State wants voc tech schools to make admissions more equitable
FALL RIVER The state s education commissioner plans to call on vocational technical schools to change their admissions policies, in a move officials and advocates say will make the process more equitable and diversify Massachusetts vocational high schools.
Earlier this week, Commissioner for Elementary and Secondary Education Jeff Reilly announced he will present the proposed changes at an April 20 meeting of the Board of Education. The board would then vote on them in June after a public comment period. If adopted, the new standards would be in place before the next academic year.
This morning, New Bedford School Committee member John Oliveira joined Brian Thomas on WBSM’s
Chris McCarthy Show to discuss Monday night’s upcoming meeting. The conversation focused mostly on school choice, and what it means if the committee approves the program for another year in New Bedford schools.
At the start of the discussion, Thomas casually asked Oliveira, who is in year three of his four-year term, if he planned to run again for school committee.
“I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to complete another term,” Oliveira responded, before dropping some news as to what his next political move may be. “There’s a couple of legislators that have bullseyes on their backs, Representative (Antonio) Cabral and Senator (Mark) Montigny, that need to be taken down.”
NEW BEDFORD – After months of the decision sitting in committee, Joaquim Jack Livramento has been denied a seat on the Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech School Committee.
Livramento was appointed to the Voc-Tech school committee by Mayor Jon Mitchell on Sept. 29. The Appointments and Briefings council voted 7-4 against the nomination and tied in a 5-5 vote on reporting the rejection to the full city council. For the time being, the decision remained in council.
That is until the March 25 City Council meeting, where the council voted to follow the recommendation of the committee and take no further action on the agenda item, determining Livramento s appointment.
NEW BEDFORD The New Bedford City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to begin the process of renaming one of the city s three middle schools after the late former Mayor Frederick Kalisz Jr.
Seven councilors Ian Abreu, Naomi Carney, Maria Giesta, Brian Gomes, Linda Morad, William Markey and Scott Lima filed the motion to rededicate one of the schools in his name during the council meeting.
Kalisz, who died at 63 from COVID-19 complications on Jan. 27, oversaw the construction of three new middle schools during his tenure as mayor from 1998 to 2006: Roosevelt Middle School, 2001; Normandin Middle School, 2003; and Keith Middle School, 2006.
The councilors wrote the new schools were the first to be constructed in almost 30 years as a result of Kalisz s unrelenting leadership and guidance.
THIS GUEST OPINION BY:
Marlene Pollock is a New Bedford resident who is the co-founder of The Coalition for Social Justice and is a member of Bristol County for Correctional Justice. She is a retired Professor of History at Bristol Community College and continues to teach part-time. She was also elected twice to the New Bedford School Committee, and is a volunteer organizer in New Bedford and on the Cape.
WBSM’s Barry Richard recently wrote a piece in support of Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson’s extremist positions on immigration. Richard repeats Hodgson’s biases towards immigrants without regard to facts. This only serves to confuse people, stir their anger toward innocent people, and let those who are truly responsible for people’s discontent off the hook – which is precisely their goal.