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Happy as a Clam

/0 Comments/in , , /by Liam Day

A few comments on news items of note this week. Some serious, some less so. In response to Dan Brown’s op-ed in today’s Boston Globe: I love it – just love it – when people who have been teaching all of a year or two feel emboldened to speak with authority about education policy. (I’m reminded of Boston’s old pal Rick Pitino, who had the gall to publish Born to Coach when he’d only been one for about five minutes. But more on him later.) I also always appreciate it when people believe they speak for all teachers, as if teachers and their views of standardized testing and No Child Left Behind were one giant monolith. Psst, there are some […]

Oh, the days draw out like the blade of a knife

/0 Comments/in , , /by Liam Day

One that cuts both ways, that is. On one side, longer school days, an idea being pushed right now at the state level, make sense. They allow for more instructional time, as well as for time for all of the activities that seem to be being pushed off the agenda by the need to meet state and federal standards as measured by MCAS. On the other hand, extending the school day will be frightfully expensive, which yesterday’s Lawrence Eagle-Tribune correctly pointed out in an editorial regarding Andover’s participation in a state grant program for longer school days. This comes on the heels of passionate parent testimony at a recent Methuen school committee hearing to discuss extended day learning in that […]

Going through the motions

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Ever get that feeling that you were doing just that, without really paying attention to the world around you? Apparently the Legislature sometimes has the same problem: …lawmakers, meeting in an informal House session, recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Halfway through, they realized that the flag they were pledging to, normally propped up above the rostrum in the rear of the chamber, had been taken down… From State House News Service (sub. req.).

A shrinking dependency ratio

/0 Comments/in , , /by Liam Day

But fewer younger, healthier people are joining the state’s workforce to defray the costs incurred by the older, sicker population. Thus spake the Boston Globe this morning and their assessment is correct. The Commonwealth’s population is stagnant. We are losing young workers even as we gain dependents. Their focus, however, is another matter. We must begin with the fundamental question, which in this case is: Why are so many young workers leaving the state? The easiest answer to that question is the high cost of living. And, yes, double digit increases in health insurance premiums are part of the problem. Its crux, however, is not health insurance; it’s housing. We should be focused on ways to reduce the cost of […]

Goodbye, Camelot

/0 Comments/in , /by Liam Day

Mr. Robert Goulet, the pride of Lawrence, died yesterday. You may be more familiar with his work in Camelot and Man of La Mancha, but for those of us weaned on ESPN, he will always be remembered for the series of faux-lounge college basketball commercials he made during the 90s. Pure genius.