Sunday, May 23, 2010

Franklin, MA: the choice we have

There is a lot of good information in this presentation.

Of particular interest:

Slide 6 - which compares the student population and the number of teachers. This means class size will increase. This means children will get less direct and personal attention from the one person in the classroom that should be providing it. We have already seen a decline in some areas of the student population on the MCAS results. Those student populations are the early warning signs. We can either listen to the "canary in the mine" or ignore it and suffer the consequences.

Slide 9 - which shows the growth of the special education funding as a percent of the over all school budget. Bill Glynn raised this point in his essay on Friday.

Slides 10-15 - which cover aspects of the educational programs that have been cut over the years to make ends meet. This is how I got involved in reporting and sharing information here. My daughters were fortunate to graduate from FHS in 2004 and 2006. While there were changes in what was available to them during their time in the school system, the changes since then are more drastic. The education kids in the Franklin schools are getting today is NOT what my daughters got just a few years ago.

The special election on June 8th gives Franklin voters the choice:

  • Increase taxes to continue to provide the services we have this year (and that does not restore any of the services already cut). 
Or
  • Continue to cut municipal services for all and cut educational opportunities for our children.

I'll help to provide the information. You need to do two things:

  1. Make your choice
  2. Vote on June 8th

You get bonus points if you talk with your neighbors about this and get them to vote!


Note: updated with audio to accompany the slides

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. I'll make time to review what I know to help you.

Franklin, MA


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