French vs. English

A recent column stated that there were 'perceived inequalities' caused by the French Immersion program. Let's look at some of the real inequalities:

1. Classroom size and the number of students per class=French less students; English more students

2. Special Education students=none in French

3. Full 5 days of recess=French 5 days; English 4 days

4. Gala event celebrating 20 years of languages= French big party; English no mention

The last time French was useful to me is when I was employed at WT Grants in Mattapan Square many many years ago. The Haitian who would shop there could converse with those of us who had High School French. We made ourselves understood. French at that time was considered the language of Diplomacy; German for Science and Latin for Medicine. China was still a mystery and the Russians were busy waging a Cold War.

I now work in a very large Boston hospital. My department, the Cardiac Cath Lab, sees anywhere from 20 to 40 patients a day. Not everyone speaks English, but that does not hinder us-between the staff and hospital interpreters we are covered for any language and/or dialect. The majority are Spanish and Portuguese speaking. Followed by Arabic, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Italian and some Russian. The need for us to ever need a French interpreter is perhaps, at most, twice a year. If a patient does speak French, it is usually their second or third language.

So why is Milton continuing a program that does not prepare students for a real world? A world that utilizes Spanish and Portuguese speakers especially in the Boston area. A Haitian immigrant who sends her child to Tucker wants her child to learn English. This is the language of their new country-skills in English will benefit them both. Why does he lose a recess for wanting to learn?

Is it fair that one twin has 5 full days of recess in the French, but the other twin , who is on the English Track, has only 4 days? How are their parents supposed to explain ?English teachers are layed off, MCAS score go down and then rehired with borrowed money. This is not the way to run a school. English language skills should be the priority. Any extra languages should be offered as an addendum not a way of life.

Budget priorities have to be set. Overides are not the answer and I am tired of my taxes being raised and raised again. Throwing more money at the problem-the budget-does not make it go away.

School Committee Member Mary Kelly asked that the disparity of the French and English track programs be added to the budget list but was voted down. Mr Chairman Beirne Lovely said"I think this is the tip of a different iceberg...I certainly don't think it raises to the level of a budget priority item." The Titanic sank because of an iceberg. The Milton School system has become the Titanic . It's time to jettison some of these pet programs and take off the rose colored glasses. French Immersion was a nice little experiment that has overstayed its welcome. Now is the time to utilize the new schools for which they were built-to educate not divide the children of Milton.

Patricia Gannon

70 Meagher Ave

Milton

617-696-0018

Healthcare Costs: Invasion of the Budget Snatchers

Public and private employers that provide traditional insurance plans for their employees have been experiencing 15% annual costs increases for a couple of years now. Last year in 2006, Milton's citizens faced the impact of such an increase as it swept through the budgets of every department. It stands to reason that a large cost item growing at 6 times the revenue limit imposed by Prop 2 1/2 creates a recurring and unsustainable budget buster. Our town administrators, employees represented by their unions and citizens are all smart folks who can see that new approaches must be explored, experimented and implemented or we face an annual cycle of debates on Overrides versus Layoffs, which benefit no one.

Our national approach of employers providing subsidized health insurance to employees is an echo of wage and price controls imposed during World War II. Employers were restricted from raising employee wages and responded by providing non-wage benefits, like health insurance, to entice and retain employees. 65 years later, we have institutionalized an approach that insulates the health care consumer and provider from the market benefits that have reduced the cost of living so drastically over those same 65 years. Perhaps this realization is penetrating our collective thinking at last. Even the leadership of our Democratic dominated Commonwealth have recognized (in the case of auto insurance) that insulating consumers from market forces induces behavior that costs us all collectively more than we should have to bear.

Over the coming weeks and months, the members of the Milton Republican Town Committee will highlight on this page alternatives that are being explored in the private sector that could bring behavioral and cost changes that break this upward spiraling budget problem which will inevitably lead to drastic measures. Stay tuned. Here's to your (and our town budget's) health!

School Choice (part 1)

Metco Programs have, for a long time, given a legal opportunity for students to enter publicly funded school settings outside of their residential district. In each instance, the host community is paid an agreed amount for tuition based upon the rate of cost per student in the host school district. Why then, if a non resident student chooses to attend a Milton school as a non resident and the Milton school committee deems that there is available space and the candidate has an acceptable reason for wanting to do so, can’t this school committee make a similar tuition arrangement. The student would then be legal and the town would save much time, money and effort ferreting out illegal students. Further, it would be a bargain for the city of Boston. The rate per student in Boston is about $12,872 and the cost to attend a school in Milton is about $8,378 per student. Currently, each student attending a Milton school illegally is costing the Milton taxpayer $8,378 to say little of the labor cost in handling these situations...

There is an old adage that says, If you can’t (won’t) beat ‘em, join ‘em.