Town files appeal in Voke suit

The Superior Court allowed the motion to dismiss by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE, formerly the Department of Education) on the complaint filed by the town. The allowance means that the Superior Court has dismissed the case which challenged the funding formula used to determine Dartmouth's Voke assessment. The town has appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals on January 27th.
I disagreed with this decision to appeal since I am certain the state will pursue the case to the highest level. Essentially a win for Dartmouth would overturn the Education Reform Act and throw school funding into chaos. The DESE obviously will go to great length to avoid that. Even if the town did prevail, it is likely, in my opinion, that the General Court would ...

...pass legislation that restores the current funding scheme.
The most the town could hope to gain is the difference in funds between the old formula and the new one for the past few years. While that is not an insubstantial sum, perhaps several million dollars, the cost of the appeals is high as well.
What are your thoughts?
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State Education Secretary visit

State Education Secretary Paul Reville was in Fairhaven yesterday and talked with local school administrators. The Standard Times article on his visit is here. The Standard Times reports,

"Mr. Reville had given his audience of about 80 a rundown of Gov. Deval Patrick's "Readiness Agenda for the 21st Century," and spoke at some length about regionalization in response to the budget crisis."

and ...

...

Mr. Reville said that school districts should "take advantage of the crisis to make long-term, systemic changes,"

Areas where he thought savings could be realized were purchasing, cafeteria operations and other back-office functions.
The state has urged districts with under 5000 students to regionalize. This makes a lot of sense since administration costs can be shared and the state pays a large portion of the transportation costs for regional schools. The Secretary is quoted in the Standard Times,

"Massachusetts has 328 school districts, 391 on paper, for 1 million students," he said. "Maryland has 24 school districts. New York has one. I think the right number is somewhere between 1 and 391."

If Dartmouth and Westport schools entered a regional arrangement, the savings in transportation alone would probably be over $3 million. Add to that the decrease in administrative costs and there would be a lot more money for classroom instructors and curriculum. I think it is an idea worth pursuing.
Changes such as these must be driven from the School Committees. The school administrators are not going to volunteer to reduce their numbers.
Mr. Reville also advocated for charter or hybrid schools which is an idea that I support. Dartmouth has two idle school buildings which would be good venues for a charter school.
How do you feel about regional or charter schools for Dartmouth?

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Navigator-The Pogues

This Irish band is a favorite of mine.
You Tube embed after jump


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Short answers to rumors

"No."
Mr. Steve Sharek's response when asked if he would be the next Dartmouth Executive Administrator. See Curt Brown's blog post here.

What other rumors would you like to get a short answer for? Let us know in comments.
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New Bedford mayor asks for pay, benefit cuts

Mayor Lang in New Bedford has asked the city's employees to take voluntary pay and benefit cuts in order to avoid what he called "massive" and "devastating" layoffs. The mayor called upon the employees to make "collective sacrifice that is required to keep our employee team intact and provide the critical services that our fellow residents deserve and require." Link to Mayor Lang's letter here
It looks like Dartmouth may avoid these kind of cuts in this fiscal year, FY09, that the mayor must complete. Next year is another matter for Dartmouth. When I ran for Select Board, I said that some collective sacrifice would be required ...
...to right our fiscal ship. I think the taxpayers have contributed with fees and an tax increase override. This year, our town employee union contracts are all up for renewal. In order to avoid wholesale layoffs, some contract concessions are needed from the employees. At minimum, no wage increases can be provided without employee layoffs. Now, as the mayor noted in his letter, it is up to the union membership to decide what happens, wage increases or layoffs.
What are your thoughts?
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Five Man Electrical Band-Signs

Here's the Five Man Electrical Band from 1970-Signs
You Tube embed after the jump


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No Select Board meeting tonight

The Select Board will not meet tonight. We will met on Thursday

See you then
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Mosquito spraying exclusion

From the Standard Times article today.

Although it is too early for mosquito season, the Board of Health wants residents to know that those who wish to have their property excluded from the ground application pesticide spraying that Bristol County Mosquito Control Project administers can complete a Mosquito Spray Exclusion Form, available at Town Hall.

...

...
Link to full article here
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Interesting seminar on the global economy

I received an email link on a seminar by Chris Martenson called the Crash Course. You can follow this link to view it. While I don't agree with all the points brought out in the presentation. There is a lot here to consider and think about. I haven't really digested all the points ...

...and will probably have to view this a few more times.
The presentation is lengthy but is broken up into short session.
Let me know what you think!
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Football contest today

I understand that there will be a football contest this evening. Being a Western Pennsylvania native, I have a rooting interest in one of the teams. If you can't guess which one, listen to the You tube video below
You Tube embed after the jump



Here we go, Steelers! Here we go!
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