PHENOM

While on the education bandwagon, the conversation on the Facebook page revealed a group I wasn't aware of: PHENOM.

PHENOM is the leading organization advocating for affordable, well-funded public higher education in Massachusetts.  PHENOM unites students, faculty, alumni, staff, parents and community organizations to do grassroots organizing, policy analysis, and advocacy.

They ask for folks to sign a pledge:

Massachusetts must provide top-quality public higher education and must make it affordable for all. To these ends, the Commonwealth must ensure that per capita spending on public higher education is no less than the national average, and that student costs are no higher than the national average. Significant and measurable progress toward these benchmarks must be achieved by FY 2012.

These are admirable and worthy goals. Higher education (i.e. college and post graduate) can not succeed unless there is a great foundation built by the primary levels of education (elementary, middle school and high school). And with the way the economy and world has developed, education does not stop when you get your degree. It is equally important to maintain a life long learning approach.

So you can read more about PHENOM on their website here:
http://www.phenomonline.org/

I'll bring some other of their writings, events, etc here as makes sense over time.

In the meantime, I'll stay focused on the local level where our individual tax dollars make the most sense, in that we have the most direct control over the results. As the saying goes, "All politics is local". I'll expand upon that and say "all education starts local." It starts at home and is fostered by the local community with a quality primary education.

If we want Franklin to continue to be a worthy place to live, then we need to be mindful of the core values that the School District developed:

Student Achievement

All students are entitled to academic excellence, appropriate facilities and quality materials and instruction.

Social / Civic Expectations

Students will become engaged, responsible citizens who respect the dignity and diversity of all individuals and cultures.

School Climate

Through our words and our actions, we create a culture of civility, thoughtfulness, appreciation and approachability.

School / Community Relationships

An active commitment among family, community and schools is vital to student learning.

Community Resources for Learning

We partner with all members of the community to exchange ideas, solve problems and build a comprehensive educational experience.

The School Committee agenda and individual meetings open with a reading of the Mission and Vision statements from the Strategic Plan. The core values are just as important to repeat.



Note: I was a member of the community wide group that updated the Strategic Plan.

P1 of 5: "Technology is increasingly a means for empowering students"

2010 Horizon Report: K12 Edition was just released this week. It lists five trends and develops a story around them. You can view the full report here

The first trend:

• Technology is increasingly a means for empowering students, a method for communication and socializing, and a ubiquitous, transparent part of their lives. Technology is impacting all of our lives, and especially the lives of students, in new and expanding ways. Once seen as an isolating influence, technology is now recognized as a primary way to stay in touch and take control of one’s own learning. Multisensory, ubiquitous, and interdisciplinary, technology is integrated into nearly everything we do. It gives students a public voice and a means to reach beyond the classroom for interaction and exploration.  

As the Franklin community gets into the discussion

1) around the Town budget and the School budget (which is about 50% of the Town budget)

2) on what priorities should be set (classroom instruction vs after school activities, etc.)

let's also consider how our current level service school budget meets the needs of the students. Yes, we are a high performing district. What do we need to do to remain one? (Besides obtaining appropriate funding!)


Franklin, MA

Attention: Franklin Downtown Partnership

An email from Lisa Piana, Executive Director Franklin Downtown Partnership has the following:

Spring Clean-up Day this Saturday!

This year Downtown Franklin will be added to the list of town sites that volunteers will be cleaning up on Clean-up Day Saturday, April 17th.  If you would like to volunteer please meet at Beaver Pond at 9:00 am and Ryan Jette will provide the appropriate materials including trash bags.

Let them know you are with the Franklin Downtown Partnership.  Adults are needed to help supervise teens.  Community Service Hours forms will be available.

Attention Downtown Businesses and Building Owners:
If you are unable to volunteer, but have a business downtown, please take a few minutes to help clean-up the sidewalk in front of your building. 

Reminder- all flower barrel greens should be removed at this time.


For more details on the Clean-up Day please contact the Franklin Recreation Department or DPW.

    Ryan Jette, Director of Recreation CPRP
    Franklin Recreation Department
    (508) 520-4909  

Franklin, MA

Bill Glynn responds to comments on the override discussion

Bill Glynn, Franklin School Committee, commented on the latest article in the Milford Daily News and asked me to reprint his comment here.

You can read the full article here:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/topstories/x1030872336/Franklin-officials-argue-for-tax-override

Bill's comment:

Not a good place to be, once again. We don’t have the final numbers from the state yet, but we’re looking at close to a $2M deficit in the school budget. Last night we started the brainstorming process of what we might have to cut out of the budget and we’ll be doing more of that at our next meeting. No matter what we cut, we’re taking away from the kids and that’s depressing. I try to read all of the comments written in response to these types of articles and I “get it” and I believe that my fellow Committee members get it too.

 Personally, I don’t want to pay more taxes either. However, I know that every dollar I spend in my local taxes directly benefits me and my neighbors and every dollar we cut out of the town budget impacts me and my neighbors as well. Federal and state taxes more or less fall into a black hole, but my town taxes are much more visible to me and they directly impact my quality of life. So, what do we do?

I’ve seen a few suggestions in the above comments and I’ll share some information that I’ve learned over the past 6 months since I joined the School Committee.

Close a school and consolidate: We just received a report from one of our subcommittees last night on that very topic. In a nutshell, we have some schools that have a bit of room, but we have other schools that are completely full. So, the topic of redistricting was raised. In addition, we have reason to expect student population to grow. We’re looking to get more definitive projections on population growth and building permits, etc., but the recommendation is not to close a school. Even if we had sufficient space to close one today and perhaps sell it off, we would need to build a new school within a couple of years and that would be far more expensive. So, it was researched and the information shows we can’t consolidate.

Why is Franklin always looking for an override? Well, we haven’t been approving them. Let’s take a current example. $1.3M of the approximately $2M budget gap is comprised of increased costs for a single line item called “special education”. This line item includes all of the things associated with providing education for students who have special needs. This budget item includes such things as specialists in the classroom as well as special programs outside of Franklin that we can’t provide in Franklin. These kids deserve an education just like every other kid in town. However, there are some important points to make on this topic. Special education is very expensive. While we have good insight into the mainstream classrooms and we have reasonable control over the associated costs, special education costs are highly dynamic and they are beyond the control of the School Committee and the town. If we have 5 new students enter the mainstream program they can be placed into existing classrooms and wouldn’t have a measurable impact to the budget in terms of costs. However, if we have 5 new special education students enter the school system, the budget impact could be negligible or it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and this has happened. We have no way to plan or budget for such events and we have virtually no control over the costs. Special education is highly regulated by the state and is governed by very specific state laws. The problem is the way special education is funded. It is the responsibility of each town to provide these services. Special education costs need to be paid directly by the state out of a state budget rather than the current system where the state gives each town a lump sum for all education and then bills each town for special education. I’m not saying that the state is necessarily a poster child for program management, but towns are not able to absorb cost fluctuations for programs beyond their control run be quasi-private companies that raise their prices with (arguably) minimal state oversight and control. By the way, the $1.3M increase in special education costs is a 2.5% increase to the school budget and that is a single line item. So, if you eat up the entire allowable tax increase on a single budget line item, it’s not hard to see why override discussions are taking place. The situation is made worse by a decrease in state funding.

Creative ideas? The School Committee and the administration made some very creative changes last year that resulted in some cost savings. There’s more to that story, but I’ll save that for another time. Last night I threw out the idea of a 100% pay to ride (the buses) model, where everybody pays if they ride the bus regardless of how close or far away they live to/from the school. State law says that if you live 2 or more miles away from school, the town must provide free transportation to school. So, my idea is in direct violation of state law. Is it creative? Maybe. Is it foolish? It could be that too. My viewpoint is it won’t matter who pays for the bus if there’s very little value in the classroom once the kids get there and that’s where we’re headed. I’d rather cut (or charge for) buses than cut teachers and directly reduce the quality of education. This is cumulative too. If we mess up a kid’s 3rd grade education, that will impact their ability to perform at a 4th grade level next year and so on.

Some of the other thoughts and ideas that folks have written about in their comments would also violate state or federal laws. So, should we put some extra money into the legal budget and try to fight some of these battles? Many of the problems we need to tackle are systemic and they aren’t under our control, which means that we will have to fight to change them – big fights. Some of them are worth fighting, but we would need your help and support. Are you willing to give us a bit of your time and attention? Are you willing to work with us? What’s your risk tolerance?

I would like to share a lot more information with a larger audience and do it in person. I want to involve others that have more knowledge than me too and I want to listen to your thoughts and ideas as well. So, if I arrange an informal coffee social, are you willing to come and talk? I’ll be watching this comment trail for your answers and I can be reached at bglynnfsc@gmail.com

Franklin, MA

Saturday Plan of Events for Garden Prep and Build

Hi All:

Thank you for your work and support on this event!

Because the ECDC may not have families available we will meet at the Franklin Senior Center at 9 AM.

Please note this is a CHANGE. The pre-built raised bed should be brought here.

All those involved in the building (as lead point people) should arrive at 9 AM to review the build structure, ask questions, gain necessary information to lead your volunteers and team in their build at the alternate sites.

All other sites should instruct their volunteers to meet at their designated sites at 10 AM.

We are lucky to have great sponsors who are dropping off our supplies and soil/fill at EACH site!

The build, fill and possible planting will take ~ 1 hour/1.5 or so.

Please consider joining us after at the Franklin Rail Trail site on Grove Street for a trail clean up (in support of Franklin's Earth Day Clean up)!

Thanks again for all your support and hard work. See you all Saturday (for now Rain or Shine) unless you hear otherwise!

Please pass this along to anyone who may not have made the list. 

Lauren

This is an update to the Franklin raises a garden post

Franklin, MA: Summer St

Let's see how much we can glean from this picture:

The utility poles are in the street.
The sidewalk is breaking up.
The sidewalk doesn't go all the way.
The sidewalk doesn't have a curb.
The road has potholes.

Oh, and Franklin doesn't have a capital budget to have a regular repair program for its almost 200 miles of roads. We are dependent upon the graciousness of State Aid and grants.

Your road may be in worse shape than this.
You can continue to wait and be patient for someday getting to the top of the priority listing of roads to be repaired.
Or you can start advocating for a capital budget for roads and be willing to vote some money towards it.


Franklin voters have a choice. We can do more than complain about the road conditions. We can ask the Town Council to create a capital budget for road repairs.

Your choice.


Photo taken on Summer St heading towards King St from East Central here in Franklin, MA.

14th Annual FEF Trivia Bee - April 29 - 7:00 PM

14th Annual FEF Trivia Bee…Still Time to Enter Your Team!


On Thursday, April 29, 2010, the Franklin Education Foundation (FEF) will hold its 14th Annual Trivia Bee at the Horace Mann Middle School starting at 7:00 p.m. This year’s theme is history. 


We are thrilled to say that we have a impressive number of teams already signed up as well as some awesome auction items ... including Red Sox tickets!


THERE IS STILL TIME TO ENTER YOUR TEAM OR DONATE TO THE AUCTION!!!!


FEF is still accepting Team Sponsors and item donations for a special raffle. Companies, organizations, parents and individuals can enter a 3-person team of their own or sponsor a team of Franklin students. Team sponsorships are $300 each. The event is well known as a fun evening out with friends and neighbors, all while contributing to a worthwhile cause. It’s a great way to show your commitment to education in Franklin.


To sponsor a team or donate a raffle item please contact Maureen Roy at 508-528-5170 or MaurRoy@aol.com. For more information visit www.franklined.org.


Admission for spectators is free. Be sure to attend on April 29, and test your knowledge of history!




Franklin, MA