the health department, should also be meeting with educators. Unfortunately, non-education agencies of government often take a hands off approach to education. This is a mindset that must change for education reform to succeed.

Fourteen years ago Milwaukee made national news by switching to a voucher system that provides state money to poor parents to send their kids to private schools. This is the same type of system that many in Washington hope to impose upon many of us once the No Child Left Behind law attains its goal of dismantling the public school system. A story in today's Globe, however, reported that the Milwaukee voucher system has been plagued by scandals. The principal of one private school financed by vouchers is a convicted rapist who served ten years in prison before transitioning to his current situation (principals and teachers in these private schools are not required to undergo criminal background checks). Another principal continued to cash the checks he was receiving for hundreds of students who had withdrawn from the school. He used some of this money to buy a couple of Mercedes-Benzes for himself and his assistant principal. And this is how the powers that be in Washington want to reform our education system.

Although it doesn't directly effect Lowell, everyone should watch the results of tomorrow's election in Chelmsford. Town residents will vote to approve or reject $31 million dollars for school repairs and expansions. This is a greatly scaled down version of a plan that's already lost twice before at the ballot box. The outcome will be instructive for the parents of Lowell's school children. Although the coming year's budget for the city's schools will not be finalized until early June, it will undoubtedly be as much of a struggle for adequate funding as was last year's budget battle. If the proposal to improve Chelmsford's schools is defeated given the strong, pro-education forces in that town, what hope is there that the voters of Lowell would be any more supportive of their city's schools?

Today's Globe contains a small announcement that the paper will begin publishing a new advice column called "Ask the Teacher" on April 25. "Experienced local teachers will answer the tough questions students and parents face through elementary, middle and high school years." Submit your questions by email to asktheteacher@globe.com. Your inquiry should include your name, town and email address or phone number to allow them to verify the submission. If you request, your question will be printed anonymously.

Each year, National Geographic sponsors a national Geography Bee. The competition is in three stages. The first took place back in January when schools throughout the country held their own Geography Bee competitions. The winner from each school then took a written test and the top 100 students (based on the test scores) from each state competed today in state-level Geography Bees. The Massachusetts competition was held at Clark University in Worcester, where Krishnan Chandra, a sixth grader at the Andover West Middle School won by correctly answering this question: "What is the name of the former Dutch colony in South America?" The answer was Surinam. The winners from the 55 states and territories compete in Washington, DC in May. The ultimate victor wins a $25,000 scholarship.

Urban school systems such as Lowell rely heavily on funding from state and local government and from grants. While these sources of revenue are essential to the schools, they do come at a price. No one just hands over millions of dollars free of any obligation or restrictions. Each bureaucracy up the chain imposes its own set of requirements, all well intentioned, no doubt, but also extremely burdensome on the receiving school system. Sometimes scarce administrative resources spend valuable time complying with mandates that have little or no apparent benefit to the ultimate consumer - the student. Even more insidious, perhaps, is the tendency for all of these bureaucratic requirements to create a "culture of compliance" in which employees inadvertently become more concerned with meeting the administrative requirements of the bureaucracy than they do with educating kids. This is not to suggest that these requirements be ignored, just that they be kept in the proper perspective.