Featured in the Sunday ProJo

The Sunday Providence Journal features the current legal squabble over school funding in Portsmouth on page B1, and leads with a story about a harassing phone call I got from a supporter of the PCC.

The story does a good job at making PCC leaders look like reality-denying cranks. Check out Pete McIntyre's head-scratching quotes.

I'm thrilled that Rhode Island's newspaper of record has delivered a stinging smackdown to the local anti-school spin machine, and I'm obviously chuffed to be quoted.

Portsmouth divided over school spending
By Gina Macris
PORTSMOUTH — When taxpayers — led by the powerful Portsmouth Concerned Citizens — cut $1.1 million from the town’s school budget last summer, resident John McDaid wrote a letter to the editors of local newspapers comparing the PCC to the nation’s first suicide bomber, a Michigan man who in 1927 blew up a school full of children — and himself — because his taxes were too high.

After McDaid’s letter was published, he received an anonymous call from a man who called him “scurrilous and stupid.”
Read more at the Providence Journal

You can surf the archives here to see the "Bath Schoolhouse Massacre" letter that got the PCC so annoyed:
America’s first suicide car bomber wasn’t fighting capitalism, globalization, or even MTV. He blew himself up over property taxes for education.

In the worst act of domestic terrorism prior to Oklahoma City, on May 18, 1927, Andrew Kehoe, a disgruntled school board treasurer, wired up the Bath, Michigan consolidated school with half a ton of dynamite and destroyed a building full of students. Then he drove his car, packed with explosives and shrapnel, into the middle of rescue workers and blew himself up. All told, 38 children and 5 rescuers were killed and dozens more injured.

He was upset because his tax rate was too high, you see.
Read more

Or read my side of the harassing phone call.

Caruolo/Indeglia letter to the editor, now in Sakonnet Times

Didn't want to jump the publication on this, but just got this week's paper and they ran it, nicely placed under the editorial cartoon. The Newport Daily News told me yesterday they plan to run it as well, and ProJo sent me an e-mail to verify my address, but no promise from them. Thanks to Eileen and one of my Portsmouth readers for the feedback on my initial rant that pushed this along.

Oh, and a big shout out to Ralph Malafont, for the work he's been doing.

To the editor:
Superior Court Judge Gilbert Indeglia, in his ruling in last week's Portsmouth Caruolo action, made a strange and provocative suggestion about the need for highly qualified finance directors in public schools.

He ruled that a full-time finance director was not a Caruolo requirement, and then went on to say, "I wish school departments would use some of the many talented retired business people to assist in the running of school departments to bring their expertise [...] and they would work for less money."

I find this bizarre. Can you imagine a judge in, say, a bankruptcy case of a 32-million-dollar business making a similar suggestion? Or any other municipal agency? Is Judge Indeglia aware that this runs counter to the position of RIDOE, which says, "Virtually every study on positive school change verifies that effective and sustainable school reform depends on exceptional school leadership." (see http://www.ridoe.net/hqlp/ridephilosophyonleadership.aspx )

It's common in our society to underestimate the professional nature of education. But it's still shocking to hear a Superior Court judge, from the bench, reinforce that myth.

If you treat management as a cost center, rather than a source of strategic vision, you are ignoring the evidence of the last fifty years of management theory and practice. When was the last time some retired, 40% duffer turned around a major corporation?

But perhaps I underestimate the judge's commitment. If deprofessionalizing the public sector is good because it will save the taxpayer money, why stop with school administration? I suspect that Superior Court judges make more than school finance directors, and I'm willing to bet that there are a few retired lawyers in Rhode Island who'd be willing to do the job part time and save us all some money. Could we find someone to advocate this proposal from the bench?

What do you say, Judge Indeglia?

Free access to online resources through April 15

The legislature's Future of Rhode Island Libraries commission is sponsoring free access to a wide assortment of high-quality databases, as part of their work at improving online access statewide. For the next month, you can search and read the New York Times, ProJo, MEDLINE, ERIC, a bunch of ProQuest resources, heck, it's a great selection.

Check out the free databases and be sure to send some supportive feedback.

Portsmouth school budget team mulls tough choices

The mood at tonight's meeting of the Portsmouth School Finance subcommittee was professional and grimly determined as the team met with part-time Finance Director Ralph Malafont to review preliminary numbers for next year. With the results of the Caruolo action and the 5.25% Paiva Weed cap weighing heavily on the proceedings, the group considered their options.

"You have a structural deficit and some hard decisions," said Malafont. Looking at the overall budget, he said, "Maybe 7-8% is what you have discretion over, and it's all important to kids."

Add to this the uncertainty about state aid (depend on the Governor's big promises, or the backchannel advice from the lege to stick with level funding) and persistent problems in actually getting the money promised for group homes (over $500K) and you've got a set of constraints that would send a Wharton finance major scurrying for their HP-12C.

"Your biggest decision will be, 'What is essential to the students of Portsmouth,'" said Malafont. Items discussed tonight were cutting an entire language, AP classes, and aggressively inspecting athletics cost per student and participation numbers.

Superintendent Lusi encouraged the group to think outside the box. "We really are entering a new realm in trying to fund public education in this state, and if we don't come up with creative ideas, we're going to have a very different system in negative ways."

This prompted a brainstorm on revenue options -- things like user fees, fundraising, leveraging the new gym for bigger events, and reaching out to the Portsmouth Education Foundation.

The committee will be meeting over the next couple of weeks, and bringing the budget to the Town Council on April 9.

The rest of last night's School Committee meeting

In addition to the very special HeaneyWatch™ event, last night's Portsmouth School Committee meeting featured a presentation on regional Special Ed by director Trish Martins, and recognition of our Middle School tutors.

Deborah Seddons, who runs the PMS peer tutoring program, celebrated the skill and dedication of the participants. "They sign up to help other kids during their lunch, or silent reading periods. These are kids who say, 'I am willing to help.' And sometimes, kids are better at teaching an 11-year-old something about math, and I can learn from them." Then the two dozen peer tutors received a certificate and thank you from Chair Sylvia Wedge, to loud applause.

With the feel-good part of the evening over, the audience dwindled from 40 happy parents to a few PCC diehards and a half-dozen school supporters, as Trish Martins, director of the Newport County Regional Special Education Program (NCR) fired up PowerPoint.

For those who feel that I am never critical of the schools, let me offer a bone. I think that there should be standard templates for all school district presentations, and that presenters should always stand at the podium and use a wireless mouse. There, I really tore them a new USB port. Happy, Jamie?

Martins reviewed the history and scope of the NCR. Established in 1979 to consolidate SPED needs for the towns of Little Compton, Tiverton, Middletown, and Portsmouth, it serves the needs of 1,677 students out of a total population of 7,879. With 21% of students on Individual Education Plans (IEPs), NCR is about average for the state.

After discussing the Federal and state regulations, eligibility categories, and the continuum of services and programs, it was clear why NCR is so personnel intensive, employing 243.4 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, mainly SPED teachers and TAs. The total NCR budget of $12.6M is apportioned among the towns using a formula based on number of students receiving services (33.2% come from Portsmouth) and pro-rata contribution to fixed (admin) costs.

Martins stressed the importance of offering services in a "peer inclusionary" fashion, and noted "It really is a credit to our four towns that we have so many specialized programs and are able to keep kids in their communities."

In terms of Portsmouth student profiles, the majority of students needing SPED services are in the areas of learning disability and speech/language issues. One eye-popping number was students referred for autism spectrum disorders, which increased by 3,200% since 1990. In fact, Martins said, Rhode Island is the highest in the country in overall percentage of students with special needs.

Identifying those needs is done individually, and is based not on arbitrary test scores, said Martins, but response to intervention and data-driven decisions. "If there's not a true educational impact, the student should not be eligible for SPED."

Loudy and Paul ("Doesn't have a clever nickname") Kesson got up to poke at the finances for NCR. "Are you audited?" (Answer: Yes) "What's your capture rate from CompuClaim?" [The Medicaid billing provider] (Answer: Didn't have number, can provide.)

To give you some sense of the character of the PCC's questions. Kesson said, "Do all the charts on pages 18-22 relate to the Portsmouth schools?" Martins looked at them. "Yes," she replied. Then Kesson pounced. "But on page 22, under public school based preschool programs, you have Aquidneck and Forest Avenue Elementary schools listed. Were they added to Portsmouth?" Martins replied, mildly, "You have Portsmouth students in those schools."

By way of likening ancient times to modern, let me compare that to an early episode of The Simpsons:
Doug: In episode 2F09, when Itchy plays Scratchy's skeleton like a xylophone, he strikes the same rib in succession, yet he produces two clearly different tones. I mean, what are we to believe, that this is a magic xylophone, or something? Ha ha, boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder.
Homer: I'll field that one. Let me ask *you* a question. Why would a grown man whose shirt says "Genius at Work" spend all of his time watching a children's cartoon show?
[embarrassed pause]
Doug: I withdraw my question.
[starts eating a candy bar]
— via IMDB

Hey, maybe "Magic Xylophone" Kesson...

What the hell does Jamie Heaney have?

Tonight's Portsmouth School Committee meeting featured great presentations on our Middle School Tutors and Regional Special Ed -- and I will write about that tomorrow. But for me, the agenda was hijacked by Committee member Jamie Heaney, who wasn't even there, but who has confidential school documents in his possession and is refusing to turn them in.

"Our committee has always had a practice of turning in confidential data," said Richard Carpender, "But we have one member who is refusing because we don't have a policy."

Carpender did not mention Heaney by name when he introduced the amendment (which passed 4-1) to the School Committee bylaws which now requires confidential material be returned to the Superintendent when consideration is complete (sometimes at the end of a meeting, sometimes at the conclusion of a particular matter.) Penalties will include censure and requiring those not in compliance to review material at the school administration building.

When Michael Buddmeyer (who made a point of saying that HE had turned all his materials in) moved to delay the motion until the full Committee was present, it came out that Heaney, and not the other absent member, Doug Wilkie, was the cause of the rule change.

Without being specific about this instance, Marge Levesque described the kind of documents: "This is material related to home schooling, layoffs, retirement -- and these people have a right to privacy."

Larry Fitzmorris got up to attack the by-law change. He attempted to spin this not about privacy, but about doing things in secret: "Is it the intent of this change to provide for signing and negotiation of contracts in executive session?" And he asked this question, over and over, in different language, for about five minutes, with Carpender answering the same each time, "This relates to confidential documents."

But do you see what he's doing? By getting up and saying things, over and over, Fitzmorris aims to create the impression of truth -- or at least suspicion -- through repetition.

The School Committee deals with all manner of sensitive material about our children, and the PCC is now on record as opposing the kind of elementary privacy protection you would take for granted in any other institution charged with holding private data. Would you want your kid's school discipline records floating out there?

It could even be argued that once the Superintendent requests the documents be returned, Heaney's action contravenes The Rhode Island Educational Records Bill of Rights RIGL 16-71-3 (7):
The right to have the records kept confidential and not released to any other individual, agency or organization without prior written consent of the parent, legal guardian or eligible student, except to the extent that the release of the records is authorized by the provisions of 20 U.S.C. § 1232g or other applicable law or court process.

In an interesting little bit of synchronicity, the RI Ethics Commission's attorney, Jason Grammit, will be speaking to the Town Council and School Committee next Wednesday, March 21 at 7pm. I might just ask him how the Ethics Commission would see a School Committee member behaving in this fashion.

Hey PCC supporters, if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.

Say it with me: WHAT DOES JAMIE HEANEY HAVE?

Unwiring Rhode Island -- support Amy Rice

RiceImagine surfing the web from anywhere in Rhode Island.

Portsmouth's own Rep. Amy Rice introduced a bill last week in the General Assembly to support the development of statewide public wireless Internet (WiFi) access. This would make RI the first state to go WiFi, and presents both a huge economic opportunity and an enormous move toward a digital commons. Take a minute to send a letter of support to the House Finance Committee.

The Rice legislation, the Electronic Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Act (ETOPIA), would create a state innovation center to survey RI infrastructure and plan strategies for implementation while coordinating public-private partnerships and administering matching funds for development.

"The ultimate goal of this legislation is to make Rhode Island the first state to utilize a complete Wi-Fi network," Rice said in a statement. "[ETOPIA] would open the door to a very promising and exciting opportunity for our state, and through this measure, I hope that Rhode Island will become a national leader in information technology."

Rhode Island's unique geographical situation (translation: we're small enough for this to work) makes it possible for us to be a first mover here. This could present an amazing competitive advantage. Let's all get behind this.

Resources
Download the bill (H6055) from the RI General Assembly site

PSD Finance & Town Council meetings 3/12

At separate meetings tonight, the Finance Subcommittee of the Portsmouth School Committee met to hear PHS Principal Bob Littlefield's budget request, and the Town Council, with State Senator Charles Levesque and Reps. Amaral and Loughlin attending, discussed a range of issues from cap relief for the reval to police overtime to arsenic levels.

At the Finance Committee, Principal Littlefield discussed the increasing challenges of meeting NEASC accreditation and state mandates for 4-year math and graduation by proficiency, given a tighter than ever budget regime. "We're constantly asked to do more, and we're trying to respond with resources remaining the same," said Littlefield. "My staff has responded by working that much harder."

But existing resources, he pointed out, can only go so far; his submitted budget had about a 5% increase. An additional position is needed to meet the new math requirement, and he urged the School Committee to fund new social studies texts. "For 9th grade geography, it would be nice to have books that have Russia instead of the Soviet Union."

Indeed. Given the stinginess of some opponents of school funding, it's surprising the textbooks have the results of the Siege of Vicksburg. BTW — The PCC had one of their folks taking notes at the meeting. Are they going to try to outblog me? Hey, Loudy: Bring it. Let's see some of Tailgunner Gleason's vaunted technical expertise.

At the Town Council, about 40 citizens were on hand for a sometimes heated discussion of Sen. Levesque's bill to exempt the cost of Portsmouth's state-mandated property revaluation from the Paiva Weed tax cap. At a cost of $320K, that line item alone could have made it difficult for the town to meet the cap numbers next year, and Sen. Levesque had introduced a bill to help. And, okay, the legislation, as drafted, had the appearance of removing the tax cap for Portsmouth entirely for next year, so it had to be corrected. Levesque told the council that the bill had been withdrawn and redrafted, but that didn't satisfy some on the council.

"I have a question," said Pete McIntyre. Levesque replied, "I knew you would draw this out, Peter." Since Levesque's bill was "identical" to one introduced by Amy Rice, he urged the council not to accept it.

Tailgunner Gleason, in typical fashion, said, "Didn't I request that we put in the amount? I don't understand why $448K was in there." Levesque replied that at the time the bill was presented, the council had not yet let the contract for the reval. "The request was to bring it to the council. It's before you right now." Then Gleason asked about another paragraph discussing how the Town Council must act to override a tax cap. After having to explain to Tailgunner how to read legislation, "Underlined is new, strikethrough is what's being taken out," it seemed her questions were answered. "You thought you had me for a second," he chuckled.

Then Loudy asked why the Council hadn't requested legislation to delay the revaluation. (Hey, there's an idea. Why not have a "Don't ask; Don't tell" policy for the tax assessor. We'll all agree that our houses are worth, say, $12K, and happily pay tax on that.) Town Admin Bob Driscoll replied that there were competing bills in the lege that would extend the period to 4 or 5 years, and there was a good likelihood one would pass.

Moving on. Huck (He's ALIVE! They FOUND HIM! He was rescued by a Japanese freighter, but sadly, Wilson was lost.) Little voiced dissatisfaction with current approach for hiring Portsmouth employees. "I have a hard time with voting for those being recommended without being there." The new policy, put in place in early 2005, created a recommending panel of town administration and two council members. ("Where the") Huck wanted to sit in. This prompted Tailgunner Gleason to demand that she participate too. "It's my responsibility as a Council member," she averred. If I don't, she argued, "It's a liability risk for me."

Dennis Canario had heard enough. "It's not a liability risk," he said. "We put our faith in our department heads." "I understand what you're saying..." Gleason began. "I don't think you do," Canario said.

In the end, they voted to waste more of the Council's time by allowing them to participate in all the interviews. Since they're held during working hours, of course, only those who are not otherwise employed will be able to attend...

For the rest of the meeting, the council picked at Chief Hebert's overtime numbers, approved three RFPs related to preliminary work on the Town Center, and supported a bill by John Laughlin asking for the state to fairly fund group home placements in town.

Rep Joe Amaral (Tiverton/Portsmouth) was on hand for discussion on a request from Middletown for support in raising the acceptable level of arsenic in the soil. While the council was not inclined to act without hard data, they heard from Amaral that the current RI level of 7ppm (estimated to cause cancer in 1 in 50K) is considerably larger than the Federal level of .4ppm (1 cancer per 1M pop). That's not a typo. Point four as opposed to seven. He promised to send the Council reference material.

Knowing what they are going through in Tiverton, I cannot imagine that our Council would go out of their way support something at such variance with the requirements of those notorious treehugging moonbats at the EPA. However, a cursory examination of the EPA site indicates that they consider a range of up to 39 ppm to be without significant risk, and the minutes of the RIDEM meeting that adopted the standard don't seem to have a lot in the way of scientific backup. But stay tuned.

Thank you, Rep. Laughlin!

The ProJo politics blog is reporting that state rep John Laughlin has voluntarily donated his ten-percent medical insurance contribution to the Portsmouth Schools. (In case you haven't been following, there's a move afoot to get state reps to pay for part of their health care coverage, like many of us.)

Rep. John J. Loughlin II, R-Tiverton, decided to pay his 10 percent but instead of giving to the state, he cut a check for $1,550 to the Portsmouth School District. (Loughlin’s district includes part of Portsmouth.)

“Had I, as in the past two years, sent this check to the general treasurer to be included in the General Fund, only pennies of this amount would ever make their way back to Portsmouth’s schoolchildren,” Loughlin said in a letter to Portsmouth Schools Supt. Susan F. Lusi.Via ProJo Politics blog

Portsmouth v Portsmouth available for download

Portsmouth v PortsmouthWant to get the full coverage of Portsmouth's Caruolo action in a convenient, easy-to-print package? I've dumped the relevant blog entries into Word, and attached is a 100k PDF file, formatted for B&W printing. You can right-click to download.

If you find this useful and worthwhile, and feel inspired to put something in the tip jar, send a donation to the Portsmouth School Department.

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