Patrick promises more money for public schools

Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray revealed on Friday that the Patrick administration hopes to increase funding for local school districts by $145 million in fiscal year 2013. In total, Governor Deval Patrick’s plan calls for $4.1 billion in state aid for public education. According to a report on Boston.com, this represents the highest level of state aid for local school districts in state history.

According to the Worcester Telegram, this aid is expected to fully fund all school districts at foundation levels, which is an individual calculation of the adequate baseline spending amount for each district linked to local  education reform requirements. Each district would receive equal or increased state funding from current levels in 2013.

Murray only summarized Patrick’s proposed budget, which will be released fully on Wednesday. Details on how this plan, if passed as is, would affect Franklin’s funding are currently unavailable. There was no mention on if the problems in the current calculation of the foundation budget would be addressed.

More information can be found at: http://www.telegram.com/article/20120121/NEWS/101219926/1246

State funding hurt by outdated calculations

State aide for public education isn’t enough to cover the intended costs, leaving many Massachusetts districts operating below the baseline foundation budget – the state’s estimate of what a district needs to run its schools – according to a report by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget)  released on Sunday.

According to an article in Sunday’s Boston Globe:

“The state’s funding formula for public schools underestimates the rising cost of special education and teachers’ health care by more than $2 billion a year, forcing some schools to cut costs on regular education and creating inequities in a system designed to make funding fairer across communities”

The Education Reform Act of 1993 created the state’s foundation budget and changed the formula for providing state education aid to the to the Commonwealth’s K-12 school districts. The foundation budget is an individual calculation of adequate baseline spending amount for each district.

The Act, however, has yet to be fully reexamined and its 18-year-old assumptions are proving to be problematic. The foundation baseline underestimates current special education costs in Massachusetts by $1.0 billion and health insurance costs by $1.1 billion.

So what does this all mean? The original foundation budget was meant to provide funds for three extra teachers per every 100 low-income students in a district. Additionally, according to the MassBudget report, $380 (in fiscal year 1993 dollars) per low-income student was allocated for “expanded program allotment money to help schools expand instructional time for these targeted students.” Yet it appears low-income students may not be receiving that support. Despite the aid, spending on Regular Education Teachers is below foundation in most districts in Massachusetts.

According to the MassBudget report:

“Teacher salaries, adjusted for inflation, have remained remarkably level with the foundation budget’s original salary assumption. This means that teacher spending below foundation levels has likely been manifest in the form of fewer total teachers than foundation calls for, resulting in larger class sizes, less planning and meeting time for teachers during the school day, and the hiring of fewer specialist teachers, such as literacy specialists, language teachers, art teachers, etc.”

The unexpected increase in cost for special education and health insurance means money that was intended to supplement budgets isn’t keeping up with increases enough even to prevent further cuts from taking place in many of the state’s districts each year. While the wealthiest districts are finding other ways to fund their schools – the wealthiest top 20% of towns spend an average of 39% more than the foundation budget – the poorest districts aren’t keeping up. The study found the poorest 20% spend 32% below the recommended foundation budget.

The MassBudget report believes “these findings indicate that communities with greater wealth make it a priority to raise additional local revenue to fund education at levels significantly above baseline foundation amounts.”

MassBudget divided towns into five quintiles based on “the relative wealth of cities and towns that fund their local contributions.” Franklin does not fall into one of the wealthiest groups. MassBudget actually places Franklin into the second lowest wealth quintile (20%-40%) and finds the town spends $243 below the per pupil recommendation of $3,861 on Regular Education Teachers based on the foundation budget. Franklin also spends $226 below foundation of $481 on Materials and Technology and $35 below the recommendation of $139 on Professional Development. District funding information on MassBudget can be found here.

In tough economic times, it’s difficult for any town to fund the funding necessary to fill the gap created by the unexpected increases in teacher’s health care and special education costs, but the study provides some insight into an Act that may need to be revised and highlights a struggle many of Massachusetts’ school districts are facing.

“We’re well aware that the timing of this is not good,’’ Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents told the Boston Globe. “But we also think it’s important for people to be aware of what’s happening in school finance today so that over time it gets proper attention.’’

In the meantime, the community of Franklin and its School Committee must continue to do everything we can to assure our students are getting the great education Franklin has a history of providing and that includes making the most of every dollar available.

Franklin named to 2nd Annual AP District Honor Roll

Earlier this month Franklin earned recognition from the College Board as one of 367 public school districts in the United States and Canada placed on the 2nd Annual Advanced Placement (AP) District Honor Roll. The AP District Honor Roll recognizes school districts that “that simultaneously achieved increases in access to AP® courses for a broader number of students and also maintained or improved the rate at which their AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP Exam.”

AP courses are designed to educate and test high school students at the college-level. Students who perform well on the AP Exam (score of 3 or higher out of 5) taken at the end of the course may receive college credit, depending on which university they attend. Franklin High School’s AP offerings include: English Literature and Composition, Spanish Language, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science, Calculus, Statistics, U.S. History, European History, Economics, Studio Art, Music Theory, and Government and Politics.

Massachusetts featured 30 districts on the AP District Honor Roll, tied with New York for second in the country behind Pennsylvania (34) . More information on the AP program can be found on the College Board website.

New Franklin High building presentation

As you may know, Franklin is in the process of evaluating and approving a new building for Franklin High.

You are invited to attend Thursday evening’s public meeting on the proposed model school to replace Franklin High. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Mercer Auditorium at Horace Mann School and the community will have an opportunity to hear the presentation and to ask questions.
 
The goal of the hearing is to give parents and citizens an update on the effort to win state approval for a new high school, using the Whitman-Hanson High School design as the model for our building. Members of the Building Committee, the project manager and the architects will give the presentation and be happy to answer any questions you may have.
 
Work is underway on the design, the specifications, the drawings and the cost estimate for the new building, all of which are scheduled for submission to state officials by December 9. If all goes well, the Massachusetts School Building Authority will vote on our submission in January. Their approval will set the stage for town-wide vote in March or April 2012 on a debt exclusion to finance the project so that Franklin can qualify for a 57.9% reimbursement of the total approved cost. Assuming the community agrees to seize this opportunity and barring unforeseen issues, a new high school to serve Franklin will open its doors to students in September 2014
 
Thursday’s hearing is the first of several events designed to give parents and citizens the opportunity to hear about the progress of this project and to ask questions.

For more information, go to the Town of Franklin website. You can view a brief video of the model school we are considering by clicking on the image below. Have additional questions? Please come to the meeting or contact Ed Cafasso, Member of the Franklin Building Committee at edcafasso@comcast.net.

Boston Foundation report examines new framework for collaboration on school bargaining issues

At a time when fiscal crises in states and municipalities throughout the country have put collective bargaining agreements with public sector unions under the spotlight and under fire, a new Boston Foundation report lays out an alternative framework for contract talks that could provide a “win-win-win” for labor, management and taxpayers.

This report is timely in light of the Franklin School Committee’s agreement with the Franklin Education Foundation to conduct interest-based bargaining for the next contract.

The report, Toward a New Grand Bargain: Collaborative Approaches to Labor-Management Reform in Massachusetts, presents a new, collaborative approach to the bargaining process in place of the current, adversarial tone of contract negotiations. Written by two of Massachusetts’ most respected experts on organized labor and industrial relations, Professors Barry Bluestone of Northeastern University and Thomas A. Kochan of MIT, the report focuses on collective bargaining in education, but presents a framework that could be applied to all public sector negotiations. Researchers spent months interviewing education stakeholders nationally to examine negotiation models and innovations as a basis for the report.

“We believe that if we can move toward the Grand Bargain envisioned here, our schools will be made even better, our public services can become more efficient and more effective, and our public sector agencies can become even better places to work,” said Paul Grogan, President of the Boston Foundation.

The report comes in a year when efforts to roll back collective bargaining rights of public sector workers have led to demonstrations and political battles in Wisconsin, New Jersey and Ohio, and have led to recall elections and deep cuts in education and social service budgets.

“We see this report as a call to action for labor and management in the Commonwealth to develop a new ‘Grand Bargain’ that empowers public sector managers, workers, and their union representatives to engage in continuous problem-solving with the goal of promoting the effectiveness and efficiency of government service,” said Professor Bluestone. “Changing the culture is no small task, but it is both critical and manageable, with the right training and oversight in place to support this new framework.”

The authors recommend the creation of a statewide ‘academy’ to train parties in interest-based bargaining and ongoing problem solving, and to support innovation efforts as needed by local districts. A multi-stakeholder oversight commission would monitor progress and recommend changes in policies and the creation of an online learning network would allow for all parties to share their experiences with common issues and innovative solutions would provide critical information sharing and assistance.

The new framework would replace a traditional labor-management relationship that many on both sides of collective bargaining issues acknowledge is broken. In place of the traditional, adversarial approach where contract talks are defined by proposals, counter-proposals and a slow move toward compromise, the report lays out a more collaborative process. The process is based on expanded use of “interest-based bargaining,” in which the sides in a contract discussion jointly identify and analyze problems and their root causes, and identify the criteria to be considered in evaluating solutions. Through the approach, the two sides then jointly choose a solution to an issue, as well as the strategy for implementing, monitoring and evaluating the results over time.

Applying a new framework for collaborative negotiations opens the opportunity for broader change. “If all the parties who share an interest in and responsibility for public service labor-management relations take up the challenges and opportunities facing them, Massachusetts will demonstrate that there are positive and effective alternatives to the approaches taken in Wisconsin and other states,” the authors write.

“The Commonwealth can demonstrate to the nation that there are more successful ways to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of public services while preserving the cherished principle of collective bargaining.”

The publisher and editors of The Boston Globe penned a lead editorial, timed to coincide with the Boston Foundation report, offered an endorsement titled, “More Collective, Less Bargaining.”  You can view that editorial by clicking here.

It should come as welcome news to the community the Franklin is leading the way on this issue.  The IBB approach holds so much potential for bringing about significant changes that will save Franklin taxpayers money well into the future while continuing to improve academic performance.

You can read the full report by clicking here.  You can watch a video of the panel discussion on the report by clicking here.

Race to Nowhere film screening in Franklin

The Franklin Public Schools, in conjunction with the Joint Parent Communication Councils of Franklin, is hosting a screening of the film Race to Nowhere on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 7 p.m.  The film will play at the Mercer Auditorium at Horace Mann Middle School on Oak Street.  A panel discussion will follow the screening.

Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people who have been pushed to the brink and educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills needed for the global economy, Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic running rampant in our schools.

The film is the product of Vicki Abeles, a concerned mother turned filmmaker, who aims her camera at the culture of hollow achievement and pressure to perform that has invaded America’s schools.  As Abeles notes, “it is destroying our children’s love of learning and feeding an epidemic of unprepared, disengaged, and unhealthy students.”

The film is a call to families, educators, experts and policy makers to examine current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become the healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens in the 21st century.  You can learn more about the film by clicking here.

The event is free and open to the general public.  However, those who wish to attend the screening must register online for tickets by clicking here.

Perspective on teacher contract

Here is a message from School Committee member Ed Cafasso that puts the teacher contract matter into perspective:

Hi everyone!

I hope you are preparing for what looks to be a glorious weekend. We sure could use it…

There has been a great deal of debate in recent days about the School Committee’s unanimous approval of a new contract with the Franklin Educational Association (FEA), the union which represents teachers here. I wanted to take a moment of your time to discuss the importance of this contract.

The new contract period begins Sept. 1, 2010 and runs until Aug. 30, 2012.

It provides no wage increase for Fiscal Year 2011; a 1% increase or FY 2012; and a 0.5% increase, effective Aug. 30, 2012, for FY 2013. The approximate cost in FY12 is estimated as $350,000. This represents 0.68% of the current school budget. The approximate cost for FY13 is $175,000.

The contract is funded by savings attained through attrition, as well as increased circuit breaker revenue from the state. No additional appropriation has been requested.

It’s an election year and many candidates prefer to focus on the cost of the raises in this new contract. For some, it’s hard to see the forest when that big Election Year tree blocks the view.

In my opinion, there are two overlooked aspects of the new contract that hold real potential for improving student achievement while reforming a pay structure that automatically triggers higher taxpayer costs each year.

The first is that it features an agreement between the School Committee and the FEA to cooperatively re-examine the salary table that drives close to the 75% of current school costs. For the first time ever in the history of Franklin, both parties have agreed to investigate a new, progressive wage structure to replace the automatic “step and lane” pay raises that have become a real budget buster.

The agreement to cooperatively re-examine the current salary table holds a major opportunity for us to address a significant source of annual pressure on Franklin taxpayers.

The second “inconvenient truth” about the new teacher contract is that requires both sides to undertake interest-based bargaining (IBB) during upcoming talks toward a new FEA contract, as opposed to the adversarial and frustrating negotiating posture that has been in place until now.

IBB has been a goal of the School Committee for many years, and we are pleased to finally have the opportunity to implement it. “Bargaining Methods and New Forms of Agreements,” as published by the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, explains this approach succinctly:

“Interest-based bargaining (IBB) is a departure from positional bargaining and the traditional adversarial, industrial model of collective bargaining that assumes bargaining is a zero-sum activity focused on dividing existing resources. In contrast, IBB focuses on parties’ interests rather than their proposed positions, making it possible to explore the values and purposes and to learn whether these interests are shared or complementary. IBB allows parties to identify multiple ways to satisfy interests and to solve problems creatively… IBB provides an opportunity to address student achievement in the collective-barging process. IBB can minimize ritualized adversarial behavior and enable productive relationships to develop, better situating the parties to improve student achievement.”

There is a great deal of expert, authoritative information on IBB available online. One article of interest can be found at: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/lkaboolian/publications/Win-Win-chapter1.pdf.

There are some who dismiss IBB, and they’re entitled to their opinion. I have done years of homework on it and its use by school districts and employers across the country. I strongly believe it can produce great outcomes for teachers, students, parents and taxpayers. It empowers the parties to work in good faith as partners to find common ground and implement potential solutions to systemic issues.

This innovative approach to bargaining could not be more important for Franklin right now. We have to balance ongoing budgetary pressures; meet your high expectations for continued high academic performance; and, also adhere to evolving state and federal standards for student achievement.

I appreciate, respect and share everyone’s desire to maintain a balanced budget and to use revenues as efficiently and effectively as possible to provide the best possible services to the citizens of Franklin. Your schools have done precisely that – we spend $2,700 less per student than the state average but still deliver excellent academic performance, thanks to the hard work of teachers, administrators and parents like you.

As the local election approaches, there will be many candidates who point to the “cost” of the contract as a way to win votes and damage other candidates. My view is that we can no longer afford the “cost” of continuing the divisive and confrontational ways of the past. You can see how well that has worked in national politics and in Congress.

For me, the choice was easy. I voted in support of the new teacher contract because it allows us to pursue a progressive approach toward broad, incredibly important goals, including improved student achievement and structural reforms that contribute to financial stability for the community. I voted to support working together to solve real problems.

School Committee letter to Council

Here is a copy of the letter that was provided to the Town Council responding to questions about the teacher contract:

View this document on Scribd

Opening Meeting Law determinations online

The Office of the Attorney General launched a new OML Determination Lookup website. Now members of the public, press, municipal officials, and public bodies may access its determinations by searching for key terms or phrases or by actions ordered. You can access the site by clicking here.

Effective July 1, 2010, responsibility for the state-wide enforcement of the Open Meeting Laws, relative to local, county, regional, and state public bodies has been centralized in the office of the Attorney General.

The Open Meeting Law supports the principle that the democratic process depends on the public having knowledge about the considerations underlying governmental action. It requires that most meetings of governmental bodies to be held in public. There are some exceptions, which are designed to ensure that, public officials are not “unduly hampered” by having every discussion among public officials open to the public. As a result, the Open Meeting Law provides for particular circumstances under which a meeting may be held in executive, or closed, session.

The determinations, catalogued by the Attorney General’s office, provide a glimpse into how that office determines whether a violation has occurred. More information on the Open Meeting Law can be found by clicking here.

Update from the High School Building Committee

Here is the latest news from the FHS Building Committee:

In March of 2011, Architect Kaestle Boos brought four options for a new/renovated high school to the School Building Committee. Option One was a limited renovation and addition of 8,400 sf of space for a total of 317,000 sf. The projected cost was $73,100,000 with a cost to the town of $30,800,000. Option Two was a gut renovation and addition of 14,800 sf of space for a total of 325,600 sf. The projected cost was $96,400,000 and a cost to the town of $40,800,000. Option Three was a new construction with 305,000 sf and with renovations to field house. Total project cost was $97,900,000 and a town cost of $45,600,000. Option Four was to choose a model school from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Model School Program that would be a 305,000 sf new building. The project cost would be $98,000,000 with a cost to the town of $42,000,000. The Building Committee chose Option Four and petitioned the MSBA to be allowed to participate in the Model School Building Program.

Public Interviews

On September 7 and 8 at the Municipal Building, the High School Building Committee held public interviews with four architectural firms representing each of the program model schools. The four firms were invited to present the model schools proposed for Franklin’s needs. The architects were asked to identify how the model schools could best be adapted to fit Franklin’s needs and the current High School site. The four model high schools chosen were the Ashland High School building design, the Hudson High School building design, the Shrewsbury High School building design, and the Whitman-Hanson High School Building design. The Committee unanimously voted to select Ai3 Architects, LLC and the Whitman-Hanson High School building design model school (see photograph to the right).

What’s Next?

The Town Council will vote to appropriate $1,800,000 on September 28 to commence the design. The target is to have the schematic design approved by the MSBA in January 2012. Once approved, we will request the Town Council vote to place a Debt Exclusion question on the Ballot of a Special Election next Spring. With an estimated project cost of $98,000,000 and an expected reimbursement rate of slightly less than 58% from the MSBA the town’s cost would be approximately $42,000,000.

What is a debt exclusion?

A community can assess taxes in excess of its levy limit (Proposition 2 ½ Override) for the payment of certain capital projects, or in this case, the capital project would be a school. A two-thirds vote of the Town Council is required to place a ballot question before the voters. A majority vote of approval by the voters is required to pass. Debt exclusions do not become part of the tax base and only last until the debt is paid. So when the school is paid for the tax base goes back down. The town has passed three debt exclusions: one for the Remington Jefferson School, one for the Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller School, and one for the Horace Mann and Oak Street School and FX O’Reagan Early Childhood Development Center Complex. A debt exclusion usually lasts for twenty years.

Public schools have an important mission

The photograph to the right is what I see every day when I look out my office window. Those of you who may be familiar with Copley Square in Boston will recognize it as the Boston Public Library. Your attention is directed to the inscription carved into the building which reads: “THE COMMONWEALTH REQUIRES THE EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE AS THE SAFEGUARD OF ORDER AND LIBERTY”. To me, it underlies the importance of the work we do on the School Committee and the reason I ran for that office 10 years ago.

Fifty seven years ago in Brown v. Board of Education, the United States Supreme Court said:

Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society. It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

The photograph and court case promote strong images and words. They are central to the notion of self-governance and are a significant piece of our generational responsibility to create educational, economic and social opportunities for young people.

Along these lines, there is a great story in the Saturday Evening Post by Diane Ravitch, a historian of education, a professor at NYU, and a former U.S. assistant secretary of education. Entitled American Schools in Crisis, it should be required reading for all Americans. It’s a good primer on the history of public education in America, another solid reminder about its purposes, and reaffirms the words etched on the library wall, and carved by the Court. To read to the full piece, you can click here. I have included some excerpts below.

Since the 1840s, our public schools have been a bulwark of our democratic society. Over time, they have opened their doors to every student in the community regardless of that student’s race, religion, language, disability, economic standing, or origin. No one has to enter a lottery to gain admission….

Piece by piece, our entire public education system is being redesigned in the service of increasing scores on standardized tests of basic skills. That’s not good policy, and it won’t improve education. Twelve years of rewarding children for picking the right answer on multiple-choice tests is bad education. It will penalize the creativity, innovativeness, and imaginativeness that has made this country great….

The most important educators in children’s lives are their families. What families provide in the way of encouragement, experiences, expectations, and security has a decisive effect on a child’s life chances. The most consistent predictor of test scores is family income. Children who grow up in economically secure homes are more likely to arrive in school ready to learn than those who lack the basic necessities of life.….

It’s important to remember that this is not simply an abstract matter for ivory tower policy wonks to be nattering over. Our present course endangers one of our nation’s most precious institutions: our public schools. Surely they need improvement, but they don’t need a wrecking ball. Our policymakers’ obsession with standardized testing has proven to be wrong; not only does it lack scientific validation, but any parent or teacher could have told the policymakers that a heavy reliance on multiple-choice tests crushes originality, innovation, and creativity.….

It is worth remembering that the reason we first established public education was to advance the common good of the community. It began in small towns, where communities agreed that all the children should be educated for the good of all and the sake of the future. Public schools have a civic mission: They are expected to prepare young people to become citizens and to share in the responsibility of maintaining our society.

I hope you will take a chance to look at the Ravitch article and reflect on the importance of the public education mission as we enter into a new school year. Good luck to all students and staff as we attempt to further that mission.

Franklin schools opening delayed until Sept. 6

Due to the continued impact of the tropical storm that has left forty percent of Franklin residents without power, the school administration made the decision to defer the opening of school until September 6. Faculty and staff will report on Friday, September 2 for orientation. On September 6, each school will host Kindergarten orientation and all Kindergarten students will report to school on Wednesday September 7 at the regular time.

Although several of our schools have power, Parmenter and the Horace Mann/Oak/ECDC complex continue to be offline. Additionally, there are a number of utility wires down that may impact the safety of our walkers. Many wires are enmeshed in trees and threaten the safety of pedestrians. In a conference call with National Grid we were not able to ascertain a time frame for the restoration of power. As a public safety priority we have no choice but to defer the opening of school. We know our students will be disappointed and some parents will need to make alternate child care arrangements but we must adhere to our primary mission of keeping students safe.

Please be advised with the change in the start of the school year the last day of school will be June 19. In the event of other weather related events we will have eight days available for school closings. If we have a challenging winter, this cushion may not be enough time for us to meet the required 180 student days. In the event we use all the days we will need to explore using days allotted for April vacation so please plan accordingly. Thank you for your patience and support. Please stay safe and be cautious on the roads as a number of traffic lights continue to not function and there are many walkers and bikers out on the road.

Missouri Facebook statute blocked by court

A new Missouri law prohibiting teachers from having private online conversations with students suffered a double setback on Friday, August 26, 2011. First, a judge blocked it from taking effect because of free speech concerns. Then the governor called for its repeal. The bill was scheduled to take effect August 28, 2011.

The law limiting teacher-student conversations through social networking sites such as Facebook had been scheduled to take effect Sunday. But Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem issued a preliminary injunction blocking it until at least February 2012, saying the restrictions “would have a chilling effect” on free speech rights. You can view the text of the order by clicking on the image below or here.

Later in the day, Gov. Jay Nixon today announced that he will ask the General Assembly to repeal specific provisions concerning teacher-student communications that were included in Senate Bill 54, which was passed unanimously by both the House of Representatives and the Senate earlier this year. “First and foremost, our top concern and priority is and always will be protecting children across Missouri, and making sure students receive the quality education they need and deserve,” Gov. Nixon said. “In a digital world, we must recognize that social media can be an important tool for teaching and learning. At the same time, we must be vigilant about threats posed to students through the Internet and other means. Because of confusion and concern among educators, students and families over this specific provision of Senate Bill 54, I will ask the General Assembly to repeal that particular section, while preserving other vital protections included in the bill. In addition, I will be asking for input on this issue from teachers, parents and other stakeholders.” The full text of the Governor’s statement can be viewed by clicking here.

The Missouri law would have barred teachers from using websites that give “exclusive access” to current students or former students who are 18 or younger. That would have meant that communication through Facebook or other social networking sites had to be done in public, rather than through private messages. A public backlash began to build against the social networking provisions over the summer, as some teachers preparing for the new school year began complaining that the law could hamper both their classroom activities and school-related conversations that occur afterhours.

On August 19, 2011, the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) requested the Circuit Court of Cole County to determine the constitutionality of the social media portion of a new state law. MSTA believes the bill signed into law by Gov. Jay Nixon in July infringes on educators’ first amendment rights of free speech, association and religion. MSTA asked the court to keep that section of law from being implemented until the constitutionality can be determined. In its lawsuit, the teachers association said websites such as Facebook and Twitter have become a common part of modern interaction between teachers and students and argued that restricting them would violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. You can view the petition filed by the MSTA by clicking here.

“Many of our members are concerned about the unintended consequences of this law, including their ability to monitor their own children’s online activities,” said MSTA Legal Counsel, Gail McCray. “It’s vague and more importantly, we believe it violates the constitutional rights of educators.”

The Missouri State Teachers Association has information on the law and how it would affect teachers which can be viewed by clicking here.

The use of Facebook in schools has received mixed reactions throughout the country. USAToday recently looked at some of the uses in the classrooms in Milford, NJ where teachers use Facebook to communicate with students and parents, and students use it to plan events. You can view that story by clicking here.

You can view Franklin’s policy on electronic communications by clicking here.

View this document on Scribd

Mass students highest in nation on ACT assessments

Massachusetts students from the 2011 graduating class outscored students nationwide on the ACT assessment of college readiness.

Massachusetts 2011 graduates scored an average composite score of 24.2 out of a possible 36, up from last year’s average of 24.0 and higher than the national average of 21.1. Statewide, 14,975 Massachusetts students (22 percent) from the 2011 graduating class took the ACT during high school, and 43 percent of those students met all four ACT College Readiness Benchmark scores, compared to 25 percent nationwide. On the four subject area tests, Massachusetts 2011 graduates had the highest percent of students in the nation meeting the ACT benchmark in Reading (74%), Math (73%), and Science (47%), and tied for the highest in English (86%) with Connecticut.

“These results are yet another confirmation that our students are leading the nation in academic achievement,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “We continue to aggressively pursue reform efforts to close achievement gaps in our schools, and will work to ensure that every high school graduate has the skills they need to be successful in both college and career.”

The ACT provides an annual predictive indicator of the college and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. While historically more high school students in Massachusetts have taken the SAT, participation rates on the ACT continue to rise over time, increasing from 15 percent of graduates in 2007 to 21 percent in 2010, to 22 percent this year.

For more information on ACT, click here.

Schools seek relief from NCLB requirements

Unless Congress acts by this fall to overhaul No Child Left Behind, the main federal law on public education, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan signaled that he would use his executive authority to free states from the law’s centerpiece requirement that all students be proficient in reading and math by 2014.

According to a report in the New York Times, the Obama administration has been facing a mounting clamor from state school officials to waive substantial parts of the law, which President Bush signed in 2002, especially its requirement that states bring 100 percent of students to proficiency in reading and math by 2014 or else face sanctions. In March, Mr. Duncan predicted that the law would classify 80,000 of the nation’s 100,000 public schools as failing this fall unless it was amended.

The National School Boards Association has expressed support for regulatory relief for over a year in view of delays in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and in recognition that many of the mandated sanctions have had little impact on improving student achievement. Additionally, NSBA voiced strong objections to requiring local school districts to implement ineffective and costly sanctions when state and local revenue streams have been significantly reduced.

The NSBA is pushing a resolution calling for ESEA regulatory relief (the proposed resolution can be viewed by clicking here). The petition encourages members of Congress to act on the behalf of local school districts to support the urgent need of allowing flexibility for school districts to use more financial resources in the classroom to advance student achievement, instead of on administrative tasks. Specifically, the petition requests suspension of additional sanctions under the current Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements effective this coming school year.

“It’s time for Congress to support their local schools districts. Duncan should exercise the U.S. Department of Education’s regulatory authority and relieve school districts from the constraints of federal statutes that hold schools hostage as Congress moves forward with the ESEA reauthorization,” said Mary Broderick, President of NSBA. “In these tough economic times, schools should not have to spend scarce dollars and staff time to adhere to a flawed accountability system. The U.S. Department of Education must provide clear policy decisions, not case-by-case waivers. While we believe in assessment and holding all schools accountable, we must give our schools the flexibility and necessary resources to teach our children and advance student learning.”

A next-generation digital book

If you ever wondered about the future of books, then this video is for you. Software developer Mike Matas demos the first full-length interactive book for the iPad — with clever, swipeable video and graphics and some very cool data visualizations to play with. The book is “Our Choice,” Al Gore’s sequel to “An Inconvenient Truth.” You can view the video by clicking on the image below.

I have been using the book on my iPad for about a week and I am very impressed with the content, graphics, and interactive components. I am less enthused about the fact that there does not appear to be an ability to highlight text of insert notes. But I am sure that that technology is on the horizon. Nonetheless, I am intrigued about the possibilities for our schools in the future.

Illegal recordings in Salem schools uncovered

In this age of electronics, when posting events on YouTube has become a new national pastime, the actions of two students recording events in schools has come under fire. In Salem, two students brought voice recorders to their schools and surreptitiously taped their teachers and classmates, in violation of the law, school officials said. The students were in elementary school, and one of their parents said his son brought the recorder to school because he was being bullied, said Lieutenant Conrad Prosniewski, a spokesman for Salem police. You can read the full report of the Salem incident in the Boston Globe by clicking here.

The recordings were unlawful because state law in Massachusetts requires consent before anyone is recorded. Mass. Ann. Laws ch. 272 , § 99 criminalizes the use of an ordinary tape recorder to capture the voice of any unknowing person, regardless of the setting in which the recording is made. The penalty for violating the law is a fine of up to $10,000 and a jail sentence of up to five years. Disclosure of the contents of an illegally recorded conversation, when accompanied by the knowledge that it was obtained illegally, is a misdemeanor that can be punished with a fine of up to $5,000 and imprisonment for up to two years. Civil damages are expressly authorized for the greater of actual damages, $100 for each day of violation or $1,000. Punitive damages and attorney fees also are recoverable.

In the preamble to the statute, the legislature stated:

The general court further finds that the uncontrolled development and unrestricted use of modern electronic surveillance devices pose grave dangers to the privacy of all citizens of the commonwealth. Therefore, the secret use of such devices by private individuals must be prohibited. The use of such devices by law enforcement officials must be conducted under strict judicial supervision and should be limited to the investigation of organized crime.

Twelve states currently require that all parties consent to the recording. These states are: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington. An interesting article from the Massachusetts Law Review examined the implications of the Massachusetts law in a case about a defendant who recorded a routine police stop. You can view that article by clicking here.

It appears that the students in the Salem case were unaware that there actions were in violation of the law. Indeed, it is conceivable that many people are unaware of the Massachusetts wiretap law. It is included here as a reminder that surreptitious recordings are illegal and can carry criminal penalties, even though they may appear to be innocent efforts.

The new intensity of high school football

Corporate sponsorships, nationally televised games, minute-by-minute coverage on sports websites — for players, parents and coaches, high school football has never been bigger. But is enough being done to ensure players’ safety as the intensity of the sport grows? In Football High, airing Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at 9 p.m. ET on PBS, FRONTLINE investigates the new face of high school football.

Football observers and sports journalists alike agree that on average, high school players’ size, speed and strength have increased dramatically over the past five to 10 years. At Euless Trinity in Texas, which has been ranked the #1 high school team in the country, 18 of the 89 varsity players weigh over 250 pounds. “The ramping up of pressure on high school kids … and the increase of media attention on high school football, my God, in the last 10 years, it’s become like a little NFL,” says Gregg Easterbrook, a writer and columnist for ESPN. “If you look at it position by position, you can only compare it to NFL teams,” says private trainer Kelvin Williams. “It’s just crazy. They are huge.”

FRONTLINE centers its investigation in Arkansas, where two players collapsed from heatstroke last year while practicing during one of the hottest summers on record. The players were placed in the same intensive care unit in Little Rock, both having suffered extensive damage to their internal organs. One boy survived, but the other boy died in the hospital three months after his collapse. “There should never, ever be a person [dying] from exertional heatstroke, because it’s 100 percent preventable,” says Dr. Doug Casa, a leading expert on heatstroke.

In the wake of the tragedy in Arkansas, FRONTLINE investigates the differences in the two boys’ fates. Only one of the boys’ teams had an athletic trainer on staff, which reflects the reality in most of Arkansas: Only 15 percent of the schools in the state have a certified medical professional at games and practices, slightly below the national average.

The program also investigates the estimated 60,000 concussions suffered each year by high school football players. In 2010, researchers discovered a degenerative mental disease in the brain of 21-year-old Owen Thomas, a University of Pennsylvania football player who committed suicide last year — and had never reported a concussion throughout his football career. Thomas’ brain showed evidence of CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the same mental degenerative disease rampant in the brains of NFL players with serious mental problems. “It has totally changed what I thought about this game,” says VA researcher Dr. Ann McKee. “Anybody who’s playing the game, this could happen; this could be the result.”

Franklin is tops nationally in educational efficiency and productivity

In August last year we read about Franklin being touted as a “spotlight district” by a national think-tank for its high return on investment in education (click here to read the Milford Daily News story). The final report by the Center for American Progress (CAP) has been issued, and Franklin is rated highly efficient on all three of the productivity metrics covered by the study. This report is the culmination of a yearlong effort to study the efficiency of the nation’s public education system. You can review and download the report by clicking here or on the document image to the right.

If you view the interactive piece, you will see that Franklin received one of the top rankings in Massachusetts for educational productivity and efficiency (click here) – one of only 21 of the 351 communities in the state to be so recognized. You can view the full district report on Franklin by clicking here.

In order to spark a national dialogue about educational productivity, CAP attempted to evaluate the return on investment (ROI) of almost every major school district in the country. By productivity, they mean how much learning a district produces for every dollar spent, after controlling for factors such as cost of living and students in poverty.

The report notes that highly productive districts such as Franklin are focused on improving student outcomes. From its survey, CAP reported that the districts that performed well on its metrics shared a number of values and practices, including strong community support and a willingness to make tough choices.

The report also makes plain that school spending can make a difference in achievement; but additional dollars make a difference only if the funds are well spent. According to the report, a number of states, such as Massachusetts, have shown that strategic spending can make a large and significant difference in student achievement. For example, a large body of research shows that certain inputs such as teacher quality can significantly impact student outcomes. One series of studies showed that students who have three or four highly effective teachers in a row will succeed academically, while those who have a sequence of weak teachers fall further behind.

The focus in the Franklin school system has long been to direct resources into the classroom, to recruit and retain top quality teachers, support a strong curriculum and to maintain appropriate class sizes. Indeed, attracting and retaining the best and brightest teachers in the Franklin public school system has been one of the top priorities for the School Committee. The result has been stellar academic performance, to the point where our students have gained acceptances at the top universities and colleges in the nation. We have written frequently about the importance of good teaching (click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, & here) and urge you to review these pieces again as we approach the next budget season.

We have cautioned the community about reductions in education spending, and maintaining our commitment to funding an appropriate education for our children. The CAP report validates the tough choices we have made over the years about the proper allocation of funds.

But in recent years, despite these warnings, we have seen an erosion in education spending in Franklin. Attempts to bridge budget gaps with operational overrides have failed (except on one occasion) and are often surrounded by criticism that our system is mismanaged, wasteful and inefficient. As this report indicates, those claims are sadly mistaken and the critics will only be silenced if we spread the truth.

In the next few months we’ll be talking about budget deficits and spending again. We will urge citizens to adequately fund one of the most efficient school systems in the nation. And we will urge citizens to support the system which has delivered a high return on its investment. We hope that you will be a part of this effort. After all, we don’t want to become the next celebrated community in Massachusetts that gave up on its school system (click here to be reminded about what happened in Randolph).

Day of reckoning is approaching

For years, we have been warning of a fiscal meltdown in municipal financing. And for years, some of us have been accused of crying wolf.

But as this recent 60 Minutes clip makes clear, the day of reckoning is near. You can view the clip by clicking on the video image below. As the report noted: “No one is talking about it now, but the big test will come this spring. That’s when $160 billion in federal stimulus money, that has helped states and local governments limp through the great recession, will run out.”

Like many communities across the country, Franklin has been a generous recipient of federal and state aid. On the school side, state Chapter 70 funding ($26,714,222 in FY11 and $28,152,172 in FY10) accounts for 56% of the total budget ($50,297,820 in FY11). In addition to Chapter 70 funds, the school system receives grants to supplement the operational budget. During FY 2010 Franklin received $2,784,792 in grants to provide additional staffing and supplemental services to meet the needs of students. The district also receives significant financial support from within the community from the Franklin Education Foundation, Music Boosters, Athletic Booster Clubs, Parent Communication Councils (PCC), and other groups. But, as the reports points out, these sources of funds are drying up.

Our community rightfully has high expectations for performance in our schools. And we are committed to meeting these expectations, but we need some thoughtful reflection and ideas about how to meet that goal.

For the last nine years, the School Committee has steadily reduced spending on services and imposed and increased fees for busing, athletics, and student activities, to name a few. The savings generated from these decisions have been poured directly into the classroom, to recruit and retain top quality teachers, support a strong curriculum and to maintain appropriate class sizes. As shown in the table below from the state DESE website, Franklin spends under the state average in all 11 categories of education spending.

We know, as you do, that the success of our children in the economy of the future depends hugely on the education that the Franklin schools deliver to them today, and each and every day. It is our responsibility as a community to deliver the best possible education to the 6,200 children in our schools. As always, we invite and solicit your input on a solution which will enable us to carry on the tradition of high performance in our schools in dire financial times.

Health care costs sapped state aid

Hundreds of millions of dollars the state has provided to local school districts to improve classroom education has instead been gobbled up by soaring health care costs for school employees, according to a new report that questions whether Massachusetts has fulfilled the ambitious goals of its 1993 education reform law.

From 2000 to 2007, annual health care costs in school budgets grew by $1 billion, while state aid for schools grew by only $700 million, according to the report being released today by the Boston Foundation.

You can read the full story in the Boston Globe by clicking here. You can read more about the study by clicking here.

Cyberbullying program addresses online hazards

“It is difficult enough to support one’s child through a siege of schoolyard bullying. But the lawlessness of the Internet, its potential for casual, breathtaking cruelty, and its capacity to cloak a bully’s identity all present slippery new challenges to this transitional generation of analog parents.”

That’s the gist of an article on cyberbullying from the December 4, 2010 New York Times.  You can read the full story by clicking here.

One of the person’s featured in the article is Parry Aftab, a lawyer and expert on cyberbullying.  She will be at Dean College in Franklin on Thursday, December 9, 2010 to present a program on cyberbullying.  Details about the program can be found in the flyer below or by clicking here.

Rep. James Vallee will kick off the program which is sponsored by the Franklin WiredTeens Club, Franklin Community Health Council, and the Franklin Anti-Bullying Task Force.

If you are interesting in learning more about cyberbullying and ways to prevent it from harming your child, attend the program on Thursday night.

View this document on Scribd

Borders will help you support the schools!

For every purchase you make at Borders from Dec 4-5, you will receive a $15 DonorsChoose.org gift card to make a donation to a classroom.

And if you buy the book Waiting for Superman, you’ll get another $15 card.

The schools could clearly use the funds, so consider this offer in your weekend activities.  Click the link below for more information.

This Week’s Hot Picks at Borders!.

Pledge in schools is constitutional

The constitutionality of a New Hampshire law that requires schools to authorize a time each day for students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance has been upheld by a federal appeals court that found the oath’s reference to God doesn’t violate students’ rights. The court considered whether the New Hampshire School Patriot Act, N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 194:15-c (“the New Hampshire Act”), which requires that the state’s public schools authorize a period during the school day for students to voluntarily participate in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, violates the First or Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It found that the statute is constitutional.

The parents, who identified themselves and their children as atheist and agnostic, said the pledge is a religious exercise because it uses the phrase “under God.” They argued the recitation of the pledge at school made their children “outsiders” to their peers on the grounds of their religion.

The court noted several aspects of the statute. By expressly requiring that student participation in the recitation of the Pledge be voluntary, New Hampshire has created a framework in which a school or educator would violate state law by any actions that rendered student participation involuntary. In addition, the statute allows any student not to participate in the recitation of the Pledge regardless of the student’s reasons for non-participation. Those who do not participate may either stand silently or remain seated. The only obligation imposed on non-participants is that they respect the rights of those students electing to participate.

The court also found that the New Hampshire School Patriot Act’s primary effect is not the advancement of religion, but the advancement of patriotism through a pledge to the flag as a symbol of the nation.

You can read the full opinion of the court by clicking here. You can read the Boston Globe report on this case by clicking here. We wrote about the oral argument in this case in September in a post which you can view by clicking here.

Studies demonstrate public employees not overpaid

Two recent studies call into question the common misperception that public employees overpaid, unproductive, and have overly generous benefit packages. According to a new study by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, state and local government workers in New England make less than their private-sector counterparts, once the age and education levels of both kinds of workers are factored in. You can view the full report by clicking here.

While the average state or local government worker does earn higher wages than in the private sector, this is because they are, on average, older and substantially better educated. In reality, there is a wage penalty for public workers in New England of close to 3%.

And California taxpayers are not overpaying or overcompensating their state and local workers compared to private sector employers, according to a policy brief by the Center on Wages and Employment Dynamics at the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE). You can view the report by clicking here.

Wages earned by California’s public employees are about 7 percent lower, on average, than those received by comparable private sector workers, according to the report. However, the researchers concluded that when taking into account the more generous benefits of government employees, there is no significant difference in the level of total compensation between the two sectors.

“The Truth about Public Employees in California: They Are Neither Overpaid Nor Overcompensated” presents research findings by Sylvia A. Allegretto, a UC Berkeley economist and deputy chair of the Center on Wages and Employment Dynamics, and Jeffrey Keefe, an associate professor of labor and employment relations at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations.

“The story of public sector workers in the U.S. and in California is, in large part, one of education,” Allegretto said, noting that of California’s full-time workers, 55 percent in the public sector hold at least a four-year college degree, compared to 35 percent in the private sector.

“Compensation received by public sector employees is neither the cause – nor can it be the solution – to the state’s financial problems,” the researchers concluded in their report. “Only an economic recovery can begin to plug the hole in the state’s budget.”

The researchers used the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation survey, which is conducted quarterly by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides the only valid and reliable estimate of employer-incurred benefit costs in the country. It includes private industry data by firm size, and includes state and local government employees. The data reflected employment statistics from 2009.

These reports come out as several states struggle to balance budget revenues and expenses. Meanwhile, some political candidates are pledging to slash the public sector workforce to save money and better control the state budget.