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Governor Patrick unveiled his Readiness Project plan for school reform last week.  The proposal was filled with a number of far-reaching proposals that would shake up the status quo in public education in the Commonwealth including

• A statewide teachers contract
• Consolidation of school districts with less than 4000 students
• Full-day kindergarten and universal pre-K
• Stronger academic requirements for all students
• More effective drop-out prevention programs
• Differentiated pay for teachers in different subject areas and in urban schools
• Dual enrollment in high school and community college
• Free tuition at community college

Any one of those items is worthy of a lengthy debate.  Taken together, they represent a proposal to radically overhaul the state’s system of public education.  In the coming weeks, we’ll return to this topic several times.  For instance, why stop at consolidating only districts of less than 4000 students – why not consolidate them all and give the state full authority over public education?  Maybe it’s time to return to neighborhood schools and eliminate much of the current busing of students.  There’s much to debate.

Unfortunately, our own local newspaper has pretty much ignored all of these portions of the governor’s proposal, choosing to focus almost exclusively on a single item – the Governor’s attempt to revive in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants.  “Ed Reform Plan: Patrick backs tuition break for children of illegals” may have sold more copies of the paper, but it didn’t add anything to the debate on ed reform.

UPDATE: Education Secretary Paul Reville visited the Sun yesterday to present the Readiness Project to the paper’s editorial board.  That has resulted in a front-page story and an editorial in today’s paper that present a more balanced and comprehensive account of the school reform proposal than appeared last week.  We’ll add links later today after the stories become available online.

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Over on the Lowell SUN Forum there has been a thread running since June 9^th entitled “Do you Remember?” To date there have been 1099 comments – nostalgic memories of places, businesses, some people and aahh those youthful experiences. Granted some are off-the-wall, nutty and even weird. But it did get me thinking about how much people like to reminisce even when their recall might be somewhat imperfect. So I decided to use a “reliable source” – the Lowell Sunday SUN of October 1, 1972 – to remember “what was what” 36 years ago. Why 1972? Well, it was a hot political year at the national and local level – a time of turmoil, an unpopular war, calls for change, stock market unrest, unemployment woes, a presidential election and yet somethings were “business as usual.” Sound familiar?

• The SUN editorial “Why McGovern trails…” listed many reasons all laid to George McGovern’s “continual nonsense statements.” Statements on bugging, bombing, barbarism aimed at President Nixon and accusations that the Senate “chamber reeks of blood” or any “young person or worker that votes for Nixon is too confused to know which end is up” are some examples.

• The Congress was discussing reducing the SS retirement age to 60; welfare reform; guaranteeing a minimum annual income for a poor family.

• Lowell City Manager Jim Sullivan and the City Council differed strongly on longevity pay for police and firefighters.

• SUN schools reporter Carolyn Miegel reported her personal experience eating the cold but nutritionally acceptable lunch at AVCO – bologna & cheese sandwich with butter, a fresh peach, orange juice and milk. Lowell High School freshmen were housed at AVCO under the watchful administrative eye of Jimmy Finn. By the way most students were bussed there for free.

• School Superintendent Hugh McDougall convened a meeting to explain the mandated bi-lingual programs.

• Dr. Everett Olsen became the President of Lowell Tech (LTI).

• The Lowell Central Labor Council met to endorse John Kerry for Congress in the 5^th District while Roger Durkin supporters placed a nearly full page ad touting him as the Lowell candidate for the 5^th Congressional District. George Jessel was booked for a Durkin fundraiser at the Speare House.

• The SUNday Magazine’s feature story was “Recycling Lowell incinerator trash can produce valuable material.”

• Human Services Corporation (HSC) arranged a Lowell-canals boat trip led by planner Gordon Marker that included a Congressional aide and Lowell SUN reporter Toni Parsons. “Can you envision the frame of the mills used for apartments, can you visualize boutiques, condominiums overlooking the canals and the Merrimack? Can you? Can you? Can you, Lowellian?” Marker barked during the tour.

• A Belvidere Open House at a Trull Lane West home advertised a three-bedroom ranch at $36,900.

• The Patriots versus the Redskins was a sell-out game at Foxboro.

• Jobs were listed in the classified ads at Symphonics, Mammoth Mart, Sanders Associates, the Banqueteer and Lawrence Manufacturing.

• There were ads throughout the paper for JM Fields, Grants, Bigelow Home Furnishings, Bon Marche, Cherry & Webb, Sears, Purity Supreme, Capital Warehouse, Larkin’s Dinette, Giant Bargain Outlet, Jim Pierce Ford, Lallas Buick, Hallissy Chevolet, The Haven and the Princeton Lounge.

• Woulk’s Winds of War was on the best seller list.

• Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were celebrating their 25^th Anniversary.

• Fall foliage was near peak.

• The Lowell high School Class of 1947 gathered for their 25^th Reunion.

   

What do you remember? I remember a bruising Democratic Primary in the 5^th District. I remember trouble in Northern Ireland… voting for George McGovern… that Independent voters were important in the 5^th District election… that even in 1972 women who were mentioned in SUN stories - especially in the Lifestyle section - were usually identified by their husbands names… that Frank Phillips wrote for the SUN… that Paul Cronin was the Republican in the 5^th district race… Hale Howard… the Middlesex Training School issue… and so much more.

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Be sure to get out to LeLacheur Park and catch a Spinners game this summer because the team will be playing elsewhere next season.  As Mimi so thoroughly documents in her recent post on this topic, the Sun has pegged the Spinners as the bad guys and no story will deviate from that script.  Right on cue, the council has commenced its long march to extract the city’s pound of flesh from the Spinners.  Of course, that’s not a recent phenomenon.  The tremendous success of the Spinners has long ignited tremendous antipathy towards the team in city leaders.  And this negativity isn’t solely the result of the team’s failure to come through with its “suggested” donation to Winterfest back in the day, although that’s still part of it.  No, this determination to make the Spinners pay is widespread.  It’s also incredibly shortsighted.  

It’s true that the lease between the city and the Spinners overwhelmingly favors the ball team, but there’s a reason for that.  Back when the lease was entered into, the Spinners had spent two seasons playing at the refurbished Alumni Field on Route 38 and the team’s attendance figures bore a greater resemblance to those of the Lock Monster/Devils than to the wildly successful Spinners of recent years.  Without any guarantee of success and with the available evidence from the first two seasons suggesting the team would have a tough time making a go of it, the lease was reasonable under the circumstances. 

Now that the lease is up for renewal, the circumstances are different and I certainly hope that the amount of money coming to the city for the rental of the park will increase.  But I suspect that the city’s demands in negotiations will be unreasonable, an attempt by those who ignore the history of the current lease to make up for what they perceive as an injustice perpetrated on the city.  (A view that ignores the incalculable positive publicity that the Spinners heap upon the city, a return on the investment that dwarfs the dollars spent on “Martinis to Mills” and all the other marketing strategies the tax payers have and continue to fund).  

The reality is that in the upcoming lease renewal negotiations, the Spinners hold all the cards.  While minor league baseball is popular in its own right, the Spinners tremendous success is attributable to the team’s Red Sox affiliation.  Every city in New England (except, perhaps, Boston, Pawtucket and Portland) would do anything to land this team.  Anyone who thinks the Spinners could not find a new deal as lucrative to the team as the current lease with Lowell in another city just doesn’t understand the economics of professional baseball (and the motivations of civic leaders who hunger for a civic asset like the Spinners).  But it looks like there are plenty of folks (on the council and at the newspaper, for starters) who think they know better. 

Back in 1990, Emerson College embarked on a bold strategy to move its Boston campus to an 80-acre riverfront site in Lawrence, an undertaking that would have transformed the city at a time when every urban community in the northeast was struggling to survive.  Rather than embrace the proposal (warts and all) and unite to make it happen, many in Lawrence fought the move with dogged tenacity.  In the end, opponents of the move prevailed and proclaimed, “hooray, we kept Emerson College out of Lawrence.”   

Whatever it was that caused that outbreak of civic short-sightedness to emerge in Lawrence eighteen years ago seems to have migrated upstream, because every indication is that Lowell is about to suffer an outbreak of its own.

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I took these pictures of President Bill Clinton way back in January, about a week before the New Hampshire primary. Speaking on behalf of Hillary’s candidacy the president looked fit and well.  I found him engaging and fascinating.

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Tomorrow (Saturday, June 28, 2008) will be the second annual New England News Forum at UMass Lowell.  This year, the assembly will be held at the North Campus Library.  Last year it was at the Wannalancit Mills complex.  A detailed agenda is available online and it’s not too late to register.  Last year, of course, featured the first candidate debate of the Fifth District Special Election which was ultimately won by Niki Tsongas.  These pictures were taken at last year’s forum.

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Each year at about this time, President Bush typically travels to his parents’ summer home at Walkers’ Point  in Kennebunkport, Maine.  Last year, our colleague Tony was there to observe the many protesters who descended on the region along with the president.  If the same thing happens again, we’ll bring you news, pictures and video. 

The picture to the right was taken last year.

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After a quick reading of the Supreme Court’s decision announced today regarding the Second Amendment, I think the justices got it right (which is tough for me to say given the justices in the majority).  The issue was whether the Second Amendment granted an individual right to possess a gun as opposed to the very limited right to have a gun while serving in the militia.  Historically and rationally the latter interpretation doesn’t make much sense.  Still, today’s decision does not recognize an unlimited right.  Prohibiting felons and the mentally ill from possessing guns was recognized as permissible as was limiting the carrying of guns in certain places such as schools.  Other limits on the types of weapons (no machine guns) and the way they are carried (concealed) are also open to reasonable limits.  Unfortunately for both sides of the argument, this decision also serves as the starting gun for decades of litigation that will challenge existing and future limits on guns set by states and municipalities.  From a political perspective, this decision greatly benefits Obama.  Had the outcome gone the other way, gun owners would have had a rallying cry to mobilize around and, like gay marriage in the 2004 election, the Republicans would have had an attention magnet that would have distracted folks from the real issues in this election – the economy, energy policy, and the war on terror. 

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Expect to see the pace of activity from John Kerry’s reelection campaign quicken in the coming weeks.  The campaign has named recently elected Tyngsborough Selectwoman Ashley O’Neill as the Regional Director for the Merrimack Valley.  Ashley, who was elected in her first ever run for office just three days after she graduated from Emmanuel College, will bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the job and is free of the scars of local political battles of years gone by.  The district she is responsible for includes the districts of state senators Steve Panagiotakos of Lowell, Susan Tucker of Andover, Jim Marzilli of Arlington, Patricia Jehlen of Somerville plus the town of Chelmsford.  Besides Ashley, Kerry campaign manager Roger Lau, who ran Niki Tsongas’s successful race in the Fifth District special election last year, has brought on veterans of that election from both the Tsongas and Donoghue campaigns, so there should be some familiar faces at upcoming Kerry events. 

Anyone wishing to get involved in the campaign can email Ashley O’Neill or call her campaign phone at 617-470-1868. 

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 Last night emotions ran high at Tewksbury’s Town Meeting. Over 900 people attended. Voters had a huge decision to make. Would the town accept the budget of Town Manager David Cressman or that offered by maverick school committeeman Keith Rauseo. Ruaseo’s budget was designed to siphon money from other town departments into the schools, most notably the Senior Center and the Recreation Department. It was obvious from the start, the high school gymnasium was divided. Senior citizens and town employees made up the majority of the Cressman supports…young parents the Rauseo supporters. For the most part Cressman supporters sat on the floor…Rauseo supporters in the bleachers. Throughout the night both sides launched personal attacks at the opposing side and shouted out at the moderator.
     At the beginning of the meeting Rauseo informed the moderator that he was going to offer 28 amendments to the manager’s budget. Again, each would cut from the town-side and add money to the schools. For over 90 minutes the body debated the first amendment, cutting an Administrative Assistant to the Town Manager. Town Moderator Warren Layne (disclosure, I am related to him) astutely allowed speakers broad leeway when discussing the first item. In effect what Layne did was roll all the debate into this one article. When former selectman Joe Gill finally moved the question, it was obvious to everyone that the vote on Rauseo’s first amendment one was in effect a vote for or against his entire budget. Rauseo’s amendment failed 435-366 essential defeating his budget. After the vote the defeated school committeeman rose and informed the moderator he would not offer the remainder of his amendments.
     A few people need to be singled out for their performance last night. School Committeeman Scot Consaul gets my “Profiles In Courage” award. Consaul put his self-interest to the side and spoke against fellow committee member Keith Rauseo’s budget. He explained to a large contingency of emotional parents (that are all registered voters) that voting against the Rauseo budget was for the benefit of the entire town “not just the schools”. Consaul agreed, he too wanted more money for education, but not on the backs of the senior. Police Chief Al Donovan also deserves praise. He turned the emotional tide. He was the first speaker to bring to the body’s attention the need for a community, not a special interest benefiting vote.

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As you may have noted on this site and in the daily and weekly papers, the Tewksbury budget situation has raised the temperature throughout the town. It seems to have pitted school committee members and “school supporters” against those on the town-side, Seniors and their supporters as well others in the community. School committee members in particular have taken lots of heat. One member even got a grilling and a toasting at a recent town political commmittee meeting. Stress on his family seems to be the breaking point for School Committee member Keith Rauseo - the chief architect of the recent setting-aside of the town budget and the chief drafter of an alternative budget to be present along-side the BOS budget at tonight’s session of the Tewksbury Town Meeting. A call was left on my answering machine at 2:30 pm today with the news that Keith Rauseo had tended his letter of resignation to Town Clerk Mary-Ann Nichols earlier today. I didn’t expect this development. The Lowell SUN web-site notes that the resignation will be effective on July 1, 2008. Rauseo topped the school committee ticket in the April 2007 town election gaining a three-year term ending in 2010. Yet another special election will be need to keep Tewksbury boards with a full complement of members. But today that’s the least of worries for the town. Will Rauseo still present his budget tonight? Will it be accepted or rejected for the BOS budget priorities? Will Rauseo’s new status engender sympathy for his position or will voters be angry at the turn of events? Will the BOS have legal fiscal authority come July 1st? Stay tuned.

Update at 10:00 pm re: the Town Meeting - Over 800 voters are attending the town meeting tonight. After some heated and pointed comments by officials and town meeting participants , the first Rauseo amendment was defeated by over 100 votes. Seeing the “handwriting on the wall” Keith Rauseo announced that he will not present any other amendments to the BOS budget. The Moderator finished the budget items as listed - they all passed. There are more items to be discussed and voted after a recess. It appears that many attendees have left the hall.  mps

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