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By William Tauro The The Somerville High School Chorus led by chorus All of the city's three service |
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By James Reddick Last Wednesday, Dec. 9, in the Aldermanic Chambers, State Representatives Denise Provost and Carl Sciortino, along with Jackie Lawrence, President of the Somerville Teachers Association, hosted a discussion on the Education Reform Act of 2009. Having passed the Senate on Nov. 17, the legislation is slated to be up for a vote in the House immediately following the Christmas recess. The Reform Act is not as all-encompassing as the name suggests. It targets those districts where schools are deemed to be failing and increases the allowances for charter schools and extends the authority of school district superintendents to intervene in "under-performing" schools. Somerville Public Schools Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi expressed his concern for the possible consequences of the legislation. "It furthers what is already an unfair advantage for charter schools and it creates a draconian element of authority over teachers in certain schools," he said. In one controversial element of the bill, should a school be deemed to be a Level Four under-performing school – a designation determined by MCAS results – the Superintendent is given the right to either renegotiate the union contracts or he/she is granted the right to force all employees of the school to reapply for their jobs. Not surprisingly, STA representative Jackie Lawrence expressed an opposition to such a measure. "This super-control could make it very hard for a low-performing school to hire new staff members," she said. Currently, Somerville does not have any schools that would be affected by the measures, but it is not guaranteed to remain in good standing in the future. The bottom 20% of schools in the state qualify for this dubious classification, but only 5% of the state's schools may be deemed under-performing at any given time. One of the central topics of discussion at the public forum was charter schools, as the bill supports them as viable alternatives within struggling school districts. It will remove caps on the statewide population that may be enrolled in charter schools and on the total number of charters allowed in the state. Furthermore, for those districts performing in the bottom 10%, which include Boston, Lawrence and Worcester, their net school spending percentage cap would increase to 18% percent over time. "We're not the worst situated community," Provost said, "but it's hard enough to sustain a parallel school system in a boom economy, let alone right now." Currently, Prospect Hill Academy is the only charter school in the city. Another provision of the bill that was met with general support, despite criticism that it may be too watered down and slow moving to actually effect change, is the creation of Innovation Schools. According to the bill, any school, with the approval of its faculty, may adopt an innovation plan that gives them wider authority to implement new educational tactics. Though in theory he supports such flexibility, Superintendent Pierantozzi questioned the means with which his schools might go about being truly innovative. "There are no resources in this bill," he lamented. With little time to go over the bill before a vote, Provost expects it to pass, though she pledged her opposition. Part of the motivation for its passage, the Representatives speculated, was the forthcoming Race To The Top funding allocation – an approximately $250 million pot that could be distributed throughout the state should it be deemed eligible. The approach to targeting struggling schools that the Education Reform Act endorses could put Massachusetts in better standing to receive this merit-based grant. "Whenever you have a race there are winners and losers," Provost said. "The motivation is to position Massachusetts to win this race, but this is temporary, one time money that is not guaranteed by this legislation." |
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Video link taken from 10.connects.com http://www.wtsp.com/
Tonight, Dec. 16, there will be another hearing on the Green Line by DOT, but this time its only about
the MBTA Maintenance Facility and where they will put it. The hearing starts at 6pm and goes to 8pm at will be held in Cambridge at the Multicultural Arts Center (41 2nd Street – one block from Lechmere Square). All residents should be concerned about where the faculty is going to be built – make sure you are there and your voice is heard.
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The 13th annual Illuminations Tour will be on Saturday, Dec. 19th. Tours leave at 4:30pm, 5pm, 5:45pm, 6:15pm, 7pm, 7:30pm, 8:15pm, 8:45pm and 9:15pm. If there is bad weather, the rain date will be Sunday, Dec. 20th. Tour guides lead trolleys past the city's most spectacular residential displays of holiday pomp, sharing stories about the families that decorate and local historic trivia en route. Tours begin and end at City Hall at 93 Highland Ave. Tickets are $10, $5 for children 12 and under and seniors 60 and up, and are available at Blue Cloud Gallery at 713 Broadway in Ball Square.
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Send us your favorite photo of your choice of "The Best of Somerville – Best Decorated House for Christmas" Send your photos to photos@thesomervillenews.com and share it with the rest of the 'Ville!
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There will be a community meeting held by the Mayor, Alderman Pero, and the Mayor's Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development to discuss the Mystic River Reservation Recreational Path Extension (Wellington Undercarriage). The meeting will take place on Thursday, December 17th beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the Mystic Activity Center, 535 Mystic Avenue. The path extension will connect under Route 28 at the Mystic River to link Ten Hills and Assembly Square. A boardwalk will be constructed under the bridge that will connect to recreational paths on either side of Route 28.
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Celebrate the spirit of winter and its various holidays through the winter concerts in the Somerville
Public Schools. High school musicians and singers will take the stage on Thursday, December 17th at 7pm in the auditorium of Somerville High School (81 Highland Avenue) – the concert is free and is featuring student singers, musicians and other performers.
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On Thursday, December 17th, Teen Empowerment will hold a youth holiday gathering from 7pm to 9:30pm at the Somerville Youth Program (165 Broadway). The event will feature original poems, songs, skits and speeches, written and performed by Somerville teens that reflect on 2009 and focus on hopes for 2010.
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Don't forget about the new permit parking regulations going into affect for the entire City, you have until January 4th to get to Traffic and Parking to get your permit…. they will be out in force ticketing those without the permit.
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The 234th annual "Grand Union" flag raising ceremony at Prospect Hill Park will be held on Friday, January 1, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. The ceremony commemorates the raising of the nation's first official flag,featuring thirteen red and white horizontal stripes, atop Prospect Hill Tower by General George Washington and his troops during their encampment in the Revolutionary War in 1776. The ceremony will actually begin at
City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue, at 11:30am with a procession to Prospect Hill, led by "General Washington" on horseback. The day's program will also include songs, readings, and participants from the Charlestown militia, as well as the Ancient and Honorable Company (first chartered in 1638). The American Legion
Post 19 Honor Guard will lead a military salute as a commemorative flag is raised atop the Prospect Hill Tower at noon.
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Speaking of Traffic & Parking…we wish Jim Kotzuba the best of luck in his new job over at Harvard, he did a great job here in Somerville these past few years. We hope that Assistant Director Larry Murphy gets the nod for the job, he always has done a great job in whatever he does here in Somerville…
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The new tax rate has been voted on for the city, for residential homes it's up to $12.30 (was $11.71) per every thousand dollars of assessed value, and commercial is up to $20.44 per thousand. There is a substantial residential exemption – around 30% – but you have to apply for it at the Board of Assessors at City Hall.
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The Somerville Police are on the lookout and are asking residents to keep and eye out for a man going around in a red car, wearing a Verizon shirt posing as a Verizon worker…he's not, so be careful who you open your door to.
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All the various charities here in Somerville are having a rough time of it…especially the Somerville Homeless Shelter, we are very fortunate to have a large variety of worthy charities like them, please do what you can and support them by making a donation.
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The annual Somerville High School musical is looking for advertisers and donations to perform their
annual musical which this year will cost around $12,000. More than 40 actors, musicians and technicians from Somerville High School will stage Disney's Beauty and the Beast from February 4th to 6th in the auditorium of Somerville High (81 Highland Avenue). Show times are: Thursday and Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 2pm. Ticket prices are $7.00 – $6.00 for senior citizens and youth ages 12 and under.
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Don't forget the Somerville Schools annual Christmas Tree sale at Foss Park, help support the various programs.
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Happy Birthday to one of our own – Bobbie Toner – she is without a doubt the best…she never says no when asked to do something and we can't say enough good things about her. We know that she recently
got her real estate license, and if there was someone who would make a great real estate agent, she's the one. If you know her and didn't know she does real estate and you need to buy or sell – give her a call you won't be disappointed. Happy Birthday Bobbie from your friends at The News and ERA not to mention at Pat's Auto Body…
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Upcoming musical events happening at various public schools in the city:
Arthur D. Healey School – Dec 17th and 18th @ 9am; WHCS – Dec 18th @ 9:30am; ESCS – Dec 18th @1pm (grades 1-4) at the Edgerly School and Dec 21st @ 9am (united performance) at Somerville High; WSNS – Dec 22nd @ 10:15am; John F. Kennedy School – Dec 22nd @ 6:30pm; Michael E. Capuano Early Childhood Center – Jan 29th @ 9:15am; Beginning Instrumentalist Concert – Jan 28th 2010 @ 7pm in the SHS Auditorium.
By James Reddick Angelica Around 450 Angelica Angelica, an Lemus said Angelica New England Vice Centro Presente, an immigrant advocacy group located "We – Tom Nash contributed to this report. |
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There's nothing In this economy, and with the really cold This So this week will be cold |
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(The Christmas The On with the list…a big cardboard Rex Back to the The Six Million Here is the list of the toys Today the toy wish list has Want to help some deserving local kids this holiday Join |
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By Tom Nash Residential and commercial property taxes will go up in 2010 following a unanimous Board of Aldermen vote last Thursday. Residential Acting Chief Assessor "As The increase is expected to generate $96,510,127 in revenue, $4 million more than in 200. The Ward 4 Alderman Walter Pero said he was satisfied with the city's efforts at sheltering residents from rate increases. "We'll take the hit, you just keep it to a minimum," Pero told Levye. Thursday's presentation was the first in more than two decades without Chief Assessor Dick Brescia, who died in July. |
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| By Tom Nash
After The road, along the Mystic Desmond Shore A resolution "It's The resolution passed unanimously. |
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