Doggone right with Mark Brighton

February 10, 2008

Artificial Turf and Kitty Litter

The City Council work session on the 28th concerning the Capital Improvement Plan was quite enlightening. City Manager Bohenko and the various department heads should be commended for their Herculean effort. The CIP is an essential tool in bringing order to a part of the budget that invariably gets short changed (pun intended.)

Several Councilors asked good questions. One in particular stood out. Newly minted Councilor Esther Kennedy asked the simple, direct question as to whether the listed road constructions projects had been prioritized. It is my experience that you can tell how much you’ve gotten under someone’s skin by how much tap dancing they do when answering a simple question. Ms. Kennedy was treated to a dance performance that would have put Gene Kelly’s “Singing in the Rain” to shame. She deserved better.

With any document the size and scope of the CIP it is always easy to find little nuggets that require further thought.

One item was $25,000 to fund a feasibility study for a new police station. Oddly, this was the first that I had heard that Portsmouth was in desperate need of a new facility. Another item was $1,000,000 to be spent over the next
two years to rehabilitate the indoor pool. The pool probably needs work, but exactly how many people are served by it? Might it be better use of tight money to just fill the hole?

The crown jewel among all these nuggets is $3,000,000 to be spent for artificial turf for the athletic fields. Currently we spend $10,000 yearly for mowing and other simple maintenance. In addition these fields were re-sod for $30,000. For $3,000,000 we could maintain and re-sod these fields every year for 75 years. Just how long does artificial turf last? The answer is 10-20 years. How dumb is that?

There would be at least one benefit to artificial turf. The football uniforms would remain clean. This would lower our
carbon footprint in the short term, detergent wise. But, how many little plastic trees would have to sacrifice themselves for the fake grass and, more importantly, where does it go when it wears out?

On the other hand, this synthetic turf could open up a whole new use for the indoor pool. If we take the roof off,
we could then use the pool to wash the artificial turf and, perhaps, it would last the 75 years we’ll all be paying for. Never mind, the spin cycle would probably cost another 3 million.

Posted by Mark Brighton at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2007

Outsourcing teaching

Hillary is on the campaign trail complaining about school systems having to spend money on tutors. It seems that under the No Child Left Behind Act, when a school district repeatedly fails to meet state testing standards it has to provide free tutoring. Hillary was speaking before the National Education Association's New Hampshire chapter, so it was obligatory for her to take a swing at Bush and No Child Left Behind. What is amusing is that she is quoted as saying, “Nobody's looking over their shoulder. And we're not really seeing results.” Why on earth does she think students are being sent to tutors? Could it be that public schools are failing them?

When you couple this with Monday March 26th’s headline in the Herald, “City stands out in poll of schools,” the problems with modern public school education become clearer. A poll conducted by the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations assessed students' academic aspirations and attitudes toward school. The institute is a particular favorite of Lionel Tracey, former Portsmouth School Superintendent and now head of the NH Department of Education. The poll asked questions “geared toward understanding children's perception of belonging and a sense of accomplishment.”

Apparently Dr Quaglia states there are eight conditions necessary for a student to achieve his or her personal goals. Performance is not measured or even seriously considered. Dr Quaglia says, “There's more to learning than math.” Yes there is - the other two long forgotten curricula in addition to ‘rithmatic’ are readin’ and ‘ritin.” They aren’t on Dr. Quaglia’s list, either.

In fairness, Dr Robert Lister, Superintendent of Portsmouth’s schools, credits Quaglia’s approach with significantly reducing the dropout rate of the city’s student body. This may be true, but if none of Quaglia’s eight conditions emphasizes the 3R’s, why are we keeping students in school? When you include grade inflation and social promotions, it becomes clear why students need tutors. And it isn’t because of George Bush.

No Child Left Behind emphasizes results on standardize testing, demanding accountability - and this is something that The Left seems to abhor. In her speech Hillary says that testing ignores the fact that there are many ways to learn. She may be right, but if that learning can’t be demonstrated concretely, then what happens to the student who becomes an employee?

As an employer, I expect my employees to function confidently in math and to know the King’s English. I don’t ask if they feel good about these skills, but they will feel crappy about being unemployed if they don’t have them.

When I attended Portsmouth High, Francis “Babe” Malloy, the assistant principal, didn’t ask if I felt good about school. He wasn’t worried about whether I felt “engaged” by my environment. He made sure I was in attendance, properly attired, and didn’t give the teachers any lip. He and most educators of the time had the quaint notion that self esteem would follow performance.

The bar seems to be getting set so low, that I’m no longer surprised by the look of panic from a young clerk when faced with ten dollars and two cents on a $9.02 tab. I’m embarrassed for the clerk and for our schools that demand so little.

Posted by Mark Brighton at 10:44 PM | Comments (1)

March 14, 2007

Kittery Massages

What is it about Kittery and massages?

The entire Seacoast and beyond knows about Kittery's infamous massage parlor. It was an open secret for nearly two decades. As the details came out it only got more sordid. But the past is the past - right.

It was with great interest that I read an article in March 13th's Herald.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/03132007/mainenews-ph-k-council3-12.html

It seems that the Kittery Town Council commanded the presence of the School Committee to explain various line item expenses in the school budget.

One of these was "massages for Shapleigh Middle School teachers". My immediate reaction to this was, is this Déjà vu all over again? The School Committee chair, Jeff Pelletier, explained "the massages were paid for by a York Hospital grant, not taxpayer money, and were a reward for the teachers." Whether grant money or not, somehow it seemed the citizens of Kittery were getting screwed – again.

But then I started to give it more thought. Would I want to teach Middle School age kids - no! Middle School teachers should actually be getting combat pay for dealing with our delightful cherubs. Twenty odd years ago my wife was acting as a substitute teacher at what was then Portsmouth Junior High aka, “The Tank”. She claims to be 5' 1", but I believe 5' is more likely. She had to back one these oversized cherubs down who was trying to physically intimidate her. He called her a …. Well, I can’t say what he called her. It hasn't gotten any better. If a few massages could invigorate these teachers, then maybe they are a good idea.

Maybe the City of Portsmouth could take a lesson here. The local fire department has the most overtime of any municipal department. Instead of OT pay, perhaps we could give each firefighter a massage. Instead of letting the police add detail pay to the pension totals, maybe we could give them massages. And let’s not forget the Middle School teachers in our fair city.

Some good may come from Kittery’s history of solving life's problems with a massage. Perhaps they have turned a sow’s ear into a silk purse by exercising a little common sense and common decency.

I say we give it a try.

Belly Rubs2.GIF

Posted by Mark Brighton at 12:09 AM | Comments (3)