The Foundation of Our Future –   Youth and Education

Matt Morrissey ~ Sept. 12, 2005

“Children are the living messages that we send to a time that we will not see.” ~ Unknown author

To the citizens of New Bedford,

We are living in a world where education is the cornerstone of financial and social well-being. Today in Massachusetts every child must be equipped with the knowledge and skills to be a productive citizen in our economy and an active member of our democracy.

In today’s global environment young people are discovering that completing high school is no longer a luxury, but a necessity AND a responsibility. It is not just something that they do for themselves, but for their families, their future and their community.

It is our task, as public leaders, to provide the leadership, inspiration, and incentive that drive children to continue their education and to engage in a process of life-long learning through employment, college, or training in a trade. In the past twenty years we have seen that lives void of education can/will lead to dead-end jobs, poverty, and, in the worst cases, lives of crime.

We know that the most important investment that we can make is an investment in our children. Roads, airports, commuter rails, and ferries are all very important as infrastructure, but first and foremost we must have a strong, well-prepared community, underpinned by an educated citizenry. How else will we draw the interest of industry, especially the kind of industry that has become the hallmark of Massachusetts? The service industry will always be a necessary part of our quality of life, but we need broader economic and employment options for our young people. We want to make sure that they can obtain positions such as biotech specialist, phlebotomy technicians, marine life botanist, navigational and instrumentation specialist and many others that will provide a civic and economic balance. Without a strong system of education and without strong leadership, we will remain a city that has its nose against the glass. We will see industries and opportunities close by, but not here in New Bedford.

The fishing industry is critical and should be seen as a partner with high technology in marine science. A sound economy is about balance. It is not just about jobs; it is about a diversity and breadth of jobs that are resistant to economic downturn. In the end, it is about a well-educated workforce, that meets the needs of local industries and ongoing demands for services and products that are germane to the South Coast.

We have a coastline marked by enormously successful industry, and accented, unparalleled beauty. Go to the edge of the peninsula at Fort Tabor, look out to the Elizabeth Islands, close your eyes, and let your imagination take hold. We need to do the same with the rest of New Bedford …let our imaginations take hold.

Today’s challenge is we are held back by a failed formula: 4+33+17=54. These numbers represent unique situations affecting us all.

• New Bedford has the 4th highest unemployment rate
   
• Nearly 33 percent high school dropout rate
   
• A crime rate that reflects 17 unsolved murders – (now tragically 18)
   
• All of these supported by 54 percent increase in our property tax bills

These numbers can be changed through education and youth activities that inspire and enliven us. We CAN Do Better by our citizens, young and old, and if we do, I promise you that the equation will change. So, what is the plan? We must create strategies that enable educators to reach out to the community. I believe in education that invites the neighborhood into the school. I want an educational system that recognizes that children and their parents need basic support at home so they can thrive in school.

The highlights of our plan for education and youth includes:

• Developing a citywide strategy that prioritizes education as the foundation for the future successes of our community.
   
• Developing new ways to attract funds to our educational enterprise
   
• Developing a comprehensive array of educational services, which includes ensuring that neighborhood schools are open longer hours, serving as full-service community schools, and creating a welcoming and enlivening school environment that embraces students and their families.
   
• Creating strong, meaningful and sustainable partnerships that will enhance learning opportunities.
   
• Transforming our educational system into one of high performance, raised expectations, inclusiveness, and community pride.

As with our earlier plans, “Foundation of Our Future” is offered as a proposal for creating a better way to provide meaningful education and learning opportunities to all of the citizens of New Bedford.  Many have provided meaningful input to this plan and I am grateful to everyone who has contributed thus far.  We do not claim to have all of the answers and it is my hope that this is just the beginning of a long and fruitful dialogue about our collective future.

Sincerely,

Matthew A. Morrissey

Summary

To deliver stronger and more comprehensive educational opportunities to New Bedford citizens, the Morrissey administration will: 

• Develop a citywide strategy that prioritizes education as the foundation for the future successes of our community. 
   
• Ensure that schools are open longer hours every day, as full service community schools.  This will allow families to access additional academic opportunities as well as enhanced programs already offered by many non-profits in the arts and athletics. Families, youth, principals, teachers, and neighborhood residents will help design and implement activities that promote high educational achievement, ongoing educational support to children and parents and positive youth development initiatives within their neighborhoods.
   
• Establish the New Bedford Education Foundation based on the private foundations that have created the margin of excellence at UMass and other public higher education institutions.  The Berkshire public school system and Needham public schools a decade ago established foundations with successful results. 
   
• Seek national foundation partnerships/investments such as Gates and Carnegie that will increase the resources of our schools.
   
• Create meaningful and sustainable partnership between New Bedford public schools and the University of Massachusetts, Bristol Community College, economic development agencies, businesses, religious organizations, mentors and volunteer programs and cultural institutions.  We recognize that we cannot solve these problems on our own, and we will look to establish far richer partnerships to strengthen our efforts. Working together, each neighborhood will be able to tailor the programs and resources they need to make a difference.
   
• Look to our teachers, who are in the classrooms every day, for real input and involvement in the development of our education system. We will also increase professional capacity through a coordinated professional development program.
   
• Provide support to and coordinate with non-profit organizations as new partners in an enhanced education experience.
   
• Develop meaningful and constructive internship programs and youth activities.
   
• Develop strategies to increase the revenues allocated to our schools, including a review of our net school spending and a commitment to the eventual allocation of Municipal Medicaid dollars that “come from our schools, back to our schools”.
   
• Recognize that an equal and high-quality education is the birthright for all children in the Commonwealth; we will work with legislators to assure that New Bedford receives its fair share of state funding for education.

How will the Morrissey administration differ from the Kalisz administration on education?

• The Morrissey Administration will recognize that education is the foundation of our future success. Infrastructure projects, new public buildings and economic development plans will have no lasting impact on our future if 33 percent of our high school students are still dropping out of school and only 10 percent of our citizens hold a college degree. A Morrissey Administration will appreciate the complex multi-dimensional reality of the dropout problem by aligning and partnering with many non-profit organizations to assist in targeting this crisis. We will articulate immediate yearly goals to diminish the dropout rate of our students. We will more effectively allocate resources that already exist.
   

• We will break down the artificial and political barriers between the school department and city hall to ensure that the school department is getting the support it needs to fulfill its mission.
   

• We will work to transform our educational system into one of inclusiveness, raised expectations, high performance, and community pride.
   

• We will work with all stakeholders, getting into the neighborhoods, and engaging and involving everyone in our efforts. Traditional and non-traditional partnerships will be expanded and strengthened to give us the greatest opportunity for success. We will examine and explore traditional and non-traditional solutions to the education needs of our community.
   

• The Morrissey Administration will recruit UMass Dartmouth, Bristol Community College and Southern New England School of Law students and faculty to act as mentors and role models for the young people of New Bedford. We will work with our Higher Education partners to create new venues and educational pathways that will attract and motivate young people to pursue post secondary education programs.
   

• Together with our higher education partners, the school committee, and the superintendent we will foster the creation of Center for Leadership that will develop the school leaders for the 21st century.
   

• We will provide ongoing motivation to young people by creating opportunities for them to express themselves without constraints through in-school and out-of-school arts programs. We will seek to develop art and music pathways through neighborhood schools and community agencies.
   

• We will evaluate progress independently and comprehensively using a variety of school accountability indicators. We will play by the MCAS rules but we will NOT use MCAS scores as the sole determinant of our school and teacher effectiveness. We believe our teachers and principals are as good as their peers anywhere in Massachusetts.

We CAN do better

Young people across New Bedford are standing at a fork in the road. We need to empower them to take the right path. In New Bedford 33% of high school students drop out of school every year. Our city has one of the highest dropout rates in the state and only 10% of our population holds a college degree. The dropout rate among young people of color is even higher. This dropout problem, which has been ongoing for over a decade, has eroded our image and marketability as a city.

Despite the dedication of individual teachers, our collective expectations for our students are low, and opportunities that allow students to reach their full potential are too few. Low expectations and a lack of opportunities are severe obstacles to social and economic growth. This combination of challenges have a direct negative impact on quality of life issues such as public safety and will continue to hinder our growth and
dampen our image if left unchecked.

Research is clear that students who are at-risk to drop out, or who do drop out, turn to violence and engage in risky behaviors, including substance abuse. Many of these “at risk students” live in poverty, with few family or community supports. They engage in dangerous activities when their self-esteems are so low that these behaviors become appealing.  These students have low academic expectations, are alienated, and have few affiliations with others; they feel unneeded or unwanted, and feel they have no control over their own lives. Some of these students become homeless and/or teen parents, and have few and limited employment options.

A recent focus group conducted by the campaign around the issue of youth in the city and the drop out rate, included the following comments:

• Far too few youth programs and activities
   
• School is boring
   
• Schools are impersonal
   
• No support at home
   
• No role models

As business leaders and economic development professionals have stated time and time again, real economic development simply cannot occur until we improve our key educational aspirations.  Companies are intensely interested in 1) a school system’s MCAS scores and dropout rate, 2) the number of people within the community that have a college degree and, 3) the status of the city’s public safety.

Education in New Bedford suffers a number of challenges:

• Lack of real leadership, support, and accountability from the Mayor’s office.
• Low expectations for all students – Passing MCAS has become the pinnacle of achievement and curriculum/teaching is restricted by MCAS and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.
   
• Worsening shortage of teachers, specifically minority teachers.
   
• Scarcity of principal and school administrator candidates.
   
• Schools that are being built too big – despite the years of research that demonstrate the need for small learning communities for successful student achievement.
   
• Growing amounts of disenfranchised and disengaged parents.
   
• Lack of comprehensive literacy programs for parents and children.
   
• Growing need for more after school and academic support programs.
   
• The need to enhance performing arts and music in all schools.
   
• The need for a higher percentage of students enrolling in post secondary (post High School) programs.
   
• The need for targeted resources to address particular program areas.
   
• The need to develop models and strategies that rewards “sound fiscal management” of school administration.
   
• The need to develop community and full service schools in New Bedford.

We WILL do better

The Morrissey administration will be working every day to ensure that New Bedford becomes one of the nation’s most livable communities. It is our goal that families will come here, thrive here, and raise their families here in New Bedford. We will foster and develop an environment that promotes education as the foundation for the future successes of our community. We will empower our children and adults with the knowledge and skills they will need to compete and thrive in a global economy. We understand that without this strong foundation, all of our other efforts in economic development, public safety and neighborhood development will suffer. We WILL do it.

Neighborhood schools: Neighborhood schools can and will be the hub of the community. The doors will be open and the buildings accessible far into the evening of each day and on weekends. These schools will be the center of social, educational, economic, government, and human services. We were on our way 10 years ago with a program that had mobilized partners across the spectrum of business, government, public safety, human services and education. This mayor let it slide. We can do it again. We know that it works. Only the additional cost of a single janitorial staff member, and the difficult tasks associated with working with many agencies and organizations to provide services, prevents us from providing activities and services where our people need them most.

A community center, operating in a public school building, will be open to students, their families, and the community at large before, during, and after school, seven days a week, all year long. These centers will be jointly operated through a partnership between the school system and community agencies. Families, youth, principals, teachers, and neighborhood residents will help design and implement activities that promote high educational achievement and positive youth development. We will all need to do our part to ensure this initiative’s success.

The Morrissey administration will immediately work with key stakeholders to design and pilot a single neighborhood school. We will measure its challenges and successes and move quickly to replicate the model around the system.
We will partner with enterprising non-profit organizations, already providing services, to bring their services, such as tutoring, into our neighborhoods to support the education of our “neediest” and most isolated students. This will provide outposts for other services related to government: healthcare (screening for such things as diabetes, children’s dental care etc.), college prep and college, family training on use of internet and technology, counseling, GED classes, ESL classes, after-school programming, and a host of other possibilities to serve families in our neighborhoods. We will work to ensure that a community-based parent training program will provide caretakers with skills and tools to understand and support their children’s in-school education.

We will explore and pursue funding to establish a network of tutoring centers placed in all public housing sites throughout the city. We know that they work. We already have a model built on practice and collaboration. We will forge a collaborative model that places children and families first. We will develop a model that brings government, management, business and unions to the table and into the neighborhoods to turn the corner on New Bedford’s lack of educational attainment. We will make this a city-wide priority that is measured by action not rhetoric and by the visible signs of schools and resource centers filled with signs of activity, achievement, and community.

We must recognize that supporting youth achievement comes only through clear understanding of the child’s entire experience in the city. The dropout rate is a city issue, not just a school’s issue, and we must be clear about marshalling as many resources outside the school system as possible.

Establish New Bedford Public Schools Education Foundation: New Bedford has many foundations in the region that support educational initiatives. However, none focus solely on supporting the efforts of teachers, who are in desperate need of additional resources. For too long we have been asking good teachers to do far too much, with far too little.

Currently, there is no clear path for fundraising for our schools. There is no clearly identifiable structure that we can build a K-12 culture of philanthropy around. Like other communities, New Bedford’s teachers and our children would benefit by having another tool to assist them to improve teacher training and to reward innovative approaches to reducing the dropout rate in school.

A decade ago, the Berkshire public school system established an education foundation and received a dollar for dollar challenge grant from the Jesse Cox Foundation. In 1990, a group of Needham citizens accepted the challenge to raise funds to stimulate and support innovative educational programs and enrichment activities that were above and beyond normal public funding. We need to recognize that new sources of funds – beyond local and state taxes – will be necessary to make real progress.

Dramatically strengthen partnerships with University of Massachusetts and Bristol Community College: We will work to develop three key initiatives with our higher education partners.

1. Partner with the New Bedford Educators Association, community organizations, UMass Dartmouth, Bristol Community College, and Bridgewater State College to establish, cultivate and develop a “farm team” that will ensure that we have well-qualified teachers and school leaders.

2. With existing organizations, develop additional outreach programs that target at-risk youth, and get these students to go to the BCC/UMass Dartmouth campuses at least three times in 7th and 8th grades.

We will aggressively look beyond our boundaries to other communities where innovative partnerships exist with local universities working for our children.  We will explore such innovations as:

• The development of a Middle College High School that will be a college preparatory program that uses a two-year core academic program with a two-year interspersed college entry program. Students in this program will experience college education and will be able to accelerate moving on to toward a four-year program at UMD.
   

• The development of partnership pathway program with BCC/UMD that will include enhanced bio-medical technical pathways. This will be linked to entry-level positions within Bio-medical/medical services industry in the area. The partnership will allow students to participate in a short-term, post secondary experience in a market driven area that requires skilled entry workers.
   

• The development of Performing Arts High School that will focus on music, math and performing arts. This is a growing gap in arts education in this region. While the region has post secondary programs, there is a need for a high school that emphasizes the Performing Arts and connects with UMD’s nationally recognized College of Visual and Performing arts.

Teacher development and support: Choosing to become a school teacher means choosing to enter into one of the noblest and most challenging professions in America today. We will enhance the teaching and learning in our classrooms by investing in our teachers. We will increase professional capacity through a coordinated professional development program. Working with teachers, administrators and other educators, we will design ongoing institutes tailored to the challenges and needs of New Bedford teachers. We will support, affirm, and highlight successful innovation and best practices in the classroom. We will look to our teachers, who are in the classrooms every day, for real input and involvement in the development of our education system.

Non-profit Organization Support and Coordination: While jobs are the best social program (and I will discuss economic development in the next release, next week) we first must look hard at the causes of our joblessness. In doing so, we find challenges that are currently being identified by the city’s diverse non-profit sector. A growing coalition of nonprofit leaders, stakeholders, and practitioners from throughout New Bedford represent many different sub-sectors as diverse as Arts, Youth, and Seniors and geographic, cultural and ethnic constituencies. Their organizations range from the Whaling Museum, to St. Luke’s Hospital, to Youth-Build and Brick by Brick.

In order to better understand and seriously take steps to lower the dropout rate, we must establish a clear dialogue with many of these organizations who play a role in improving and shaping the lives of people in the city of New Bedford. There are over 100 non-profits within the city limits of New Bedford*. There is clearly overlap within the following categorization, but nonetheless the non-profit sector in the city of New Bedford represents a very large portion of our annual economic impact and, in particular, represents some of the most talented, creative, and innovative leaders in the city today. Further, whether in health care or the arts, non-profits engage directly in the life of this community. To the extent that our community suffers from some fundamental challenges that affect all of us, it is in the city’s self-interest to ensure that the non-profit sector is coordinated, funded, and on the same strategic plane as the city.

School* 5
Human Services* 51
Arts* 28
Youth* 17

The lack of a city-wide collective agenda has held back the real impact of many non-profits. The Morrissey administration will:

• Remove the historic barriers of a city services VS non-profit approach to dealing with these related issues.
   

• Elevate the role of nonprofit leaders in public policy discussion.
   

• Immediately pursue an effort to develop a shared agenda for the non-profits within their sectors.
   

• Build public awareness of the role of the nonprofit sector in New Bedford.
   

• Strengthen and reposition the sector to play a central role in city economic, educational and social policy.

Supporting mentoring and internship programs: We will ensure that broad-based mentoring programs are working. As a leader, one often has limited time to speak about his priorities. Youth, education, and youth mentoring will always be on my lips. Mentoring programs work. They are powerful. They give back to the mentor, inspiring more engagement in the civic life of our city.

An idea recently conceived by entrepreneurial and socially minded South Coast business leaders is the SMILES mentoring initiative. “The SouthCoast Mentoring Initiative for Learning, Education and Service (SMILES) is a coalition of caring people and organizations from around the SouthCoast region of Massachusetts dedicated to creating quality, mentoring matches for the children of the area.”
Other mentoring programs that are in existence must be coordinated and integrated to have the greatest impact.

Many members of the business community in New Bedford have been actively engaged in improving the life of our city. We need to both expand the number of businesses who engage in the life of this city, and provide new ways for businesses to participate. Under the Morrissey Administration, businesses will be asked to provide the most meaningful service to our community by creating opportunities for city residents’ real-world paid summer internships. In partnership with several non-profit organizations, we will pursue funding for and manage a process of creating opportunities for young people.

Many studies show that the combination of mentoring and relevant summer work experiences is a powerful tool in the fight to keep all our kids in school. We will seek to develop a middle year program that provides job shadowing opportunities and initiates career development and career exploration with mentors through high school.

Youth programs and activities: As I have walked the streets of this city and spoken to New Bedford’s young people, universally they tell me that there simply are not enough youth-oriented activities. Seniors are just as likely to tell me that the programs that they had growing up are no longer available to kids. Seniors who bring up the issue of youth activities are clear about defending kids, often saying, “How can we expect them to behave, when we give them nothing constructive to do?”

Young people that I have interviewed have reported that their programs need to be developed in partnership with them, not for them. Without any prompting, many cite the Belleview Avenue skate park, and now Riverside Park as examples of development without consultation with our younger citizens.

In addition to youth jobs, we must offer a more coordinated and communicated range of programming. Some examples that have been suggested include: youth poetry contests, enhanced west and south basketball leagues, youth dances through parishes, and youth concert series. Young people hunger for more opportunities to express themselves through art and athletics.

Explore Medicaid reimbursement and fully funding education: Explore Medicaid reimbursement and fully funding education: We must explore very carefully why the school system does not receive from the city over $5 Million in federal Medicaid reimbursement monies for expenses the school system incurs. After a full exploration of this issue, any reversion of the reimbursement monies would be gradual so as not to affect the financials of the system. We will also explore matching the net school spending to 100 percent over time by percentage growth of 1 to 2 percent annually.

We recognize that an equal and high-quality education is the birthright for all children in the Commonwealth; we will work with legislators to assure that New Bedford receives its fair share of state funding for education. We will work tirelessly with our state delegation for both annual funding, and continued rebuilding of the infrastructure of the New Bedford Public Schools for the 21st century.

All of the proposals in this plan are brought forward to transform our city’s educational enterprise into one of inclusiveness, raised expectations, high performance and community pride. It is a challenge that spans beyond the school system, it encompasses the entire city. We all will need to work together to make this transformation a success. This work will be difficult; it will take time and require dedication from all of New Bedford’s citizens. We do not have a monopoly on good ideas and all of us will have a seat at the table. A well-educated citizenry will be the foundation of strong and vibrant New Bedford. It is our responsibility to do this work for ourselves and for our children.

It must be done. We WILL do it.