Monday, June 27, 2016
“Dark Money” Impact In Massachusetts And 5 Other States
Ken
O’Brien
So you think the Citizens
United case only affected Federal elections?
Think again!
A
new study by the Brennan Center for Justice focused on the impact of “dark”
and “gray” money on local elections in six states, including Massachusetts.
Friday, June 24, 2016
DESE Issues Southbridge Turnaround Plan
Southbridge Public Schools Level 5 District Turnaround Plan
(Click on above link to view plan document)
By Brian Lee
(Click on above link to view plan document)
By Brian Lee
Education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester is at
Charlton Street Elementary School this morning for a press conference to unveil
a turnaround plan that will guide changes in the chronically underperforming
district of about 2,200 students.
The comprehensive 70-page plan includes priorities
and strategies to accelerate student achievement and benchmarks connected to
student outcomes.
The plan said that the district's state-appointed
receiver has the right to lay off teachers and staff, and reorganize, consolidate,
or abolish departments, positions or school functions, and create new ones, but
does not specify how that would materialize.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
A Business Idea For Southbridge
After watching the candidates for Southbridge Town
Council “debate” I remain essentially unimpressed.
As they have for years they all decried the town’s
reliance on landfill revenues and proclaimed their opposition to steadily
rising property taxes. The solution according to all of them was to stimulate
new business that would expand our tax base as well as provide employment for
town residents.
However, not one of them has put forward any kind of
plan for such a business or a practical means for enticing any such business to
locate in Southbridge.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016
Moody’s Analysis Of Trump’s Economic Proposals
How do you suppose a Republican presidential
candidate goes about “making America great again”? Well, if we use history as a
guide, they implement policies that make America great for the very connected
and rich, on the backs of the working class and working poor.
The Moody’s
Analytics report on the Republican 2016 presumptive presidential nominee
Donald Trump’s policies, including policies on taxes, government spending,
immigration, and international trade, isn’t pretty. Employment would be reduced
by 3.5 million jobs and a heavy recession would hit the nation. The economy will “weaken significantly” under
Trump’s policies.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Southbridge Town Council Agenda - June 20, 2016
MacKinnon Council Chambers
June 20, 2016
7 PM
Agenda
We’ve Lost
Bob
Garfield
Editor-at-large for MediaPost; Co-host of public radio’s
Peabody Award-winning “On the Media”
Editor-at-large for MediaPost; Co-host of public radio’s
Peabody Award-winning “On the Media”
Taking heart at Donald Trump’s plummeting
favorability numbers? You think he maybe finally jumped the shark by taking a
victory lap over the Orlando massacre? You think the Republic is now safe?
It isn’t. The Republic is already sick. It’s like we
had a bad clam — a steady diet of bad clams - and the convulsions aren’t likely
to stop soon.
End Mass Shootings The Republican Way: Thoughts & Prayers - The Game
In the wake of yet another mass shooting, Americans
of all political persuasions are looking for ways to prevent the next tragedy
before it happens. And while gun control advocates often disagree about the
solution, there’s one group that knows exactly what to do: Republican members
of congress. They’re the only people with the moral courage to tell the country
the hard truth: the best way to end the mass shooting epidemic—well, second
best, after “good guys with guns” everywhere—is to offer thoughts and prayers
to the victims. And nothing else. Now, thanks to the folks at GOP Arcade, a new
online game gives everyone the chance to be just as effective as a Republican
legislator: Thoughts & Prayers: The Game.Saturday, June 18, 2016
Friday, June 17, 2016
27 Southbridge Teachers Given Walking Papers
Southbridge
school district cuts 27 teachers
By
Brian Lee
Twenty-seven teachers with fewer than three years'
experience in the district have been told not to come back next year; the
number is high, but not a surprise, given the state takeover of the Southbridge
public schools earlier this year, the teachers union president said this week.
School districts aren't required to give teachers
who haven’t held their positions for three years a reason for not being
renewed.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Huizenga Reshapes Central Office
 |
| Ms. Huizenga |
New
Southbridge schools management team bears state receiver's imprint
By
Brian Lee
A leadership team with restructured roles has been
named for the school district whose woeful retention of administrators - 35
transitions involving 43 people in nine central office jobs in recent years -
led to the district being taken over by the state in January.
Despite the district of approximately 2,200 students
being 45 percent Hispanic, it did not even have a director of English Language
Learners earlier this year.
But it does now, and then some.
Jessica L. Huizenga, the state-appointed receiver
for the Level 5 chronically underperforming schools, said William Marinell was
appointed chief of learning & innovation, formerly known as assistant
superintendent.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
The Sanders Revolution Must Survive...
Ken
O’Brien
Bernie Sanders improbable campaign for the
Presidency has reached its end.
His quest to reform the American political scene
must not.
The hope and goodwill that Senator Sanders generated
among so many must not be allowed to go silently into that good night.
It must not be forgotten that the unique nature of
his campaign was its growth from the bottom up. It was and is unlike virtually
all modern Presidential campaigns that have been the product of wealth and
privilege directed from the top down.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Thursday, June 2, 2016
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