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.
