Letter from Ed Cafasso

Tuesday, as you know, is Election Day in Franklin. I hope you will get to the polls to cast your votes for candidates for Town Council, School Committee, and other positions, including Board of Health and Board of Assessors. I am seeking my third full term as a volunteer member of the School Committee and once again I ask for your support. In my view, our schools face three priorities in the next two years:

Budget – We were able to balance the current year’s budget with state and federal stimulus money, a wage freeze for school employees, and budget cuts. Our task will be no easier when we begin working with Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski to create the fiscal 2011 budget. The stimulus monies that helped us this year will not be available next year. It also seems clear that our state aid will be threatened and local revenues will likely fail to keep pace with rising costs.

Franklin High School – Principal Peter Light and his team have made big strides in strengthening the academic and cultural atmosphere of FHS. We need to continue to support those improvements while also finalizing a plan for addressing the building’s structural deficiencies and classroom capabilities. Community support will be critical to move forward with the renovations that will help Franklin High deliver a competitive experience for our students.

Efficient Academic Excellence – The Franklin Public Schools remain a fantastic bargain in a community that offers a nice quality of life with incredibly low property tax rates. Your schools spend well below average in every cost category, but your students consistently score well above average on every academic benchmark. It’s a record to be proud of, but it’s highly unlikely to continue unless we provide more financial support and reduce our reliance on state aid.

The contested race for Franklin Town Council demands your attention on Tuesday. Twelve candidates are running for nine Council seats. In addition to having the final say on school spending, the new Council will face tough decisions on how to fund and manage public safety, public works and other services that are important to our quality of life and property values.

You can learn more about the Town Council candidates at:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/homepage/x876590732/Meet-the-candidates-for-Franklin-Town-Council

Please take the time to vote for the candidates of your choice on Tuesday. It’s important to make your voices heard to those who seek to represent you. I will be outside the Field House at various times during the day. I hope you’ll say hello. And thank you for your support.

These e-mails are provided as a constituent service. I try to distribute at least one e-mail update each month during the school year, as issues warrant. As always, I welcome your thoughts and suggestions. If you are receiving duplicate e-mails or if you no longer wish to receive these e-mails, please let me know and I will remove you from the distribution list. If you know of someone you would like to add to the list, please send along their e-mail address.

Thank you!

Ed Cafasso, Member
Franklin School Committee
edcafasso@comcast.net

Fall back!

Friendly reminder that you should have turned your clocks back one hour.

You can use the extra hour to think about who you'll chose to vote for on Tuesday when the polls open from 6:00 AM and close at 8:00 PM in the High School field house.

The election collection can be found here

In the News - First Universalist

The Faithful Nine were Grace Buchanon, Joe Cook and his wife Ellie, Edna Fitzgerald, Marion Chilson, Lincoln and Bunny Dana and Robert and Emilia Dean. Emilia Dean and Bunny Dana are the only living members.

"They were determined this church was not going to die," Rosine said. "Their families grew up in the church, were baptized, had weddings and funerals...they were not going to let this church die."

Franklin church will dedicate rooms those who kept it alive

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News correspondent

"can track the growth in individual students’ achievement"

Nearly everyone can probably recall a teacher who lit their passion for poetry or who was able to help them connect all the dots in a seemingly incomprehensible algebra formula. We know that individual teachers can make a huge difference.

But public schools in America have been bent on ignoring the obvious: Almost nothing about the way we hire, evaluate, pay, or assign teachers to classrooms is designed to operate with that goal in mind. Most teachers receive only cursory performance evaluations, with virtually every teacher graded highly. We use a one-size-for-all salary structure, in which the only factors used in raises are teachers’ higher-education credentials and number of years in the system, neither of which is strongly linked to their effectiveness. And we often let seniority, rather than merit, drive decisions about where a teacher is placed. It is in many ways an industrial model that treats teachers as identical, interchangeable parts, when we know that they are not.

Now, increasingly challenging this status quo is a new wave of research showing that one can actually measure the difference a teacher makes. The studies use a statistical analysis of standardized test results to measure the “value added” that each teacher contributes each year, revealing stark differences in their ability to move a class forward. According to one recent value-added study of Los Angeles schools conducted by Harvard economist Tom Kane, having a good teacher for a single year translates to a 10-point-higher score on student achievement tests that use a standard 100-point scale. “That’s a big difference.” says Kane.

Read the full article in the Boston Globe here

This will likely be a topic of much discussion as the school year progresses. The new School Committee will be dealing with a tight budget and a teacher contract negotiation amongst other issues during the school year.

Are you looking for work?

Do you know someone looking for work?

You are not alone. With unemployment at 13% in RI and 9.3% in MA, there are lots of folks out of work and looking.

There is a heavy population of those 40+ looking for work. There is also a significant number of recent college graduates out looking for work.

In the course of my own job search effort, one thing became evident: the power of we. Who you know is as important as what you know. By talking with each other, sharing our experiences, sharing what has worked or didn't work. By networking with each, sharing our connections, who knows who, we can help each other get a better connection to the next position.

With as many resumes being submitted for each job posting, the pile for the hiring manager is overwhelming. How do you get out of the pile? Your network!

A core group my connections who understand the "power of we" are working hard to put together the LaidOff Camp. The camp will facilitate the best practices of the job search effort. In one afternoon, over the course of four hours, you'll be able to participate in a session to help your own individual job search effort. Sessions on networking, using LinkedIn, interview tips, a practice interview session and others are being planned for this event.

This is a non-profit effort. The $10 charge will simply allow us to cover the facility fee and provide some refreshments during the afternoon.

For this small dollar cost, you will walk away with more knowledge, more connections and hopefully more confidence in taking the next step in your job search effort.

You should visit the LaidOff Camp website to register.

You should tell whomever you know that is looking for work about this event.

We are in this together and the 'power of we' can help us to success!


A sample of recent posts to the LaidOff Camp website:

• Session: How To Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile Fo...
• What do I wear to LaidOff Camp?
• This is "a performance-driven marketplace"
• Should we have a session on posture?
• How bad is unemployment in New England?

This was originally posted on Steve's 2 Cents

Downtown Partnership prepares for Holiday Stroll

Don't Miss Out on Free Advertising for your business!

If you are interested in participating in the upcoming Downtown Holiday Stroll Event on December 3rd please contact us by November 3rd.  The event will include Tree Lighting Ceremony, Music, Holiday Singing, and much more.

Participating Retailers will be listed on flyers, posters, website and Press Releases. This is free for FDP members!

All interested retailers must e-mail the Franklin Downtown Partnership at Downtown.Franklin@yahoo.com attn: Lisa no later than November 3rd  in order to be included in the Stroll.


IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Retailers should submit a short one line description of what activity or special holiday offering they will have for visitors. This is for the flyer and poster. A two sentence description should be submitted for the press release. Depending on the number of participants and the room available the Holiday Stroll Committee may need to edit this information.

Note:  Sponsors will be given first priority and a large listing on all promotional materials.  If you would like to be a $100 bronze sponsor please contact the FDP office at (774)571-3109 by November 1st.

Gov Patrick on the state budget cuts

Franklin appears to be dodging reductions in State Aid as Chapter 70 and local aid are referenced in this video by Governor Patrick.