Monday, April 8, 2013
Thank you
We are thrilled for the Renaissance Design Team and the students and families of the Gomes School. We know how hard they have all worked to make the Renaissance School a reality and the passion they have for improving education here in New Bedford. We are disappointed that the School Committee could not come together to create a path for Esperanza School of Language and Culture. Despite this we hope that students and families in New Bedford will have the option of dual language immersion in the near future. A big thank you to Michael Shea and his team in Central Administration, members of the community, WBSM and The Standard Times, fellow colleagues, and our families and friends who all helped us to get this far.
Your View: Innovation schools bring change that can be managed
The Standard Times - April 8, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130408/OPINION/304080309/
Robert Massoud lives in New Bedford.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
I can't imagine anyone — including every single member of the innovation school planning teams — is opposed to providing the same services to every single student in the New Bedford school system. The problem is that change of that magnitude is rarely — if ever — successful.
A "yes" vote should come with a clear mandate that both schools produce clear, accurate and timely reports on their progress, and that the future of each school — and whether their models can influence all of New Bedford schools — is based on those results.
A "no" vote sends the opposite message; that we are not willing to try something that might make a difference because we can't have an impact on everyone at the same time. Is that the message we want to send to our children? That if they can't fix everything, don't even bother trying?
One final thought: It seems the catch-phrase of the opponents of the innovation schools is that accepting the proposals will establish a culture of "haves and have-nots." But isn't that exactly what we have today, and have had for way too long? A system where barely 50 percent of the students who attend our schools "have" a diploma, and the rest of the nearly 50 percent "have not."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130408/OPINION/304080309/
Robert Massoud lives in New Bedford.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
I can't imagine anyone — including every single member of the innovation school planning teams — is opposed to providing the same services to every single student in the New Bedford school system. The problem is that change of that magnitude is rarely — if ever — successful.
A "yes" vote should come with a clear mandate that both schools produce clear, accurate and timely reports on their progress, and that the future of each school — and whether their models can influence all of New Bedford schools — is based on those results.
A "no" vote sends the opposite message; that we are not willing to try something that might make a difference because we can't have an impact on everyone at the same time. Is that the message we want to send to our children? That if they can't fix everything, don't even bother trying?
One final thought: It seems the catch-phrase of the opponents of the innovation schools is that accepting the proposals will establish a culture of "haves and have-nots." But isn't that exactly what we have today, and have had for way too long? A system where barely 50 percent of the students who attend our schools "have" a diploma, and the rest of the nearly 50 percent "have not."
Fate of innovation school proposals to be decided tonight
The Standard Times - April 8, 2013
www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130408/NEWS/304080327/
By Natalie Sherman, Writer for The Standard Times
nsherman@s-t.com
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
Innovation schools, as envisioned by [Governor Deval] Patrick, would be part of the district — overseen and funded by the School Committee and staffed by union teachers — but have independence from district policies in areas such as budget, staffing and curriculum.
Two years of organizing, research and School Committee votes produced two teacher-led proposals, which would provide opportunities for foreign language and integrated arts education currently unavailable in the district in one of the city's poorest — and poorest performing — neighborhoods.
The School Committee will vote on the schools — the Renaissance Community School for the Arts to be housed at Gomes Elementary and a bilingual immersion Esperanza School of Language and Culture, which would take over part of Roosevelt Middle School — for a final time tonight. The meeting is at 6 p.m. in the Keith Middle School auditorium.
School Committee member Marlene Pollock, a participant in the original UIA working group and a supporter of the proposals, said false rumors had circulated about teachers losing jobs or losing bargaining rights; schools running without School Committee oversight; and money being taken from other schools to fund the new ones.
"It's simply not true," she said. "I wish the opponents would do their homework. ... You can't be in denial."
School Committee member Larry Finnerty, who also participated in the UIA working group, called the tone of the debate "disgraceful," pointing to personal online attacks.
"Everyone will vote their conscience and when we're done with the vote, everyone needs to support the new superintendent and the public schools in our effort to improve academic performance and educational outcomes," Finnerty said.
Note from Esperanza School Design Team:
The Esperanza School will not simply offer foreign language classes to K-8 students. Spanish-dominant and English-dominant speakers will be integrated into a two-way dual language immersion program. Students will be learning language as well as content in English and Spanish, our partner language.
www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130408/NEWS/304080327/
By Natalie Sherman, Writer for The Standard Times
nsherman@s-t.com
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
Innovation schools, as envisioned by [Governor Deval] Patrick, would be part of the district — overseen and funded by the School Committee and staffed by union teachers — but have independence from district policies in areas such as budget, staffing and curriculum.
Two years of organizing, research and School Committee votes produced two teacher-led proposals, which would provide opportunities for foreign language and integrated arts education currently unavailable in the district in one of the city's poorest — and poorest performing — neighborhoods.
The School Committee will vote on the schools — the Renaissance Community School for the Arts to be housed at Gomes Elementary and a bilingual immersion Esperanza School of Language and Culture, which would take over part of Roosevelt Middle School — for a final time tonight. The meeting is at 6 p.m. in the Keith Middle School auditorium.
School Committee member Marlene Pollock, a participant in the original UIA working group and a supporter of the proposals, said false rumors had circulated about teachers losing jobs or losing bargaining rights; schools running without School Committee oversight; and money being taken from other schools to fund the new ones.
"It's simply not true," she said. "I wish the opponents would do their homework. ... You can't be in denial."
School Committee member Larry Finnerty, who also participated in the UIA working group, called the tone of the debate "disgraceful," pointing to personal online attacks.
"Everyone will vote their conscience and when we're done with the vote, everyone needs to support the new superintendent and the public schools in our effort to improve academic performance and educational outcomes," Finnerty said.
Note from Esperanza School Design Team:
The Esperanza School will not simply offer foreign language classes to K-8 students. Spanish-dominant and English-dominant speakers will be integrated into a two-way dual language immersion program. Students will be learning language as well as content in English and Spanish, our partner language.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Your View: Need for innovation schools grows more each day
The Standard Times - April 7, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130407/OPINION/304070308/
Les T. Hull lives in New Bedford.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
As a parent in New Bedford I am concerned about the New Bedford Public Schools District. There have been positive changes like making attendance a priority and the hiring of Dr. Pia Durkin. The proposals of the innovation schools are also a positive.
This could be an amazing time in our city's history. It's a time when two schools can show how we can bring the arts and physical education back into the schools (like when most of us were in school) and how to better integrate English and Spanish into the curriculum teaching them concurrently to both Spanish-only- and English-only-speaking students. Our children will not only learn but be prepared to meet the challenges of today and the future by knowing two languages.
This is a time where we can decide to move forward, to make New Bedford a place where families want to come and live and flourish. Voting "YES" for the innovation schools gives hope to all the families that call New Bedford home.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130407/OPINION/304070308/
Les T. Hull lives in New Bedford.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
As a parent in New Bedford I am concerned about the New Bedford Public Schools District. There have been positive changes like making attendance a priority and the hiring of Dr. Pia Durkin. The proposals of the innovation schools are also a positive.
This could be an amazing time in our city's history. It's a time when two schools can show how we can bring the arts and physical education back into the schools (like when most of us were in school) and how to better integrate English and Spanish into the curriculum teaching them concurrently to both Spanish-only- and English-only-speaking students. Our children will not only learn but be prepared to meet the challenges of today and the future by knowing two languages.
This is a time where we can decide to move forward, to make New Bedford a place where families want to come and live and flourish. Voting "YES" for the innovation schools gives hope to all the families that call New Bedford home.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Your View: New Bedford's innovation schools will spread the light
The Standard Times - April 6, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130406/OPINION/304060314/
Dr. Laurie Robertson-Lorant is an English department adjunct at Bridgewater State University.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
The argument that Innovation Schools will create "haves and have-nots" didn't get very far because, as everyone knows, there are "haves and have-nots" in the schools right now.
At no time did the opposition raise substantive objections to the actual content of the Innovation School proposals themselves — either because they hadn't actually read them, or because they have no flaws in them.
The accusations, name-calling, threats and redundant emotional appeals voiced by the opposition during the two recent public hearings had no pedagogical weight and undermined the credibility of the opposition. Any legitimate questions or objections are meant to be answered in the next phase of the process.
As a member of the Education Department at UMass Dartmouth for five years, I supervised and mentored student teachers in dozens of SouthCoast public schools, including some in New Bedford, and I wholeheartedly support the Esperanza School of Language and Culture and the Renaissance Community School for the Arts. They will be transformative additions to the educational and cultural landscape of the city whose motto is "Lucem diffundo" — "I spread the light."
I urge the mayor and the School Committee to live up to this motto by supporting these exciting Innovation Schools.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130406/OPINION/304060314/
Dr. Laurie Robertson-Lorant is an English department adjunct at Bridgewater State University.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
The argument that Innovation Schools will create "haves and have-nots" didn't get very far because, as everyone knows, there are "haves and have-nots" in the schools right now.
At no time did the opposition raise substantive objections to the actual content of the Innovation School proposals themselves — either because they hadn't actually read them, or because they have no flaws in them.
The accusations, name-calling, threats and redundant emotional appeals voiced by the opposition during the two recent public hearings had no pedagogical weight and undermined the credibility of the opposition. Any legitimate questions or objections are meant to be answered in the next phase of the process.
As a member of the Education Department at UMass Dartmouth for five years, I supervised and mentored student teachers in dozens of SouthCoast public schools, including some in New Bedford, and I wholeheartedly support the Esperanza School of Language and Culture and the Renaissance Community School for the Arts. They will be transformative additions to the educational and cultural landscape of the city whose motto is "Lucem diffundo" — "I spread the light."
I urge the mayor and the School Committee to live up to this motto by supporting these exciting Innovation Schools.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Our View: Approve innovation schools, cooperate to make them work
The Standard Times - April 5, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130405/OPINION/304050309/
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
Members must decide whether the fears of creating a district of haves and have-nots are legitimate, or if they are being made by a vocal group who don't see the current disparity in the schools: from students in schools more than 100 years old, to those in schools with principals and teachers who are unable to effectively marshal resources obscured by years of administration in an antiquated business office.
But she [Dr. Pia Durkin] was in no way ambivalent in her support for what they represent: choice, initiative and people not satisfied with the status quo who want to create solutions. Yes, she said, the schools must conform to the rules, but we need to "encourage the entrepreneurial ideas for healthy, fruitful competition where kids can succeed and which we can replicate."
We believe that the arguments in favor of greater opportunity for New Bedford students — improved literacy in two languages at the Esperanza School of Language and Culture planned for Roosevelt Middle School and holistic arts integration at the Renaissance Community School for the Arts at Gomes School — make a favorable vote by every member of the School Committee for both schools a necessity.
We have to start somewhere, and if it takes a courageous vote by the School Committee despite the vocal opponents, so be it.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130405/OPINION/304050309/
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
Members must decide whether the fears of creating a district of haves and have-nots are legitimate, or if they are being made by a vocal group who don't see the current disparity in the schools: from students in schools more than 100 years old, to those in schools with principals and teachers who are unable to effectively marshal resources obscured by years of administration in an antiquated business office.
But she [Dr. Pia Durkin] was in no way ambivalent in her support for what they represent: choice, initiative and people not satisfied with the status quo who want to create solutions. Yes, she said, the schools must conform to the rules, but we need to "encourage the entrepreneurial ideas for healthy, fruitful competition where kids can succeed and which we can replicate."
We believe that the arguments in favor of greater opportunity for New Bedford students — improved literacy in two languages at the Esperanza School of Language and Culture planned for Roosevelt Middle School and holistic arts integration at the Renaissance Community School for the Arts at Gomes School — make a favorable vote by every member of the School Committee for both schools a necessity.
We have to start somewhere, and if it takes a courageous vote by the School Committee despite the vocal opponents, so be it.
Group rallies for innovation schools before Monday vote
The Standard Times - April 5, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130405/NEWS/304050330/
By Natalie Sherman, Writer for The Standard Times
nsherman@s-t.com
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
Roughly 200 people rallied Thursday in support of innovation schools in an effort to convince School Committee members to vote in favor of the controversial proposals.
Parent Denis Rodriguez, speaking in Spanish, called on the committee to approve the schools, saying the district needs "new ideas" to better serve its children.
"I am sure that the Esperanza School is one of those," he said.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130405/NEWS/304050330/
By Natalie Sherman, Writer for The Standard Times
nsherman@s-t.com
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
Roughly 200 people rallied Thursday in support of innovation schools in an effort to convince School Committee members to vote in favor of the controversial proposals.
Parent Denis Rodriguez, speaking in Spanish, called on the committee to approve the schools, saying the district needs "new ideas" to better serve its children.
"I am sure that the Esperanza School is one of those," he said.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Your View: Esperanza School opens the world for students
The Standard Times - April 4, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130404/OPINION/304040338
Cynthia Yoken, New Bedford
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
As a retired foreign language teacher from the New Bedford Public Schools, I am happy that the Esperanza School will soon offer the children of New Bedford the opportunity to be bilingual and to learn two languages. It is a win-win situation for the children from Spanish-speaking homes to learn English in the same classroom with native-born students who will have the opportunity to learn Spanish.
Now, with a formal program in place as the Esperanza School, it will be even better to have our own English-speaking students have the opportunity to learn Spanish and to continue it through high school along with their Spanish-speaking peers. The friendships that will develop from the interactions between the English-speaking child and the Spanish-speaking child will be wonderful, as each child will help the other to learn about American culture and Spanish or Latin American culture.
I applaud the designers of the Esperanza School, who have worked hard to set up such a fine model for our young people in New Bedford.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130404/OPINION/304040338
Cynthia Yoken, New Bedford
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
As a retired foreign language teacher from the New Bedford Public Schools, I am happy that the Esperanza School will soon offer the children of New Bedford the opportunity to be bilingual and to learn two languages. It is a win-win situation for the children from Spanish-speaking homes to learn English in the same classroom with native-born students who will have the opportunity to learn Spanish.
Now, with a formal program in place as the Esperanza School, it will be even better to have our own English-speaking students have the opportunity to learn Spanish and to continue it through high school along with their Spanish-speaking peers. The friendships that will develop from the interactions between the English-speaking child and the Spanish-speaking child will be wonderful, as each child will help the other to learn about American culture and Spanish or Latin American culture.
I applaud the designers of the Esperanza School, who have worked hard to set up such a fine model for our young people in New Bedford.
Great divide remains on innovation schools
The Standard Times - April 2, 2012
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130402/NEWS/304020341/
By Natalie Sherman, Writer for The Standard Times
nsherman@s-t.com
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
"New Bedford must change as a district. To obtain that change we must begin somewhere," said Andrea Galipeau, a design team member for one of the proposals. "If these schools are not approved, what is your plan?"
The School Committee will vote next week on the two proposals: one for the bilingual, immersion Esperanza School of Language and Culture and another for the Renaissance Community School for the Arts.
The schools would receive about $4,200 per pupil in district funding — the average of other elementary schools in the district — in exchange for autonomy over areas such as staffing and curriculum.
They would offer options — foreign language classes in the elementary and middle school grades and integrated arts programming — that are currently unavailable in the district and would share space inside the Roosevelt Middle and Gomes Elementary, respectively. (To hear more about the plans, visit the Editorial Board Audio on SouthCoastToday.com.)
Notes from the Esperanza Team:
The school would not receive the per-pupil-expenditure "in exchange for" any autonomies. In writing the innovation school plan, all available autonomies were requested. The autonomies are listed in Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 71, Section 92, Subsection b.
Also, all schools in the district will have a site-based budget. Each school will have its own budget based on per-pupil-expenditure to pay for salaries and materials. The PPE allocated to the innovation schools is an average of the PPE at six New Bedford elementary schools. The legislation cited above states: "An Innovation School shall receive each school year from the school committee the same per pupil allocation as any other district school receives."
Lastly, the Esperanza School of Language and Culture is proposing the implementation of a two-way dual language immersion program. For more information about this program model, click the "for_parents" or "para_padres" labels on the right.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130402/NEWS/304020341/
By Natalie Sherman, Writer for The Standard Times
nsherman@s-t.com
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
"New Bedford must change as a district. To obtain that change we must begin somewhere," said Andrea Galipeau, a design team member for one of the proposals. "If these schools are not approved, what is your plan?"
The School Committee will vote next week on the two proposals: one for the bilingual, immersion Esperanza School of Language and Culture and another for the Renaissance Community School for the Arts.
The schools would receive about $4,200 per pupil in district funding — the average of other elementary schools in the district — in exchange for autonomy over areas such as staffing and curriculum.
They would offer options — foreign language classes in the elementary and middle school grades and integrated arts programming — that are currently unavailable in the district and would share space inside the Roosevelt Middle and Gomes Elementary, respectively. (To hear more about the plans, visit the Editorial Board Audio on SouthCoastToday.com.)
Notes from the Esperanza Team:
The school would not receive the per-pupil-expenditure "in exchange for" any autonomies. In writing the innovation school plan, all available autonomies were requested. The autonomies are listed in Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 71, Section 92, Subsection b.
Also, all schools in the district will have a site-based budget. Each school will have its own budget based on per-pupil-expenditure to pay for salaries and materials. The PPE allocated to the innovation schools is an average of the PPE at six New Bedford elementary schools. The legislation cited above states: "An Innovation School shall receive each school year from the school committee the same per pupil allocation as any other district school receives."
Lastly, the Esperanza School of Language and Culture is proposing the implementation of a two-way dual language immersion program. For more information about this program model, click the "for_parents" or "para_padres" labels on the right.
Your View: Give the students of New Bedford the opportunity they deserve
The Standard Times - April 3, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130403/OPINION/304030313/
Shana Silva, New Bedford
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
Other cities and states have embraced the dual immersion program, and it is imperative that New Bedford does the same. Education is transforming, and it is crucial that New Bedford keeps up with the times. We must not be left behind.
I would like to mention the fact that I have conducted a substantial amount of ethnographic qualitative research at a dual immersion school in Roxbury. During my time in Roxbury, I witnessed firsthand the extremely positive and dynamic effects that the program can have on its students and its community. The community was extremely tight knit and involved in the program, and the students, both the native English-speaking students and the native Spanish-speaking students, were all bilingual by the time they were in the fifth grade.
Students gained a sense of respect for one another's cultures and beliefs. They learned to be sensitive to cultural differences. The native English-speaking children understood and respected the Latino culture, and the native Spanish-speaking students reciprocated that level of appreciation and respect for American culture.
This level of tolerance, understanding and cooperation among different cultures would be an exemplary model in which the entire community could learn from.
Esperanza school will not only make a positive difference in the lives of our students, but it will also have a tremendous impact in our community. Esperanza school will provide the English and Spanish speaking students of New Bedford with the advantage they deserve.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130403/OPINION/304030313/
Shana Silva, New Bedford
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
Other cities and states have embraced the dual immersion program, and it is imperative that New Bedford does the same. Education is transforming, and it is crucial that New Bedford keeps up with the times. We must not be left behind.
I would like to mention the fact that I have conducted a substantial amount of ethnographic qualitative research at a dual immersion school in Roxbury. During my time in Roxbury, I witnessed firsthand the extremely positive and dynamic effects that the program can have on its students and its community. The community was extremely tight knit and involved in the program, and the students, both the native English-speaking students and the native Spanish-speaking students, were all bilingual by the time they were in the fifth grade.
Students gained a sense of respect for one another's cultures and beliefs. They learned to be sensitive to cultural differences. The native English-speaking children understood and respected the Latino culture, and the native Spanish-speaking students reciprocated that level of appreciation and respect for American culture.
This level of tolerance, understanding and cooperation among different cultures would be an exemplary model in which the entire community could learn from.
Esperanza school will not only make a positive difference in the lives of our students, but it will also have a tremendous impact in our community. Esperanza school will provide the English and Spanish speaking students of New Bedford with the advantage they deserve.
Letter: Don't delay proposals, for students' sake
The Standard Times - April 2, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130402/OPINION/304020302/
Ken Hartnett, New Bedford
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
We can only hope that the New Bedford School Committee embraces the hard work of the dedicated professional educators who have crafted the Innovation Schools proposals, concrete symbols of an authentic commitment to education reform. The easy way out is to delay action yet again by simply tossing this imaginative and modest reform package atop the cluttered in-basket on the desk of a new superintendent.
That might be an expedient step; it would also mean more delay, more discouragement of the grass-roots impulses behind the innovation ideas and more top-down management of the school system.
But again and again in times past, we have hesitated to experiment because we hesitated to change because of political arrangements we know all too well.
Bureaucrats and politicians have all too often failed to connect the dots between the drop out rate and student reality. Here is a low-risk way to start making those connections. The clock is ticking. Mayor Mitchell ran as a champion of change. Awaiting is an opportunity to assert his credentials as a change agent.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130402/OPINION/304020302/
Ken Hartnett, New Bedford
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
We can only hope that the New Bedford School Committee embraces the hard work of the dedicated professional educators who have crafted the Innovation Schools proposals, concrete symbols of an authentic commitment to education reform. The easy way out is to delay action yet again by simply tossing this imaginative and modest reform package atop the cluttered in-basket on the desk of a new superintendent.
That might be an expedient step; it would also mean more delay, more discouragement of the grass-roots impulses behind the innovation ideas and more top-down management of the school system.
But again and again in times past, we have hesitated to experiment because we hesitated to change because of political arrangements we know all too well.
Bureaucrats and politicians have all too often failed to connect the dots between the drop out rate and student reality. Here is a low-risk way to start making those connections. The clock is ticking. Mayor Mitchell ran as a champion of change. Awaiting is an opportunity to assert his credentials as a change agent.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Your View: Innovation Schools offer opportunity, not divisions
The Standard Times - April 1, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130401/OPINION/304010339/
By Kate Fentress
Kate Fentress is executive director of the Women's Fund at the Community Foundation of Southeastern Mass.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
These schools, located within public schools in the New Bedford system, were created to increase options within a district that values diversity of educational choices.
In a system that was moments away from state takeover, this argument makes no sense to me. The New Bedford Public Schools district needs more evidence-based creative approaches to education within the system, not fewer.
My understanding is that the per-pupil cost for a student in an Innovation School is exactly the same as the per-pupil cost the district receives for students in all other classrooms — the money is in the district. Teachers are union teachers who accrue the same benefits as all other teachers in the New Bedford system.
It seems to me that we owe our students more than they have gotten in the past. In the Innovation School smaller "community" with more individual attention, parents as partners, and higher expectations, the rules of the game can be changed and all students can be successful. I urge a vote in favor of the Innovation Schools as a step forward in offering positive choices within the system to maximize learning and optimize opportunity. I also hope that teachers will reconsider their position and try to see this as the beginning of a process that will empower them to do better in a system that is a wonderful work in progress.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130401/OPINION/304010339/
By Kate Fentress
Kate Fentress is executive director of the Women's Fund at the Community Foundation of Southeastern Mass.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
These schools, located within public schools in the New Bedford system, were created to increase options within a district that values diversity of educational choices.
In a system that was moments away from state takeover, this argument makes no sense to me. The New Bedford Public Schools district needs more evidence-based creative approaches to education within the system, not fewer.
My understanding is that the per-pupil cost for a student in an Innovation School is exactly the same as the per-pupil cost the district receives for students in all other classrooms — the money is in the district. Teachers are union teachers who accrue the same benefits as all other teachers in the New Bedford system.
It seems to me that we owe our students more than they have gotten in the past. In the Innovation School smaller "community" with more individual attention, parents as partners, and higher expectations, the rules of the game can be changed and all students can be successful. I urge a vote in favor of the Innovation Schools as a step forward in offering positive choices within the system to maximize learning and optimize opportunity. I also hope that teachers will reconsider their position and try to see this as the beginning of a process that will empower them to do better in a system that is a wonderful work in progress.
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