frommycorner

The Governor’s weird visits

Is it my imagination or do you agree with me that Governor Deval Patrick’s attendance to Willie Lantigua and Marcos Devers’ fundraisers was a dud?  What purpose did it serve to tell one “I’m with you!” and then the other, when both are Democrats running for the same position?

Representative Lantigua may have thought he scored big having the governor putting his name on his invitation but it turned to be a meaningless endorsement.  Yes, there is disagreement as to whether or not it was an endorsement; judge for yourself:

“In 14 months in the job (sometimes seems longer) in that time, he has added 20,000 new jobs last year, contributed with more money to public education, public safety, housing, transportation and substance abuse, in many cases, more than ever in history.  Every one of these important legislation initiatives, every one of them has been the result of partnerships.  We need that partnership and we need you to support that partnership, and that is why I’m here to present you my partner, William Lantigua.”

He is asking the attendees to support his partner so they can continue working together.  If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is!  I wonder if he called Devers “partner,” too.

Mental Health questionnaire

Last week we reported on a demonstration that took place in opposition to a new law requiring all children under 21 years of age to fill out a 7-page questionnaire about their social and emotional behavior when taken for an annual check up, and I have to tell you how much it bothered me.

What makes it more offensive is that this law was dictated especially for all children under Medicaid.  What the medical community fails to communicate to parents is that they have the right to refuse that test.

I have a problem with that because there is an inherent danger to children being tested for emotional problems and falling into erroneous categories that may jeopardize their future health and careers.

If the professionals who work with the child see the need for further testing or drugging, only then it should be considered but on a routine basis it has the potential of doing more harm in his adult life.

I know this will make parents “feel badly”

Last week I was criticized for my negativity about the Lawrence Public Schools by Jasmin García-Escoto, spokesperson of the school system saying that I make parents feel badly because, “Sadly, most of them can do nothing to provide their children with another type of education, and just have to conform themselves to send them to these schools…”  So, go ahead, shoot the messenger!

On January 22, 2008, the SLES Middle School received written notice from the Department of Education that because it was an underperforming school for so long, it has meet the requirements to be called a Commonwealth Priority School.  Designation as a Commonwealth Priority School is not good; it’s one step away from state take over.

My friends in the schools tell me that, “This is very serious.  This is one of the worst things that could be happening to our school system.”  The other schools who have met the criteria to be designated as a Commonwealth Priority School are the Wetherbee, Guilmette Middle, Guilmette Elementary, Tarbox, SLES Elementary, SLES Middle.

On January 5, the Arlington Middle School was designated a Priority One School. It is designated for state take over. Laboy may not be able to talk his way out of it. He won’t take the blame; the principals will.  The principals are under a lot of pressure from the Lawrence Public Schools administration and the Department of Education.

Nepotism at LPS – alive and well

Kevin McCarthy, Jr. has been working as a custodian at the South Lawrence East School for barely one year and he has now been promoted to head custodian over Mario Roman who had been doing the work on an acting basis for a long time.  Another applicant who has been working as custodian for over ten years is Eric Pascal and he was ignored to favor McCarthy Jr.

His immediate supervisor will be his father Kevin McCarthy, Sr. who also has another son, John McCarthy, working at the South Lawrence East School.  Talk about unethical behavior!

But it doesn’t end there.  School Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy has his son-in-law working at the South Lawrence East School after a stint of just a couple of months at the Guilmette School.

This is one time that I am willing to predict that Michelle Laboy’s husband will be appointed head custodian of the Hennessey School.  (That’s not much of a prediction; I was told it was pre-arranged.)

Where are the letters to the Ethics Commission people?  Nothing can be accomplished through silence.

Doctorates

These courses are run through NOVA University, the schools where Laboy got his PhD.  Some are run during the school day complete with a breakfast, lunch, and snack. This isn’t Harvard or Yale.

The administration is also participating in NISL (who knows) training as part of an 2007 agreement with the DOE. They are out of the building quite a bit for this training.  I’m not sure who is paying; I’ve heard some courses are free and some are at reduced tuition but these courses and trainings should be after school and at the expense of the administrator.

I have also heard that some administrators do not want to participate in the programs, but are pressured by upper management, although some must participate because their schools are doing so poorly.

The Central Office is tied up during the day of the courses and trainings. Several Central Office administrators are enrolled and unfortunately, school administrators are out of the building a lot and are not visible during the school day.  Many students do not know their principals. (At LHS, 17 names are difficult to remember.)

Administrators are evaluated on their discipline statistics.  So is Laboy!

Closing City Clerk’s office at lunchtime

Last week I wrote about the Lawrence City Clerk’s office closing for lunch every day due to the recent lay offs and it produced a 20-minute heated exchange in our radio show, CrossOver.

City Clerk Bill Maloney stated to me that since he lost three employees to the lay offs of December 18th, he has had no choice but close the office for one hour.  Scheduling staggered hours might not always work depending on how many people would be available for work on a given day.

But, his solution didn’t sit right with many who believe that lunchtime is the most convenient time for working adults to run errands, including going to City Hall.

Councilor at-Large Roger Twomey called the show to explain that he had just met with the mayor regarding a similar concern.  When the City Council secretary goes to lunch, the office is closed and the public has no access to services.

Mr. Twomey spoke about the importance of cross training employees to make sure that all departments at city hall are fully operational during normal work hours when a taxpayer needs to access information or services.

Update on Lawrence schools

Since I assume you read page 22 (February 22^nd Edition) first, let’s stick with the Lawrence Public Schools.  On January 22, 2008, Jeffrey Nelhaus, Acting Commissioner of Education sent a letter to School Superintendent Wilfredo T. Laboy advising him that six schools will be joining the ranks of Commonwealth Priority Schools (CPS), similar to that of the Arlington School at present.  The letter says in part:

“written notice to the governing body of the school, the district superintendent, if any, the school's principal, and the collective bargaining agent for the school's faculty, if any, informing them that the school is so designated.”   This letter is your formal notice that the Emily Wetherbee, Gerard Guilmette Elementary, Gerard Guilmette Middle, John Tarbox Elementary, South Lawrence East Elementary, and South Lawrence East Middle Schools in Lawrence have been designated as CPSs. Once issued, this formal notification initiates the 30-day timeframe for the district to seek reconsideration or to provide an improvement plan and appear before a State Review Panel.

Superintendent Laboy and his fanatics in the school department keep talking about “the progress they have made.”  This superintendent has been in charge for seven years and our schools are in miserable conditions.  Oh, I shouldn’t have used that word; it might offend somebody at LPS, but the Department of Education proves otherwise.

If the state does not see sufficient improvement in those schools by June, they will become CPS like the Arlington School.

DPW employees are furious!

“The city has reversed 20 years.”  That reaction has to do with 96 Nextel telephones that went dead a couple Sundays ago.  On Monday morning, there was no way for anyone to communicate unless they used a telephone like… 20 years ago.

Well, this was a cost-cutting measure to save the city $50,000 each year that DPW Director Frank McCann was aware of but did not tell anyone.  It’s all a power trip!

Now, only 18 telephones will be issued to managers, supervisors and water meter readers.  This action will also serve to force the supervisors to stay with their crews while they work instead of being found in restaurants by Rumbo’s camera.  Remember?

City Clerk Office Hours

During the past couple of weeks we received several calls of Lawrencians complaining that the City Clerk’s office is closed at lunch time when it is probably their busiest time, considering that many people would use their own lunch hour to run errands to City Hall.

I called City Clerk Bill Maloney and he explained that during the recent lay offs in Lawrence, his office lost three employees for which they now find it difficult to continue performing at the same level of service. 

Mr. Maloney told me they have opted for closing the office for one hour during their lunch hour instead of staggering the breaks because he might not be able to promise that it would happen on a steady basis.  It depends on whether his staff is all there, if they are not performing some duty that takes them away from the office or out sick.   Those situations would force him to close some days and that will be more of a reason for complain than if he makes it a general practice until the personnel is restored and the public can continue going at the most convenient time for working people.

Want a PhD? Come to Lawrence

Yes, in Lawrence we make it easy to advance on the job.

Recently I wrote about the Lawrence Public Schools administrators doing their school work towards their doctorate degree during work hours and I love it when the telephone starts ringing with additional information.

Some said, “I was glad to see you write about administrators in Lawrence doing their doctoral program work during school hours.  We have one here at the South Lawrence East School, Principal Dina Hickey.”  The caller went on to say that she comes in to work at 9:30 AM every morning and does nothing but sits at her computer all day (her back turned to the door of her office) and works on her doctorate.

Meanwhile students are running wild in the corridors.  So much so that teachers are hiding behind closed doors as classes change.  Then she yelled at the teachers at the last monthly faculty meeting, complaining that if she disciplines the kids it makes the teachers look like they have lost control.

Has she stopped to think that if she puts a little effort at doing her job, things are bound to work better?  Let’s face it, she is getting paid to lead.

I wonder in what she is getting a doctorate.  I know: Grant-writing!  That’s where the money is, they get to work in the administration building and they don’t have to deal with pesky kids.