“She’s a good girl. She helps me a lot. She has big, big dreams. I don’t have the money, but she has big dreams. I hope she’s going to get everything, but she works so hard. She works so hard in school.”
“Our family is needing to make some really big sacrifices because we believe this is important, and so, we’re basically going to do whatever it takes… Sometimes we look at each other and go ‘I don’t know if I can do it again another month…’”
“A lot of the families have to sacrifice and work multiple jobs… And just scraping together enough money to just make tuition, just the basics.”
“It is discriminatory, that parents who want to choose an alternative to public school for their children, would not in any way receive any compensation for that, whether it be tax credit, whether it be a voucher…”
In the 1840s, nativist movement leaders formed official political parties and local chapters of the national Native American Party (later the American Party), although they continued to be commonly known as the Know-Nothing Party. Politicians sought to insert provisions into state constitutions against Catholics who refused to renounce the pope. The Know-Nothing movement brought bigotry and hatred to a new level of violence and organization.
The party’s legacy endured in the post-Civil War era, with laws and constitutional amendments it supported, still today severely limiting parents’ educational choices. A federal constitutional amendment was proposed by Speaker of the House James Blaine prohibiting money raised by taxation in any State to be under the control of any religious sect; nor shall any money so raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious sects or denominations. These were then named the Blaine Amendments of 1875.
in recent decades, often in response to challenges to school choice programs, the U.S. Supreme Court has demonstrated great interest in examining the issues of educational alternatives and attempts limit parental options. Massachusetts plays a key role in this debate. The Bay State was a key center of the Know-Nothing movement and has the oldest version of Anti-Aid Amendments in the nation, as well as a second such amendment approved in 1917. Two-fifths of Massachusetts residents are Catholic, and its Catholic schools outperform the state’s public schools, which are the best in the nation.
Just sayin
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government /byThe old grey lady warns today:
Fiscal Year 2008 operating budget spending on these items for Massachusetts? $1.77 billion on debt service versus $950 million on the UMASS system and the state and community colleges.
Update: The wiseguys over at Beyond Red & Blue laud my strong support for public higher education in the above post. I was hoping to focus more on our relative debt level… 😉
A first for the Board of Education
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /byYes, it is truly an — ahem — independent Board of Education. Yes, we will continue to hope that it will continue to be objective. Cough, cough.
The SABIS proposal for a regional school to be located in Brockton was recommended by the Commissioner of Education and Department of Education staff. Unlike many other states, Massachusetts has a strong application process that weeds out weak applications. This protects public dollars and has given the Commonwealth the best charters in the country.
The proposed SABIS school was to serve 500 students to start and grow by a grade a year until it served 1300 students. SABIS is a known entity in Massachusetts. It runs a successful charter school in Springfield. Just ask the hundreds and hundreds of parents who have their kids on the waiting list to get in.
But a funny thing happened at the Board of Education meeting. For the first time ever, a school recommended by the Commissioner and staff of the Department was rejected by the Board.
Why? Is it because there is no real need in Brockton? While Brockton School Superintendent Basan Nembirkow is pretty accomplished, the district only has 49 percent of its 10th graders performing on the MCAS math test in the advanced or proficient categories (as opposed to a statewide average of 67 percent).
You would think that parents and kids should be given a choice, especially the choice of a proven charter school operator. But Superintendent Nembirkow, the Patriot Ledger reported, was “ecstatic.” Of course, the core concern was that funding for charters follows the child. If Brockton parents chose SABIS over the Brockton schools, then Superintendent Nembirkow would lose funding.
Hmm. Competition, it seems, is a difficult concept to accept.
The Boston Herald tried to put on a game face, noting that 3 out of 4 is not bad. It noted “a reasonable fear among supporters that the board would find an excuse to put off a decision…”
It will be interesting to watch the new Patrick Board of Education in action. And, in fact, for your viewing pleasure, we will be posting parts of the Board of Education meeting. There were some real nuggets, such as Patrick appointment Ruth Kaplan’s complaint that SABIS was too focused on testing and getting kids into college.
Keep an eye out in the coming days.
One down, two to go
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, Economic Opportunity, News /byJust a few months ago, a wise man said the proof of success in reforming the auto insurance market would be the entrance of major national firms like Geico and Allstate.
Well, there’s at least one firm entering the market — Progressive announced yesterday that it will start selling policies on May 1. No doubt the entry is part of a right-wing free-market plot.
To give credit where its due, the Patrick administration, through appointee DOI Commissioner Nonnie Burnes, have stood up to withering criticism on this issue to push for less regulation of auto insurance.
Two interesting sidenotes – AG Martha Coakley has been an outspoken opponent of these reforms. And she’s also arguably the most popular politician in the state. Let’s see how these reforms work out and how her stance affects her.
Lastly, your loyal correspondent is one of those supposedly hapless inner city drivers who will be crushed by these reforms. I’ll be watching my car insurance bill closely.