Newburyport Schools

Superintendent Search: Community Forum Tonight

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:17:00 +0000

As part of the Superintendent Search process, the firm who is working with the city is sponsoring over 30 individual and group meetings in the community over the next two days. Tonight's meeting at the Nock is open to all interested parties. I hope you can make it.

There really are two purposes for the meetings. Each hour-long meeting will focus on creating a Leadership profile, to establish a clear idea of what the city is looking for in a new Superintendent, besides longevity. The second purpose of the meetings is to help the search firm, HYA, get a diverse and comprehensive understanding of what Newburyport is about- what makes it a unique community, and how things get done or don't get done.

These meetings have been set up with a wide variety of groups and individuals, from media and bloggers to the Charter School, from the City Council to the Arts community, from school staff to students and the spiritual community.

Tonight, November 9th, at 7 PM there will be a forum at the Nock for the entire community; those who were unable to attend the specifically-pitched daytime meetings, and those who want a second bite of the apple. Come on down, it's an opportunity to express your hopes and concerns about the future of the school system, and the type of leadership that will get us where we want to go.

As I've said in an earlier posting, you can't yell at the umpire if you don't get a ticket to the game.

See you tonight at the Nock.

A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS- Last Rant Before the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:31:00 +0000

Sometimes, it just takes your breath away. Like today.

In today's Daily News, there is a fairly accurate article about a presentation made by Superintendent Farrell at the last School C0mmittee meeting this past Monday. We'd asked the Superintendent to give us her take on the most recent cuts made by Governor Patrick, and their impact on this current school year. And we asked her to help us understand what would like happen next year, given the cuts we'll see this year.

Daily News 1.2 million

Pretty grim stuff, but I tend to like to deal with reality-based budget planning. Public comment, as we have come to rely, was offered by Dr. Ralph Orlando, whose passion for the schools, and whose relentless advocacy on their behalf, is often accompanied by very astute analysis of current budget trends. He worked hard on the Mayor's Revenue Task Force, and thankfully, he pulls no punches. As an aside, he got my write-in vote for School Committee this year, even though his wife threatened bodily harm to my person for my efforts.

The article was accurate. Things look grim. Grimmer than usual.

And the answers are the same. Cuts or find new revenues. Nothing new about that.

Reading the Comments

Sometimes, though not often, I read the comments that accompany the Daily News. They are usually passionate, expressive, and riddled with innuendos or talking points straight from talk radio. They rarely cite any sources of information to validate what are offered as "facts", or as things "everybody knows".

I read the comments because they help me to understand better what people are feeling and thinking. Not that I don't get plenty of it here at the blog, on the streets, or at School Committee meetings. And as a keen believer in the value of dialogue, I will pretty much listen to anything anyone offers as their perspective, even if they refuse to offer that perspective with a basic respect for people they disagree with, or to inform the conversation with facts that can be verified.

In eight full years on the School Committee, I have been flamed, shouted at, and called just about everything imaginable. I have had messages left on my answering machine that scared my children. I have had a group of people who disagreed with me curse me out and flip me the bird in front of my own kids. You get the picture. I earn every cent of my annual stipend of $2,400. Sorta like hazard pay for civil participation.

I don't usually respond to comments offered by the Daily News readership. There isn't much percentage in trying to use facts as a basis for conversation when people refer to those they disagree with in derogatory and demeaning terms. I value their feelings, and defend their right to air them, but can rarely extract much beyond their understandable feelings of being exploited and ripped off. I learn some things, but don't usually find workable answers to these civic problems we face.

Today, there was a comment I felt worth sharing. It is a particularly valid point of view, despite the tone and lack of factual content. Here it is...

A Penny For Your Thoughts

Is anybody paying attention to this? Fees? Are we feed enough? And scrapping art and music? Why not just end public education and make it all fees for everything? Orlando is a BOOB! Does this city want to have a teachers strike cause that is what will happen next! Why don't some of these administrators, overpaid I might add, take a paycut? Some people in this city just don't get it. Some of these members on the school commity are only in it for power and they do NOT give a rats behind about education, the kids or the schools.

Even as rants go, this one is pretty impressive. It demeans a member of the community for the temerity to urge the city to fund schools better. In a curious linkage of cause and effect, the writer suggests that adding fees for services, (which for the past five years has been in effect increasingly shifting the burden of funding a public education from the community to the end users), will result in a teacher's strike. It suggests that the way to resolve a budget deficit of 1.2 mil, much of which is a result of money that the state has given us for years simply being subtracted from our next year allocation, is to ask our administrators to take a pay cut.

Cool. Let's work that one out. Five principals, let's average their salary at $80,000- let's figure each of them will step forward, and not only give up a raise, but they'll give back 10% of their salary. Grand total, $40,000.

Now let's add a 10% give back from the Superintendent. Hmm. $12,500. Grand total, $52,500.

That'll almost prevent the layoff of a single teacher.

But if we can't add fees, and we won't get money promised by statute from the state, and we aren't allowed to generate any new revenues from the city in the form of ballot initiatives, even if we recapture 10% of the administrative salaries, how will we make up the balance of the anticipated shortfall, which would be approximately $1,148,000?

Well, the scenario suggested by the poster of this comment, umm, really limits our options.

Please

Times are bad. They are scary. People are worried about their finances. We get that. But we have to talk about how we will meet the basic needs of providing the kind of education that will prepare our students for college, for the world of work. For the next 50 years. Given the lack of funding, we especially have to talk about it now.

We have to have a dialogue; not a rant, not a monologue, not a demonizing, factually bereft confusion of opinion with what is really happening. You can have an opinion. You can hold onto it despite an onslaught of facts. But at some point, standing there flipping the bird and sticking your fingers in your ears, shouting louder than me so that you can't hear me say things you don't want to hear will not help us to meet the challenge of educating kids for tomorrow with less money than we had this year.

That is what we are trying to do. Public education is not the civil equivalent of picking the public's pocket. You don't get what you don't pay for.

And one more thing. Not liking what we are spending our money on as we desperately try to maintain a quality education with fewer resources, is not the same thing as wasting our money. It does not reflect squandering resources. The budget is available on line. Look for yourselves. If something isn't clear, contact the administration, or the School Committee, and ask for an explanation. You have the right to that. We may disagree on the spending choices the School Committee, upon the recommendation of trained educators, are making. That is why we offer the community the opportunity to publicly challenge every penny and every allocation in our school budget during the budget hearings we conduct every year before we vote on a budget.

Not for nothing, but would you like to guess how many citizens attended the budget hearings that were sponsored by the School Committee prior to submitting the 2009/2010 School budget to the Mayor?

None. Not one person. And I believe the record will show that there was not a single comment offered by the public on the budget.

I'm all for transparency. I'm all for informed discussion of differences, of participatory budget-building.

But if you are going to claim that money is being wasted by the schools, you have the responsibility to be clear and specific about how that is happening. Clear, and specific.

The kind of comments that seem to proliferate on the Daily News and other blogs- demeaning, filled with unsupported assumptions, aren't helpful. Asking some of the most skilled, best educated and hardest working individuals in the community to help resolve community-wide, state-wide budget crises by giving back 10% of their salary is certainly a strategy. Heck, I bet if your boss asked you to do that, you'd be one of the first to offer it up.

But when you sit down and figure out what it will actually do to help address the deficit, and you discover that it would resolve less than .04% of the needed revenue to avoid class size increases and staff reductions of a magnitude that will shock even the most virulent anti-tax crusader, you gotta put something else on the table. Your job isn't done. You wanna yell at the umpire, you gotta buy a ticket to the game. Sitting at home and yelling at the TV won't get the message across.

That is not the way a respectful, responsible community goes about resolving real differences.

OK. I feel better.

Education Priorities for the Mayoral Candidates-- Reading Between the Lines, Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:06:00 +0000

In today’s Daily News, the Mayoral Candidates discuss their priorities for the schools, and education in general. It might be helpful to consider what each candidate is offering as priorities. It might also be helpful to read between the lines to see what they aren’t saying. I’ll try to do both. You can read their responses here.

When you have finished this series of posts, I'd encourage you to head over to the website for each candidate, and explore their thoughts on schools and education. The format for the Daily News article was very confining; each candidate may have more information available at their sites. You can reach Donna Holaday here, and James Shanley is here.

The Budget

A critical annual priority for the School Committee is creating and submitting a budget that addresses the educational needs of all students. That does so in an efficient and comprehensive way. That allows for both the implementation of the Strategic Plan and the level of continuous improvement required under No Child Left Behind and the 1993 Education Reform Act, among other funding needs.

That process traditionally engages the community well before the actual numbers are offered. Each School Council, a body comprised of teachers, parents and community members, works with each principal to develop a School Improvement Plan. These plans are submitted to the School Committee for review. They become part of the blueprint for the formulation of a budget. Other factors are costs generated by regulation compliance, ongoing changes and improvements to curriculum and teaching, the changing costs of energy, and compliance with employee contracts.

The Administration submits a budget to the School Committee, which holds public hearings that have often resulted in changes to the budget to reflect community concerns. Once we have the final budget, we vote it, and the Mayor presents it to the City Council.

Several times over the past few years, the School Committee has voted a budget out that does not balance. This has been a reflection of downward changes in state support over those years. Most times, if the Mayor is convinced that the “overage” represents a critical element in the education of students, he or she has advocated for additional money. On one occasion, that did not happen; the budget was returned to the School Committee to make cuts, and we did.

A budget is important, and I was glad to see it on the list. Actually funding that budget is also critical, and what the priorities of these candidates would be if our reach exceeds our grasp was not part of either candidate’s offering. There’s that gnarly word again, funding.

With regard to role of the Mayor and contract negotiations, in my nine years on the SC, I have been at the table four times with the teacher’s union. None of the four mayors I worked with made more than a token appearance to explain a city budget issue. The general thinking has been that having the Mayor tied up doing the negotiations isn’t a great use of their time, especially since the negotiating team created by the School Committee negotiates terms based on what the Committee has agreed upon in Executive Session; the Mayor, as Chair of the Committee is intimately involved in setting those parameters. The negotiating team brings anything outside those parameters back to the entire School Committee for approval before agreeing to it.

I will also say, as a veteran of these negotiations, that the tone and nature of the negotiations, the willingness to discuss difficult issues and reach satisfactory conclusions has dramatically improved over the years; both sides have become more thoughtful, pragmatic, cooperative and creative. Contracts negotiated have been consistent with those negotiated by other city unions; and reflect the budget crisis of the city.

Implementing and Funding the Strategic Plan

The City engaged in an extraordinarily open and pragmatic strategic planning process, requiring substantive community input. The plan is a strong vision; the last several school budgets were aligned with meeting the targets set by the plan. The plan has also been modified to reflect new and emerging priorities, such as the enhanced math curriculum.

It is amazing that Kevin and Deidre have been able to make progress each year on the plan, despite the ravages of funding loss.

Future progress on the plan will depend significantly on funding, but not completely. Knowledge of and commitment to the plan is terrific. Greater specificity about how we will fund the needed improvements when we have resolved those that don’t take new money is needed.

Improving School Facilities

This is another important priority, given the current state of our schools below the high school level. There have been a number of facility reviews over the past several years as we have been submitting proposals to the state for funding; another review as suggested by one of the candidates might shed new light on how much our schools have deteriorated; it might be more useful to express ideas about how the schools and the rest of city infrastructure that is need of repair will get funded. Deidre Farrell and Steve Bergholm, Budget and Facilities expertise respectively, have done an extraordinary job trying to keep up with maintenance; each year for the past several, the City Council has allocated short money to fund these efforts. We have managed to stem the worst of it, but we have some very significant issues at all three of our schools below the high school.

Also, the School Committee and had a standing Sub-Committee on Facilities for many years.

As for good relationships with the state funding agency, I would encourage that strongly and am happy to see it listed. If those new and productive relationships can alter the way state compares our “compelling needs” with those of the schools it is choosing to fund, we should do better than we have. I’m not sure the problem with getting school building work funded hinges on relationships; it depends more on presenting a compelling need and the state having the money to fund the construction.

Cooperation Between City Agencies

This is a good priority. In particular, I am encouraged that the principal of collaborative and complementary services between city agencies would be a priority.

It is worth noting that past practice, going back a number of years, was for the two elected bodies, the City Council and the School Committee, to convene a meeting at the beginning of the budget process. The meeting had several purposes- it was designed to be a general discussion between the two bodies about the underlying “principles” that the budget was responding to. Why were certain programs funded, others not? Which funding was being recommended to help address regulatory issues? The meeting was not intended to take the place of public budget hearings, or the workshops sponsored by the City Council as part of their budget review process.

In addition to getting everyone on approximately the same page with regards to the “why” of the budget, the community had the opportunity to see both elected bodies engaged in the only discussion (outside of appointing a new school committee member to a vacancy) that they were likely to have. There was, in the eyes of a number of people, a symbolic value to that.

In recent years, this practice was abandoned. Would restoring such a meeting come under the rubric of cooperation between agencies?

Between the Lines

Given the constraints of the Daily News article, both candidates have provided us with a basic set of premises about what their priorities would be. Space limitations make it very hard to be specific about potential solutions; that and a tendency for candidates to squirm when they are asked to be more specific about the “how,” once they’ve suggested the what.

I’d encourage both candidates to make use of their blogs and the upcoming debates to be more specific.

Clearly, the elephant in the room is funding. Here are some questions that occur to me.

In the likelihood that we will see mid-year budget cuts from the state, a very likely scenario based on the email traffic I have seen, what would the priorities of the candidate be for making those cuts? Class size changes? Loss of electives? Further cuts in music, art, theater? New user fees for school service to students? Reduction in access to school buses for non-mandated students?

What would constitute a set of criteria for each candidate that would compel them to introduce and support a tax question, override or debt exclusion, to stabilize, restore, an/or continue to improve the schools? What would they need to see? Or, do they feel that there are no criteria that would allow them to support going back to the community for additional funding?

Where do the schools fit, as a priority, compared to the other needs to be funded- sidewalks, senior and youth services, water and sewer infrastructure, etc.?

What other strategies, beyond ballot questions, would they consider to generate additional revenues for the city?

What will they do as Mayor to promote the idea that schools are a resource and an obligation for the entire community, not just parents of student and students?

What community-based partnerships need to be improved?

Can you share with the community what your involvement with the schools has been over your time in public service, or before that?

Over the next month, I’ll continue to offer other questions that may help to distinguish the two candidates, and their visions for the school.

Oh, yeah. I’d encourage you to head over to the website for each candidate, and check out for yourself their ideas about the schools, and the role schools play in the community.

Donna Holaday is here, James Shanley is here.

I’m not a one-issue voter, by inclination. But when that one issue obligates 45% of the city budget, I am less inclined to accept vague sound bites as a substitute for thoughtful consideration of the issues facing the community. The city deserves more than that, as it chooses between two competent candidates for Mayor.

Education Priorities for the Mayoral Candidates-- A Primer for Reading Between the Lines, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:09:00 +0000

Time on Learning

Time-on-learning is an important issue on a number of levels. Our ability to stay in compliance with the state regulations for teaching time is important. Linked to that will be our ability to retain our accreditation with the agency that accredits schools in the country; that accreditation will be critical to the state’s willingness to fund the school. No certificate, no funding. The candidate correctly identifies the problem, identifies one complication that is currently being considered- the present use of the block schedule. What is lacking is a basic acknowledgement that some this will take funding beyond that currently provided to reintroduce some electives and sections of curriculum.

That theme, funding, will haunt the rest of this assessment. That’s where, for the most part, dear reader, you have to go between the lines.

Superintendent

The Superintendent search is important. Hiring the strongest possible Superintendent should not be controversial; there is a very capable national search firm generating candidates, and a local search committee that will send three of the six applicants forward to the School Committee for their decision. The reputation of this search firm, and our own unfortunate experience with their recruiting Kevin Lyons away from Newburyport is a strong indication that if there is a great candidate out there, we’ll see them.

Perhaps a more telling response might be what one considers a “strong” superintendent; and what kind of a relationship each mayoral candidate feels they should have as mayor with the Superintendent.

Restoring Foreign (World) Language to the Middle School

An important issue. Eight years ago, Newburyport had a World Languages program that was considered a state model. It began in kindergarten, and flowed through high school. We did that because it is research-based conclusion that the younger a child is, the easier it is for a child to become proficient in another language.

Because of budget cuts, we are in the process of eliminating French as an option. We have also cut back our offering of World Languages significantly. For those students currently in the system, they will need to wait until 9th grade to start a language, and they will have very few choices of which language that will be. Of course, in a global economy, and with census projections that the United States will shift to a Hispanic majority well within the lifetime of our currently enrolled students, we are sending Newburyport students out to seek their fame and fortune in the world with a distinct communication disadvantage.

Some of this can be funded grants, and from the support of educational philanthropies. Twice in the last several years the community has turned down a debt exclusion and an override that would have generated funds that were specifically targeted towards restoring World Languages in the schools.

Based on my own experience over the last eight years, restoration of World Languages at a level that provides the minimal opportunity for the greatest number of students will require significant commitment of funds; greater than will be available through grants and philanthropies. But it is a high priority.

The next post will finish with candidate priorities, and offer some questions for readers to consider as they make their choices about which candidate will best address school issues.

Education Priorities for the Mayoral Candidates-- A Primer for Reading Between the Lines

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:59:00 +0000

This is a long, long post. I have divided it up into several separate postings; conventional wisdom (something I’ve never ascribed to) says that no one will read a dense, focused article that requires a bathroom break to finish. So, this is the first part.

I’m not going to pretend that there aren’t other issues affecting the community that deserve attention. There are. I’ve got an enlightened self-interest in this particular topic, though. It is not my intention to publicly support one of the two candidates; I am not going to do that here, or anywhere. There is a Holaday sign at 83 Lime Street, and it reflects the support of my wife for her candidacy. Frankly, it means she has one supporter in the house, and another voter who isn’t saying which candidate gets his vote. If you wander a little farther up Lime Street, there is a house that has both a Shanley and a Holaday sign, so having one voter declare their support and another choose not to isn't so odd. I don’t think that a public declaration of which candidate I intend to vote for adds anything to this discussion, and might actually subtract from a fair consideration of the issues.

I’m offering you a framework for evaluating candidate positions on education issues. You may, and should draw your own conclusions. As far as this mayoral race goes, as a voter, taxpayer, and School Committee member I am interested in some very simple outcomes. Like the election of a mayor who recognizes that the schools represent 45% of the total budget of the city, who understands that a measure of the vitality of the community (and to be mercenary, the ability of a community to hold real estate values high) is the quality of it’s schools. One who understands in a very fundamental way that the quality of a school is comprised of many things- administrative leadership, active parents, thoughtful teachers who feel supported and are able to engage students and teach a challenging and coherent curriculum. I want a mayor who believes that schools are a community asset, and works to engage the entire community in supporting local education. Finally, I’d like to see the election of a mayor who understands this will require that the school and city ensure that the resources and funding it provides are spent efficiently, and ultimately, are ample enough to do the job.

Yeah. Maybe I’m setting the bar pretty high. Using the questions I am suggesting in the above paragraph, and the answers of the two candidates published in today’s Daily News, you can see which candidate will score above the mean. Then go to their websites for those answers that didn’t fit into the Daily News format. Hopefully you’ll find them there; I think they should be there.

Each candidate was asked to set three priorities, so we can look at what those priorities are, or appear to be, and discuss them a little bit.

By my reading, the range of priorities includes time-on-learning at the high school, hiring the strongest superintendent, restoring foreign language at the middle school, working on a budget to present to the City Council (and being the first mayor to actually sit at the negotiating table with school employees in at least the last nine years); implementing and funding the Strategic Plan, doing a school building analysis to make sure the school facilities are up to the task of education, (and establishing good relationships on the state level to get any school capital needs funded). Also included in the list, as a sort of bonus, was a priority encouraging cooperation between the schools and youth services to ensure services are complementary.

I think this is a fair range of issues, and in some cases actual priorities, as far as it goes. Might not have been the three I would have chosen, but I’m not running for mayor. Let’s look at the overarching issues these priorities reflect; after we do that, you can decide whether either candidate, in their artificially shortened response, actually tells you what they will do. After that, I’ll share those priorities that will determine my own vote on Election Day.

Back to the drawing board

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:29:00 +0000

We got the news today, oh boy. Newburyport has been turned down in it's application for state assistance in making structural renovations to the Nock School. That application was submitted two years ago, and had been held in a sort of limbo by the state. A sort of waiting list. After two years, the Massachusetts School Building Administration has decided we aren't in their ballpark for funding. It took them two years to make that conclusion.

Newburyport's schools are getting a little long in the tooth, as educational facilities go. We recently renovated the high school, tearing down what was known as the "New Wing," which had been built in 1961. But once you get past the high school, things are looking a little frowzy.

The newest school built in Newburyport is the Nock Middle School, constructed when Richard Nixon was still president. That would be 1972. The Bresnahan School was built the same year that I was born, 1955, the Brown School was built in the 1920's. The original high school was built during the depression.

Two years ago, we retired a school building that was built in the 1870's.

Newburyport prides itself, justifiably, on it's native architecture and historical preservation. But years of infrastructure neglect, and trying to subsist on what amounts to a starvation diet for capital repair funding, have had a pretty damaging effect on the schools. With the hiring of Deidre Farrell over five years ago, the school system instituted a schedule for regular maintenance and repair to our schools; with a relentless commitment to squeezing every possible dollar we could out of systems upgrade- HVAC systems, windows, bulbs. Deidre's efforts at getting things done a shoestring and a rebate began to stem the tide of deterioration in the buildings.

But there are no coupons for reconverting the temporary classrooms that have been attached to the Bresnahan for more than 40 years into permanent classrooms. In fact, these temporaries are now in their second generation.

The reality is that our schools need both major repairs and significant makeovers to become efficient and functional educational settings.

The Nock has structural issues, and could benefit for ongoing electrical and other systems upgrade. Recently, thanks to the foresight and largesse of the NEF, the science labs were upgraded. As of last year, prior to work, they contained the same equipment and facilities from their initial construction, 1972. A lot of science has happened since then, and science curricula have undergone tremendous changes in that time.

During the 90's, the state was engaged in the business of supporting communities that needed to renovate or build schools. Through the Massachusetts School Building Administration, projects like Newburyport High School received a significant percentage of it's renovation funds through the state, lowering the local tax burden for local communities. But those days are long gone. The ability of the state to support communities in their capital needs around schools has taken a severe hit during this budget crisis. Frankly, the capacity for the state to help communities meet basic educational needs and requirements is also pretty porous these days.

Recently, Newburyport was informed that an application to renovate the Nock that was submitted two years ago and assigned a vague status by the MSBA somewhat akin to "waiting for more information" has finally been rejected. It took them two years, and two, possibly three site visits, to reject us.

The plan had been to get the Nock done, and then apply for the Bresnahan, which in the interim has become the only school serving 1-3 graders in the city. We'll still submit the required Statement(s) of Interest to the MSBA to get in line for consideration, but unless we can prove that the schools have overcrowding or "significant structural issues," we aren't likely to see any state funding to offset construction costs.

We have yet to see whether educating two generations of Newburyport students in temporary classrooms constitutes a significant structural issue in the eyes of the state.

Alongside the water treatment facilities and the sewage treatment plant, add the all three schools to list of critical infrastructure investments the city will need to make in the future. Probably the near future.

Hopefully, we will hear from this year's Mayoral candidates about how they intend to address these issues. We can run from them, but we can't hide forever.

Swimming with the Big Fish- Searching for a New Superintendent

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:55:00 +0000

Tonight, the School Committee met in public session with the consultants hired to conduct the search for a new Superintendent. John Connolly and Al Argenziano will be the two consultants from HYA working with the Screening Committee and the School Committee, HYA is a national organization, and the search will be national in nature.

Nobody knows better than Newburyport that HYA always gets their man or woman- recently they were hired by Hudson to help with their Superintendent search. They were successful- Hudson, you may remember, hired Kevin Lyons.

You can catch tonight’s meeting on cable later this week. To summarize some of the most important points raised tonight:

* HYA will conduct the search, and do all the initial screenings. They will forward the names of six candidates to the Screening Committee appointed by Mayor Moak.

* The Screening Committee will interview all six semi-finalists, and forward the names of three finalist candidates to the School Committee for their consideration. The School Committee makes the final determination.

* It is the School Committee that will set the parameters and role of the Screening Committee. The School Committee will use information generated by community responses to a Leadership profile to create a “script” of questions to be asked of each candidate by the Screening Committee. The School Committee will use the same script as the basis for their interviews of the finalist. The questions will be developed through focus group meetings and interviews in the community.

* Those community focus groups and interviews will happen in early November.

* The School Committee hopes to be introducing the new Superintendent to the community by March 31, 2010.

A few more points worth noting- HYA has told the School Committee that they search “very aggressively,” and that the likely candidate for the Newburyport job is not currently looking for a new superintendent position.

Also, they were clear that “the compensation package will determine the ultimate quality of the candidates you will get.” They will be doing some research on current salaries in MA and elsewhere in the country, and make a recommendation to the School Committee. Given the number of current openings and the generally thin pool of potential candidates, we should be prepared for serious case of sticker shock. A serious case of sticker shock, indeed.

The Shape of Things To Come

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:35:00 +0000

There are a lot of things happening over the next several months that will have an impact on the schools this coming year. These include:

Elections

Since my name isn’t on the ballot for School Committee this go round, we have another uncontested election. You History shows that the three SC elections I have run in have been contested, the intervening elections- not. Three up, three down. This election is no exception. There is something about my presence on the ballot that stimulates the impulse for democratic, multi-candidate elections. Despite the absence of a field of candidates, these are important elections.

With an open Mayor’s race, the School Committee has four of seven seats up for grabs; since Steve Cole is the only SC member running for re-election, we will be seeing three brand-spanking new faces on the Committee come January. Dan Koen and Cheryl Sweeney, who ran unopposed, will join Nick DeKanter, Stephanie Weaver, Steve Cole and me. The Mayor-elect will assume the position of Chair of the School Committee, as authorized by the City Charter. The School Committee rules provide for a Vice Chair to preside over the meetings.

New faces, new challenges. As the election season proceeds, we will be gearing up our search for a new Superintendent. The School Committee has hired a search firm, and the Mayor will be convening a Search Committee shortly. Hopefully, the School Committee will be choosing from several candidates some time this spring.

The Charter

Also on the ballot is the Charter Review Question. A positive vote on the question will also establish a Charter Review Commission. The Commission will review the governing structures of the City, and recommend any changes that will promote better efficiency and accountability in governance. The potential exists for the Commission to consider School Committee terms.

If you search diligently among the 20 names on the ballot, you will find mine. I like to think of the Charter Review process as a Civics class. I’d appreciate your vote. I’ll study hard.

Other Stuff

Also on the docket for the fall will be the school administration response to MCAS results at the Middle School level. At the next School Committee meeting, October 5^th, there will be a full presentation to the community of the MCAS results, with some of the initial analysis of data that is being done; with next steps. While on the whole the MCAS scores were very encouraging, there are some steps we need to take to address challenges that have been identified. I will devote a posting on those results shortly.

The ongoing economic challenges remain; these will become most apparent as we start the process of creating our budget for the next year later this fall.

I will post on each of these issues over the course of the next several months.

Buckle your seatbelts, folks. Should be a ride.

Back on the Radar Screen

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:37:00 +0000

I have been uncharacteristically quiet for the past year or so. It feels like time to get back into the blogging business. People have expressed concerns about the issues and challenges facing the schools in Newburyport. Local media is not always able to, or inclined to present nuanced issues in all their complicated and messy glory. Other commendable local blogs are helpful, but don’t focus on the particular issues affecting schools regularly. A real public conversation about the schools is usually limited to a brief period before School Committee meetings; and thus far, even that is available only to those attending the meeting. The rest of the debate is held in blog posts and through letters to the editors. Those places provide great vehicles for expressing an idea, but leave a lot to be desired as a way to bring new and fresh ideas to the table for vetting.

The community should have a place to go for a dialogue about the long-term implications of the challenges we face. We need information, context, explanation, and a place to challenge assumptions and raise concerns about our schools.

Schools are no less important to me, and the larger community, than they were when I last posted in 2008. Some of the issues are old, some of the challenges we face as a community are new, and unprecedented. I’ve always believed that if you give the community all the information they need to make a decision, you significantly increase the likelihood they will make a good, compassionate decision. Solid, factual information is truly the down payment on the democratic process, and impending elections are always a good time to ante up.

Over the coming months, I will attempt to clarify some of the complex issues facing our schools and the community. Too often, local news reporting fails appreciate the larger context in which issues arise. Sometimes they do not, or cannot examine issues that cannot be easily rendered in black and white. I hope this blog will help. I will continue to strive for balance in the presentation of those issues; but again, I strongly believe that transparency rules, and that an informed community will get it right most of the time.

I write as a member of the community, as a parent, and as one of seven elected School Committee members. I do not write on behalf of the full Committee; nothing I say should be construed as representing the deliberations of the full Committee. I’m on my own here, folks. Again. Thanks for taking the time to read. And to think for yourselves. Those two practices make Newburyport a far better place to raise our kids.

Check back in the coming weeks, y'all. Let the conversation begin.

My New Year's Revolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 03:02:00 +0000

Sorry to have been off the radar screen for such an extended period of time, but in many ways, I have been prepping for the year to come. Around this time, every year, I draw up my list of New Year's Revolutions, like a lot of you. I wanted to share some of mine, at least the ones that affect the Schools. Please remember that the following represent my own singular views, and should not in any way be taken as the inclination of the School Committee as a whole. Try to imagine six other people with their fingers in the ears going "I can't hear you!!!" Some others on the Committee may feel the same as I do; let them share those views on their own blogs.

I resolve to do everything in my power to move the dialogue about the schools from abstraction to reality. The reality is that the Newburyport School system, like much of Newburyport, like much of Massachusetts, depends primarily on property taxes for funding. The abstraction is that since the Schools get about 45% of the City budget, they should get 45% of the revenue. When you sit back, and really think about it, that kind of reasoning is way south of silly. The level at which a City department is funded needs to be based on it's intrinsic value to the community, and not some arbitrary formula that makes things come out all even and pretty. There will times when we need to put extra money into waterworks. There will times when we need to spend money to make our buildings more efficient consumers of energy. You plan, and then you allocate them money to get the job done correctly, meaningfully. Yeah, it involves hard choices sometimes, when the elected officials can't generate new ideas for generating revenue; but when it comes to educating kids, I would suggest those debates are worth having.

In the ongoing dialogue that has been part of the Task Force on Revenue, I have learned a great deal. It is clear to me that Newburyport has, for some time, consistently failed to create a multi-pronged, consistent and coherent strategy to root out every penny possible from the feds, the state and the private sector. For example, unlike many cities, Newburyport has no centralized database of what grants it has applied for. There is no file, and no review process to ensure that money is spent as it was allocated. Forget the fact that with few exceptions (the Beacon Coalition) we have failed to find ways to creatively bind several grants to meet community needs; we don't even know what Department has applied for what grant. It's even worse than that- we have no centralized triaging of potential grants; there is no-one in the City who reviews the various potential grants available, and channels them to the Departments who can apply for them. We have left money on the table; and even worse, we don't even know who has what grants and whether they have been spent in accordance with their allocations. I resolve to work closely with anyone (do I sense a possible Ordinance?) who will at least ensure that all grants; state, federal, private, that are used to address needs in this City, are kept in a central file, available to any citizen; I would also include in those files any reports required on the expenditures made by the grantee. Y'know, that whole accountability thing.

I would feel less passionate about funding for the Schools if I wasn't convinced that we are closer than it seems to bringing our system into that top 15% or 20% statewide. We have the plan; we have the staff; we have mechanisms in place to ensure that every expense is transparent and justified. We just need to breach the funding hurdle. I am resolved to do everything in my power to ensure better communication about the successes we are experiencing, to ensure that every additional penny we ask for is justified to the community, and to work as creatively as possible to explore ways to reshape the whole idea of how we educate students and continue to support the professional growth of teachers.

I am resolved to do everything that I can to find opportunities for members of the community, stakeholders and those who have yet to acknowledge they are stakeholders to participate in the ongoing dialogue about the Schools, what they are doing, and to best do it efficiently. There are a number of subjects we will be considering over the next several budget cycles that can help re-shape education, from extended day to extended school years, from shifting hours to identifying and incorporating ways for students and staff to work more directly with the local community as partners.

I am resolved not to wear a baseball hat during meetings.
I am resolved to listen at least as much as I talk.
I am resolved to make sure that for each constructive criticism I offer, there will be a possible solution suggested.

And brothers and sisters, let us all bow our heads and buckle our seatbelts. The ride is about to begin.

Budget 2008/2009- Ground Zero

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:18:00 +0000

Tonight, at the School Committee meeting (6:30 PM, Room 118, High School), the Superintendent will be presenting two different budgets.

After scouring the current budget for any additional efficiencies, the Superintendent will present a level services budget. Although some have expressed a preference that the budget be constructed in a zero-based format, I've gone over in previous postings several reasons why we are dealing with purely semantical distinctions when we talk about zero-based budgeting in schools.

We start with zero; then add in those statutory and regulatory requirements, and zoom, quicker than mercury, you are suddenly looking at expenses that amount to about 80% of the budget. The rest is "discretionary spending"- like raises, heating, books, computers, classroom supplies.

You know, after thinking a lot about it; I might actually be willing to bring in a consultant and put together a zero-based budget with two stipulations. First that it is consistent with our vision and goals of promoting student achievement; and second if the City would agree to fund the differential between what we are operating the schools on now, and what it will really cost to comply with statutory regulations and meet our goals of promoting student achievement using best practices; which of course, would be the desired outcome of a zero-based budget practice. Spend more efficiently, get better results. Cut an explore teacher at the middle school, and you can then efficiently serve 102 kids in a gym class three or four times a week.

Because "zero-based" budgeting for this school system at this time is a red herring that prevents the community from looking honestly at the issues it faces, and the choices it has to make.

The Superintendent will then present a "value-added budget", which will consist of baseline recommendations that need to be met this budget year, in some cases restructuring last year's cuts, in other cases making critical building modifications to make the buildings more secure.

We will be presented both budgets tonite; we will then begin the process of reconciling them, which will involve numerous community hearings. The two documents, in the opinion of this particular School Committee member, and completely interlocking; they cannot be considered independently of each other.

Although we will not specifically be dealing with the revenue side of the budget tonite, we are expecting Mayor Moak to briefly discuss the city-side contributions to the next school budget.

The Mayor has asked the Revenue Task Force to hold off on giving an update to the community at this meeting.

This is the beginning of the discussion.
Then starts the wild rumpus.

Steroids Make You Stupid & Shrink Your Testicles

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:52:00 +0000

We bad.

Very bad.

Disappointed a lot of kids, even if they were Yankee fans.

But hey, we made a lot of money. And the most amazing thing of all? Dan Duquette was probably right. Maybe the Rocket was spent when he went to Toronto. I guess nobody figured a couple of bucks premium was all he'd need to augment his career.

This is a terrible time for baseball. Over fifty players were outed in the Mitchell report for steroid and HGH use; many because they wrote personal checks as payment for the goods. I told you that steroids make you stupid. At least none of the checks I've seen reproduced have the work "steroids" in the left hand memo line.

This is my solution to the whole era's problems.

Find some mechanism that would allow you to ask, under oath, the following question:

"Have you ever used, or are you currently using steroid XYZ, or HGH." Then round up everyone who has ever played baseball at the major league level since 1990, and ask them.

For everyone who says yes (not knowing whether you have evidence on them or not), I would simply put an asterisk next to their record. Simple. We don't know which of these achievements occurred through natural talent, or were enhanced, so we'll put an asterisk next to your name and records, your career stats.

That way, future voters for the Hall of Fame can make an informed choice.

Sure, some of the cheaters will get away. Blame their teammates for adopting the code of silence; by refusing to turn in the people whose enhanced gifts helped win games for you, or in many cases resulted in your replacement. Blame the owners for looking the other way, because the cash incentives for the team made doing the wrong thing a salve for the conscience. Blame the Union for somehow believing that protecting the rights of players translated into allowing them to ingest substances that enhanced their performance, but also killed some of them (probably Darryl Kile, Steve Bechsler, etc.)

Blame Bud Selig, who replaced Fay Vincent as baseball Commissioner. An owner appointed by other owners to ensure that their interests were protected. Selig is a guy who apparently believed that it was better to let juiced players swat at baseballs, than risk a strike by a union defending on privacy grounds the right of it's members to cheat. Yeah, that would've been a winning argument, don't you think? That would have been quite a risk, Bud. Heck, they could have stayed out on strike for a full three days trying to sell that crap to America, before they realized it lacked, hmm. Resonance. Yeah, resonance. But I'll tell you, it would have been the best thing you could have done for the kids in the Pioneer League.

Then, a representative from each of the above-named constituencies can explain to my son and daughter why the homer hit by Brian Roberts on July 31st, (Roberts made the Mitchell list for keeping a tab as a patron of the Juice Bar) beating Josh Beckett, should count. It was the first professional baseball game for one of the kids.

Perhaps one or two adults who could tell the difference between right and wrong, who could see through the collective fog of denial that this particular gathering of clans kept wrapped around themselves like a funeral shroud could have made a difference. I've misjudged the current Commissioner of baseball; I thought his legacy was going to be pandering and general incompetence. But for sheer cowardice and rooted self-interest, no one will be able to hold a candle to Bud. My hat's off to you. And I think when the Veteran's Committee places you into the Hall of Fame, you'll fit right up there with greedy, racist, cheap miserable SOB's already enshrined.

If you keep Shoeless Joe out of the Hall of Fame because he took money, returned it, and played his butt off; if you ban Buck Weaver because he attended two meetings of the Black Sox to argue how wrong it was, never took a dime, and played his heart out; then mocking this game by cheating deserves some sort of consequence.

An asterisk should suffice. It captures the exact measure of surprise and suspicion that should forever be attached to the records of these players. They cheated; maybe their entire career, maybe for two years, you just don't know since not a single one of the named players who wasn't indicted accepted the offer of the Mitchell Commission to come in and talk about the evidence and the allegations.

They cheated; they lied, and they lacked the testicles to own up to what they had done, and have been doing.

See? Steroids make you stupid and makes your testicles shrink.

Whether this particular generation of greedy bastards sees themselves as role models or not, they are.

Student athletes, gaze upon the faces of greed and arrogance in the picture accompanying this posting.

That isn't the thrill of competing at your highest level you see in their eyes. The dulled vacancy you see means that they have shed just enough of their moral core to take money for cheating, to take jobs from others who wouldn't otherwise have lost them; and to kick a game I grew up loving, warts and all, a few feet farther into the gutter.

Asterisk. Simple. Elegant. And just to be kind, we can let each of the players choose the color of the asterisk. Then, they can delude themselves into thinking it isn't an asterisk, it's a gold star.

That's the ticket.

Setting the Agenda for the Next Year

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:58:00 +0000

Summary: In which Menin briefly covers what the next several months will look like, from the perspective of the School Committee.

A lot of work. Like trying to juggle flaming torches while balanced ten feet above the ground on a pole with your stomach on a bed of nails.

But first some updates.

The Revenue Task Force

The presentation of the Task Force on Revenue, scheduled for the upcoming School Committee meeting on December 17th, has been canceled, at the request of the Mayor. Mayor Moak will be joining the Task Force at it's next scheduled meeting, Wednesday, January 9th at 7 PM (Superintendent's Conference Room, at the Nock) to respond to any questions we might have.

I anticipate that we will still try to hold to our time-frame for issuing a final report, which will identify the issues we face financially as a community, and explore the wide range of options that could potentially address institutional issues on a long term and short term basis.

I take the Mayor at his word, that his offer to attend the meeting is lend us his municipal experience, and not to change the substance of the report and options we identify, regardless of his previously expressed opinion.

The community is very welcome to join us; we should have a pretty good idea of what our options will be, and have some preliminary estimates of potential revenue.

Two Meetings, One Day

Nick and Stephanie have had a 'new members' orientation through the auspices of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees; I think the plan is that we will all have another session with MASC in January, sort of a refresher course. My recollection from previous trainings is that there a lot more "don'ts" than "do's".

The Inauguaration is scheduled for 10 AM Monday, January 7th at City Hall, y'all come on down. TheSC holds an organizational meeting immediately following swearing to identify a Vice Chair, vote on the rules for the coming year, and make Committee Assignments. Coincidentally, our first formal meeting is that night at the High School.

The Challenges, The Challenges

A tour meeting on December 17th, (next Monday), will set a tall agenda for the next year. The Superintendent will propose a budget designed to provide services at a level that will maintain the status quo; which effectively means that we will be losing ground (to cost increases in every area- from contracted services to utilities). Remember that the level services budget is a tool; in creating it, the Superintendent, staff and parents have had to accommodate any new statutory requirements, and have scoured each budget category and item for efficiencies. Utilizing the EQA report, and Dr. Lyons entry report, the Superintendent will then present a second budget, one we have called "the value added budget". The purpose of the second budget is to identify and prioritize critical needs in the current school system to improve student achievement; a long and short term goal of the system.

Thus begins the wild rumpus. We then begin the process of looking at each item in public session , encouraging feedback from the community in a further search for efficiencies that will not continue to compromise student achievement.

This is the earliest, by a good 2.5 months, that the Committee and the community have been presented with the prospective expenses. With regard to revenues, the state has projected no increase in local funding; the City did generate $300,000 more revenue through growth than projected.

Oh, Yeah

We have received notice from the Newburyport Teachers Association that are ready to begin the Collective Bargaining process; the SC will identify it's negotiating team and prepare for negotiations as early into the New Year as possible.

I believe that while the year has been painfully difficult for the entire community, the teachers have been extraordinarily adaptive, have created classrooms that are comfortable, and have fully embraced, and are deeply engaged in the focus on student achievement. We will all need to be flexible, but there is a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with teachers to reinvent our schools in a win-win framework.

Final Words

As we gear up, expect postings to be faster and more furious. Please keep in mind that anything that appears on these pages directly reflects the views of a single School Committee
Member; me. It is not intended to reflect the views of the Committee as a whole; often, it may not even represent my position on an issue, but rather a "devil's advocacy" posting.

Imagine

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:17:00 +0000

Friends-

I can tell you exactly what I was doing 27 years ago tonight.

A close friend, living not far from The Dakota Building called me up to tell me that John Lennon had been murdered. I got the news from him about fifteen minutes before it hit the airwaves. For fifteen minutes, I hoped that my friend was wrong. He was right.

I didn't agree with everything John Lennon said and did; but I passionately believed in his right to say it. He challenged us to reshape our world and our community, to rethink our relationships; I listen to his music now, and I can't shake the sense that he was entering a new, incredibly thoughtful and productive place on his journey.

One can only imagine.
Over the past several days, an e-mail from Yoko Ono has been making the rounds. I offer it here as a posting. We are a nation at war with other nations, at war with itself; we are a nation that once was a beacon in a dark world, of freedom, of rights; and now we torture mentally ill "terrorists" to produce intelligence that is utterly useless. Suddenly, after all these years, we quibble over the definition of torture.

Lennon knew we could be so much better than that; he challenged us to be. And we can; we must.

On December 8th, 11.15pm (your local time) remember John by taking a moment of quiet reflection. If you would like to play or sing the song "Imagine" and imagine a world of peace, just know that we are all together at that moment in every time zone, as IMAGINE PEACE makes its way around the world - every hour for 24 hours. Send in stories & photos of what you did on December 8th to stories@imaginepeace.com for us, the family of Peace and Love, to tell us and tell us of your experiences. That would be lovely!

With deepest love
Yoko Ono Lennon

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

John Lennon December 9, 1940 - December 8, 1980
Rest in Peace John.

www.IMAGINEPEACE.com

Image courtesy of University of California, Irvine, Film and Video Center

Holiday Greetings Worth Hearing

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 01:03:00 +0000

Some of you may remember an earlier post about a friend of mine, (October 15th, to be more exact), in which I mentioned how the sweet and the bitter sometimes entwine; how on the first anniversary of our marriage, one of my best friends died from AIDS. Charlie could do and be anything he wanted, and he was and did a lot of things- theater, film, writing. He was eloquent and self-deprecating, sentimental and compassionate. In a very short time in the field he eventually chose, Meeting Planning, he succeeded brilliantly, serving for a year as the President of the Meeting Professionals International Greater New York Chapter. In that capacity, he wrote a holiday message to the membership in 1989; at his passing, the MPI felt compelled to reprint it when the next holiday season rolled around.

Charlie Stramiello (1989-1990)

Editors note: Because of Charlie’s untimely death, we have chosen an excerpt from his Metrolines “President’s Message” December ‘89/January ’90 issue which we feel best exemplifies the compassion and sincerity he had for life and for all those who knew him. RR

Below me lives a ninety-year-old German woman who fled to America after having lost her entire family during the War. For the past fifty odd years, she’s lived alone, surviving on little more than a fixed income, memories of her deceased husband and son, and memories of her native homeland.

Whenever I visit her (which admittedly isn’t often enough), I’m shamefully reminded how insignificant and inconsequential many of my personal “swipes at life” are, especially as they pertain to career, finances or self-aggrandizement.

With 1989 behind us now, I hope that you – our valued MPI member – will take a moment to give thanks for all the comforts you enjoy, and to carry the feelings of charity with

you in the days ahead.

Whether it’s through your continued involvement with an MPI-endorsed charity (such as City Harvest) or event (such as the “Cruise for Caring”), or through your personal support of a charity of choice, please do not forget those who are less fortunate than yourself.

Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year, all year, every year. Peace on Earth. Good will to all.

Written by Charlie when his personal health was long gone. The sentiments prevail, though. As we move into the next year, I find Charlie, as ever, setting a higher bar- for compassion, for gratitude, and for the ability to laugh.

From the MPI-GNY website.

Cow Pies and Sharing the Pain

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:09:00 +0000

Sorry about the little vacation. I've actually been quite busy over the past two weeks; much of it having to do with the School Committee, and the Revenue Task Force.

On the SC side, I have working through several iterations of the School Committee Goals for the coming year, which will be voted on at our next meeting, December 17th. The agenda for that meeting will be fat and sassy, and will include the goals, two budget presentations- the level services budget for '08/'09 and the Superintendent's Value-Added recommendations to that budget, essentially, what we need to do to improve our schools that would add costs to or require additional cuts to the Level Services budget. As well, we will go into Executive Session during the meeting for the purpose of finalizing the negotiated contracts with the Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendent, negotiated by Andrea Jones, Gordy Bechtel and myself; we will come out of that session to vote publicly and go over the specifics for the community.

And before you go much further, I should explain that I have been pursuing my task as assigned for the Revenue Task Force, looking at the City budget; I've met with several City Councilors, and will probably meet with several more. I confess that I am somewhat frustrated; if I had a buck for every shrug I've gotten in those meetings when I've raised a question about budgeted expenses, we could bring foreign language back to the middle school next year. So if the tone of this post drifts into smarminess, or lets the occasional sarcastic inference creep into the text, mea culpa. I'm sorry in advance.

Three Simple Rules

For those paying attention, what we've learned from our recent budget history can be boiled down to three essential elements:

YOU CAN'T START EARLY ENOUGH- This year's budget process began four months ahead of last year's; and for the first time in a long time, possibly ever, the estimated level services budget (no changes in the level of services from this year to the next) will be delivered before December 20th. Past practice would put this into the hands of the Community and the SC around late February. We will also be receiving a second, "value-added" set of budget recommendations from the Superintendent that would identify additional spending that would immediately impact student achievement this coming year. And one more point to make, for all those aficionados of Zero-Based budgeting- both the level services and the value-added budget are adjusted to account for new regulatory conditions we face.

KEEP THE COMMUNITY INFORMED, AND THE MESSAGE COGENT- In every way, the SC will work with every constituency in the City to ensure that information is accurately disseminated, everyone is on the same page, and the entire community has every question answered.

WE DO NOT HAVE A "SCHOOL PROBLEM," WE HAVE A MUNICIPAL PROBLEM. EVERY COMMUNITY HAS A MUNICIPAL PROBLEM. WHEN WE CONTINUE TO PARSE THE ISSUES FACING US INTO SCHOOL/CITY, THERE WILL BE NO SOLUTIONS POSSIBLE.

Salem is Slipping...

For the second time in 3 years, the City of Salem has had a deficit in the School budget. Three years ago, an unexpected rise in fuel costs forced the City to lay off teachers in the middle of the School year. The deficit this year has already reached $1.8 million, with 6 months left to go.

Mayor Kim Driscoll of Salem has issued a statement along the lines of "everything is on the table; the schools cannot bear the full brunt of this deficit."

Wow. You mean other City Departments will be asked to share the burden of re-directing revenue to the Schools, because Salem has suddenly realized that Schools have an intrinsic value to the community? I mean times are tight for every community in the Commonwealth, but to put everything on the table to ensure the Schools survive. Gutsy. Salem, which has a crime rate proportionately much worse than Newburyport (compare the 2005 statistics, and note that the formula used by the feds allows for the population disparity between the two cities).

In 2007, "The city (of Salem) spent $7.2 million funding the retirement system last year - more than what it cost to pay for the city's 83-member Police Department.

Compared to Newburyport

The City of Newburyport, with a police force of 38 (?), last year was budgeted at nearly $3,000,000. When you compare the crime rates between Salem and Newburyport, and then realize that they are funded proportionately about the same, you can only come to one inescapable conclusion.

You Can Always Find A Policeman in Newburyport When You Need One

The Police in Newburyport are clearly better at controlling crime than those of Salem. I mean, the numbers bear that out. The police overtime alone in the 2007 budget cost us more than it would have to keep foreign language in the Middle School for this year; but if you want a safe, peaceful community, you have to pay the piper. Really, when you look at the crime rates between Salem and Newburyport, you can only wring your hands in despair that the School Budget crisis might require every Department in the City to give up something.

I'm Not Listening

And to all of you people in Wards 4, 5, and 6 who told me you voted against the override because you think the City-side of the budget has become a pasture for sacred cows to graze, the Mayor disagrees. He said so tonight at the School Committee meeting.

I just wanted you to know, I've done what you've asked; delivered the message. The Mayor just disagrees with it.

Clearly, what we have here is a failure to communicate. I'm not sure we can expect the Mayor to take a stand like Mayor Driscoll, although hope springs eternal.

Before we cut DPW again, let's make sure that we order more grass seed; unless things change dramatically and for the better, those sacred cows will still need their feed. As for the kids, well...

I remember the words of Benjamin Franklin, when, finally, he, and John Hancock, Jefferson and Adams had managed to pass the Declaration of Independence. In considering the magnitude of the deed, Franklin spoke eloquently.

"And so, my friends, we must all hang together now, for if we do not, we will most assuredly hang separately."

Community. A community that binds itself together is willing to make the sacrifices it needs to, to accomplish goals that it finds of great and future value.

There is a lot more to talk about folks, regarding the need for some sort of municipal response to the community crisis. Keep tuned.

Thanks to you, I'll be on the air here for at least four more years.

Magic is afoot...

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:17:00 +0000

Here it is Monday (Tuesday); I'm still jazzed from the School Committee meeting, with lots of good stuff to share- but I'll wait til tomorrow to do that.

On Saturday, the progeny and I ventured into the realm of magic. Twice, in one day. Actually, as Leonard Cohen said, Magic is afoot. It abounds, it is everywhere; we need only open our eyes, or in simply lift them up, and look skyward. Sometimes, with just the right amount of seed, faith and patience, magic will gently land right on our palm. My daughter Linnea, and her friend Sarah, equal parts faith, patience, and sunflower seeds were rewarded.

Later that night, the progeny and cub scout friends spend a few hours at the Plum Island Aerodrome, playing flashlight tag, making somors, and watching the skies for shooting stars.
Again, a football field of magic, of kids running and laughing in the dark, stalking coyotes and howling at the gibbous moon, and occasionally managing to catch a blazing meteorite, when they stopped playing to rest long enough.

We have problems to work out as a municipality. But faith and magic abound, and there will be solutions that will require us to make sacrifices.

Magic/sacrifice. The wonder on a kids face when a chickadee lands on their hand, when a star breaks free from the firmament and streaks across the sky; that is why we need to leave this world a better place than we found it. And there is only one way to do that, now. Ensure that we raise children who are critical thinkers, who understand that with rights come responsibilities. We need to ensure that our children are wiser, and smarter than we are.

Parents, the community and the schools can make that happen.

Wisdom, from a teacher in Virgina

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:23:00 +0000

Ken Bernstein teaches History and Governance at the High School level in Virgina. His posts on the Daily Kos blog often provide insight and wisdom into teaching and education. He has had three diaries at Kos over the past ten days that are worth reading. Particularly after the election we have just had, the GIC debacle (which I frankly think, based on my own exploration, should be not be laid at the feet of the city unions in general, and the teachers in particular).

Check out these three posts. They will help us to understand a number of issues that will be part of the coming dialogue over the next few years, including merit pay and how you create a basis for it, what should be done about poor teachers, and community partnerships.

The Importance of Teachers

The Education Question in the Recent Democratic Debate: What was Wrong With It

On the Measurement of Teachers

What's a Crummy Teacher, and Why Do We Have Them?

Ken's blog is at: Teacher Ken

Very thoughtful and provocative ideas, communicated honestly and succinctly.

The importance of values in education...

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:13:00 +0000

In addition to being highly entertaining, this You Tube segment finds Leonard Nimoy describing how his upbringing and education as an Orthodox Jew in Boston, and the values he learned, were very much a part of his role as Spock, and were recurring themes in the Star Trek series.

And along the way, it becomes clear that he is very intelligent, passionate man, for whom values are not something he takes out once a week. He lives them. Priceless.

Leonard Nimoy and the Vulcan Greeting

And an important lesson in civics. We get very caught up in the struggle to fund the schools, and determine what our educational goals are and should be; and sometimes we lose sight that parents, schools and the community have a very common purpose and investment- ensuring that the next generation of leaders have become critical thinkers, and that they have created a value system that will sustain them, and the future. Nimoy speaks poignantly about his.

The road ahead...

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:55:00 +0000

Summary paragraph: In which Menin looks at the work to be done over the next six months, and reconsiders whether running for re-election to the School Committee was worth the $300 he spent...

Yeah. It was. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, onto the bountiful plate awaiting our meager silverware.

The Revenue Task Force: We have removed nothing from the table, which is now beginning to look like Grandma's house at Thanksgiving. We are looking at new revenues (fees, taxes, over-rides, debt exclusions), budget efficiencies on both the school and city-side, strategic lobbying of the state, a significantly better, more coordinated grant procuring procedure, how property in Newburyport is assessed, movement of the city into the GIF insurance program, the creation of an endowment/or partnership to provide for operating expenses... no decisions have been made, but my best guess is that the Task Force will issue a report suggesting a menu of approaches, calibrated and contingent on each other, to go along with a five year estimate of expenses and potential revenue projections; and that this menu will contain actionable short-term items, and also items that should help us in the future. It will be critical, however, for the City-side of the ledger to do the same or something similar, so that we can address this as a municipality.

Goals: The School Committee needs to adapt a set of goals for the year that are both do-able and measurable. Also, the School Committee needs to work with the Superintendent to set goals for him on which to base the next evaluation.

Teacher Contract: The School Committee needs to negotiate a new contract with the Teacher's Union. Negotiations should begin early in the year, if not before that.

FY '08/'09 Budget: The School Committee, using the Bechtel-Hooper Wicked Cool Forecasting Model for Expenses, will begin work very shortly on producing a one year, then a five year expense projection. That in turn will inform the entire budgeting process, which we have accelerated by four months compared to last year. This will be a difficult budget year; we will need to really look at innovative practices and community partnerships to stabilize our academic situation while we address funding to stabilize, improve and restore.

Ongoing Community Outreach Initiatives: We will need to continue and expand outreach to the entire community, and consider a range of ideas that will enable people to have greater access to the schools themselves, to re-establish them as active stakeholders.

Orient New School Committee Members: The Revenue Task Force has recommended cross-orientation- they send new City Counselors to our orientation, we send new SC members to theirs. We also need to repopulate Sub-Committees, and consider and act on a policy for the creation of a number of advisory Task Forces to help the SC look at potential options for enhancing our programs.

Task Force to Review School Administration: This has been a bugaboo for years; the perception that we are top-heavy administratively. We will, in December, convene a community-based Task Force to look at Administrative functions, how they are assigned, whether what we are doing can be done more efficiently, how our structure compares to other systems relative to their success in student achievement, whether we need additional administrative personnel, whether any additional personnel can be shared within the City or the region. This will require a lot of work over a short period of time; we are hoping to get a report back in time to work the recommendations into the School/City budget. We expect this to be an objective look, and are looking for volunteers in the community who have experience either consulting around management structure, or reconfiguring management structure to make them more efficient. Frankly, we hope this will be a balanced sub-committee; we expect the report will raise some eyebrows either way, but we have to put this issue to bed one way or the other. The parameters of the review are yet to be discussed; I will be advocating that it range from the Superintendent to the Department Chairs.

This is not the agenda for the year; this more likely covers the first 3 months of the year.

Lotta work to do. New energy, clarity and focus on the Committee. Combine that with leadership, and you've got a fighting chance. But let me reinforce a core principle to all of the above-- without a systemic and sustained effort to bring City-side Budget and decision-making processes more in line with those practiced by the School Committee, it's all hat and no cattle. This is a municipal problem, to be solved municipally. The School Committee has demonstrated, over the past five years a willingness to take cuts so deep that it has put the very core of our ability to meet academic needs in jeopardy; no City Department has even come remotely close to matching that willingness to deal with reality.

Municipal problem, municipal solutions. Transparency. Establishing City priorities across the City and School side. Looking for opportunities to centralize or regionalize functions where savings make sense and can be justified.

As one of my favorite guitar Goddesses, Ellen McIlwaine says, "everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die."

Star light, star bright...

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 04:54:00 +0000

This Saturday night, I'll be nestled with a group of Cub Scouts, including my son Dashie, and a group of parents looking at the stars. Towards Leo, to be exact. If the sky is clear, we'll be snuggled in snowsuits and sleeping bags, stretched out on full beach recliners, waiting for the Leonid Meteorite Shower. Although the best viewing starts after midnight, and occurs just before dawn, when we expect the Scouts to be back home, they should be able to catch a few of the early meteorites, which tend to have a longer arc than the ones that pepper the sky later in the evening. These early ones are called "earth grazers", because of the angle they enter the atmosphere. The Cubs will be amazed to learn that often a shooting star is no bigger than a grain of sand when it begins to burn up in the atmosphere, 150 miles above us.

The most important lesson they will learn is that not all science comes from a book; that there remains mystery and wonder in the environment, even in the universe, that can be accessed at will. We need only open our eyes. If I was writing curriculum, I would take every second grader out of the classroom for a week every Spring, and walk them up to the cemetery or get them out to Parker River and teach them how to identify birds by sound, by size, by notable features, by color. I would teach them to observe in stillness, to use binoculars, to note details.

There are studies that show if you let a child explore nature, the woods, the parks on their own or in small groups between the ages of 5 and 11, you have forever altered their view of nature and the preciousness and wonder it brings to life- you cultivate a respect for it that is a lifelong asset.

I was lucky enough to be able to do exactly that- spending summers in the Catskill Mountains at my Grandfather's Bungalow Colony, on 50 Acres. Up at 6 AM, oatmeal by 6:30, then my brother and I were off into the woods, climbing trees, looking for salamanders, wading in streams. If we remembered, we came home for lunch; if not, we'd eat the blueberries and rasberries that grew on the property. As the sun set we'd return home, filthy, clothing sometimes torn, exhausted, scratched, but impossibly happy and ready to do it again the next
day. Sometimes, we'd wake up in the middle of the night and sneak out with our flashlights to watch the deer eat apples from the trees in the middle of the bungalow colony.

The picture above comes courtesy of the Japanese Space Agency, which put a satellite into orbit around the moon last month. The satellite is equipped with the first high definition cameras flown to the moon; it captured this earth-rise. You can't see the bungalow colony, which is no longer in the family, and is actually a bunch of caved in buildings. I will never forget the lessons taught to me, a city kid, by the the trees and insects, vines, plants and salamanders. I was open to learn, and nature provided.

A Pragmatist's Manifesto? Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:36:00 +0000

Summary Paragraph: The second, prescriptive section of the Pragmatist's Manifesto, nailed to the cyber-door of this blog this morning by the late, but apparently not departed Newburyport luminary Lord Timothy Dexter. In which Dexter points out that labels don't matter any more when describing the political views of people, because of the appearance of a new type of Newburyporter, or rather, the increasing visibility of these folks.

PART THE SECOND, A NEW AND BENEFICENT POLITICAL ANIMAL WALKS THE LAND

The Knowing Ones have always been quick to label- conservative, liberal, progressive, reactionary; and the labeled were quick to accept those labels. And the final element of the critical dynamic preventing Newburyport from becoming a politically mature municipality was the willingness of the general populace to accept these short-handed, and ultimately meaningless descriptions.

I'd suggest based on my observations over the past 250 years, labels don't mean a damned thing any more, except to the unimaginative and uninspired. They are another way of keeping the people divided and at each other's throats, while the business of the City, and the businesses of the City become more intertwined. It is another artificial division of people; a silly way of typecasting a person so that you can feel good that you needn't listen to their message, because you are convinced it never changes.

We have recently seen the emergence of a new approach to the political dialogue here in Newburyport. It has been called the "bridge-building" phenomenon. I prefer to see it as "The New Pragmatism," practiced by the New Pragmatists.

In the end, it is the only political movement that will enable the City to save itself from it's own inefficiency, lack of vision, and unwillingness to live in the reality-based world.

The old labels just don't work any more. In a single election, one's position on the continuum of anarchist to libertarian (Hmmm. Perhaps it is better described as a circle), can change based on the other people elected to office around you. Take Menin, for example. He ran for office six years ago with reputation for pugnacity, and a pathological need to challenge the status quo, a bomb thrower; suddenly, in his third successful run at the office, he has become a sensible and prescient advocate for innovation and change. But nothing about his beliefs, his commitment to process transparency, and high regard for community engagement has changed in 7 years. Nothing has changed except the cast.

These new politicians and leaders, however, are the last hope for reasoned, empowering and consensual change. Newburyport has a rapidly growing population of Pragmatists. They can be easily spotted in the field.

First off, they seek pragmatic solutions to the problems we face. The pragmatic formula is simple. We acknowledge as a municipality that we have a problem. Then we seek a solution that is consensual, equitable, compassionate, efficient, empowering, measurable, and creative. That involves gathering ALL the information needed to solve a problem, designing a table and a process to engage the best thinking we can on the issue, and using the above criteria to solve it.

Labels beyond pragmatic no longer apply. Pragmatic principles themselves are redemptive and respectful; they require us to treat one another respectfully, and devise solutions that share the burden, or adjust the burden so that the impact may be better borne by those better able to handle it.

You can see the New Pragmatists popping up everywhere. They thrive on sunshine, and believe in building consensus, instead of pulling the wool over your eyes. They seem able to move beyond labels and evaluate ideas; they are sensitive to the inevitable tensions of a city where the demographics have changed so dramatically that now, fewer than half the residents were born here. The Pragmatists know that the wisdom of consensual-problem solving is not the domain of the smartest, it resides in the most thoughtful and compassionate.

They approach an issue from the perspective of what it will take to make it work, not why it won't work. They are honest in their assessments, they don't hold personal grudges, and they find ways to work together on what they have in common. And often, they discover a genuine interest in making this a more livable city, and cleaner and greener destination, a place where community policing is the rule and not simply a shadow exercise; where the schools themselves are community assets and the stakeholders are the entire community.

The Pragmatists on the current City Council will make themselves known soon enough. The same for the those on the School Committee; they are beginning to infiltrate Boards, and Task Forces and Commissions.

If you want to find the truest measure of what this whole treatise is about, look no farther than Gary Roberts, whose unexpected retirement from the City Council for the next two years, and his anticipated return two years from now, will bring one of the most decent, honest and pragmatic public servants back into the life of this community. Gary was relentlessly honest, and may have paid for that by being targeted by no less than 3 different "constituencies" in the past election. If this City is lucky, and we continue on the path of pragmatic problem solving, as opposed to our double-step back to the future, Roberts will find the heart to stay active and then return to the City Council, where his leadership will be critical to the Pragmatic Revolution.

I recently came across another publication on the web, that spoke about the growing need for bridge-builders in Newburyport. I accept that idea as a metaphor for the New Pragmatics.

Best of Luck, Newburyport
Lord Timothy Dexter

Y'know, Dexter makes some wonderful points. I couldn't have said them better, myself.

A Pragmatist's Manifesto? Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:14:00 +0000

Summary Paragraph: In which Menin reprints a manifesto that was nailed to his cyber-doorway this morning, regarding the hopes and aspirations for a new way of doing business here in Newburyport.

When I got back on-line this morning, I found someone had mailed a document to my cyber-front door, called "A Pragmatist's Manifesto." It was signed Lord Timothy Dexter, one of Newburyport's most peculiar and endearing characters. It was Lord Timothy, if you remember, who made a fortune selling bed-warming pans and mittens, gloves and hats to the West Indies, and did the same shipping coal to Newcastle. And while he never had schooling to speak of, and managed to write a pamphlet (A Pickle For The Knowing Ones"), some 8,600 words long, with purely phonetic spelling, without using any punctuation. Because so many people complained, in the second edition of the pamphlet, he added an additional page of punctuation marks, that his readers "might salt and pepper them where they would be most useful."

Dexter was considered a lackwit, and was scorned by the upper crust of Newburyport; but the man knew how to run against the tide very successfully. So if this Dexter's work, we might want to pay heed to it.

I've taken the liberty of correcting the spelling, restructuring the sentences, and adding the punctuation; some teacher's habits are hard to break.

A PRAGMATIC MANIFESTO, OR HOMESPUN SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS PLAGUING THE MUNICIPALITY OF NEWBURYPORT

by the Late Lord Timothy Dexter

PART THE FIRST, OR THE INTRODUCTION:
In observing the governance of the municipality of Newburyport since my fortuitous arrival in 1765, I have made several observations over the past 250 years. Their constancy over that period of time leads me to believe that they are institutional problems, that is, they are built into the fabric of municipal governance, and for many years, people have been operating under the delusion that "this is the way things have always been done, therefore this is the way they should be done."

Of course, this is the antithesis of progress. It is also a very good working definition of insanity- continuing to do the same thing in the same way and expecting a different outcome. I'm not well-versed in the workings of the mind, but , having been called so many times, I daresay I do know crazy when I see it. I also know split personality when I see that. In this case, I would call it a curious case municipalitis divergence; in which the two major elements in the city governance process, the schools and the City-side of the budget could not be more different in their style, function, and level of accountability to the populace.

Using the knowledge gleaned from the Zen philosophical tracts that I have studied, the core of our municipal problem is fundlessness to accomplish civic goals, of course. But the way the City does things right now, in terms of identifying and meeting budgeting and civic priorities, leads me to believe that without substantive changes in municipal attitude and style, throwing money at problems will not solve them. We simply aren't ready as a mature and responsible municipality to do anything more than happily band-aid problems and hope they will stop bleeding. It would be farce, if so many weren't having their lives affected by it.

Don't get me wrong, friends. I believe that the City faces a funding burden for providing services that is the result from a convergence of poopy things: the disappearance of federal funds, shifting the burden to the state, the drying up of state funds moving the burden to the municipalities, and the straight-jacketing of municipalities by Prop 2.5, rising assessments, and frankly inefficiencies in the way money is allocated and spent.

PART THE SECOND, OR SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF INEFFICIENCIES AND GENERAL INSTITUTIONALIZED SILLINESS

Somehow, someone decided that the school budget and the city budget were irretrievably, irreconcilably separate. Different procedures emerged to develop the two sides of the budget, they were put together at different times, and only met at the point at which the Mayor, having met separately and privately with Department Heads, reconciled the City-side and the School-side budgets for submission to the City Council, which holds hearings (brief ones, at which public attendance is welcome but direct feedback is not encouraged., because the City Council can only make budgets cuts, it can't add to budget lines; it can suggest where the Mayor might better allocate funds.

In simpler words, the School-side of the budget is an open, transparent process. It starts by getting recommendations from the School Council (a parent student group at each school); moves through a dialogue with all the administrators, will this year and going forward result in all known variables being sussed out by a new forecasting tool, and a expense budget will be developed; once developed, it is completely open to public scrutiny through a series of public hearings where feedback and and changes are made before voting .

Simpler- schools, sunlight and community feedback, city-side darkness, one to one negotiations with the Mayor that are closed to public input; Mayor closes door, meets with Department head, pulls rabbit out of hat and voila! presents complete budget to surprised City Council.

Night/dark/ Open/closed. Yin/yang. Mom and apple pie- one and the same, two sides of the same coin.

Possible solution: How about opening up the City- side of the budget to the same process and public scrutiny that the School side is requiring of itself. That way, you don't end up with Department heads going mano a mano with the Mayor, and you get sunlight and fresh thinking; you get legitimate expenses justified and and questionable expenses questioned.

Why aren't we already doing this? Institutionalized anti-pragmatism. Good old boys. Good old girls. Because we can. Because Department Heads can. Because Mayors won't make the process a pubic one. A million reason why it happens; none of them particularly legitimate when you look at what the School Committee has accomplished with it's budget, nearly as large as the City-side.

The problem of school finance, one would assume, is one of inefficient, over-spending and complacent administration. The issue of the schools is symptomatic of several things: a disappearance of federal dollars, replaced by a crushing series of federal unfunded mandates; the burden shifting of funding sliding from the feds to the state, which managed to hold on for a year or two, before it, too, shifted the burden to the towns and cities, whose ability to replace literally millions of dollars in lost revenue was limited by Proposition 2.5, which has separated the ultimate responsibility for continuous student achievement from the only resource now available- the municipality.

But one thing is missing from this neat explanation, this deft burden-shifting of responsibility that has occurred like a super-sized domino game in every town and city in the United States over the past 8 years.

What has happened in Newburyport, the retrenchment due to revenue disappearing like witnesses after a mob hit, has happened all across the Commonwealth.

What many communities are doing, that Newburyport has avoided so far, is recognizing that this is also a municipal problem, and that there are some municipal remedies available even before the word "override" spills over the lips.

Municipal reform. Charter reform. Opening the "other 50%" of the City budget to the same sunlight and scrutiny as the School budget would be a great start. Don't justify every penny you want/need to the Mayor in private session, make that discussion as public as the one had by the Schools. Truth in advertising.

There may not be a penny to spare on the City-side of the budget, but until the budgeting process for them occurs with the same transparency as does the School, I would encourage you to remain skeptical; although I realize that many are already cynical. If a "sunshine process" forced the City-side to publicly account for and justify every penny they spend, I am of the opinion that far greater efficiencies could be created. The School Committee learned a long time ago that you cannot continue to operate the way they always have, because in light of all the changes in technology, educational philosophy, the economy, the evolving needs of students, you have to change.

Until the City-side opens it's budget process, there is too great a temptation to believe that the department budgets are being negotiated as they have been for fifty years. Heads may be instructed to produce an overall reduction of a certain percent, but they aren't mandated to come to the table, individually or collectively, with sweeping efficiencies. I would bet that the City-side of the budget has redundancies between departments that could be managed and budgeted for more effectively if it was done in daylight.

Fossils are nice to look at; they provide a lot of information. But they merely a snapshot of something that happened long ago. Public institutions cannot be allowed to fossilize, they cannot stay dinosaurs. As one of your guitar-player philosophers pointed out, "the world is populated by dinosaurs, large ponderous beasts. I am only a small furry mammal trying not to get stepped on. But it is getting a little colder and darker every day, isn't it?"

As one who has successfully run several businesses against long odds, (hauling coals to Newcastle, for example), I am well aware of how you can stash the cash in a budget, how you can make it appear in one column only to move to another when no-one is paying attention.

If the School issue is needing money to support increased student achievement and restore programs lost to witless cuts, then the Task Force on School Revenue is right to comb recent school budgets for possible efficiencies. It is equally right to do the same on the City-side, and make recommendations for change.

The issue is money; there is not enough of it. But antecedent to that is a question that the School Committee has consistently been asked, and has responded to; are we spending our money to achieve the goals we have in the most efficient way? It is a fair and important question. Until you have ensured that the City-side is answering that same question in an open process, you have not truly responded to an important element of the dynamic at play; about spending what you have wisely.

It seems that this Dexter fellow has a pretty good understanding of how the Knowing Ones, the ones who by their own modest admission are smarter than all of us, have been influencing the business practices of the municipalities.

In the next section of Dexter's Pragmatic Manifesto, he will identify the group that will change all of this.

Show me the money

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:05:00 +0000

Summary Paragraph: It's all a matter of priorities.

Whether you are for or agin' our efforts in Iraq, you have to appreciate that about .10% of all the money that has been spent there by the United States and cannot be accounted for would restore all of the education programs cut by Newburyport in the past six years, and enable the School system to expand offerings at every level.

You might find this piece from Boston.Com instructive.

To paraphrase one of my favorite groups, Bare Naked Ladies, we'll call it "If I Had $611 Billion Dollars"

Update on Task Force $$$$$$$

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Menin) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:46:00 +0000

As promised a quick update on the work of the revenue task force.

Brenda Reffett is looking at the School budget, highlighting questions she has and have been raised by the community; once she is ready, she will meet with Kevin Lyons and Deidre Farrell to have those questions answered; any potential efficiencies will be suggested and become part of the Task Force Report.

I will be doing the same with the City-side of the budget, working with Barry Connell and Gary Roberts once I have identified questions or potential efficiencies. Any suggestions remaining will go into the Task Force report.

The purpose of this exercise is two-fold, in my opinion. The first reason is to bring fresh eyes to help identify potential efficiencies and put to bed any misconceptions that may exist about what money is being spent on in the schools and on the municipal side. The second is to emphasize that like many other communities, we are dealing not with a school problem but a municipal problem, that will require municipal solutions. These could range from reconciling the two vastly different processes by which budgets are constructed- the schools do it one way, the city another. A municipal approach to finding solutions would lend itself to identifying new streams of revenue, moving funding between Departments, encouraging far greater efficiencies by avoiding duplicated services; and identifying mutual needs on the city and the school side that could be met by sharing personnel- such as a Human Resources manager.

We are beginning to look at alternative streams of revenue, ranging from new fees to setting up an endowment to fund operating expenses.

We are monitoring the state situation very carefully, and are developing an approach to getting some changes in state funding by adopting a 3S strategy- lobbying that is strategic (some change, not changing everything), surgical (this specific change) and selfish (this specific change helps Newburyport. I expect that the Task Force, under the indomitable spirit of Dr. Orlando, will provide the community with a very clear road map telling us who we contact, what we contact them about, and when. Dr. Orlando is a strong advocate of relentless, organized advocacy about specific issues; relentless as in 20-50 contacts a week, every week- so we'll all get a turn.

Finally, once we have looked at the budgets, have had a chance to see the School Committee projections for the next 3-5 years, we will look at the alternatives we have identified, and consider where and when the need exists for the community to consider tax overrides or debt exclusions.

In effect, not speaking for anyone else, I expect that the interim and final reports of the Revenue Task Force will offer a multi-pronged, calibrated approach, that is mindful of where the burdens will fall, and how they can be mitigated.

This is hard work, but it is being done collaboratively by a pretty diverse group.

The next Task Force meeting is November 14th, 7:00 PM in the Nock School conference room in the Superintendent's office. If that room becomes crowded, we will move to the Library.
At some point, when is a little unclear to me, we will hold a meeting to actively solicit ideas from the community on potential funding sources or mechanisms to address school and city needs.

You can forward these ideas to the Task Force e-mail box at:

revenuetaskforce@newburyport.k12.ma.us.

Thanks.