Boston threatens setting school policy by city ordinance
| Should a law (or city ordinance) require kids expelled from school be supervised by an adult during school hours?
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"Few American cities have had more of an impact on American history and life than Boston, from Pilgrims and patriots to the invention of ether and the telephone. Boston is also possibly the only place in America where people have drowned in molasses," according to the Boston History WEB site. Boston, a city so rich in history is also a city struggling with violence in their schools and on their school buses. This story demonstrates what one city might do to help insure the safety of their children. -JK (Click school bus picture for Boston Mini History.)
By Anthony Flint, The Boston Globe Staff,
The original story title, "Council eyes using ordinances to force school policy changes,"
ran on page F08 of the Boston Globe on 04/08/99.
©Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company, All Rights Reserved.
The Boston Globe
Boston, Massachusetts -- Frustrated by what it considers unsatisfactory responses from the School Department on a series of issues, the Boston Globe reported that the Boston City Council yesterday stepped up threats to force policy changes by passing ordinances.
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In what has become an annual rite - intensified because this is an election year - councilors also threatened to hold up the School Department's $600 million-plus budget unless its concerns are addressed on issues ranging from school-bus safety to alternative education programs for disruptive students.
''Maybe it's time to take a little authority away from the administration, which seems to think these issues are unimportant,'' said Councilor Maureen E. Feeney (Dorchester). ''Let's get an attorney and see if we can get some change by ordinance.''
The school system is effectively run by Mayor Thomas M. Menino. In the early 1990s, voters replaced the old elected school committee with a panel appointed by the mayor.
Menino spokeswoman Robin Bavaro, asked about the legality of the council setting school policy by ordinance, said that the council ''does not have the authority to direct how the city spends money.''
Councilor at Large Peggy Davis-Mullen said the administration and the School Department were ''out of touch,'' and that, as councilors, ''we're out there on the streets every day and night, and we hear what the parents are telling us ... all we do is give, give, give, and we get zippo back.''
The comments came during debate on measures to put monitors on school buses and other steps to improve school-bus safety, and a proposal for an alternative program for disruptive students. Several councilors said the School Department was unresponsive to their policy proposals and requests for information.
Councilor at Large Stephen J. Murphy said he recently asked the administration for per-pupil transportation costs for special needs students, as he explores ways to cut costs by sharing bus routes with other communities. ''What did I get? An average. Exactly the opposite of what I asked for.''
Superintendent Thomas Payzant said, ''We've been responsive,'' and cited money he has set aside in upcoming budgets for alternative education programs and school-bus monitors.
Note to American History teachers and parents about the Boston Globe: The Globe was the first newspaper to use bylines, to tell readers who wrote the story, and the first to receive a story by telephone - in 1877 when correspondent Henry Bachelder phoned his story from Salem as part of a demonstration by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell.
The first full-page advertisement in newspaper history, for Jordan Marsh Co., appeared in the Globe June 17, 1875. The Globe was the first to print color Sunday supplements, sections such as magazines and advertisements published in addition to regular news sections. (More facts about the Globe)
Car Seats not child’s play
ABC NEWS 20/20
Authorities believe most parents fail to properly install their
children’s car seats, which may lead to serious injury in the event of a
crash. (PNI)
Unless they are installed correctly, children’s car seats can’t provide
the protection parents intend. They only save lives when used properly. (ABC)
For information on how to correctly install a child's car seat click on
ABC NEWS 20/20's Special Report.
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Keywords: Car Seats
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