Boston Public Schools the MOST segregated?

Tell me something that we don't already know! Having a number of friends that are public school teachers in Boston, they've been talking about the diversity in BPS for more than a few decades.

Some people say that Boston residents self-segregate, which I do believe is true, the "red-lining" in Boston has been taking place since the early 1940s and came to a head in the '60s and '70s. 

Just look at the pockets of blacks and Latino folks that live in Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain and Hyde Park to name a few.

While desegregation through race-related initiatives- using race to determine what school a child is assigned to- isn't the way to go, there has to be a solution (one that I certainly don't have) that school superintendents can use as a work-in-progress (WIP) and assess it's effectiveness within a a 3 to 5-year period.

Until then, the Millennial Generation will continue to argue that racism doesn't exist because the President is a black man and they've grown up during an era where they've seen women, Latinos and Asians in "positions of power". SMH.

The Boston Globe: Boston Scavenger Hunt

With subscriptions to newspapers falling faster than a fat man down a flight of stairs, I find the fact that The Boston Globe is using a scavenger hunt, social media and technology to hold a contest and have people learn about the City of Boston.

Know Boston like no one else? Prove it!

If you're a top scorer, you could win one of these great prizes:

• Red Sox Tickets: A pair of Green Monster tickets for a September game
• A romantic gondola ride for two on the Charles River
• 2 Showcase Cinema de Lux tickets to the movie of your choice, plus a $30 concessions voucher
• a $50 Apple iTunes gift card
• Beantown Excursion: A four-pack of tickets for the Beantown Trolley and the Pru's Skywalk Observatory this September
• a $50 gift card to treat yourself to something special!

Top overall scorers in the Boston Globe Trek are entered into a drawing to win one of the above prizes. Game closes on 9/3/10 at 11:59 p.m.. Winners will be notified via e-mail beginning on 9/7/10.

Melting Pot: Not just a Milford dilemma

When a person is faced with a dilemma, there are usually two solutions, but in the case involving illegal immigration the solution isn't so easily found.

Worcester has it's share of illegal immigrants who've made the City their home- looking for a better life and better opportunities- but they face a City that is both welcoming and not-so all at the same time.

I've been at Lowe's on Lincoln Street and noticed the fleet of "laddered trucks" of men looking for work or I've been on Main South and seen similar trucks.  I wonder if people are aware of them or if they even care what they're doing there? 

While these men are trying to work to provide for their family, there are folks that purposely 'prey' on them because they know they're here illegally and thus their voices aren't heard.  They suffer in silence, similar to a person who is in an abusive relationship and doesn't know how to "get out".

In the town of Milford, they are dealing with similar issues involving immigrants from South America. 

With the upcoming elections in November, the issue is taking center stage with the challengers Charles Baker(Republican) and Timothy Cahill (Independent) backing the Senate proposal while Governor Patrick signed-off on a budget that formalizes procedures and puts some standard operating procedures in place.  Governor Patrick, the incumbent, is catching some heat from folks because many believe he has been "soft" when it comes to enforcing the Legislature's budget on public benefits.

Again, the solutions to this dilemma are not easily found and the debate is only going to reach a fevered pitch in the coming months as we get closer to election day- November 2, 2010.  Another dilemma-filled day for some people.

MCAS Test

I guess those in education are realizing that teachers are teaching just to pass the MCAS and students aren't "learning" what they should know by the time they're in high school.

If the MCAS is scraped for a more comprehensive and nationally-standardized test, maybe there is hope for the future generation?

Read the full article here.

Congratulations....Sort of

It looks like someone at The Boston Globe got their "G" and their "H" keys swapped on them. TJX, Inc. now owns "Home Hood".

Macey Sign Co.: More than Visuals

There's a great story in The Boston Globe Magazine (3/21/2010) about
the Macey Sign Co., and upon reading it, it confirmed how businesses
are run and what types of people many small-business owners
are......Great!

Each Sunday, I look forward to reading Charles Pierce's "Right Move"
op-ed piece and this week he writes a personal piece about his
granfather, Charles F. Gibbons, and the sign company that was located
at 149 Commercial Street, in downtown Worcester; now the DCU occupies
that "old" space.

Also mentioned and quoted in the article is Virginia Ryan, Chair of
the Coalition of Worcester Retirees, who's family owned Sherwood's
Diner, which was located on Foster Street.

Read "Signs of the Times" at http://Boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/03/21/signs_of_the_times

Newspapers, take note!

News is news, is news. Yes it is, but many folks don't feel the need to pay for it. Many folks, myself included, get most of their news from the Internet and, frankly, I subscribe to The Boston Globe Sunday edition for the sole fact of receiving the coupons and keeping with a family tradition of reading the Sunday newspaper with my 9-year-old.

Some people say newspapers like the Telegram & Gazette are a dieing breed, while others think that there's always going to be a need for them. My thinking is the former.

No-Wiggle 'Toine

When I read the headline about former-Celtics player, Antoine Walker, I knew what the story was about before I read it.

The 'Toine-Wiggle has been sidelined, but is there a silver-lining in this story? We'll have to wait and see.

http://bit.ly/zbGvd

Boston Globe on the Brink?

The largest union at the Boston Globe and the paper’s management have stopped negotiating. The paper wants contract-concessions from the Newspaper Guild; without them, the paper says it will close. The New York Times owns the Globe. Curt Nickish updates Here & Now host Robin Young on the latest in the Globe negotiations.

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Boston Globe's Future

The future of the Boston Globe is very much up in the air.



The struggling newspaper's corporate parent the New York Times said Friday that unless it got $20 million worth of union concessions in the next month, it would shut down the Globe altogether.



Is that a real possibility? To try and answer that question, Bob Oakes speaks with Lou Urenick, the head of the Journalism department at Boston University.

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