Most read of 2021

And sometimes the blogging happens at 4:30 am...

I don't spend a lot of time on my analytics on here, but once a year, I pulled them up to see what folks have been reading. Here's the top ten list for 2021:

As per usual, the blog itself is, far and away, the most often landed on, meaning that plenty of you stop by here to see what is new. Overall, this year was by far my smallest number of posts ever, which I will endeavor to do better on for the coming year. 

10. Letters to the Board of Ed ahead of yesterday's meeting, from March: These are the letters I wrote to individual members of the Board of Ed back in March when they were considering the guidance for this past fall's return to school.

9. A real "great divide" from October on the Globe continuing to ignore the elephant in the room around which parents have been behind the push to get kids back in buildings, "as normal" without masks and so forth. For the Globe, which terms its education "The Great Divide" to continue to ignore the role of race in this and other issues misses a major issue in Massachusetts education.

8. Switching to a non-pandemic local one, my comments on Worcester's sex ed vote from May is next. I rarely write out what I am going to say in a School Committee meeting, but for this vote, I did. Certainly among the most important votes that we took this term.

7. Every so often, people come across one of my older posts that has photos from a school and clearly start passing it around, and so it was with my 2015 post on Vernon Hill School. Note the WPA-era murals of Native Americans from the lobby. 

6. I spent a long time putting together a response to a student email I received last January on in-school transmission, so I decided to post it for those who might find it useful. Clearly many did!

5. My notes from the March meeting of the Board of Ed, at which they voted to change the time on learning regulations to force schools to have students in buildings full time are next, for obvious reasons. 

4. My length rebuttal to the Atlantic's article pushing for schools to reopen--one of many pieces in which the Atlantic fumbled the issue--is next. I would also note that the Atlantic piece is one of many this year in which the hyperlinks don't tell the story the text claims.

3. My February letter to the Worcester delegation, pleading with them to act as a co-equal branch of government--something, I'd note, we could still use--is next. I continue to think this:

 Had we started our response there--with Worcester, with Chelsea, with Lawrence--we would have had a very different result. 

And yet, of course, here we are.

2. Something we haven't seen in some time is a charter school application for Worcester; we had one this year (which didn't get sent forward to the next step), and that blog post is next. This is, I think, something which is not going to go away quietly in the coming years, so Worcester needs to be ready for it. 

1. And topping the most read individual posts is my March letter to the delegation questioning the Commissioner's authority, something which I have yet to hear anyone at the state level do. I think that coming out of this era, one of the things with which we need to wrestle is the question of who has what job. The model of everything being left to the local level except when the state decides it doesn't like what you're doing is not a good one. 

And on into 2022! Thanks for reading!

Top ten (plus?) read posts of 2019

As we close out the year, I did one of my periodic checks of the analytics to see what you all have been reading around here in 2019.
As always, far and away the most read is the front page, whatever it happens to be. I'm still stunned/amazed/impressed at how many of you simply swing by to see what is on the front page without coming in from anywhere in particular or to see anything in particular. Frankly, this is what pushes me to be faithful in posting (and makes me feel guilty when I am not!). I will continue to endeavor to make sure you have something to read when you come by!

So to the top ten actual posts:

1. It sometimes happens that someone about whom I have had reason to blog hits the news for some other reason, and the magic of Google will take people here. So it was when Rhode Island selected one of the finalists for Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, Angélica Infante-Green, for their own new Commissioner of Education back in March. Google turned up my liveblog of her interview for the Massachusetts position in January of 2018, and Rhode Islanders came here to read what she'd said then. While the big news out of Rhode Island has been the state takeover of the Providence schools, she hasn't held back on other (in some cases, related) issues, including teacher diversity, racism, and the needs of English learners. One hopes she is heard on the need for accompanying resources. 

   My latest take (actually, Providence down their with them in my most recent model runs, but yes Woonsocket still last) pic.twitter.com/DRGME9d8MQ

   — Bruce Baker (@SchlFinance101) October 19, 2019



2. I am still angry about this, particularly as I see victory laps from his office, so let's not forget this post from October 3, calling out Governor Baker's blatant attempt to sink the Senate's passage of the Student Opportunity Act. It's the second most read post this year. Thank you to everyone who read it, everyone who shared it, everyone who got it, and everyone who remembers.
   This is why the Senate for certain and this year the House (and prior years, everyone in the House who fought for full implementation) gets credit from me, but short of the single "proof it happened" photo, you're not going to see me given Governor Baker credit for his signature. He tried to sink the bill. I will not forget that.


3. Demonstrating that those interview liveblogs just keep on giving, Tennessee appointed Penny Schwinn, who had been the third finalist for Massachusetts Commissioner, Education Commissioner in January, and her interview liveblog was the third most read blog post. Schwinn was told by lawmakers to slow down changes in Tennessee's accountability system; I am confused how this would work: "Schwinn has mentioned a 'best-of model' as one option, allowing schools to choose whether they want to be evaluated mainly on growth or on proficiency." Tennessee til now had emphasized student growth in their measures.
   This coming year, Tennessee will be among the states implementing a voucher program (do read Jennifer Berkshire on this!). Gosh, best wishes, Tennessee!


4. Back in February, the Worcester School Committee--finally--took up sex ed after twists and turns in which the only positive upshots were that Bill Shaner's coverage of it got an award and the entire field of candidates for the Worcester School Committee committed to comprehensive sex ed* in the new term. My post on reviewing the then-proposed Michigan model is here.
   
   *whatever that means, as I said on 508: A Show About Worcester back in May. I guess that is part of what we'll find out this coming year!


5. This was--hurrah, hurrah!--the year we finally, finally, finally got the foundation budget overhauled, and so the filing of Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz and Representative Aaron Vega and Mary Keefe's Promise Act is the "five golden rings" (da-da-da-dat) of this year's top ten. I have to be honest: the Legislature made me work for it this year, what with explaining how the Boston piece worked here, what the possible holdup was on negotiations around the bill (it looks like maybe I was kind of right?), and chasing down the pieces of the final Student Opportunity Act (see number 10). I know I learned a lot: I hope some of you did, too!


6. Bringing us back to the reason why I started the blog in the first place--you're never going to get everything in a newspaper article!--the sixth most read post was the liveblog of the Worcester Doherty building committee meeting at which they were to vote a preferred option and didn't. This was the one at which the Chandler Magnet community showed up and reminded folks that that wasn't empty space over on Chandler Street.
   Don't forget that lesson.


7. One of the things about which I was reminded this spring was this: Worcester, for all that we are sometimes insular, plays on a pretty big stage. When the second largest city in the state, with the third largest public school system, has sustained public concerns expressed regarding systemic bias that then impacts the negotiation of the superintendent's contract renewal, the state (not just DESE, though that's true) pays attention. The seventh most read post was just my running through the released student disciplinary data from the district and comparing it to the student disciplinary data that the state had posted from the district, following an earlier post.I did find myself for much of April attempting to at least share what was happening in Worcester.
   We shouldn't forget that, either.


8. The Boston Globe's new foundation-funded education shop did a long piece on the Boston Public Schools' bathrooms, which left me with decidedly mixed feelings. 


9. Thankfully, it isn't often that we have a crossover into public education of the ongoing fight for transparency and accountability around sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, but this year we did, and it hit Massachusetts. I am still very very concerned about how the Department did not, frankly, choose to handle this, from my seat as a mother and from a district policy level. There should have been an open call from the Department for anyone with any concerns or history to contact someone outside the Department; that should have gone out to every district with a request that it be shared through every district channel.
   DESE officials have a lot of implicit trust around children that comes with their positions, and I really don't think the Department did what it needed to in order to keep and maintain that trust. 


10. And then we had a bill! And I had all sorts of people tweeting me gifs of their waiting for me to read it!
    And lo and behold, it actually passed and was signed.

This did not make the top ten, but it came close, and it's making me laugh, because it may be that kind of a year again: you gotta make up snow days.
And seniors? You can't get out earlier than the 168th day of school (sorry!). 

And in 2020?
Locally, yes, I'll be blogging the Worcester School Committee and other meetings; as per past practice, I don't tweet from the floor, but blogging is my taking notes, so that you'll have.
At the state level, we have the Student Opportunity Act to implement (with those district spending plans due in April!). The Board of Ed is considering vocational schools admissions, we're still implementing the ESSA plan (will there be alterations?), and I, anyway, am still wondering about the vision of K-12 education coming out of Malden now.
And, nationally, we of course have a president to elect!

I feel very, very lucky to do what I do. Thanks for reading, but thanks also for asking questions, for pushing me on policies, and for all, named and otherwise, who answer my sometimes repetitive and often inconveniently timed questions.
I couldn't do it without you. 

For the coming year, I can't say it better than Molly Ivins:

So keep fighting for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't forget to have fun doing it. Be outrageous... rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. 
And when you get through celebrating the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was!

Happy 2020! 

What you read here in 2018

Here's the yearly top ten list, with our usual beyond first place winner: once again, far and away the main landing page got the most hits. I'll endeavor to continue to make that worth your while!

The actual blog posts that got the most hits in 2018:

1-3: This year has lasted FOREVER, so I had forgotten: we got a new commissioner of education in K-12 education in Massachusetts this year! (Yes, that was this past year!) Thus it isn't suprising that the top three posts were what I could find online on the three finalists for commissioner: Angélica Infante-Green, Penny Schwinn, and now-Commissioner Jeffrey Riley. That is in order, and it doesn't surprise me that the post on Riley received the fewest hits, as he was the best known locally (and Infante-Green definitely had people pulling for her). I am a bit proud of managing to dig up quotes from the Globe's archives for that post, though.
I'm also going to note that just missing the top ten list is this post on what we missed in the Commissioner appointment process.

4. This April post about regional transportation came next, which I'm pleased to see: it is one of the things in school budgeting that either really matters to your district or really doesn't, and thus there are many who don't get why regional districts care so much about this.

5. The proposed rule change for what is considered for those applying for immigration to the U.S. came in next, and I'm glad we're finally seeing the way in which all these sorts of things impact our schools.

6. My grandfather died this past April. He was, among many other things, a school board member. This post is about Sam Dawson.

7. On bad ideas that just won't die as the empowerment zone presented--for a select few--in Worcester came in next. Watch for this one to continue to be pushed as we brace ourselves for another Baker term.

8. The Senate voting their foundation budget bill out of Senate Ways and Means came in next.

9. The July House bill giving less than half a loaf of the changes needed in the foundation budget came in next, as we all rushed to figure out what was in the very last minute proposal. Let's do better this session, eh?

10. An appropriate closure to the list: this April post on the conversation Worcester (still) isn't having came in next. Is there going to be a time that Worcester talks about racism's impact on schools?

As for 2019: We have a new Legislature to watch (and harry about not kicking the can on foundation funding). The Board of Ed has a full slate through June.
Oh, and Worcester is in an election year. There will be plenty to cover!

2017 Top Ten

As I think I've said before, I do this as much for me as for anybody, as I don't pay that much attention to analytics (beyond straight page views) during the year, unless something seems to blow up. Thus, without further ado...the top viewed posts for 2017:

I'll spoil the surprise and tell you that the top landing page continues to be the front page, 'though the percentage on that is down somewhat. I'll be interested in seeing if the option of getting an email each time there is a new post (see the left margin on a full screen version) will bring that down.

10. Not entirely surprising, considering how he dominated the news cycles this year, but tenth most viewed post this year was this post-inaugural post "Trump on education: myth busting". Setting the tone for much this year, the third line of that post is:

Both halves of this statement are false.

9. My post on Worcester's preliminary election was the ninth most viewed post (in part because it ended up being promoted on social media).  I'll of course be keeping a close eye on my new district councilor Matt Wally, who, along with Mayor Petty, the rest of the City Council and the School Committee are sworn in on Tuesday.

8. The December 4 post on how the federal tax bill could hurt school budgets was the eighth most viewed, and that will no doubt continue to be a topic of major concern since the terrible tax bill passed.

7. Demonstrating that there's no lack of interest in wonkish finance posts, the post from early July explaining hold harmless and minimum per pupil aid--and thus why chapter 70 could still be constitutionally cut for many communities--was the seventh most viewed. This didn't happen, and politically it's something of a third rail, but it's a good thing to understand about how many school districts are getting their increases in aid now.

6. The reason I didn't do this earlier in the week is I wanted somewhat valid results and I saw this one blowing up: the December 29th post on how the accountability system in changing in Massachusetts. Given more time, this would be higher. The weighing of that system is part of the January meeting of the Board of Education, so stay tuned.

5. My Wednesday-after-the-election post on what happened across Massachusetts in education is the fifth most viewed. One of the things I've had to adjust to in this job is how many races you end up following on election night: LOTS! The city school committees are being sworn in over the course of the next few weeks, as it happens.

4. Going back to the reset of accountability coming out of the federal education law, this April Board of Ed liveblog on the state's resetting of the accountability system was the fourth most-read. This is mainly, I believe, due to people looking for confirmation that this year was going to (for most elementary schools) be a year without levels, as it was.

3. Part of the explosion of resistance work has been passing things along on social media, which sometimes has drawbacks, which led to this post from February, taking apart one such "copy and paste" on federal education and giving specifics on what to watch, which is still true: CIVIL RIGHTS.

2. This August post about Worcester principals under the new administration--commenting that the persistent demand for a public process on principal appointments have vanished with the change in administration--was the second most read post.

1. And demonstrating that Boston can bring its size to bear even this far west, the most individually read post was "Clickbait" responding to a mess of an article from September that intimated that two dozen Boston schools were in danger of being declared underperforming this year, something all those who read number 4 knew wasn't the case.


What's up for 2018? January is going to be a lot: we've got the Governor's budget being released, a Board of Ed meeting that sets the balance in the accountability system, a new Commissioner being voted in, and (fingers crossed) Senate bill 224 on the foundation budget getting out of the Joint Committee on Education (Have you bugged anyone on that lately? Because this week, we start!).
And that, of course, is just January, but those four things will be where a lot of the state attention on schools are this year.
One thing I personally want to keep working on (spurred by my holiday reading) is a better understanding and knowledge of the history of public education in Massachusetts; you may see some of that come through on here.
No worries, though: I've gotten the message (both on and offline) that coverage and commentary from Worcester is needed and appreciated. The strategic plan is supposed to be released early next year, too, so we'll keep an eye on that, as well as Worcester's budget (below foundation no more?) and what other changes Worcester may or may not be up to.

Happy new year to you and yours, and, as I said over on Twitter earlier this week:

Also, I just want to say here that I dearly love that there are those of you interested in accountability updates and the history of desegregation, December 29 or no. #MAEdu

— Tracy O'Connell Novick (@TracyNovick) December 29, 2017

a few blogging notes for year end

• I'm reworking the "helpful links" sidebar (see ---->>> if you're on a full screen); I've dropped some of the Worcester-links, and I'm adding some DESE ones. Let me know if there are ones you'd find helpful. I'll link to the new state Joint Committee on Education when we know who is appointed.
• I'm still not thrilled with the new color scheme...I am finding the wider blog posts easier to read, though, which is what I made the changes for. 
• I don't always tweet when there are new posts, but I just about always link to them on my blogging Facebook page, so you can follow that if that's helpful. Likewise, the summary reports for MASC always show up under "Novick Reports" on the MASC page. 

Coffee break with Edushyster

And we talked a bit about a certain ballot question. You can read it over here. 

Don't adjust your sets

Yes, the blog template has changed, largely to maximize charts and other graphics that get set in (which will also possibly now be readable on a phone).
It may change a bit again (still not thrilled on the color scheme), but everything else is where you left it!
If there's anything I should know about how it manifests on your screen(s), please get in touch! 

National School Board Association Conference posts coming!

I (and the rest of the MASC staff, as well as plenty of School Committee members from across the country!) am in Boston this weekend for the National School Board Association annual conference. I'll be posting here from sessions through Monday. The Twitter hashtag is #NSBAConf, if you'd like to follow along there.

Regarding blogging

I (and who-cester) are part of Peter Balonon-Rosen's piece on education blogging this morning on WBUR.

What's next

Lots and lots of you have asked what I'll be up to now that I am not on the Worcester School Committee.

Here's your answer:

Novick Joins MASC as Field Director

Details

Created on Thursday, 14 January 2016 02:00

Please join MASC in welcoming Tracy O’Connell Novick, a former member of the Worcester School Committee, who joined the MASC staff as a Field Director as of January 11. In addition to her responsibilities as a Field Director, which include providing training and policy services to the Connecticut Valley geographical area, Tracy will also coordinate social media and advocacy activities of the Association. This will include educating members as to the value and use of social media and technology to enhance local communications and advocate on a state-wide level for education issues of concern to the membership.

A lifetime Massachusetts resident, Tracy started her advocacy in elementary school when her mother told her to "tell someone who could fix it" about her concern that McDonalds had stopped serving root beer. Tracy has been attempting to tell someone who could fix it ever since, first as a high school English teacher at Algonquin Regional in Northborough, then as a parent of three in Worcester and, most recently, as a six-year member of the Worcester School Committee. An early adopter of blogging and social media, Tracy has shared her coverage of Board of Education and other state meetings with the MASC Listservand other readers. She will continue to report on education-related forums and events in her new role at MASC.

"Telling Your Story: Multigenerational Community Engagement and Social Media"

Session was borne out of a conversation I was evesdropping on (says Jim Hardy, MASC Field Director)
getting ready to go through an override vote: "How do we get the information out to everybody? Only 17% of our population has school-aged children. How do those who don't have kids get information?"

Long day for the laptop

...and so I lost power there for the end of the meeting. I'll put up some notes when I get a chance.
Meanwhile, Worcester Magazine caught the discussion we had around cell phones, 'though they missed my favorite quote which was "it's feeling kind of prison-y" (with the restrictions). It was a good night to have student reps!
Back to MASC conference postings tomorrow!

Liveblogging MASC/MASS conference

Notes from the MASC/MASS joint conference coming up!

My thanks

There will over the next few weeks be time enough for summings up and such, but tonight, I just want to say thank you for the past six years. I've immensely enjoyed serving on the Worcester School Committee. I've learned an enormous amount; I've gotten to work with great people, and we have a better school system than we did six years ago.

I was asked tonight if I'd change anything about it: no, I wouldn't. At the end of the day, the final person I have to live with is me. My comments, my votes, my speeches, have all been what I truly think and know and have researched. As Vice-President Biden said earlier this year:

What always confuses me about some folks I’ve worked with is why in God’s name would you want the job if you couldn’t say what you believed? I’m not—there’s nothing noble about this, but ask yourselves the question: Would you want a job that, in fact, every day you had to get up and you had to modulate what you said and believed?

Thank you, Worcester. It's been a great run, and I'm so very proud to have had this chance.

Note, incidently, that the Mass Association of School Committees meets this week; the blogging will pick up there tomorrow.

"tidal wave of updates"

Posting entirely because I'm entertained by the lede:

How do you know if Tracy O’Connell Novick is at an event? If you are following her on Twitter, you can tell by the tidal wave of updates and links to her blog, all of which keep interested Worcesterites up to date on the latest in education and school politics.

We did charter schools on Tuesday, and we'll do Foundation Budget Review Commission tomorrow!

Note that the link above is to Worcester Magazine's profiles of all Worcester School Committee candidates. Please give it a read! 

Familiar name pops up in astroturf

I don't know if anyone in Worcester remembers former Stand for Children organizer Maggie Paynich. She's just popped up on the national astroturf scene  as one of StudentFirst's paid astroturf bloggers (scroll down to "Seeding the Field").

What you aren't seeing in Board of Ed coverage

Massachusetts, we have a problem.
The Mass Board of Education meets once a month in Malden for a Monday night followed by a Tuesday morning. Under Mass General Law, they have broad statutory powers over K-12 education in the Commonwealth.
The Board met Monday night, and then yesterday for a six hour marathon meeting.
From that meeting, from what I can tell, we got two pieces of coverage:

• MassLive, which has been closely following Holyoke, did a report on DESE's report on Holyoke, as well as a report on the Board meeting account of Holyoke and public testimony (including my own) at the meeting. Kudos to MassLive, by the way; they've been following the Holyoke situtation closely.


• State House News (here reported out by the Brockton Enterprise) reported on the Commissioner taking everyone to task in their reactions to his not forwarding the Fitchburg and Brockton charter school applications for approval. This fits in nicely with the Boston-area narrative (which, from where I sit, appears to be largely Pioneer Insitute-driven) around people calling for his ouster. Also from where I sit? I don't see it happening.

Did I miss anything? Please, let me know if I did.

What didn't you read if all you saw was the above?

• a lengthy conversation among Board members around vocational education regs--you know, vocational education? That's been such a popular political topic?--that pointed up the tension between regular school districts and vocational school districts on enrollment and funding. All those "well, why can't we just...?" suggestions boil down to regs like these. If we're going to talk about expanding vo-tech ed, PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THESE THINGS.


• an update on PARCC revealing the very pertinent pieces of information that the PARCC consortium, not the state of Massachusetts, will set the "college-ready" score on PARCC and parents will not have student PARCC test scores until after the Board votes to go with PARCC or not (because of timing with that cut score being set). Further, our MCAS contract is up for renewal this year, and the states--not PARCC--own the test development information, so Massachusetts could move on with PARCC-like testing even if the consortium falls apart.

And those are just off the top of my head.

Look, I get that the press is under unbelieveable pressure, and having someone sit in a really long meeting in Malden feels...long. I was there. I get it. But this is seriously important information for EVERYONE in Massachusetts to have, and for it to be missed by...everyone is a gaping vaccuum.

Let's please get better coverage on state education issues. Not this soap opera over who's in and who's out: the stuff that hits our kids in classrooms.

More on Lawrence

...from Edushyster.

First, a trip down memory lane. Alas, a brief trip it must be, Lawrence, as all of your lanes, including those of the memory variety, are be-choked with snow these days. Our story starts a few years back when the state set out to determine what on earth had gone wrong with your schools. The answer, as you still recall but few others do, was that you were a district in utter chaos with leadership either lacking, completely inept or just plain corrupt. But what to do with your struggling self? Some, like this gentlemen, wanted to see you blown up and turned into a northern version of New Orleans. Still others wanted to see you set a float on a raft of edu-jargon. Still others–was it possible that were still other, others?–had other ideas. But whose turnaround scheme would reign supreme and become *the Lawrence model???

Interested in what happened tonight?

My notes are in the posts below, but Tom Quinn from Worcester Magazine was there, and he liveblogged it! 

Resolutions!

Happy new year! A few blogging resolutions:

• I see from reviewing the year that the local "what's the real story" sort of posts remain the most popular, and you can continue to count on them. It sometimes means some late (post-meeting) nights or early mornings, but if I know it about Worcester education and can share it (which is usually true), I will. We'll continue to clear up misconceptions, bust rumors, explain details, and get to the bottom of that which remains unclear. And as always, if you have questions, drop me a line! 
• More state coverage! My CharlieCard is charged and ready; the Board of Ed meetings are on my calendar; Malden will see me monthly. As we get into the new Gubernatorial and Legislative sessions, I am sure that there will be state level issues to cover in Boston, as well. In my view, this has now reached the level that got me blogging in the first place: the coverage of vital education issues is so poorly covered at the state level that somebody has to do something. (See also Jerry Garcia.) 
• I have a sneaking suspicion that there may be more need for the "are you kidding me?" kinds of posts. When it comes to articulated fury, then...more to come!

In terms of School Committee, this coming week I enter my sixth year. We've got the IB school to sort out, and we'll be entering budget season (with [spoiler] a lousy inflation rate) before we know it. I've also got a list of a few pages of things that continue to niggle at me, from why we still have classrooms without recycling bins, to why we have schools that have inaccurate names, to how we better get kids into high school programs that really reflect their long-term interests and needs, to if we're reading any fiction in elementary school, to if we're actually going to get any worthwhile results out of the PARCC test this year (setting aside for the moment the question of if we ever got any worthwhile results out of the MCAS). And likewise, if there are things you'd add to that list, let me know! 

I don't know that I say this enough: I am truly honored to be entrusted with a seat on the Worcester School Committee, and I'm looking forward to another year.

Happy 2015!