Lynn School Committee Meeting: 9/13/12

The next Lynn School Committee meeting  is scheduled for Thursday September 13, 2012 at 7pm (*open mike session to be held at 6:45pm after the Personnel and Building and Grounds Sub-Committee meetings). SC meetings take place at 90 Commercial Street.

Items on the agenda include:

-Request for Executive Session: Contract Negotiations with Non-Union Personnel including Thomas Iarrobino (SC Secretary), Kevin McHugh (School Business Administrator) and Frances Martinez (Acting Special Education Parent Liaison)

-Vote Re: Moving Administrative Offices to 100 Bennett Street and School Building Capital Improvements

-July 2012 Monthly Project Report for Thurgood Marshall Middle School

For the full agenda, see: http://www.lynnschools.org/documents/district/school_committee/2012_notices/School%20Committee%20-%20Notice%20_Agenda-%20Sept%2013,%202012.pdf

REVISED AGENDA: http://www.lynnschools.org/documents/district/school_committee/2012_notices/SC%20notification%20&%20Agenda%209-13-12%20revised.pdf

Lynn 4 Year GED Rates

As was previously posted, nearly a quarter of Lynn residents have less than a high school diploma per the most recent data. Additionally, there are a percentage of Lynn students each year who obtain a GED instead of a high school diploma. In 2011, 3.3% of all students who started 9th grade in 2007 and should have graduated four years later obtained a GED while 68.6% graduated on time. This figure was down from 3.8% in 2010. Below is the 2011 GED data by secondary school. 

	4 Year	4 Year (Adj)
Classical	2.1%	2.4%
English	3.5%	2.3%
Fecteau-Leary	12.5%	N/A
Tech	3.7%	2.6%

Key

 '4 Year' refers to all students starting 9th grade in 2007 who should have graduated from the Lynn high school by 2011.

'4 Year (Adj)' also refers to students starting 9th grade in 2007 who should have graduated by 2011; the difference is here that this information only refers to those who spent the entire 4 year secondary period in LPS. Those who began high school elsewhere are not included.

Citation: http://www.doe.mass.edu/

Third Party Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson on Education

While candidates President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney are the main candidates in the presidential race, there are some lesser known third party candidates also vying for the presidency. Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is running as a Libertarian with running mate Judge Jim Gray of California. When asked via email what his views on education are, here's what the Libertarian candidate had to say:

[My] plan to abolish the Education Department would free states from any restrictions on allowing entrepreneurs to offer any type of school that satisfies parental demand, including ones with unique scientific teachings.

American education is at a crossroads.

We can either choose to continue down the path of higher costs, poorer results, and top down thinking, or challenge the status quo by using what actually works rather than what we wish would work. 

The problem is public education in America is now doing less with more. This is unsustainable for our pocketbooks and, most importantly, unfair to our children. 

Now, imagine an educational system that not only educates students better, but also does it for less money every year. It would give each American child the opportunity to choose an individualized education to realize his or her dreams.

•All parents should have an opportunity to choose which school their children attend. 

• Putting educational funds in the hands of the people who use them gives parents and students a vote as to which schools are best and which need to improve. 

• Our children deserve the chance to succeed educationally, but the same old way of thinking won't cut it. It's time to free individuals and states from burdensome federal mandates and regulations so they can pursue the right educational strategies for their students. 

ALTHOUGH IT MAY SOUND DRASTIC, THERE ARE practical reasons why it should be considered:

• The Department of Education grants each state 11 cents out of every dollar it spends on education. Unfortunately, every dollar of this money comes with 16 cents of strings attached. States that accept federal funding lose five cents for every dollar spent on education to pay for federal mandates and regulations, taking millions of dollars out of the classroom. 

• Schools should have the authority to decide how best to spend educational dollars. Without federal regulations and mandates, schools could choose to purchase new computers, better lab equipment, and maintain after-school sports and music programs even during times of tight budgets.  

• Once citizens and their local representatives have the freedom to decide how their educational funds will be spent, they can consider innovations that will drive student choice, educational competition, and better results.

*For more information on Gary Johnson, see: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/

Lynn Educational Attainment Data

In the August 27th edition of The Daily Item, there was an article which discussed School Committee member Maria Carrasco's belief that Lynn needs to offer more GED classes. While there was a question of whether offering such classes would be counter-intuitive for a public school system who would like to graduate all students with a diploma, still Lynn may need to consider a way to balance this mission along with the substantial need in the city. Below are figures regarding educational attainment for residents age 25 and older in the city of Lynn as reported by the American Community Survey for 2006 - 2010.

Educational Attainment
Less than 9th grade	12.1%
9th - 12th grade, no diploma	10.0%
High school graduate (includes GED)	35.7%
Some college	16.0%
Associate's Degree	8.2%
Bachelor's Degree	11.2%
Graduate or Professional Degree	6.8%

From this we see that 22.1% of people over age 25 do not have a high school diploma while 26.2% of people have an associate's degree or higher. Lynn residents with either a high school degree, GED or some college credits make up 51.7% of the population. With over half of the population only having attained a high school diploma or less, this data indicates that Lynn overall consists of a largely undereducated population particularly when one notes that 88.7% of Massachusetts residents have a high school diploma or greater. Raising educational attainment levels in Lynn both through targeted dropout interventions and increased middle and secondary school guidance within the schools coupled with offering GED classes to people over age 20 or 25 is one potential avenue toward an improved economic situation in the city.

Given that nearly a quarter of Lynn's population age 25 and older do not have a high school diploma, should Lynn offer more GED classes?  Could the public schools' mission be balanced with this idea by only offering classes to people in this age range?

Citation: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_DP02&prodType=table

Stolen Content

Someone has been reposting my blog posts exactly as they appear here under his or her own user name (dwi subteki) on a blog called 'Vive Education' (http://vivelatetee.blogspot.com) as if he or she had written them personally. The reposts were not authorized by me nor is the blog associated with 'An Education.'

Thanks,

CCH

Defining Activism

ac-tiv-ism - (n.) the doctrine or practice of vigorous action or involvement as a means of achieving political or other goals, sometimes by demonstrations, protests, etc

          (n.) The use of direct, often confrontational action, such as a demonstration or strike, in opposition to or support of a cause.

ac-tiv-ist  - (n.) an especially active,  vigorous advocate of a cause, especially a political cause; 

                (adj.) of or pertaining to activism  or activists; advocating or opposing a cause or issue vigorously, especially a political cause

How many real world people or groups of people, particularly in Lynn with all of its issues, would you consider to be true 'activists' as it is officially defined (as opposed to simply a complainer or concerned citizen)?

 Reference: dictionary.reference.com

                 www.thefreedictionary.com

This Day in History: August 21

-Nat Turner leads black slaves and free blacks in a rebellion, 1852

-Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player, is born, 1936

-President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state in the union, 1959

-The Ruby Ridge standoff occurs in Idaho, 1992

-Holiday: Youth Day/King Mohammad VI's birthday (Morocco)