We’re back at Belmont Town meeting and waiting to get going here. This should be an abbreviated meeting, with just three articles to consider: the vote on the Community Preservation Act (Article 21) that the Town approved in November. The…
Category: discussion
What’s a Teacher’s Worth? A Global Comparison
Came across an interesting infographic on the website Soshable.com. The source of the data is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which published the Education at a Glance survey back in July, 2010. You can find it here. The…
Selectmen support smart parking meters
The Belmont Citizen Herald wrote up a story on a presentation I did for the Board of Selectmen this week on introducing smart parking meters around the commuter rail station. The BOS think its a great idea and want to move to a pilot. No Freeloader thinks its a terrible idea and that I’m a…wait for it…freeloader!!
The Board Room is Watching! The Board Room is Watching!
What are the long term impacts of the cuts we’re making now in public education?The Cassandras in the board room and executive offices are already telling us: warning that the U.S. education system is failing the country and that presages a loss of U.S. competitiveness and future generations with fewer economic opportunities.
Et tu, Ralph? Notes from last night’s budget meeting
Nobody was smiling at last night’s Warrant Committee meeting, least so the scores of concerned parents worried about cuts to music, art and foreign language instruction, who were told by Board of Selectmen Chair (and candidate) Ralph Jones that the School Administration and School Committee were lying to them, hiding money, and favoring grown ups (i.e school employees) over kids. None of it is true… Read on for more on last night’s meeting.
Warrant Committee views budgets tonight – Show Up!
A reminder that there’s a very important Warrant Committee meeting tonight, Jan. 19, in the Community Room at Chenery Middle School to hear presentations of the fiscal 2012 budgets from general government and school officials. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30pm. Show up and make it known that you oppose proposed cuts to school programs including art and music education!
Belmont indies? A way to support local businesses
Concord’s “Indies” program supports locally owned businesses. Is it a model that could work in Belmont, too?
Deep Cuts For 2012: Art, Music, Language Instruction Axed
A proposed budget using the Warrant Committee’s “Available Funds” for the school proposes eliminating five full time teaching positions, art and music instruction at the elementary school level, language instruction at the middle school level and steep cuts to support services district wide. Time to get angry, people!
Belmont: Making Tough Choices
Like all of us who live or work in Belmont, I’m sure you’ve noticed that our Town is facing difficult times: a budget shortfall, a fragmentation of our civil discourse and a waning of trust in local government. This isn’t the first time this has happened, of course, but in many ways the challenges are new. So, just as New England towns have done for centuries, Belmont is convening a meeting in October to begin to sort out, together, how we can best address those challenges. And we invite you to attend.
Belmont poorly served by Citizen Herald in election coverage
Belmont readers enjoyed solid coverage of the override vote from Belmont Patch (belmont.patch.com). Not so the town’s paper of record, the Citizen Herald which, I was told, is actually a more of a blog now, not a paper. Who knew?