Jwill's Log

Source: boston.com
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Milton High School went into lockdown this morning after a live shotgun round was found outside the building’s main entrance, police said.

The school was locked down as a precautionary measure after a parent discovered the ammunition around 9 a.m., Police Chief Richard Wells said.

I don’t know where these shotgun rounds come from. What I really want to comment on, however, is that I feel like locking down the school in situations such as these is the right course of action. If you read the comments you’ll see remarks from the sarcastic, asking if they locked down the school because a shotgun round is a choking hazard, to the straightforward “no one’s life was at risk and this was a waste of time”. I believe it’s always important to take these precautionary measures because you never know if someone actually is carrying any sort of weapons and ammunition and happened to drop one. Never. Even if the chance is ridiculously low and near statistically impossible, you never want to take that chance. Things that may only happen a small percentage of the time can still happen, and when they do, people are held just as accountable and put in harm’s way as if the occurrence was a commonality.

You always have to play it safe.

Source: boston.com
Read Op-Ed Article (boston.com)
Read Ravitch’s Huffington Post Article

Globe columnist Joan Vennochi comments on the mass teacher firings at Central Falls High School that I mentioned before (original article here, as well). She says the students might be the ones who get hurt the most from it and asks if these firings are “good for kids or good for headlines.” She also quotes Diane Ravitch, author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System, a book a recently bought and plan on reading when it gets delivered. A quote from her post on Huffington:

Will it be replaced by a better school? Who knows? Will excellent teachers flock to Central Falls to replace their fired colleagues? Or will it be staffed by inexperienced young college graduates who commit to stay at the school for two years? Will non-English-speaking students start speaking English because their teachers were fired? Will children come to school ready to learn because their teachers were fired?

Hopefully Central Falls stays in the news so we can see if anything does indeed change in the schools. Educators really need to figure out why students aren’t as proficient at math and reading as they should be. Did something go wrong in elementary school? Middle school? We need to focus more on the students. Yes, there are incompetent teachers. But every single one? That can’t be statistically possible. Even the worst NFL team has a few good players; likewise, even the worst school has some good teachers and some good students.

Source: boston.com
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An 18-year-old Mississippi lesbian student whose school district canceled her senior prom rather than allow her to escort her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo said she got some unfriendly looks from classmates when she reluctantly returned to campus Thursday.

The district announced Wednesday it wouldn’t host the April 2 prom. The decision came after the American Civil Liberties Union told officials a policy banning same-sex prom dates violated students’ rights. The ACLU said the district not letting McMillen wear a tuxedo violated her free expression rights.

Ridiculous to cancel an entire prom because of an issue with two homosexual students that wanted to be each other’s dates. Besides the obvious violation of civil liberties, it sets a terrible example for the students. It also encourages students and parents to point blame at this one family, when it is in face the school district’s fault that the prom was cancelled. People need to be accepting of these kind of things.

Yeah, there was a memo sent out saying that dates had to be of the opposite sex, but Daryl Presgraves, a spokesperson for GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) says that this kind of rule “sends a message that these students shouldn’t be treated the same.” I agree with him, and I feel like most people I know do as well.

Source: boston.com
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A bill that would ban the sale of sugary drinks and junk food in school vending machines and school stores is gaining momentum in the Legislature, as Massachusetts combats a troubling rise in childhood obesity rates.

The House passed it in January, after nearly a decade of debate on similar bills that went nowhere. Now, Senate President Therese Murray has thrown her support behind the effort and is optimistic that members will embrace it in a scheduled Senate vote today.

Removing junk food offered in schools will not completely solve the problem. The bigger problem is that some schools spent so much time cutting physical education classes because of budget deficits. What we need to do, some way, somehow, is bring those classes back. If we get students moving for 45-60 minutes a day, childhood obesity rates will go down because they’re burning off all that food they’re eating while simultaneously having fun. I remember physical education being cut at my high school past 8th grade because of budget deficits – this left the high schoolers at Latin Academy with no movement of any sort – just six straight hours of either sitting in chairs, moving toward the next class, or eating lunch.

We need to encourage parents to engage their students in healthy exercise and also provide classes for students to exercise as well. Exercise should especially be stressed at the elementary school level (of course, the necessary accommodations and modifications will be made for children on IEPs) and classes containing such should be offered throughout grade school. Exercise is how we get students in shape.

Source: boston.com
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A looming budget deficit could lead to the closing of a significant number of Boston schools over the next two years and further reductions in staff, Superintendent Carol R. Johnson said yesterday.

Johnson, who is still working through the numbers with her staff, said she is making every effort to avoid closing schools for this fall, but was unsure if she could prevent it.

Budget deficits…why is that such a common trend these days? It’s unfortunate. Hopefully they can balance the budget without school closings of any sort. I trust that Superintendent Johnson will make the best decision for Boston Public Schools.